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Tuesday, March 22, 2016
MAYOR BRONIN'S TOWN HALL AT NOAH WEBSTER MARCH 22, 2016
This is raw video of Mayor Bronin's introductory remarks at the second of his Town Hall meetings on the budget issues facing Hartford. I am posting this unedited video to hopefully give a better understanding of what Mayor Bronin is trying to accomplish with the current legislation pending before the Connecticut General Assembly.
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60 comments:
So when the city and unions disagree and go to arbitration the city becomes the arbitrator? Geez I wonder how that will turn out.
An actual fair fix would be for the state to give the current arbitration system more flexibility so they can split the difference.
Kevin I heard that he told the Chief to not let any Officers attended the meeting, the night before he based the police and what they earned trying to blame the whole city's crisis on them. Heard he was not happy that Police officers, CSO's, were in attendance. His attack on The police got the members from DPW who were there as residents ire up and they defended the police. This is a dangerous game he is playing trying to put one union against another. Think about his statements, if his budget deficit is 32 million this year then he should just request a 10% reduction of his 560 million dollar budget that's 56 million dollars that gives him a 24 million dollar fusion heading into the next fiscal year. There is no need to do a 30% reduction as the King wants, that will destroy the workforce and essential services the city needs to make it run on a daily basis.
This oversight was his plan all along, he does not care what the community thinks or what the workforce thinks, he had turned down visible options for savings to avoid this oversight and he's just turned then down flat. Monday at the Capitol is going to be interning I hope he can survive. You just don't ask the state to violate and rewrite state law because of a projected deficit. Look back at all the budget books in the past every time a Mayor did their budget they never showed an increase in revenue and just showed their exoenses which would show a deficit each year. We got through those budgets without oversight and we can get thru this one too. I yearn for the days when John O'connel was alive this would not be happening today, that man knew the budgets like the back of his hand and would call bullshit on Bronin's claims.
Hartford unions are not the problem here! Wouldn't it be nice if the state unions paid their fair share in terms of healthcare and pension contributions that's in line with all other 49 states? Connecticut state pensions are the 3rd most generous in the U.S. and they pay the least into those pensions. There's a reason why CT pension plans are 45% funded! If CT workers paid an appropriate and fair amount, cities like Hartford and Bridgeport would get adequate PILOT funding and Hartford wouldn't have needed to borrow to make ends meet. Hartford's mess can be predominantly blamed on the idiotic decisions that our state legislature and moronic governor makes on a daily basis.
Thanks very much for posting the video. I do give the Mayor credit for forthrightness. The City government can't afford the standard of living to which it has grown accustomed these past decades. The Governor gets no such credit. The problem here in Nutmegistan is not that the economy hasn't come back from the 2008 crash. The problem is it too has been controlled by the Democratic Party, and has promised more than it can pay for. Tax increases are counter-productive.
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HARTFORD — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, discouraged by state unions who decline to renegotiate their benefits and pensions, on Tuesday said that a “substantial” number of layoffs are now inevitable.http://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Malloy-layoffs-are-imminent-6956773.php
Lets run this white boy, carpetbagger out of Hartford and back to his country club in Greenwich. This guy is about to have his political future shoved up his butt when he goes down in defeat on Monday the 28th. Who does he think he is? He will be facing down thousands of angry union members on Monday, I would not say that any safety issues are "off the table". Its on, Hartford style. Hope your ready Bronins.
Yeah, what he said !
He will be facing down thousands of angry union members
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The founders of the labor movement viewed unions as a vehicle to get workers more of the profits they help create. Government workers, however, don’t generate profits. They merely negotiate for more tax money. When government unions strike, they strike against taxpayers. F.D.R. considered this “unthinkable and intolerable.”
Government collective bargaining means voters do not have the final say on public policy. Instead their elected representatives must negotiate spending and policy decisions with unions. That is not exactly democratic – a fact that unions once recognized.
http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/02/18/the-first-blow-against-public-employees/fdr-warned-us-about-public-sector-unions
The Hartford delegation is not supporting him. Mayor Bronin, DECLARE BANKRUPTCY ON MAY 31, opening day of the Hartford Yard Goats baseball game. It would be poetic justice to do so on the same day.
Not allowed to go to meetings huh!?!?! We'll see about that, I'll get every city employee who's a resident to start attending meetings and see how he likes that. I'll start attending every city council meeting and start voicing my concerns as a city resident. So what if I'm an employee of the City of Hartford, employees who are residents have their issues as well, Bronin!!!
Kev this is unreal, the person above says let's run this"white boy" out of the city! What does the mayors actions have to do with race? Nothing! Leave it to some closet racist person to post that! If somebody wrote let's run this "black man" back to the city there would be an uproar!!
Anonymous at 912, what does Hartford style mean exactly? Are you going to crash an unregistered uninsured car into the mayor and then demand he put more money on your silver card? Get real. The guy was good enough to fool everybody into voting for him he'd see you coming in your 88 cutlass with spinner rims from a mile away!!! Beat it turd stain!
Hartford trash speaking up, I see. Bronin tried with the first option and it seems to have failed. Unless there is another rabbit, bankruptcy is the one choice remaining. And under that option, all agreements are automatically put on the table. It would have been better under first option. Vargas would not support it because he is so married to the unions, his marriage is consumay d every other day. He is not a good spokes person for the city at large. Only his glorified unions.
Why is everyone saying Bankruptcy, the city of Hartford is in a Finicinal mess but no where near bankruptcy. This is his scare tatic. The King wants what he wants at any cost. How's this one a union organization in the city offered him several saving options two big ones were no raises for 4 years, they have not had rasies the last 3 years, and a 5 % reduction in pay. The pay reduction would of saved over 900 k a year and he just turned them down flat. He said it wasn't good enough. So stop blaming the unions, they are willing to work with snake oil sales man but he is not. The king wants his oversight and only that will do. Sometimes when you take a too big of a bite of the apple you end up choking on it.
@9:12
Didn't your mama ever teach you manners? Why do you need to suddenly turn this into a racial incident? It isn't racial. It is an economic problem. I live in Hartford and I pay taxes on my home. So I pay your wages. You answer to me. The mayor has my complete support and I don't envy him. And I don't envy any of us but this is a new day. I too will express my opinions at council meeting in full support of the mayor's efforts to find a resolve to the problems.
Hartford is a mess. It took many years of political nonsense to get to this point. The last biggest joke was allowing a Minor League Baseball Stadium to be built in the capitol city. The Hartford taxpayers did not want this stadium. Yet, former Mayor Pedro Segarra, Senator John Fonfara and the "Majority" of the Court of Common Council did not listen to the residents. I Charles Matthews a former resident, Councilman and candidate for Mayor supported the stadium. He is presently the Chairperson of the Stadium Authority.....Charlie now pay for all the seats that are going to be empty and for parking and food so that Hartford residents can attend the games. Thanks MR CHARLES!
9:51
There are many reasons contributing to this economic mess that is Hartford. Frequently, a problem doesn't have one origin. I agree that recent inferior leadership did not take a fiscal look at trends. But Hartford is an impoverished city and much industry has moved away or ceased to operate. Add to this an increasingly impoverished residency with many more special needs. Middle income moves out to be replaced with lower income and lower educational capacity. Neighborhood blight and increase in crime. Include a grand list that is smaller due to state offices and non profits. Then the town folks elect a perfect piece of work who is more preoccupied with his personal picadillos instead of good fiscal judgement. And bingo, you have a municipal entity on the cusp of bankruptcy.
do you know that if the mayor has his way taxes and insurance in the city will skyrocket ? Especially if he shrinks the fire and police dept, so imagine not only paying higher taxes but higher insurance premiums on homes ,private property and businesses,
Middle income moves out
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There is a connection between liberal public policy, particularly public "education," and the exit of the middle class from not only Hartford, but in virtually all American cities. It's one thing to live in the same town with a large dysfunctional under-class, it's another to put your kids in the schools with under-class kids. Generally speaking, putting aside the local Sheff/O'Neil nonsense, you can't avoid them without moving to a different district.
For the fiscal situation and for the restoration of real education; school vouchers!
this video made me sick,to see how he manipulates numbers,his lies almost had me convinced smh.so he wants to go from a three member panel to 9 in which he and his office appoint 6 members ? and he has the final decision?What he failed to mention was how he ditched out almost ten million to the stadium with out batting an eye, 10 mill on an budget already 9 million short. just like if i was to file for bankruptcy i would have to show the banks why i cant pay with a full disclosure of finances,why can he? who approved all the late changes to the stadium ?isn't his wife in the planning and zoning commission? that is what i heard ,maybe not true
City pays 57 cents of benefits for each dollar of salary. Board of Education pays 36 cents of benefits for each dollar of salary for employees in the MERF. MDC pays 44 cents of benefits for each dollar of salary.
City is going to pay about $87 million this year in benefits and insurance. Imagine if it paid the same kind of benefits as the Board, that would be about a $32 million savings. What is next year's projected deficit, $30-40 million? Even if the city had benefits like the MDC that would still be about a $20 million savings. Employee benefits are the #1 reason why Hartford is going broke.
Don't blame the unions, though, for that. It was Peters, Perez, and Pedro mortgaged who our future to avoid making any tough choices. They gave away some really sweet deals, but now the chickens have come home to roost because city can't fund its pension obligations and health care costs are out of control.
Blame the unions for being so drunk with power (they control the General Assembly and have their own political party that has 3 seats on Council) that they either don't see this or don't care because they think they can always get whatever they want. They should ask the unions in Detroit what happened when that city went Chapter 9.
Holton and the other city union leaders are in for a really nasty shock when a bankruptcy trustee is appointed. rJo and Minnie and Vargas won't be able to help them when the trustee opens up all the labor contracts and whacks the retirees already collecting. Then we'll see who is thumping their chest saying "muerte"!
@11:18
I was dead set against the waste of the stadium. But I understood that it had to get finished. It's one thing to be an agitator on the outside, as I remain. But to have the responsibility of government is another matter. I fully support the direction that Luke is going.
He may incrementally raise the mill rate but he knows that it must be kept to a minimum. An absolute minimum. I am already on record preparing to leave Hartford. Are you kidding? I simply no longer want the troubles on all fronts.
Bubba; No, taxes will not skyrocket. But employee pay packages, pensions and coverage will most definitely be renegotiated down. Frankly, if I had my way, I would render the pension obsolete and let employes go into some kind of 401 plan.
Why would you render the pension obsolete? Because you don't have one?
6:40
Exactamon. I don't have one. I have invested my own small business profits over the course of my very modest business life. But I might consider an alternative to the traditional pension since first and most important, many communities and states can no longer afford it. Which is the only reason to consider alternatives. As a tax payer in Hartford, we are having a fiscal meltdown. And if we cannot afford the benefit packages that have been offered up till now, than we must find a more economical structure. I don't wish to sound punitive toward you, but we can't continue to keep doing business as usual and the huge unfunded pension is just one part of this solution in waiting.
@4:05
No, it was Pedro, Perez, Peters and Perry. Check the record.
Agreed 6:40 pm, always someone who chose a job with no pension complaining. In the 90's when people in the private sector were making money hand over fist doing way less work than a cop or a firefighter no one cared about the union workers. In fact most people thought we were suckers working nights, weekends and holidays. Now that the private sector is screwed you want us to join your club out of your jealousy. No thanks.
8:07
I don't think you read my comment correctly. I am not jealous and I don't have a pension. And the word "retirement" is not part of my lexicon. I love working. My point was that with regard to Hartford, an impoverished city, the revenue/expense ratio is very out of balance. And this must get fixed. Government doesn't exist to employ people. In the course of what we call "Government", we employ to carry out its functions.
You might direct your anger toward your union because most often, when budgets become restrictive and unions are asked to spread the pain in terms of pay and benefits, it often chooses to lay off those with the least seniority. This is what is occurring at the state of CT. Which to me shows that unions often do not care for the aggregate of its members. Only for seniority. Boo hoo for the unions. They should practice what they preach and keep everyone employed.
Power to the people. Power to the people. All Power to the People..
Following a financial crisis and state bailout in 1975, the New York Financial Control Board was created to oversee municipal spending. The Mayor of New York City and the Governor of New York State both serve on the seven-member board.[1] While direct management of the city's budget ended in 1986, the board continues to monitor the city's financial health.[2]
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Bankruptcy’s not the answer. Congress needs to show Puerto Rico some tough love by imposing a financial control board that will curb the island’s profligate spending and cut its bloated government payroll.
Puerto Rico’s pols have flunked civics. The island is mired in cronyism and corruption. Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., calls a control board a “colonial power grab.” Nonsense. A control board turned around New York City in the 1970s and the District of Columbia in the 1990s without resorting to bankruptcy.http://www.investors.com/politics/counterpoint/betsy-mccaughey-deadbeat-island-doesnt-belong-on-taxpayers-tab/
As one of the major players in the Tax lien business, I know that the City of Hartford financial crisis begins and ends with the corrupt Tax liens practices of the City. One individual and his syndicates are allowed to purchase Tax lien sales, for peanuts, and sell them at a premium the city and its residents will be swimming in a tight fiscal pool with just a drop of water. For example: The City is owed $174,000.00 in taxes by a tax payer, the City advertise a tax lien sale, only one mayor tax lien player and his syndicates show for bids and the winning bidder gets the property for $2,500.00. On the surface the above example is legal but barriers to competition is illegal. It is very hard to compete for tax liens in Hartford and unless the new mayor is willing to tackle that problem the City is doomed.
"I heard" is not the same as fact and no one should be treating that kind of BS as fact or spreading it around. Also it seems like some of the union folks here are denying reality. Hartford has a huge structural deficit. It doesn't matter that the union offered to give up raises if the budget doesn't balance at the current pay rate. Bronin doesn't hate the unions or hate cops, that's blatant propaganda and anyone with a brain should reject that outright. But the fact is, the budget doesn't balance, and it's going to take big changes to make it balance. Everyone needs to recognize that and pitch in.
6:40 the pension is not unfunded,it is currently funded at 74%.The city has not funding it's share as required by the charter.
12:18 pm correct. Check out the Cloud family purchases and the deals SKB got for Waller. Some real backdoor crap.
How does the set aside money for "Hartford decides" $1.25 million stay in place when city workers are getting laid off because of " lack of general funds" ? Every million should count towards covering the deficit.
8:03PM
EXACTLY
I want to ask one question and the question is directed at all municipal union membership; do you expect me, as a Hartford tax payer, to have my taxes rise even higher than it already is, given the historic high tax It already is, in order to facilitate your income and benefits package?
7:21 am. If your taxes go up it will be to cover for the money that the city has wasted and lost in bad business deals. It may be so that treasurer Cloud can hold on to his tax free building on Pearl St. until the city has money to give his family in redevelopment to fix the building and then sell it and profit from it without having to put any of their own money into it. That is what your tax increase might be spent on. There are many other deals that have been made that are costing the city for no reason. Ask SKB and Waller.
Anonymous at 3/26/16 - 7:21 am
How much income and benefits do you think is fair for the following:
1. Every night your spouse leaves for work and you may never him again?
2. Worrying if someone will follow your spouse home from work and kill your children?
3. Your spouse comes home and tells you about the baby who tripped and fell on top of a knife in the opened dishwasher
killing her?
4. Your spouse comes home and tells you about the wife who was shot by her husband with a shotgun and while looking
around the room he saw her brain on the dresser?
5. Your spouse comes home and tells you he was holding the hand of a man who was going to jump out the window and just as
he was about to pull him up, he lost his grip and the man fell?
5. Your spouse will die way before the average person due to medical reasons brought on by the job.
6. Maybe your spouse will die by way of suicide because he can't get the picture of the dead baby out of his head.
7. Maybe my spouse will die on the way to responding to YOUR 911 call.
I don't know but how much do you think the above is worth?
To me, his employer could never pay him enough because his life and the lives of my children are worth much more than the few hundred dollars a year extra you worry you may have to pay in taxes.
Maybe my spouse will save your baby's life one day.
If he ever does, ask yourself at that time how much do you think his income and benefits package should be?
Please don't take sides without knowing the facts. I am a former City (non-union) employee and a current taxpayer of the City of Hartford. Let me say this like a two year old, the City's fiscal problems were not created by the unions and give backs will be a drop in the buck. The present administration knows and everyone within the circle of friends the real problems to the real crisis. . The union has given generously in the past only to see mismanagement and waste, the end results. Creating enemies out of City employees are nothing new and I know we the Taxpayers of Hartford know that’s a fact. I bet most of us didn’t know the following:
• Motor Vehicle delinquent taxes total more than $20,000,000.00 ( very old taxes)
• Each year the City employ an out-side collection agency to collect delinquent taxes
• The collection rate is about 15% which is paid by the delinquent taxpayer
• In addition to the $20,000,000.00 delinquent taxes, the City also contracted with the collection agency to collect delinquent taxes that are 90 days old.
• Most City of Hartford residents that own motor vehicles will register every two year and assigning delinquent taxes that are 90 days old don’t make any sense. It hurt taxpayers and the City of Hartford.
• The City of Hartford Clerks’ collect the delinquent taxes assigned to the collection agency, along with the collection fees and write a check to the collection agency for the collected fees. The collection fees collected by the City can be more than $3,000,000.00 each year. Bad policy and contract.
• If the City of Hartford, keeps the, two year registration cycle, delinquent taxes in-house it would be a win, win situation. This would allow City of Hartford, delinquent, two-year cycle, taxpayers to have $3,000,000.00 extra to spend.
• The taxpayers would win because they would have more disposable income to pay their Real Property and business taxes. The real property and the business delinquent taxes are also in the millions of dollars.
• The $3,000,000.00 is only a percentage of the total collection fees collected by the collection agency. The collection agency gets rich and the City is in a financial crisis.
• Each year, because the collection agency is not actively collecting the older delinquent taxes ($20,000,000.00), the City of Hartford by Statute has to write-off about $675,000.00.
• My friends, until we realize the real structural problems of this great City, every new administration that come along will always point fingers because they believe the Citizens of Hartford are misinformed and love to take sides. Don’t be a rubber stamp for every argument. Ask for proof.
I love this City but some of the Citizens don’t pay attention.
Anonymous at 4:46,
I think everyone recognizes the sacrifices and challenges of being a first responder. The public owes them a debt bigger than money that can never be repaid. But the money can't be unlimited, it just isn't there. And the tax rate in Hartford is already unsustainable. Anyone who says "don't cut X" also needs to say what should be cut to balance the budget.
Anonymous at 6:47,
This is a problem that should be fixed, but it won't fix the budget by itself. Even if every penny was paid it would not plug the year over year structural deficit hole. And realistically a lot of that money will not be collectable. I hope that the collection agency is being paid a reasonable percentage of what is recovered, if not that contract should be investigated.
Shared pain is the name of the game. Will the unions spread the pain or lay off those with less seniority? If they choose to lay off, they are not looking out for the interest of all their members.
Terry, can you repeat but this time like a one year old? It sounds that the collection agency is not needed but could you justify the point in a different way? I don't understand.
At 7:21AM: If your taxes are already "high", why not pay a little "higher" taxes to solve the financial crisis?
The collection agency is needed to collect the delinquent taxes from taxpayers that cannot be located by the City of Hartford because they may have moved out of the City/State or they no longer have cars. However; this is not away the case. The collection agency is allowed to sit back and wait until the taxpayers paid their taxes directly to the City. To be honest, not all delinquent motor vehicle taxpayers pay their taxes directly to the City but a large portion of the motor vehicle delinquent pool does.
The collection agency contract requires the city to assign both current year and prior year’s delinquent taxes. Example:
1. The 2014 Grand list year is due a payable July 1, 2015 and January 2, 2016.
2. Taxes that are not paid by October 31, 2015 will be assigned to the collection agency.
3. Delinquent motor vehicle taxpayers cannot register their car until all taxes are paid in full or some payment plan is offered by the City.
4. Taxpayers that do not pay taxes until motor vehicle registrations are due in the month of November through December 2015 will have to pay-off their delinquent motor vehicle taxes before they can register their motor vehicle.
5. Let say for argument sake, there are 100 delinquent taxpayers with expired motor vehicle registrations in the month of December 2015, the average tax payment, for all 100 taxpayers, in July, 2015 is $500.00 and all 100 taxpayers owed taxes for 2 years.
6. Total taxes due for all 100 delinquent taxpayers principal $200,000.00, interest $4,500.00 and collection fees $31,300.96.
7. All of these payments were made directly to the City of Hartford Tax department and the City will have to write a check of $31,300.96 to the collection agency. Payments to The City of Hartford on behalf of a third party sound like Private duty. The only difference is that Police private duties are paid by the respective contractors at 1 ½ times salaries plus calculated benefits.
8. The City of Hartford is also required to pay the State of Connection Motor Vehicle Department thousands of dollars to research and send to Motor vehicle registration data to the City.
9. Because the collection agency doesn’t have to rely on the hard to find delinquent motor vehicle taxpayers to boost collection rates, the $20,000,000.00 delinquent motor vehicle taxes will remain the same and each year over $600,000.00 needed revenue is deleted base on the fifteen year CT statute of limitation.
My interest in this matter as a Hartford taxpayer and business owner is to stop the bleeding of waste and mismanagement. I believe the current administration should attempt to fix the structural financial problems internally before asking the state to intervene. The City of Hartford is not trying hard enough to collect its revenue that is due. The City of Hartford provides services to all residents and expects to collect revenue to offset the cost for these services. How can a City survive, when there are so many delinquencies? Food establishments without food license permits, personal property taxes are not paid, building permits are not issued to make matters worse some of the biggest talker are those that are severely delinquent on City taxes. Personally, I wish the State of Connecticut would trash the proposal by the Major and find a way to take over the City of Hartford. Then, we would definitely know who is telling the truth. Hartford taxpayers wake up and demand proof. Words and inaction should never be your calling.
@12:21
You know, you got something there. Thank you for the idea. I will speak up at the next public meeting ask for higher taxes. Why did't I think of that?
@11:42
There is no need to employ cuss words or to be nasty. Just offer your opinion like everyone else has.
@12:21
Happy Easter, ya'll. Have a little love in your heart.
8:03pm Every million $ of waste should count towards covering the deficit indeed. And there're many, MANY millions of $$$$ of waste in the City of Hartford.
The savings and cuts in city spending must start at the top, at the mayor's office and at the city council's chambers, i.e. all 9 assistances to be reduced to 3. Set up a good example, show us that you care, that you're willing to sacrifice.
TJ: show us your leadership!
The waste is why we have a deficit, not workers salaries and benefits. That's just Bronin's way of an easy fix instead of doing what really needs to done. Go through all of the citys' business deals and trace the bad money and get it back. Prosecute those officials like Cloud making deals for personal gain.and collect debts. The city has paid out way more money in losing deals than they should have been paying into the pension fund.
Here's a suggestion - eliminate the living wage requirement for service bids/contracts and development agreements. This is not the prevailing wage issue in the construction contracts. The living wage is well intended but adds to the cost of services. It is included in contracts like janitorial services, bus contracts, masonry services, etc. There is supposed to be an annual report showing the fiscal impact of this ordinance, so the potential savings should be readily available.
Every year the WIC program receives federal grant money through the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help low-income women who are either pregnant or nursing. The administration funds are distributed across the state to 12 agencies, seven non-profit and five municipal. On average, the municipalities acting as administrators for the WIC program had compensation 31 percent higher than the hospitals and non-profits performing the same work.
Hartford Health and Human Services had, by far, the highest salary and benefit cost for its WIC employees, at more than $90,000 per year. The department claimed in its response to the audit that “higher salaries are required in some areas to be competitive and attract qualified candidates.” However, the agency’s combined pay rate and benefit cost was 29 percent higher than any other WIC program in the state, including Stamford where the cost of living is higher.
On average, benefits for Hartford WIC employees cost more than $31,000 each.
http://www.yankeeinstitute.org/2016/03/hartford-employee-costs-hurt-women-infants-and-children-program/
All the layoffs, concessions, tax hikes and property sales will not account for the fact Hartford does not have enough revenue generating property. What percentage of Hartford's property is taxable? After Churches, Hospitals, Non-profits, Colleges and Universities, Schools and State office buildings, there just isn't enough taxable property. What percentage of property in Hartford is non-revenue generating State property?
Does the State contribute to the lost tax revenue from the now non-taxable United Health Care towers? What happens to the empty non-taxable State office building on Capitol Avenue once the billion dollar renovations are complete on the towers?
I love my job with the City. I give my heart and Soul to the job every day. I am willing to negotiate Reasonable benefits and pension concessions.
I understand the State has enormous financial problems but it can't neglect it's financial obligation to the city.
PLEASE MR MAYOR, WE DON'T NEED THE STATE TO MANAGE OUR FINANCIAL AFFAIRS, WE NEED IT TO CONTRIBUTE A FAIR SHARE TO IT'S CAPITOL CITY.
If the situation is "FULL-BLOWN financial crisis" as Mr. Bronin stated himself earlier today, then he must take serious measures, serious cuts, "full-blown" cuts, starting at his office and the city council.
Kevin, in the past you suggested eliminating 6 aides to city council members. What happenedto that proposal? It's a great first step that will save over $1 million in the next 4 years. That's what must be done as a first step.
There are plenty of other ways to reduce the budget without doing it on the backs of employees who didn't cause this mess. Take a look at the capital improvement program. You'll find plenty of non essential non public safety expensive projects. Nice to have but in a crisis not needed. Is participatory budgeting at the price tag of 1.25 million really needed when Rome is burning? I think not and there are plenty more examples like that.
Render pensions obsolete? Yes that's good idea ,SMH ,401k would cost the city more money when the have to match contributions,not to mention that the city might have to start paying into the federal social security fund also. Pay packages are saving the city money ,take a guy who never calls out sick doesn't cost the city any more in medical payments not to mention that while that employee is out sick they have to be covered by another worker at an overtime rate ,which is a full pay not at time and a half,a sick day coverage cost for 24 hrs ,or payout sick day at 6 hrs ? Doesn't take a genius to figure that out
It was very disappointing to watch the new mayor yesterday leave the impression with state legislators that he had negotiated with the unions and got nowhere which was why he asked the state to create this semi-oversight committee, only to have the unions (not just police and fire) come up and testify that the talks that did (or in some case didn't) take place were not of a give and take nature as he had suggested. Some very well spoken union leaders testified that Bronin had no interest in any cost saving suggestions they offered, and it had to be his plan or none. Would prefer that he fix the things that don't require special legislation first (like eliminate council aides, take pension and health care for life from council people, reduce non essential capital improvements like streetscapes and WWI Plaques) before playing chicken little and announce the sky is falling. That way he'd have more credibility. Expected more from him than going DEFCON-5 out of the gate.
Yeah, what happened to that suggestion, one assistant to each three council members. Hey city council, show some sacrifice and responsibility yourself.
The MetroHartford Alliance said it supports Bronin's efforts to restructure union compensation and benefits and to reduce the city's annual pension contribution. But the business group asked that lawmakers add language to the bill, including a gradual increase of the city's artificially low residential property assessment ratio, a sale-leaseback arrangement for state properties in the city, and caps on a proposed commercial property surcharge.
The alliance is also asking for a seat on the commission, should it be created, and a sunset date of no later than June 2019.
Several lawmakers said they understood the difficult position Hartford is in, but were reluctant about the idea of intervening in city affairs, particularly if that intervention was viewed as a weakening of collective bargaining rights. The Connecticut AFL-CIO opposes the bill.
http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20160328/NEWS01/160329919
These city council members will have to show us that they are not corrupt as the members of the previous council (except Cynthia Jennings who's remaining the same ugly thorn in the butt)
3:01 They are not corrupt, just very naive to the budgetary problems facing Hartford. They are as near to socialist ideologues as you can get. Instead, we should have a republican minority instead of socialists. But Hartford voters don't have the intelligence to vote smart. They vote mostly according to the patina tone.
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