Memorial Day Parade - West Hartford

From West Hartford Town Website -

West Hartford Memorial Day Parade
May 31, 2010, 10 AM

The parade is scheduled for Monday, May 31, 2010, and will commence promptly at 10 AM from the corner of Woodrow Street and Farmington Avenue and proceed to the Town Hall. After the conclusion of the parade, a brief memorial service will be held at the West Hartford Veterans Memorial, located at the corner of Farmington Avenue and North Main Street.

Assembly of parade units will take place at 9:30 a.m. in designated areas west of Woodrow Street on Farmington Avenue.

Click here for A Listing of the Parade Units and Assembly Locations.

The West Hartford Memorial Day Parade Committee appointed Richard Hennessey and John Eselunas as the 2010 West Hartford Parade Marshals and Honorary Parade Marshals are John Schmidt and Major Bill Georgia (Ret) Army Ranger.

West Hartford takes great pride in hosting its annual Memorial Day Parade. It follows a tradition established by returning West Hartford veterans from World War I in the 1920s.

The 2010 West Hartford Memorial Day Parade Committee is a joint endeavor and cooperative effort of the West Hartford Veterans Affairs Commission, The American Legion of West Hartford Hayes-Velhage Post 96, and Hannon-Hatch VFW Post 9929, in partnership with the Town of West Hartford.

Have fun!

Budget Referendum For West Hartford

The West Hartford Taxpayers Association had a small army of citizens out gathering signatures, and they claimed that people couldn't sign the petitions fast enough, despite an effort put out by WHFirst to pass out leaflets asking people to refrain from signing and to "support the schools".

The Town Clerk verified that the WHTA gathered more signatures than the required 6 percent of registered voters. The actual number of signatures needed was 2,295 and the Town Clerk certified 2,405 names, with about 400 more names on sheets that hadn't been verified because they weren't needed.

So there will be a referendum in June on the $216.7 million budget passed in April by the town council. The budget would inflict another tax increase; this time 2.24%, on West Hartford taxpayers.

The Courant reported that a referendum will cost taxpayers about $40,000.

Since the number of registered voters in West Hartford is somewhere around 38,250 (because 6 percent of that is 2,295; the number of signatures needed) - that means the cost of having a referendum is roughly $1.00 per voter! Many in town would gladly pay $1.00 to vote to keep their taxes from going up yet again!

The WHTA contends that the $121 million school portion of the budget needs further trimming, including discretionary spending, operating expenses, and salaries and pensions, especially in light of dismal finances predicted for the 2011-12 fiscal year for the town and state. They say that further prudent cuts now will go a long way, and are necessary to prepare for more than $10 million in revenue shortages the town likely will face next year. The Mayor complains that WHTA is demanding "a pound of flesh from the School Board" even though he himself has admitted (sources say) that the Board's budget has been too high. He has gone several times to beg the School Board to rein in their spending. He is hoping that they will make bigger cuts next year. We cannot build budgets on hope.

WHFirst is claiming that this is only a "modest increase" in taxes - the WHTA says that BOE spending has risen 4.3% this year alone, and 61% over the past 10 years! These continual "modest increases" add up, and the WHTA is saying that the Town and the BOE must look to the future and control this growth now. The mentality of "spend as you go" is unsustainable.

WHFirst is also saying that this was a budget with bi-partisan support - so even the "Republican" who turned Democrat, and other Republicans voted for it. The WHTA says that they are not a partisan organization, so partisan or non-partisan voting is not at issue here: spending and taxation is.

WHFirst claims that with the budget in the last two years, we have had elementary classrooms with 28 kids, lost some of the world language program, reduced textbook and supply budgets, and lost vacuum leaf collection. Now with this budget they claim lost positions, higher fees, cuts in traffic system projects, reduced number of school buses, and a one day shorter school year. Yawn. The fact is that even after the Mayor pleaded with the Board of Education to cut expenses the BOE still came back with a mere $24,000 in cuts from a record $127 Million budget - that's a whopping .002% Reduction! Meanwhile, on the Town side we have seen some real effort and streamlining of expenses. The Townside even gave up $825,000 of Blue Back settlement money to help fund the school budget; money which should have gone to reduce Town debt.

WHFirst neglects to talk about the tens of thousands of dollars put aside as "discretionary school spending" and the money the school system is losing on Pre-school and Open Choice programs. They neglect to talk about the upcoming loss of stimulus money, and ways in which the Board of Education should be proactive in preparing for that loss of funding next year.

While it is reported that there were 27 jobs "cut" from the schools and five from the town, most jobs were already vacant, or are budgeted for and not yet filled, and there would be only some real layoffs.

Support the schools - Sure - but the Board of Education must do as the Mayor and Town Manager requested initially, and have continued to request, and that is for the Board of Education to make some really meaningful programming and policy changes that will insure that self sustaining programs are in fact self sustaining and that expenses in all areas of their budget are brought under control.

With 8% unemployment in town and record number of foreclosures, everyone must tighten their belts, including the Board of Education.

So far, 2,800+ voters in town who signed petitions agree that more taxes are unacceptable.

No doubt this debate will rage until referendum day.
Let's keep it civil folks.

Davidoff Doublecross

He ran as a Republican.
Now he's a Democrat.
Yawn.

It's the same old Barbara Carpenter/Joe Verrengia escapade.

His run last fall, as well as the time before that, on the Republican ticket was essentially a lie.
Why should anyone be surprised that Davidoff has finally come out of his political closet? Truth be known, he's been voting with Democrats all along anyway. So, now "the voice of reason" can go off and be verbose on the Democrat side of the table.

The Hartford Courant reported

The decision by the former Republican minority leader gives the Democrats a 7-2 majority on the council until the next municipal election in November 2011.

"I'm definitely more in line with the ideology and beliefs of the local Democratic Party than the Republicans. So after much thought, I resolved to do what I think is right," Davidoff said Monday. "Most of the issues we face on the council are common-sense, not Republican or Democrat or what is politically popular."

If he really wanted to do "what was right", Davidoff would have resigned clearing the way for another Republican to take his seat. The minority party is supposed to have 3 representatives at the table, but that's not going to happen as that stipulation has already been ignored. And if Davidoff truly believed in his statement of "issues not being Republican or Democrat", then why was it so important for him to change parties?

Adler and Hall might as well walk away in protest; it's not like their time is going to be spent effectively with such odds stacked against them. They won't even be able to cover committee meetings in a useful or practical manner.

As for the state of the Republican party in West Hartford.
There is none.
Hasn't been one in years.
Republicans in town can thank the Republican Town Committee shadow leadership for that.
But that's another story.

Gotta admit though, at least when Visconti was on the Town Council things were a little bit more interesting and lively.

The Taxpayers Association Petitions For A Budget Referendum

Sure they know a referendum will cost the town roughly $40k (which is less than $1 per resident), sure they know it's only a 2.74% tax increase, but the fact of the matter is the Board of Education once again is out of control. As a result, taxes are going up ... again.

For what it's worth, here is the WFSB video and the article in the Courant.

They will pooh pooh it as a minimal increase - but to them it's ALWAYS a minimal increase.
When does it stop?
People are already struggling to pay their bills in this economy.
There's 8% unemployment in town.
Homes are being foreclosed upon.
Do we simply ignore that?

While the town side of the budget has been streamlined and the Town Manager has worked hard to keep expenses in check, the Board of Education continues to ask for more and more money. While everyone around them is struggling (the Town side of the budget included) have they on the Education side really given up anything?

What sacrifice have they made, save for a few teachers (who were not going to be hired or replaced anyway) and very minimal reductions? NONE.

Why?
Because they don't have to.
They pick a popular program, threaten to cut it and people act like it's Armageddon.
They are like spoiled children whining and throwing a temper tantrum at the grocery store until mom gives them the junk food they scream for in order to shut them up.

The Town Budget voted and passed the West Hartford Board of Education an increase of 4.3%. The Mayor claims that the BOE cut $500K. Funny how the Mayor equates a decrease in the amount of their budget request with a reduction in spending! Can someone please tell the Mayor that a 4.3% budget increase equates with increased spending! And as usual, it's the same old story, the Mayor claims that opponents, like the Taxpayers Association and others, are just uninformed (the hit piece mailers are already being designed, no doubt).

Mayor Slifka neglected to mention the additional $825K the Council gave the BOE above the 4.3% increase; money that came from the Blue Back Square/Taubman/West Farms lawsuit settlement that was SUPPOSED to go to paying down town debt! So in the end the BOE netted out $300K ahead of their request! And that's supposed to be a budget spending decrease?

Apparently the BOE doesn't understand the term decrease.
It is a very simple concept: Spend less money.
Heaven forbid they try to streamline their practices.
Instead they continue business as usual.
Program review? Nah...
Administrative salary decreases? Nah...
They continue to pour money into programs that are supposed to be self-sustaining (and obviously aren't really). They continue to hide behind costs that they say they can't control, or costs that they claim are embedded systemically, but they won't address their problem of lack of real fiscal control. The result: continual increases.

This referendum is not about this budget specifically. It is about the constant year after year increase in spending, an issue of sustainability, and an obvious disregard for the taxpayer. Heck, they will even soak their own students to "pay for play".

You may wish to read this editorial from one businessman in town.

The budget fails to address the certain loss of $3.4 million in ARRA funding and probable loss of some state funding in the coming year. Rather than adjusting expenditures in anticipation of these future losses of revenue, this budget cavalierly assumes the money will be found somewhere, or will default to the West Hartford taxpayers, the lifeboats on board, who are unfortunately insufficient to handle the crisis.

When the Stimulus money (aka ARRA) disappears, then what?
How much of a tax increase will we experience next year because of it?
Why isn't the BOE making preparations for next year's budget within this year by slowing down their spending and starting to really economize now?
It's because they don't have to as long as the Town Council is willing to supply them with their budget "fix".

The Town Council seems very satisfied with a small tax increase.
The taxpayers know that while this increase may be relatively smaller than other increases, that there is still much work that the BOE is unwilling to do. That is pretty much the issue here.

While everyone else is living on bread and water, the BOE is still enjoying steak on the grill and dessert.

If you are interested in gathering signatures, here is the Referendum petition.