Public officials outnumbered residents more than two to one at a ward meeting Tuesday at Ansonia’s Prendergast Elementary School.
Mayor James Della Volpe said he started the meetings soon after he was first elected in 1999 as an effort to bring citizens face-to-face with their local government.
The handful of residents that did show up Tuesday got an overview from several of the city’s department heads on what they do every day, and upcoming initiatives they have planned.
Example: Police Chief Kevin Hale led off the meeting by noting a new officer is currently in training, and that the department is working on establishing a system where residents can send anonymous information to police via text message.
Click the play button below to listen to the meeting. Article continues afterward.
Hale also lauded the police department’s anti-crime unit for using undercover techniques to investigate drug dealing in the city, and urged residents to alert police to any problems.
“You know your neighborhoods better than we do,” he said. “We don’t operate in a vacuum. We need information, timely information.”
It was a point reiterated by several other speakers during the meeting, though the first city resident to ask a question of officials said the city has to do the same thing.
“I think the key is the communication,” said Melissa Rotteck, a Glen Drive resident who pointed out the paucity of residents in attendance. “You mentioned these meetings have been going on since 1999, this is the first time I’ve heard of (them), and I’ve lived here for 10 years.”
Rotteck said the city’s website is also hard to navigate, and suggested the city post more signs in public places. She worried that some residents have “lost faith in Ansonia” because of bickering between elected officials, and asked them to work together more.
“It’s a good point,” Della Volpe said. “We don’t need to be Washington.”
Other residents pointed out the city’s website lacks many agendas and minutes of public meetings, or that they’re not uploaded in a timely fashion.
They said people would be more informed if residents could read public documents online, instead of having go to City Hall to review them.
Benz Street resident Michael Egan asked whether the idea of regionalizing area school districts was still feasible.
The concept was discussed by school officials in Ansonia and Derby last year, but nothing ever came of the talks.
“Look at the regional school system over in Woodbridge,” Egan said. “You hear people every day wanting to send their kids there from Ansonia.”
Della Volpe said school officials in Derby and Ansonia would start meeting to discuss the idea again — and not just in schools, Della Volpe said, but things like sewage treatment.
“I agree with you,” the mayor said. “We do have to start regionalization.”
Other updates:
- Acting Personnel Director Tara Kolakowski said a committee of officials on Tuesday interviewed candidates for a new Economic Development Director. The long-awaited hire may be announced in the next two to three weeks, she said.
- Aldermen Thursday will get a preview of an economic development report the city paid $25,000 to have a consultant prepare. A committee of city officials have been “tweaking” the report for months. It was due in January.
Click here for a previous story on the report and new economic development director.
- Della Volpe said the city’s Housing Authority will present a plan to Aldermen in the next few weeks on what to do after several buildings of apartments on Olson Drive are torn down.
Click here for a previous story about the Olson Drive apartments.
