How soon we forget!!!
Almost immediately after his first election, Cassetti, assembled a Charter Revision Committee to, among other things, change accountability for the City budget. BOAT (Board of Apportionment and Taxation) had been the final word on the budget but the idea was to make accountable the elected members of the BOA. And so it was. So that you understand how the process works now, without too much detail, here is a simple snapshot of the generations of the City budget.
1st – The Mayor drafts his budget and then submits it to BOAT for their review.
2nd- BOAT reviews the Mayor’s budget, possibly making their own revisions, then passes their version onto the BOA
3rd – The Finance Committee of the BOA reviews the modified budget, possibly makes their own revisions then sends their version to the full BOA for the final budget approval.
Lastly- A vote from the full body of the BOA passes the final revised City budget.
So the Mayor’s initial budget proposal has the potential to be modified several times before passage and it is the BOA who have the final say. The final city budget is the Aldermen’s budget, NOT the Mayor’s budget! Got it??
The first 4 years in office shows that the BOE funding, from the city tax payers, increased from $12,534,376 to $14,810,112! Yes, during those first 4 years, the BOA had continued to increase education funding, and who was it that sat as President of this BOA for those first 4 years???
Phil Tripp!!! Yes, Phil Tripp!!!
- October 2017 – Tripp’s 17/18 city budget was finalized and approved by his BOA.
- November 2017 – The election of 2017 changed the complexion of the BOA and Tripp loses his majority.
- December 2017 – His majority gone, Phil Tripp is voted out of the position of President of the BOA and Cassetti now owns the BOA.
- January 2018 – Just 2 months after taking control of the BOA, Corporation Counsel, convinces a naïve, newly elected BOA to withdraw $600,000 of funding from the BOE! Without Phil Tripp and his team there to protect education, the motion passes and in the middle of the school year the BOE is stripped of $600,000.
The school district is in chaos. 17 teachers are let go among the elementary and Middle schools! Classroom sizes have to be increase, some to almost 32 students. Several new teachers, overwhelmed with the inadvertent consequences resign and leave as well. In overloaded classrooms, teachers spend more time keeping order than teaching! Our kids lose in the end!!!
Phil Tripp, for 4 years, as President of the BOA, was able to support BOE with funding increases each year, keeping stability in education!
Once in control of the BOA, it took only 2 months for this Administration to cripple education and rob entire grades of a proper education. Not to mention the cost to the City and BOE of the enormous amount of unnecessary legal expenses!!
So, who really supports education in Ansonia? And who is simply using our kids as campaign props for the election?
The writer is a member of the Ansonia Board of Education.
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