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There is so much positivity going on in Ansonia!
New Schools Superintendent Joseph DiBacco has developed a school budget that included 30 certified staff hired, both new positions, and rehiring of those previously laid off.
And with a new financial system to be shared by the City and BOE, we can all look forward to consistent oversight of our school budget and great transparency.
The positive energy is pulsing through our community. That’s why I am looking to forward to becoming a member on the Board Of Education, and supporting the Superintendent’s efforts to implement career-focused STEAM curriculum.
I would also like to explore a subcommittee of parents, to work directly with the BOE, on ideas, critical issues, and important happenings in our school system.
But even with these great things on the horizon, I have concerns that weigh on my mind, I would like to directly address.
As pointed out by former resident Kenny Plavnicky, Team Tripp has a big problem on the issue of taxes. The excuses being made do not make sense.
Third Ward Aldermanic candidate Joseph Jeanette has an extensive history supporting tax increases when he sat on the Board of Aldermen. Team Tripp is understandably defensive about this, and makes the excuse the votes were only on “proposed” budgets.
But a vote is a vote period, and when it came to the budget proposals, Mr. Jeanette was there, in his “yes” to higher taxes.
Please note, Mr. Jeanette already has a seat in city government: he is a current member of the Board of Education, where for two years he has continued his practice of voting for budget-busting budgets.
He also voted on a contractual increase for the previous School Superintendent Carol Merlone … without reading the contract.
That is a vote on a contract, without the presence of an actual contract!
Mr. Jeanette’s election as Third Ward Alderman would allow him to straddle both sides of the aisle as a member of the Board of Aldermen and Board of Education member, and allow him to multiply his influence over tax increases by two. Is that what voters want?
I would like to address the matter of Second Ward Aldermen candidate, Tarek Raslan’s statement, recorded in the 2016 budget hearing minutes, that a tax increase is something “he would support.”
While Mr. Tripp appears eager to explain away the statement of his team member and sometimes campaign spokesman, he also must deal with other past statements made by Mr. Tripp’s campaign members, in favor of increased taxes.
Finally, there is again that matter of Phil Tripp’s irresponsible and partisan stance on economic development, which will certainly cause an increase in the tax rate, and eliminating the current economic development team that has obtained nearly $50 million in state and federal development grants.
The Tripp team would be forced to kill continued plans for development, or raise taxes to support future projects.
Six years ago — and prior to Mayor Cassetti taking office – raising taxes was seen as the only way to move forward. I urge the voters to not be tricked into taking the Tripp Time Machine back to those days.
The writer is running on the Republican line for the Ansonia Board of Education.
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