LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Ideas at Work and Beyond 04.30.10

TOPIC: Danbury Board of Education budget crisis

HatCityBLOG VIDEO: Board of Education public hearing highlights

Residents speak out in opposition to cuts in the education system.
Photo by CTblogger. Board of Education public hearing, 04.28.10.

On Wednesday evening, well over 200 residents filled the auditorium at Roger's Park Middle School and sat for over two hours as speaker and speaker expressed their opposition to the proposed proposed cuts to the city's education system.

Since the hearing lasted well over two hours it will take some time to process the video. For now, due to the high demand, here's highlights of meeting. I'll update this post with an extended version of highlights, as well as footage of the meeting in it's entirety later this weekend.

Danubry has nothing on New Haven

When it comes to education woes, if you think things are tense in Danbury, check out what's happening in New Haven.

A faceoff is brewing tonight between parents organized by school officials to rally for public education, and tax-weary watchdogs looking to cut the city budget.

The showdown is set to take place at City Hall, where aldermen will convene at 6:30 p.m. for a final public hearing on the mayor’s proposed $476 million budget for the upcoming year. (If you’re not attending the hearing, you can follow it and comment on it as it happens, right here. The Independent plans to live-blog the event.)

At 6 p.m., parents and school officials are holding a rally at City Hall to protect the Board of Education’s portion of that budget, which is $176 million.

The schools rally comes in response to a call from the citizen budget watchdog group New Haven CAN, which is asking aldermen to cut spending in each city department by 10 percent. School officials and parent groups have been sending out flyers, letters, and emails urging parents and their children to turn out tonight to protect education funding. The messages warn that a 10 percent cut would blow a $17.6 million hole in the schools budget, forcing layoffs and hampering the chances for the city’s nationally recognized school reform drive.

“Tell the Board of Aldermen to SAY NO TO A $17.6 MILLION CUT TO EDUCATION,” declares one flyer circulated among the schools. “Don’t turn your back on our students!”

The flyer warns of the following consequences of a $17.6 million cut: “NO SCHOOL CHANGE INITIATIVE; Larger Class Sizes; Fewer teachers and para[professional]s; Closing schools; Cuts to Afterschool Programming.”

The flyer was sent out via email to school principals and parent leaders of the citywide Parent Teacher Organization. The school system also posted the “call to action” on a long dormant school change Facebook page.

The public information campaign is a joint venture of school officials and the citywide PTO, said Laoise King, the school system’s chief of external affairs. She said she emailed the flyers to the schools, where the flyers were printed out and sent home in students’ bookbags or with report cards.

NHCAN’s Jeffrey Kerekes (pictured) called the flyers “propaganda.” He accused the school system of “fearmongering” and pitting New Haveners against each other instead of working together to find ways to spend money efficiently.

“The Mayor is clearly attempting to pit families with school-age kids against other residents, who simply say we cannot afford exponentially increasing property taxes,” he said. Many of the taxpayers fighting the mayor’s budget have kids in the public school system, he said.

“How many more times can the Administration try this triangulation strategy of setting community groups against each other so as to avoid making tough decisions?” Kerekes asked in an open letter on the group’s website. He said the mayor tried that tactic last year, when closing senior centers and cutting library hours “became the focus of community discussion in a $600 million plus budget.” The year before that, he spurred community groups to support his budget by suggesting Stetson Library might have to be closed otherwise.

“When citizens ask their elected leaders to consider change, they demonize them,” Kerekes wrote.

Kerekes said his group is not “singling out” the Board of Education when it calls for a 10 percent cut across the board. NHCAN has not detailed specific cuts to the BOE budget. “In fact,” Kerekes noted, “the BOE budget was passed with ZERO public input.”

“It is an insult to the intellect of the voters to engage in such diversionary and us versus them tactics,” Kerekes wrote. “NHCAN is all for effective spending on Education with accountability and performance based budgeting. It dodges intelligent debate to request citizen input and then attempts to use good faith inputs from groups such as ours to demonize those offering inputs.”

King (pictured) said the district isn’t trying to demonize anyone.

“I wouldn’t say that we’re pitting parents against New Haven CAN,” she said. “We’re defending and standing up for our budget.”

“We have a lot at stake,” King said.

A 10 percent cut would mean laying off 300 teachers, she said. “We’d have to dramatically cut back on arts and music, after-school programs, and paraprofessionals.” And most important, she said, the district would not be able to carry through its school reform goals, including working to boost scores with the seven pilot schools.

“We absolutely are not going to be able to do it if we take a 10 percent cut,” she said. “It’s going to be a major roadblock to being able to look forward to school change.”

She added that the school board took a zero-percent increase last year, and in past years, contractually required expenses have been rising faster than the budget has increased.

King said parents became active on this issue after Mayor John DeStefano, Jr. presented his budget at a meeting of the citywide PTO on April 1. He told them that NHCAN wants to see 10 percent cuts across the board. She said a group of parents decided to rally other parents to protect the budget.

In past budget presentations, the mayor has repeatedly couched any attempt to decrease the budget—including getting rid of his $50 million parking meter monetization deal—as an impediment to school change.

Mary Rosario, co-leader of the citywide PTO, is part of a handful of parents who took the lead in organizing the defense of the budget.

She sent out an email on Friday to the nearly 100 members of the citywide PTO. She asked them to attend tonight’s rally, pass out flyers, speak at the public hearing, and “Bring Signs! (We Want School Change; Save our Schools; Don’t Cut Our Schools, or whatever creative slogan you can think of).” She attached the above-mentioned flyer and this budget fact sheet.

[...]

Meanwhile, budget watchdogs continued their own a last-minute push to get people out to the hearing.

In a Facebook message Tuesday, Rebecca Turcio geared her rallying call toward struggling taxpayers.

“Want to know we are fighting so hard? Because this is just the start of this,” she wrote, linking to an Independent report that the city initiated foreclosure on 99 homes in the past year.

“Are you or do you know anyone that is barely paying [their] rents or mortgages?” she asked.

“THIS IS THE LAST meeting for your voice to be heard!,” reads a note on that page. “We need everyone to come to this with friends and family and [their] community! If we do not make a stand, the budget may go through as is. If you can afford the extra Property tax or rent increase then you do not need to come. But if you can not afford it YOU MUST MAKE THIS FINAL STAND!”

In following the education budget crisis in Danbury, over the last couple of months, there has been a significant increase in terms of the number of residents in opposition to the board's proposals. If organizing efforts in New Haven are any indication of things to come, then expect the number of residents in opposition to teacher layoffs and program cuts to increase.

The Love List

I'm loving...

- these cookies

- this four-to booth birthday
- this wall-hanging tack
- this mix of patterns


- these drying racks

and this movie trailer



Happy Friday!

One week and still no comment from Boughton on firefighter lawsuit settlement

Too busy running for governor to answer questions?

It's been one week since the News-Times broke the news that the city of Danbury agreed to settle lawsuit that will cost taxpayers a MIND BLOWING 450,000 (minus legal fees and other goodies) in which the following allegations were made by the plaintiffs:

The lawsuit states that Michael Finn Jr., the son of Civil Service Commission chairman Michael Finn Sr., was hired by the department in February 2008. He was originally ranked 108th on the list of candidates, according to the filing.

The attorney for the plaintiffs added that Patrick Heron was hired by the department in March 2007 and was related by an "impending marriage" to former Fire Chief and current Common Council member Phil Curran. Heron was originally ranked 40th on the candidate list.

In reaching the settlement, the following statement was made by the city's legal department:

"In defending the litigation, the city of Danbury did discover that some administrative errors were made in compiling that list," a statement released Wednesday on the settlement said.

This is what the mayor stated when the suit was filed:

We will continue to categorically reject the allegations made in the complaint and defend our positions," Boughton said. "I have faith in our process and I have faith in the people we hired.

Now that the city has ADMITTED to mistakes, lets take a look at what Boughton had to say about the matter now:

Mayor Mark Boughton could not be reached for comment Wednesday despite several attempts.

While Dirk Perrefort was unable to get Boughton to comment on the matter, the last honest man has been quoted in several articles since the publication of the settlement. That being said, and in light of the fact that the taxpayers of this city are on the hook for 450,000 due to someone's screw-up, these questions are still unanswered:

• If the city admitted wrongdoing, then who in particular screwed up?



• How is the hiring process being fix?



• Are the same people who screwed things up, now the same ones responsible for fixing the system?


• What about this part of the plaintiff's complaint.
  

  The lawsuit states that Michael Finn Jr., the son of Civil Service Commission chairman Michael Finn Sr., was hired by the department in February 2008. He was originally ranked 108th on the list of candidates, according to the filing.
  
  The attorney for the plaintiffs added that Patrick Heron was hired by the department in March 2007 and was related by an "impending marriage" to former Fire Chief and current Common Council member Phil Curran. Heron was originally ranked 40th on the candidate list.

  
  Was there nepotism involved in the hiring of the firefighters? Are the people responsible for the admitted wrongdoing still employed by the city?


Is Mike Finn Sr. still on the payroll at City Hall? If he's not on the payroll, then doesn't the city have an obligation to the public to come forward and explain why's he's been removed from his role at Civil Service?

What was current Former Fire Chief and currant City Councilman Phil Curran's involvement in the case? If the city's admittance of wrongdoing is in anyway connected to Curran, then shouldn't he be pressured to resign from the city council?


• Did the city's admittance of wrongdoing have anything to do with anything with the mayor's involvement in this case?

Remember, the heart of the lawsuit alleged that people at City Hall were involved in nepotism.



Instead of posing in front of the NBC camera shaking hands with his planted Republican operatives (like THE SAME Mike Finn Sr. in the above image whose name came up in the lawsuit), maybe Boughton can take a moment from his his fledgling gubernatorial campaign to answer some questions...and the News-Times has an obligation to do a follow-up on this important matter!

I wonder how many teacher's jobs could be saved with 450,000 dollars...

Fighting back against xenophobia

The push back against the anti-immigrant insanity in Arizona begins...

Anger mounted Thursday over an Arizona law cracking down on illegal immigration as a police officer filed one of the first lawsuits challenging the law and activists gathered outside an Arizona Diamondbacks game at Wrigley Field in Chicago, chanting "Boycott Arizona."

The lawsuit from 15-year Tucson police veteran Martin Escobar is one of two filed Thursday, less than a week after Republican Gov. Jan Brewer signed the law that's sparked fears it will lead to racial profiling despite the governor's vow that officers will be properly trained.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has said the federal government may challenge the law, which requires local and state law enforcement to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally, and makes it a state crime to be in the United States illegally.

Escobar, an overnight patrol officer in a heavily Latino area of Tucson, argues there's no way for officers to confirm people's immigration status without impeding investigations, and that the new law violates numerous constitutional rights.

Tucson police spokesman Sgt. Fabian Pacheco said Escobar is acting on his own, not on behalf of the department.

The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders also filed a lawsuit Thursday, and is seeking an injunction preventing authorities from enforcing the law. The group argues federal law pre-empts state regulation of national borders, and that Arizona's law violates due process rights by letting police detain suspected illegal immigrants before they're convicted.

"Mexican-Americans are not going to take this lying down," singer Linda Ronstadt, a Tucson native, said at a state Capitol news conference on another lawsuit planned by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Immigration Law Center.

Drink some high octane coffee, and read some St. Anselm, and your brain excretes a blog post against your will

The truth, past and future

Consider this passage (from Anselm) on the truth of statements:

Let him who can, think of a time when the following began to be true, or when it was not true, namely, that something was in the future to be: or let him think of a time when the following will cease to be true, namely, that something will have been in the past. But if neither of these two suppositions can be conceived, and if they cannot be true without truth, it is impossible even to think that truth have a beginning or an end. Moreover, if truth had a beginning, or if it will have an end, it was then true before truth began that there was no truth; and after truth will have ceased to be, it will be true that there will be no truth. But nothing can be true without truth; and there will be truth after truth will have ceased to be; which is utterly inconsistent. Whether, then, truth be said to have, or whether it be understood not to have, beginning or end, truth can be limited by no beginning or end.

This passage has two succinct and tightly formulated arguments, and it makes a very interesting point about truth. Let’s unpack it a bit:

It helps to use particular examples. That is what Anselm is asking us to do. So, who are we to refuse? Here are two.

Our first example: My continued life as of 12-24-2011. (Hey I’m an optimist, and take my simvastatin). Let’s render this ‘thing to be’ as a statement:

1. SB will be alive on 12-24-2011.

Suppose that statement is now true. The fact to which this statement refers, (my biological functioning at the given date) is looked at, and described from a future regarding perspective, that is; from the point of view of someone ‘observing’ from today toward that happy future.

Now a second example, an example of something ‘that will have been in the past’ using the same date:

From the ‘retrospective perspective (looking back from 2011)’:

2. SB was alive in 1970.

Anselm asks us to consider the first statement with this question in mind: Is it possible that the statement began to be true at some time? Is it possible that the statement “SB will be alive on 12-24-2011” started to be true at some time? To be clear, this is a question about the actual world we live in, not some parallel possible world. So, is it possible, in this world or universe that we actually live in, that the statement concerning my living in 2011 began to be true at some point in time, and was not true, but was either false, or neither true nor false , before that point in time?

Well, suppose it did begin to be true, let’s say, on my birthday or on 12-24-11 itself. Well, the day before that event, it would have been false (or neither true nor false) to say that I would be alive on 12-24-11. On and after my birthday (or 12-24-11), it would be true to say this. One might think here that we have successfully done what Anselm considers impossible. But there is a slippery ambiguity here that easily beguiles and confuses.

It is true that I, a human being, began to exist on my birthday, but it does not follow that a statement to that effect began to be true on that day. A statement describing my birth would have been true before that day simply by virtue of the fact that it correctly described what was then in the future. Similarly, my being alive on 12-24-11 makes it the case that the future looking statement number 1 to that effect is also now true.

Long before I existed, that statement was true, because it accurately described the future (a future that contained my birth, and a bit later, my living on 12-24-11). Once again, we must keep squarely in mind that the statement Anselm is having us consider is a statement that is “world indexed” that is a fancy way of saying that it refers us to this universe we live in, not some other possible universe. It refers to the actual universe, that super big immense thingamabob we are all in, and which does include me as an insignificant speck. By our assumption, statement 1 is now true, and has been true since the big bang even though for much of cosmic history, no one would have had a clue of its existence or any good reason to believe the statement was true, or would turn out true.

Think of a similar statement considering the universe as a whole; that the universe will end up as a cold haze of elementary particles. Right now, we are not in a position to tell if this is in fact what will happen. Yet, if it is going to happen, then any statement we make today that describes that unhappy state of affairs is now true. Things are no different with statement 1.

In short, there are two different readings of an “is it possible that X..?” question. One reading translates roughly to “is there a possible world where X is the case?” The other reading translates roughly to “is it possible in this world that X is the case?” Anselm is having us consider the latter sort of question with regard to the truth of statement number 1.

Much the same can be said for the question regarding the truth of statement number 2, but it is in a way easier for us to grasp, because number 2 refers to the past: Is it possible, in this world that statement #2 would at some future date cease to be true? Clearly, the answer is ‘no’. What’s done is done, set in stone, fixed, (feel free to evoke your own cliché). One is reminded of a standard example with regard to divine omnipotence: Even God cannot make it the case that God never existed, and by extension, cannot make it the case that a statement saying that God existed in the past is false.

Anselm summarizes his position by saying that truth has no beginning or end. He then goes on to a second argument that switches focus. It has us focus on truth itself, not so much the truth of individual statements. If you were to imagine that truth itself came into being at some point in time, then it would be true to say that before that time truth did not exist. But, if it is true to say something, then truth exists. But this contradicts the initial assumption that truth did not exist at that time. So, that assumption must be false, and truth did not start to exist at any time in the past and in fact has always been.

All of this leads one into the briar patch of getting clear about what sorts of necessary truths are being discussed in cases like this. Considering ‘future truths’ we can ask; since all true statements about the future must necessarily be true in order to be true statements about the future, does it follow that all future truths are necessary truths?

There is a subtle and easy to miss ambiguity of scope in this question, it’s tryin’ to slip one by ya. It is a necessary truth that all future truths are truths (this is simply definitional). If they weren’t truths then...well...they wouldn’t be truths. No duh. And they obviously couldn’t then go on to be future truths.

But, it is not the case that all those states of affairs that are described by statements that describe future truths are themselves things that had to be, things that are themselves necessarily true. While it is necessarily true that a true statement describing me as alive in 2011 is true, it is not necessarily true that I will be alive in 2011 (darn!) I could have succumbed to my genetic predisposition to heart disease despite simvastatin, or I could be hit by a car, a meteor a train, or etc...

A last interesting briar patch related to these sorts of questions: Given that it is now true that I will drink two cups of espresso on 12-24-2011, do I really have any sort of choice in the matter? Am I freely choosing to do so? One can in fact ask this question about every single choice one makes in the future. Right now there is an immense set of true statements about your future actions. In fact, the set is exhaustive. True, you are not now familiar with most of these choices, and your decisions, yet, all those truths are ‘out there lurking’ and just waiting to come into actuality. So, are you ever really free at all?

City Council Dems to BOE and School Superintendent: "Find more budget cuts, avoid teacher layoffs"

Raising concerns with the proposed school program cuts, yesterday, a letter drafted by the City Council Democratic Caucus was sent to the members of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools.

Stating that "the proposed cuts to the classroom and student programs are unnecessary to balance the board of education budget," the letter list a number of suggestions to achieve cost savings in order to lesson the impact to the students, which starts with administrator concessions.

While the superintendent, his cabinet staff and school administrators demand raises, other teachers and administrators have stated both privately and publicly that they will voluntarily giveback or accept freezes of previously promised salary increases in order to print teacher layoffs and protect the delivery of services to our students. This seems to contradict statements by the Superintendent and BOE to City Council members that teachers simply were not willing to negotiate contract concessions in order to protect our students. In fact last year teachers took a pay freeze for the first half of the year and only a half percent raise for the remainder of the year. however, last year the school administrators union fought the BOE and were given raises, some as high as nine percent. And this year the administrators have not agreed to make concessions.

The letter also states a number of suggestions raised to them by concerned teachers, parents and administrators.

• Having media specialists work in at leadst two buildings as other specialists do. This would eliminate at least seven positions saving approx. 300,000 without reducing services. Other specialists such as those in gym and art already work two schools.


• A the High School there is a principal, associate principal, and four assistant principals totaling in excess of 650,000 in salaries. Eliminating one or two positions would save hundreds of thousands of dollars over five years.


• Substitute teachers are currently paid a full day per diem salary even for a half day of work and instead should be paid only for the amount of time they actually work.


• Para-professionals should work two or three days a week.


• at least one member of The Danbury Enhancement Collaboration Committee (TDEC) works half day and get paid a teacher's salary to do TDEC paperwork instead of covering another school which we understand had to hire another math specialist. TDEC paperwork should not take away from substantive instruction time.


• Each elementary school has a reading specialist/coach, and depending on how they are utilized by the principal they may have little to no contact with students often serving as a coach to teachers. Math specialists are divided half time between schools therefore it would seem logical that elementary school reading specialists could cover two schools as is already done at the middle school level

Finally, the letter addressed concerns raised by residents regarding the closing of Mill Ridge Intermediate School.

In addition to the budget issues many in ur community are concerned with the proposed closing of Mill Ridge Intermediate School (MRI) and busing of fourth and fifth grade students to King Street Intermediate while putting third grade students in Mill Ridge Primary. According to school personnel we spoke with, this decision was made by a committee comprised of carefully selected administrators, BOE members, and parents, but no teachers were invited to participate and they want answers.

Teachers and parents have stated that the proposed closing and busing of students will be a detriment to students and the Mill Ridge community at large. We recognize that the closing the achievement gap is a primary concern of all of the educators and maintaining MRI as a community school is necessary to do so. MRI is part of the neighborhood community providing open family nights for families to come read and ask questions about school and schoolwork as well as after school tutoring that for many children is only possible because they can walk home.

Parents of students at MRI and King Street School are concerned with a lack of answers to the questions they have posed to the Superintendent. The proposed busing would combine nine King Street classes with eight Mil Ridge classes leaving little room to grow. With seventeen classrooms filled they are concerned with the availability of rooms for other classes such as art, music, and special education. Other concerns include bus routes, length of rides, and student pick up locations. Parents have said that the ambiguous and changing responses are unacceptable. They are not paying taxes to send their children on a long bus ride, to an overcrowded school that cannot meet their needs

This morning, I interviewed city council Minority Leader Tom Saadi and talked to him about the letter sent by members of the Democratic caucus.









You can read the letter addressed to the Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools below:

Finds At The Fair

I blame it on the mommy brain.

1. Remember our plans to go to the antique fair last weekend? 80km into our road trip I realized that I HAD THE WRONG WEEKEND. Oy.

2. Tara (you must visit her blog and see her lovely home!) had mentioned in the comments of my post that she frequents Southworks Antiques in Cambridge. Rather than turn around, we decided to keep driving and check it out. HandyMan, Chloe and I had visited Cambridge last summer after hearing about a great antique mall, but we couldn't find it. All we found was this outlet mall, filled with shoe stores, discount linen shops, and a place that sells socks and only socks. So we googled the place Tara mentioned (gotta love the iPhone) and ended up here: Yes, its the SAME PLACE we were at last summer. How we could miss the entrance and the 30,000 sq ft antique mall upstairs is beyond me!

But maybe things were supposed to turn out this way because we found a few little things, like these old yardsticks:

My plan is to stack them one atop the other and affix them to a wall somewhere, maybe in the new basement, and mark Chloe's height each year.

We also found this nice mail slot:

HandyMan will strip all the paint off of it, paint it black, and replace this ugly rusting thing:
I think this used to be the milk door, where fresh bottles of milk were dropped off. Its been boarded up on the outside and a mailslot added but on the inside, we still have a little door we open to access the mail. HandyMan will probably clean up the exterior while he's at it. Our poor mailman has suffered looking at this thing long enough.

HatCityBLOG LIVE VIDEO STREAM: Board Of Education budget public hearing

From Roger's Park, here's live video of the board of education's budget public hearing.

UPDATE: The public hearing is over. The following is the recorded stream. The higher quality video footage will be posted soon.

HatCityBLOG VIDEO: Residents speak out against proposed education budget allocation

Residents filled the City Council chambers on Monday night and spoke out in opposition to
the city budget allocation to education.
City Hall 04.19.10. Photo by ctblogger

In advance of this evening's Board of Education public hearing, here's a sampling of what you might hear tonight.

The concerns expressed in the following videoclip are from the city council's budget public hearing earlier this month.



NOTE: I will be providing a LIVE VIDEO STREAM of tonight's public hearing starting at 6:15 PM.

You couldn't find any REAL people to shake your hand?

Danbury's last honest man gets away with misleading the public again...

Notwithstanding the utter absurdity in the comments made by Danbury's last honest man during his appearance on the Today show (TRUST ME, I'll deal with the whopper of misleading statements Mark told the TODAY show at a later point), what's more laughable are the number of local GOP operatives Boughton planted in the segment.

Lets have some fun at the mayor's expense...

Here's snapshots of Boughton interacting with members of the public at Elmer's Diner..take note of the people labeled in red.




Now, since this site is read by many insiders, and although I already know the answers, would anyone like to take a stab and name the people Boughton is interacting with in the screenshots? Leave your answers in the comments and I'll post the results later...

Music organizer fed up with "un-friendly" City Hall

In light of the last honest man's restrictive city regulations that resulted in the closing of another establishment on Ives Street, here's another situation where people at City Hall are accused of being business un-friendly.

Amanda Bloom of the Mercurial wrote a great piece regarding the increased frustration among organizers of independent music venues when it comes to working with city officials.

In two years, Anthony Yacobellis' Safe To Swim(STS) festival brought 77 bands to Danbury over the span of two weekends, most of them performing on the Danbury Green at no charge to the public. Though he saw only growth in crowds, sponsorship and vendors in the festival's second year, Yacobellis has decided to forego a third STS on the Green. The reason? Over $4,000 in unexpected costs and and an overwhelming frustration with the city.

That $4000 comes on top of the money Yacobellis invested in both years of the event, including paying the bands–every single one. STS was born as a celebration of the music that Yacobellis showcases at Cousin Larry's with his almost nightly Sub Rosa Party. One of the foundations of Sub Rosa is a promise to take care of the artist, and the name for STS came from the concept of "no sharks".

"Ironically, it's not safe to swim for me," Yacobellis said in a phone interview. "I got thrown under the bus."

Yacobellis, a 34-year-old schoolteacher by day, had a stage built to supplement the bandshell on the Green for the first STS in 2008. He was under the impression that the stage had been approved after complying with specifications supplied by the Building Department, but he was informed the week of STS that his proposal had failed. According to Yacobellis, the Building Department denied making any edits to his blueprints and put the blame on Andrea Gartner, the manager of CityCenter Danbury, who was acting as Yacobellis' liaison with various city departments. The stage had already been paid for and built at this point, but Yacobellis had no choice but to rent another one for almost $1000.

Later on, the Building Department came to realize that they had indeed made an error. They invited Yacobellis down to the office to figure out what went wrong, and it came down to one employee's mistake. "They yelled at him in front of me," Yacobellis said. "They demeaned him ."

The following year, Gartner suggested that they move the STS date from July to Labor Day weekend, thereby keeping CityCenter's Summer Concert Series in tact and making Danbury a holiday weekend destination. Moving the date also bumped STS from the CityCenter event bracket, eliminating the complimentary police security that goes along with CityCenter events. Yacobellis found himself signing an invoice quoting police security at $3400. He had paid $800 the previous year.

"The festival only grew in the second year," he said. "and I lost more money than the first year. And not from my mistakes."

There were other snafus too. Yacobellis kept all of the paperwork from year one and resubmitted all of the forms with a different date. Initially, the Building Department couldn't locate his file, and during the actual festival, one of the vendors was hassled by the Health Department for selling prepackaged food and drinks with a peddler's license.

"No one can do their job," Yacobellis said. "For an event like this, you have to do X, Y and Z. X doesn't know Z, Z hates X and Y is dependent on Z. I did my job; I can't be expected to do the Building Department's job or the Police Department's job."

Here Yacobellis and Gartner are of the same mind. Both see a minimal level of cooperation throughout the city and cite it as the main reason for a subpar downtown. Only recently, Gartner had to find her own way to hang the Connecticut Film Festival banners from the CityCenter office, though the city provided the service for the library directly across the street

"People have siloed themselves," Gartner said in an interview. "It's individual property owners acting on their own behalf. With a concerted effort, [Danbury] could really be something."

Gartner referred to the STS police bill as an oversight on her part. "I think it's forgivable," she said. "I had only been on the job for two years at that point." For the third festival, she offered to wrap STS into the CityCenter series, which would incorporate some police coverage and grant more leeway with permits. Yacobellis declined.

Here Yacobellis and Gartner are of the same mind. Both see a minimal level of cooperation throughout the city and cite it as the main reason for a subpar downtown. Only recently, Gartner had to find her own way to hang the Connecticut Film Festival banners from the CityCenter office, though the city provided the service for the library directly across the street

"People have siloed themselves," Gartner said in an interview. "It's individual property owners acting on their own behalf. With a concerted effort, [Danbury] could really be something."

Gartner referred to the STS police bill as an oversight on her part. "I think it's forgivable," she said. "I had only been on the job for two years at that point." For the third festival, she offered to wrap STS into the CityCenter series, which would incorporate some police coverage and grant more leeway with permits. Yacobellis declined.

If you ever wondered why bar and restaurants seemed to have increase in popularity on Mill Plain Road while Ives Street looks like a deserted island, this article should give you a clue.

I highly encourage you to read the rest of Bloom's write-up over at the Mercurial website.

Calling out birthers on their B.S. is too easy

This video is required viewing for those interested in exposing "birthers" as morons.

Last week, Anderson Cooper interviewed right wingnut Arizona Rep. Cecil Ash, one of the key legislators responsible for that state's "Birther's Bill" that requires candidates for federal office to show proof of citizenship.

...the video speaks for itself.

CT 03: Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro comments on municipality cuts to education

With the prospect of 2,000 teachers in Connecticut losing their jobs, during a recent bloggers meeting with Rosa DeLauro, I asked the congresswoman from the third district about if there were any plans in the works at the congressional level to assist school boards across the state.



For more information on the Keep Our Educators Working Act, click here (pdf).

I'll have more clips from the bloggers meeting with Congresswoman DeLauro later.

John Stewart hammers Arizona xenophobia

The videoclip speaks for itself.

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What's this? We want to renovate the basement?? Oh boy.

Boughton can't be reached for comment?!?

Due to additional information provided to me which is absent in Dirk Perrefort's GOD-AWFUL article regarding this case, this post is bumped to the top. More details (and new questions) in this case will be provided soon.


Too busy running for governor to answer questions?

As residents of Danbury learn that they just coughed up a mind-blowing 450,000 dollars to settle an embarrassing lawsuit, lets go back in time and take a look at the allegations filed by the plaintiffs.

Allegations that city officials failed to follow their own rules when hiring firefighters could result in nearly 40 of the city's fire-fighting staff -- almost a third of the 118-member department -- losing their jobs.

[...]

The lawsuit claims that an examination held for firefighter applicants in 2005 was invalid because the city's rules weren't followed. As a result, according to Maurer, all of the firefighters hired from that examination could lose their jobs.

Maurer filed the lawsuit in 2007 after several applicants complained that they were passed over for positions even though they scored better than some of the firefighters who were eventually hired.

[...]

Maurer said the test, which was held in August 2005, is invalid for several reasons, including that Mayor Mark Boughton never formally filed a "request for personnel" with the Civil Service Commission before the exam was scheduled.

There were other procedures as required by city ordinance that also weren't followed, she said.

Maurer said the Common Council appointed firefighters at the mayor's request in October 2005 before an official list of candidates had been approved by the commission. She added that a short list of the six top candidates, typically sent to the mayor to select appointees from, was never created.

According to city records, the commission approved of a candidate list on Oct. 19, 2005 -- more than one week after the Common Council appointed six firefighters at Boughton's request on Oct. 4, 2005.

Maurer said there were also firefighters appointed in February 2008, months after the list had expired in October 2007.

Even more damaging were these allegations...

The lawsuit also alleges that several firefighters were hired because of their relationship to people in positions of authority.

The lawsuit states that Michael Finn Jr., the son of Civil Service Commission chairman Michael Finn Sr., was hired by the department in February 2008. He was originally ranked 108th on the list of candidates, according to the filing.

The attorney for the plaintiffs added that Patrick Heron was hired by the department in March 2007 and was related by an "impending marriage" to former Fire Chief and current Common Council member Phil Curran. Heron was originally ranked 40th on the candidate list.

Here's what the Danbury's last honest man had to say about the allegations back in 2009.

We will continue to categorically reject the allegations made in the complaint and defend our positions," Boughton said. "I have faith in our process and I have faith in the people we hired.

Well, that was then, and this is now...

The city has agreed to pay out $450,000 and hire two men as firefighters as part of a settlement reached in a three-year-old lawsuit.

The five men who filed the suit claimed they were passed over for positions in the city's fire department because of mistakes that were made in the city's civil service program when an eligibility list was created in 2005.

"In defending the litigation, the city of Danbury did discover that some administrative errors were made in compiling that list," a statement released Wednesday on the settlement said.

Although the judge ruled back in Feb that there wasn't enough evidence to support some of the counts in the plaintiff's lawsuit, nonetheless, the fact that the city settled AND admitted to wrongdoing should trouble residents of Danbury who are now on the hook for the 450,000 price tab.

And what about our mayor who said that t6he city "categorically reject the allegations made in the complaint and defend our positions." Unfortunately, I guess our mayor is too busy running across the state running for governor to answer any questions from the media regarding why the city decided to settle as opposed to "defend our positions."

Mayor Mark Boughton could not be reached for comment Wednesday despite several attempts.

In honor of the last honest man's incognito status, lets go back in time and see what else Boughton said about the lawsuit when he was confronted about the case...


Someone at city hall just cost the people of Danbury 450,000 dollars and Boughton is too busy to answer Dirk Perrefort's call to his cell phone?!?

That being said, because of the high degree of allegations in this lawsuit that are still unanswered, the given the fact that the city has admitted to "wrongdoing" without stating any specifics, someone should remind Perrefort that as a reproter, he has a responsibility to go beyond recycling words in a simple press release and inform the public why they're on the hook for this settlement. While we're at it, someone should explain to our full-time candidate for governor that, as the chief elected official in Danbury, he has an obligation to the public to answer questions regarding this lawsuit, not just ignore his phone.

Here's a small list of questions that the News-Times' Perrefort failed to ask in his article, which should be of significance to taxpayers who have to foot the bill for someone's negligence:

• If the city admitted wrongdoing, then who in particular screwed up?



• How is the hiring process being fix?



• Are the same people who screwed things up, now the same ones responsible for fixing the system?


• What about this part of the plaintiff's complaint.
  

  The lawsuit states that Michael Finn Jr., the son of Civil Service Commission chairman Michael Finn Sr., was hired by the department in February 2008. He was originally ranked 108th on the list of candidates, according to the filing.
  
  The attorney for the plaintiffs added that Patrick Heron was hired by the department in March 2007 and was related by an "impending marriage" to former Fire Chief and current Common Council member Phil Curran. Heron was originally ranked 40th on the candidate list.

  
  Was there nepotism involved in the hiring of the firefighters? Are the people responsible for the admitted wrongdoing still employed by the city?


Is Mike Finn Sr. still on the payroll at City Hall? If he's not on the payroll, then doesn't the city have an obligation to the public to come forward and explain why's he's been removed from his role at Civil Service?

What was current Former Fire Chief and currant City Councilman Phil Curran's involvement in the case? If the city's admittance of wrongdoing is in anyway connected to Curran, then shouldn't he be pressured to resign from the city council?


• Did the city's admittance of wrongdoing have anything to do with anything with the mayor's involvement in this case?

Remember, WE the taxpayers are forking over 450,000 DOLLARS because someone screwed up. Boughton is the person who gave his blessing to this settlement and has a responsibility to take a moment from his fledgling gubernatorial campaign to answer questions.

...he is the mayor right?

Someone should remind Boughton that as MAYOR the buck stops with him; therefore he has a responsibility to inform the public regarding the numerous allegations raised in this lawsuit that are still unanswered. We're only talking about 450,000 DOLLARS (minus legal fees and other goodies). In light of the mayor nickel-and-diming the education portion of the budget, I wonder who many teachers jobs could be saved with 450,000 dollars.

Unfortunately, unlike the high standard of investigative journalism, which is commonplace in such papers as the Hartford Courant, in Danbury, we're stuck with reporters like Perrefort who feel that when it comes to reporting about the mayor, a simple regurgitation of a vague press release is more than sufficient.

Ugh!

Wasn't That A Party!

Chloe's party was great fun last weekend. I think the adults enjoyed all the pretty food and the kids liked the dress up booth. Here's some eye candy for you all (be warned - these pics are sweet sweet sweet!).

The food was fit for our tea party... tea sandwiches, blueberry scones, light-as-air macarons, quiches & salads & wraps, bakerella cake pops, my fave Mariage Freres tea, and of course cupcakes!


Pink & green was the decor theme. I used some Martha Stewart paper (and Chloe's silhouette) to make cupcake toppers, some no-sew flag bunting, and a birthday sign. I also took some of those vintage doilies from Mama HandyMan and dyed them pink.


And what's a party without fun for the kiddies? They had their own little buffet complete with mini treats and a mini tea cups! They played games like Pin The Lid On The Teapot and had fun with the dress-up booth (everyone wanted to sit on the little throne).


And when all was said and done, we were left with full tummies, happy parents, and one tired little girl. Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!

LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Community Forum 04.21.10 broadcast

LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Progressive Soup 04.21.10 broadcast

LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Ideas at Work and Beyond 04.22.10

NOTE: With the start of the Connecticut Film Festival around the corner, I invited the organizers of the event on the local access show Ideas at Work and Beyond.

LOCAL ACCESS VIDEO: Bethel Today 04.20.10 broadcast

GUEST: First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker
TOPIC: Bethel 2010-11 Budget

City Council Minority Leader Tom Saadi speaks out on public reaction to education budget proposals

Residents filled the City Council chambers on Monday night and spoke out in opposition to
the city budget allocation to education.
City Hall 04.19.10. Photo by ctblogger

With the prospect of drastic cuts to the city's education program, for over two hours on Monday, residents filled the City Council chambers during the budget public hearing and spoke out in opposition to the Mayor Mark Boughton's school budget allocation as well as the Board of Education's proposals.

After the hearing, I had a chance to talk to City Council Minority Leader Tom Saadi and get his opinion on what he heard from residents regarding the proposed budget allocation to education.



I'll post video highlights from the public hearing soon.

---

2009 BUDGET VIDEO FLASHBACK: Teachers give back while two principals receive a NINE percent raise

Senator Dodd stands up for Connecticut teachers

In response to today's Hartford Courant article on the possibility of 2,000 teachers receiving pick slips, Senator Chris Dodd issued the following statement:

"An investment in teachers is not only an investment in a quality education for all of Connecticut's children, but also an investment in our state's future prosperity," said Dodd. "Laying off teachers would create a ripple effect that could lead to program cuts and larger class sizes, which means less individual focus and teacher attention for all of our state's students."

That's why, in order to save our educators' jobs and to continue to strengthen Connecticut's school system, I've joined my colleagues to introduce the Keep Our Educators Working Act. This critical bill would provide for a $23 billion jobs fund to keep our teachers in the classroom-and build a better future for all of our children."

The Keep Our Educators Working Act would fund compensation, benefits, and other expenses necessary to retain existing employees, and for the hiring of new employees, in order to provide early childhood, elementary, secondary, or postsecondary educational and related services. Additionally, it would support on-the-job training activities for education-related careers.

Senator Dodd is a cosponsor of the Keep Our Educators Working Act, a bill that would create a fund which would be used to help save counselors, teachers, and principals jobs. Learn more about the bill by clicking here (pdf).

Obama: Arizona anti-immigration bill threatens to 'undermine basic notions of fairness'

So true.

President Obama spoke out against a tough new Arizona immigration bill this morning, and said it was an example of why the federal government has to act on immigration reform.

"Our failure to act responsibly at the federal level will only open the door to irresponsibility by others," Obama said. "That includes, for example the recent efforts in Arizona, which threaten to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans."

Speaking at a White House naturalization ceremony for active duty service members, Obama said "I've instructed members of my administration to closely monitor the situation and to closely examine the civil rights and other implications of this legislation."

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) has until tomorrow to decide whether to sign or veto a bill that would require police officers to question people about their immigration status if there was reason to believe they're not here legally.

Many on the left -- including Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) -- have suggested that the bill is racist, and will lead to racial profiling.

Hopefully, this is a signal that the President will move on the business of immigration reform sooner than later...

Statewide teacher layoffs could reach 2000

As the proposed cuts to the city's education budget receives more media attention, Danbury isn't the only municipality that's struggling with cuts to education programs. The Hartford Courant's Grace Merritt examines the issue of teacher layoffs on a statewide level.

About 2,000 teaching jobs statewide are set to be eliminated in June as school boards resort to layoffs to cut expenses during difficult budget deliberations.

"This is absolutely the worst I've seen in my tenure," said John Yrchik, executive director of the Connecticut Education Association, the largest statewide teachers' union. "Even teachers who have lived through earlier rounds of layoffs have not seen anything quite like this."

With their principal funding sources — state and local taxes — hammered by the recession, school boards have given pink slips to hundreds of teachers as they look to reduce payroll, close schools, eliminate language instruction and, in some cases, consider switching to a four-day school week to make ends meet, superintendents said.

Eliminating so many teaching jobs will almost certainly result in program cuts and slightly larger class sizes in many school systems next year. Connecticut is following a national trend as an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 teaching positions are being considered for elimination.

"These are much tougher years. People are saying this is the worst recession since the Depression, and I think we're seeing the impact of that on education and a number of other areas, as well," said Joe Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

[...]

In Connecticut, one of the hardest-hit communities is Norwich, which has given layoff notices to 71 certified staff members.

One of them is Dave Plotkin, who teaches eighth-grade science at Teachers' Memorial Middle School in Norwich. Plotkin, who has been teaching for four years, said he wasn't surprised to get a layoff notice, but remains optimistic, partly because his science specialty remains in demand.

"We have stayed upbeat about it," he said. "It's always in the back of your mind, but you don't let it affect the way you teach."

Norwich Superintendent Abby I. Dolliver said that she hopes to reduce the number of layoffs before school opens next fall, but that budget constraints have already forced her to propose closing two schools and cutting middle school language instruction and sports to meet her zero-increase budget.

"It's heartbreaking," Dolliver said. "It's just going to look different next year."

State Sen. Thomas Gaffey, D-Meriden, Senate chairman of the legislature's education committee, said he is concerned about the impact of teacher layoffs.

"The consequence will be increased class size, which is detrimental to the learning process," Gaffey said. "It's unfortunate that we're living in the times we are and are still gripped by the recession very tightly."

Wallingford is cutting 40 positions, including 15 elementary school teachers, which will add two or three more students per class. Danbury will cut 30 teaching jobs on top of many other budget cuts.

"We're reducing and reducing. We're at a tipping point in many ways," said Danbury Superintendent Sal Pascarella. "Everybody's thinking creatively. It's not what anybody wants to do. It's not like a business where you can shorten your hours."

[...]


"We're just really trying to think: How do we put teachers in classrooms?" Pascarella said. "Can the state really afford 180 days during these economic times? We're just all concerned about the burden on municipalities."

The Connecticut Association of Urban Superintendents has even floated the idea of scaling back to a four-day school week to save energy costs, although the group realizes that the idea is a long shot and has its shortcomings, especially in the eyes of working parents.

"The reality is that many parents count on school as a place for their kids to be," said New London Superintendent Nicholas A. Fischer, a member of the association. "This is not school systems trying to wreak havoc. We, as a state, are trying to come to grips with what people want. You can't keep saying 'no new taxes' and expect the quality of services to improve."

Some teachers' union officials believe that it is too early to project exact numbers of job losses, but they acknowledge that the threatened job and other budget cuts are anxiety-provoking.

"It goes beyond the loss of teaching jobs. It really has affected the tenor of bargaining and creation of budgets," Yrchik said. "It's affected decisions about educational programs and availability of resources. Whether a teacher's job is threatened or not, the economic conditions have filtered through the life of the school."

While schools grapple with the budget crisis, they acknowledge that their real worry is the 2011-12 fiscal year. At that point, Connecticut will lose $271 million in stimulus money that the federal government has pumped into the state in each of the past two years.

"They tell us that the next 18 months is just a little storm we're dealing with. Next year is going to be a tsunami," Pascarella said.

Let's Go To The Fair!

The Antique fair, that is. Its that time of the year when we pack up the kid and head out on a road trip to a small town in southern Ontario in search of vintage treasure. This weekend we're going to be a bit ambitious and try and visit Artefacts, of our favourite architectural salvage stores, and then head to the spring opening of the Aberfoyle Antique Market. We're on the lookout for a few things, bits of trim and filagree to dress up the antique doll bed and dresser Mama HandyMan gave us, a door plate for our old-style doorbell, and maybe a throw for the end of the bed. Even if we come home empty-handed, the hunt will be fun.

Anyone else headed to the fair this weekend?

Photo from Sarah's House 3; photo by Stacy Brandford

Yeh Lolly-Lolly Kya Hai?

My latest post over at sasti masti is a behemoth. but rather tasteful, and it foretells of a post coming soon here.

i would have posted it here, but the videos have to be embedded in a different way, and, well, fuck that.

Only in Bethel

He did what?!?

Police did not charge resident Daniel Gaita for hanging Revolutionary War-era flags on town property, but they have told him not to do it again without permission.

Gaita hung four flags at P.T. Barnum Square during the second weekend of April, including the Gadsden flag, which the state refused to hang at the Capitol that weekend because of its symbolic association with the Tea Party group.

The Bethel police confiscated Gaita's flags, which he had padlocked to the flag poles.

...wait, it gets better.

Gaita picked up the flags Monday at the police station.

"The case is closed," Gaita said Wednesday. "I was told they could not find any law that was violated."

Police Chief Jeff Finch said Wednesday that the police department did not charge Gaita for hanging the flags, but told him to get permission before hanging them again.

[...]

Knickerbocker said at the time that it was the fact that Gaita padlocked them on town property without permission that was not acceptable. Gaita said his phone number was on the padlocks, which he used because he did not want the flags stolen.

It's pretty remarkable that someone would think that it's acceptable to padlock their own flags on public property...but again, we're talking about Bethel.

Residents speak out against proposed cuts to education

As we approach the city council's vote on the allocations to the education budget, more people are voicing their objection to the proposed school cuts by the Board of Education.

Here's a sample of some of the comments of disapproval directed at the Board of Education at their meeting last Wednesday.

Black & White

Slowly, we've been spraypainting all the brass door knobs and hinges in the house a matte black (Krylon Satin Black). I like how it gives the white doors a little bit of pop.


I've just noticed that we have hits of black & white going on in our decor. Little black and white decals and signs here and there...


Its an old designer's trick, adding a bit of black in every room to ground a space and finish it off. Do you have bits of black in your home?