I’m sorry Beth, but as a member of the Charter Revision Commission, I need to point out the truth.
The truth is that Democrats on the Charter Revision Commission voted unanimously against the Responsible Referendum revision (which gives residents a say on the city budget) not once, but twice.
It’s all in the minutes.
The first vote took place on July 25, 2013, right before the Commission’s public hearing. This vote almost prevented the Responsible Referendum from being incorporated into the Commission’s Draft Report to the Board of Aldermen: http://www.cityofansonia.com/filestorage/2528/563/4431/4434/4436/CRC072513.pdf
The second vote took place on August 13, 2013, after the public hearing.
This was the critical re-vote that allowed the Responsible Referendum to be incorporated into the Charter Revision Commission’s Draft Report (Bill Luneski, the politically unaffiliated member of the Commission, changed his vote from the previous month’s meeting, allowing the initiative to pass by the skin of its teeth):
http://www.cityofansonia.com/filestorage/2528/563/4431/4434/4436/CRC081313sm.pdf
Yes, it is true that Democrats voted unanimously in favor of sending the entire Draft Report to the Board of Aldermen on August 22, 2013, but that was only after it became apparent that the Responsible Referendum had enough votes to pass.
If Democrats on the Charter Revision Commission were truly in support of the Responsible Referendum proposal, they could have worked together with the Commission’s Republicans to refine the proposal for the benefit of the taxpayers.
Instead, the votes of you and your party members came dangerously close to preventing the proposal from making it to the ballot.
Lorie Vaccaro
The writer is a Republican candidate for Alderman in the city’s Second Ward.
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