The Democratic Party is known nationally as the Party of John F. Kennedy and FDR. Here in Ansonia, however, they appear to be the Party of Rip Van Winkle. Reading their recent guest columns in the Valley Independent Sentinel gives the impression that they have been asleep for much of Mayor Dave Cassetti’s administration and the year preceding it.
For example, a letter from candidate Ed Adamowski attempts to avoid blame for the 11+ mill rate increase that occurred on his watch as the Board of Aldermen’s Finance Committee Chairman. He is correct in saying that revaluation resulted in the bulk of the mill rate spike. However, he conveniently forgets to mention the failure of his administration to exercise a 5‑year “phase in” option that would have spared taxpayers so much pain. This occurred on his watch as Finance Chairman.
Further, there is candidate Adamowski’s irresponsible and oft-repeated accusation that the City’s fund balance is being lowered. To the contrary, the undesignated fund balance has risen by $6 million thanks to back-to-back budget surpluses. As President John Adams once said, “facts are stubborn things.” Attached is a letter from the City’s independent auditors (the very same employed by the DellaVolpe administration) and a financial spreadsheet that verifies the financial health of the general fund. In fact, the auditors state that the condition of the fund balance has improved since Mayor Cassetti took office in 2013.
Finally, Tara Kolakowski, the former Personnel Director under Jim DellaVolpe, questioned the status of bonding projects approved by the voters in 2013. She stressed the importance of providing updates on the progress of the projects. This is a fair point, but one that ignores the thorough project update provided by the Cassetti Administration at September’s Board of Aldermen meeting.
At that time Economic Development Director Sheila O’Malley publicly reviewed the status of each of the approved bonding projects with the aldermen, affording the opportunity for questions and also distributing a detailed written statement. The minutes from the September meeting and Ms. O’Malley’s statement are attached to this letter.
The story goes that Rip Van Winkle fell asleep and woke up twenty years later, missing critical events like the American Revolution. I doubt that such a thing could happen in real life. Then again, Team Adamowski’s selective memory could only have two explanations: a multi-year slumber, or a willingness to say anything to convince voters to return to the failed policies of the past. I’m hoping for the former, because otherwise we’re dealing with the Party of Pinocchio.
The writer represents the Second Ward on Ansonia’s Board of Aldermen and is running for re-election on the Republican line.
The opinions in guest columns do not necessarily reflect the Valley Indy’s opinion.
