Was it a good year for West Hartford? Let's take a walk down memory lane and take a look. (And thanks to West Hartford News, The West Hartford Taxpayers Association, and other online archives.)
January 2009
West Hartford and other communities were still dealing with
Budget woes began to surface early on in the year with a looming 7% tax hike in the making. Then, in an unprecedented move, the Mayor and his Board of Education, Town Council and Town Managers offered a Town Forum to lay out the problems and discuss concerns.
School Superintendent, David Sklarz, was looking for input and ideas regarding school savings.
Additionally, within the West Hartford Public School system it was finally determined who would be the new Superintendent to replace the "retiring" Superintendent Sklarz: and that was Dr. Karen List.
Manager Ron Van Winkle was asked to prepare a 2009-10 budget with no increase in spending. Mayor Slifka hoped that the planned budget forum would be a chance for the community to indicate which sacrifices it was willing to make to reach that "hard goal." Attending the meeting were at least two dozen residents were very clear about which service they wouldn't part with, and they were the ones wearing "In Support of Full-Day Kindergarten" stickers on their lapels. Meanwhile, there was talk of union givebacks and other measures to cut spending.
Shovel ready, Obama stimulus money, jobs were identified.
Finally - WH-CTV was doing some wonderful things as they launched an online webstream, making town meetings and other interesting presentations available to more people. Kudos to them and their wonderful organization headed by Jennifer Evans.
February 2009
There was continued discussion and wrangling over the budget as the School Superintendent David P. Sklarz proposed a $126.9 million education budget that would raise spending by 2.87% and supposedly also keep school programs intact. About 23 full-time positions were proposed to be cut, but few that "directly affect the classroom".
Speed detection cameras were installed across town in West Hartford as a result of some federal money made available to the town.
There was more talk about Federal Stimulus Money programs for West Hartford and other communities.
March 2009
The budget numbers started coming down to a 5.6% increase instead of 7%.
March was a month fraught with more budget arguments resulting in pushback by the teachers union over the Mayor's demand for a ZERO increase in School Spending. Cuts in town services were being considered versus higher union wages. Full day kindergarten was still on the chopping block and scrutiny of the costs of Project Choice also seemed to be on the horizon. The Town was spending more money to educate out of town kids and getting very little compensation by the state. Sheff vs O'Neill lawsuit was fast becoming yet another expensive unfunded state mandate.
The Town was also making proposals to save money on energy costs.
It was also a month that saw a change in speaking rules at Town Council meetings. The section of the meeting which allows a town citizen to write in to speak for five minutes on a certain issue, was bumped to the end of the meeting which allows the town manager's report to be bumped up top during the meeting. In addition, the rules that allow the Mayor and Town Manager complete discretion over what is placed on the agenda were clarified to allow certain types of topics to not be placed on the agenda, with an appeals process put in place so that if four council members deem the topic necessary, it can be put back on. They also added a decorum provision that was supposedly more conducive to business. This was argued to be a measure made in response to some particularly annoying and troublesome members of the community who had continued to attend meetings and be disruptive.
April 2009
Parking meters in West Hartford began to take payment via cards.
Faith Kilburn lost her legal challenge to keep her 18 shih tzu dogs.
More restaurants filed permits for outdoor eating.
There was an MDC water advisory in West Hartford as microscopic creatures were found to be floating around in our water. (YUCK!)
And of course the budget still was a main conversation throughout the month, and finally the Town approved a budget that was 0.3% decrease in spending over last year - although it featured a slight increase in taxes. Taxes were to increase by 1.5 percent to make up for a nearly $6 million projected drop in non-property tax revenue.
May 2009
A new online news source emerged in West Hartford.
Veterans Day became just another school day.
Despite the fact that many unions decided on helping the Town with givebacks - a budget drama was in play as the Taxpayers Association voted NOT to pursue a referendum on the proposed 1.5% increase in tax - while others decided to pursue a referendum (and failed). Vacuum leaf collection became a casualty of the budget.
West Hartford got a new firetruck.
The issue of school racial imbalance began to rear its ugly head.
Free parking on Sundays in West Hartford was decreed to end (starting in July).
Blue Back vs WestFarms litigation is still in play. At stake is $29.5 million for Richard Heapes and his peeps, and the Town of West Hartford seeking $4.5 million
June 2009
West Hartford decides to halt the phase in of property revaluation (TOWH blogged about it)
We began June with our traditional Celebrate West Hartford.
The Town named a new Poet Laureate (TOWH poked some fun about it)
Playhouse on Park opened its doors.
July 2009
Many businesses closed in May and June as a result of a bad economy, and the latest in July were Zachers Photo Shop and Mimi's Maternity.
New FEMA Flood maps cause a stir as residents not previously in the flood plain are required to purchase flood insurance.
August 2009
Campaign season was in full swing minus Chuck Coursey, Carolyn Thornberry, Harry Captain and Jack Darcy. The biggest issues that were debated were keeping taxes and spending in check, and the State's perceived school population imbalances vs. neighborhood schools.
Otherwise it was a seemingly quiet month.
September 2009
Crime became a campaign issue in town.
Otherwise it was just "back to school" time.
October 2009
Candidates and elected officials in town sparred over the issue of racial imbalance in our schools, and there was condemnation of school board retreats.
The Town refinanced some of its Blue Back loans in order to save some money. We saved $3.35 million in debt service.
The loss of vacuum leaf collection becomes a hot issue in town as the leaves fall. It even prompted promises of reinstatement by municipal candidates. Vouchers were offered by the town to help some residents.
Swine Flu Clinics are planned.
Stimulus money comes to West Hartford with other stimulus funds seeking applications.
November 2009
Elections end with typical Democrat sweep (yawn)
The Board of Education starts the season off with some arguments over the chairmanship of the BOE. Read more here.
December 2009
In anticipation of Christmas shopping - new shopping district signage was installed.
Shish and Aldi open in West Hartford.
Finally, a settlement in the Blue Back vs. WestFarms lawsuit. No responsibility or fault was claimed in the settlement with Taubman. The Town of West Hartford is still pursuing litigation.
Developers of Blue Back Square are being compensated $34 million after a settlement agreement was reached with Westfarms mall to pay out financial losses when litigation delayed construction of Blue Back Square by a year
So it seems that our town has been pre-occupied with budget issues and a lot of political wrangling and in-fighting with a touch of fun here and there. This coming year may prove to be especially tougher financially, since state money is non-existent and we may not benefit from any more federal stimulus money. It'll be interesting to see if the unions will give up anything, or if they will lead us to higher taxes at a time when families are truly struggling. Because it is not a municipal election year, we can only hope that our elected officials will honor their campaign promises for fiscal restraint, and won't raise our taxes sky high to compensate for not being willing to make very hard choices. Our Town management surely has much work to do, beginning now.
We still live in a wonderful town that is filled with recreation opportunities and various other terrific resources. We would do well to remember that it isn't how much we spend on programs and services as much as who we are and what we accomplish together, even on limited resources. Let us count our many blessings.
Talk of West Hartford wishes you all a happy and healthy New Year and hopes that we all work together to work through the financial difficulties that certainly lay ahead of all of us. Let us all work to keep our town a fine place to live, raise a family and do business in.
1 WH Responses:
A most **Happy New Year** to Talk of West Hartford!
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