Joe Jeanette I almost didn’t recognize you from the photo in your letter to the Valley Indy dated October 27, 2017 and I’m sure many of the voters weren’t able to distinguish who the real Joe Jeanette was from the rhetoric in the letter that accompanied that photo.
Let’s try to put everything in proper focus and concentrate on the facts.
In 2011 as 3rd Ward Alderman, you voted to recommend a ZERO % increase to the Board of Education’s budget. Unfortunately, in that same year your vote also ratified a tax INCREASE for the residents of Ansonia. That’s just 2011. In fact, if you go back ten years you will find that you never voted for or proposed to give the Board of Education their full budgeted request. That’s another thing the voters should be clear about. Contrary to what the Raslan democrats would have you believe, the Board of Education’s budget has never been cut by Mayor Cassetti. That is not only false, but purposely misleading. The Board of Education actually received a 2 – 3% increase on average each year Mayor Cassetti has been in office.
To provide further clarification, per the audit findings, the Board of Education actually returned $40,000 to the City’s general fund this year having only spent 98% of their budgeted allocation. How could you possibly say that Mayor Cassetti has underfunded the BOE when in fact the Board of Education actually ended up returning funds to the City in the FY 16 – 17 budget (see Tracey DeLibero’s column and attachments in the Valley Indy article dated 10 – 27-17)?
While we are on the topic of clarity, it should be crystal clear to you that Mayor Cassetti along with many others including Officer Barry volunteered to establish and run Ansonia’s first ever youth boxing program that did not cost the residents of Ansonia a dime. In fact, the boxing program was a net ZERO effect on the City’s budget much like the ZERO you recommended the Board of Education receive when you voted on their budget in 2011. All of the money received was through donations and sponsorships which helped to fund the program as explained numerous times at our Board of Aldermen meetings if you were paying attention. Any excess money accumulated went back into the city’s coffers. As Mayor Cassetti said recently “I’m teaching these children that there is a place for them to go and I am helping to get them off the streets and away from video games.” Sounds like a win-win for the children of Ansonia.
Joe it is very disingenuous to paint a different picture of yourself, coincidentally in the same year you decide to run for the Board of Education. I think the voters need to know who the real Joe Jeanette is. Is the real Joe the one who claims the Board of Education has been underfunded under the Cassetti administration or the one who voted to recommend a zero increase and never proposed to fully fund the Board of Education’s requests until this year? Voters need to see the REAL picture so they can understand which Joe they will be voting for in November.
The writer is running for the Board of Aldermen on the Republican line to represent the Second Ward.
Views expressed in letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of ValleyIndy.org. The Valley Indy has a 550-word limit on letters.
