Majority Leader, CRC
The proposed Charter is not about any past or present administration, this is about the future, and our ability to learn from the past while recognizing it is time to demand the best for our city. The longer this city holds on to doing the same old thing over and over and expect different results, the longer we will linger in hopeless mediocrity, looking for that imaginary savior every two years. This is about the next generation of Westies and a decision on whether we should stick with the status quo charter from 1960 or move to a 21st Century style of Government.
West Haven employs almost 1,200 people and has a budget of $163,000,000. We have proven that voting for the most popular person to be Mayor is simply just not working. Yes, we have had some great Mayors and we have also had some Mayors who were not qualified to run this city.
The facts are this: The State of CT was forced to come in and take control of West Haven in 1992 because of our near bankrupt financial condition. The State immediately raised taxes, unilaterally opened up and changed union contracts, cut expenses and made difficult choices to give us a fresh start. What did we do with this fresh start? In 2018, only 26 years later, we messed the whole thing up, again, which forced the State of CT to come in, again, and take control of our finances, this time with MARB. We recently had to borrow $19,000,000, by issuing bonds, because of our cumulative deficit on previous budgets. Essentially, we spent $19million more than we had coming in since our fresh start and will be paying for this, plus interest, until the year 2040. In addition to that, our unfunded pension liability is in the millions of dollars. Our Moody’s Investment bond rating plummeted over this time to Baa3, which is one notch above High Yield Junk Bond status. Because of these facts, the CRC determined that it is time to bring in a professional City Manager to run the operations of the city and allow our elected Mayor to be the leader of the legislature as Chairperson of the City Council.
Running a city has become so complicated, that 63% of municipalities our size or larger across the USA have chosen to appoint a professional city manager to run their operations. This is not trying to “take your right to vote away.” In fact, the CRC recognized this is new for our city and that is why, unlike most other municipalities with a City Manager, your elected Mayor is the one responsible to search for and select the City Manager. The Mayor’s choice is then voted on and ratified by the City Council. This direct line means that if that elected Mayor makes a bad choice for the City Manager, you hold them accountable by voting them out at the next election and fire the City Manager. This selection process is already used today in WH to hire our Superintendent of Schools. The Board of Education performs a search and hires a highly qualified individual to run the schools, why wouldn’t we also, all the time, want a highly qualified individual to run the city side?
The proposal includes consolidating our current 10 districts into 3 districts. This DOES NOT mean you will lose council representation or your normal place to vote, there are still 13 people elected to the City Council, just like today. In fact, there will now be 4 people from your new larger district, operating as a block of voters on your behalf, not just 1 representative as is the case today. Yes, this means that the minimum split on the council will be 10 Majority party to 3 Minority party, vs the minimum 12-1 as is the case today. The majority/minority representation is strictly mandated by the State based on the number of districts, not something the CRC just decided to do. Frankly, if a 10-3 split is not enough of an advantage for the majority party to get an agenda item passed, then maybe that item is something that should not be passed in the first place. On the Board of Education side, there will still be 9 members, just like today. The only difference is that this proposal requires that 3 members come from each district, unlike today where all the members can come from one side of town. The proposal guarantees that every single school will have 3 members responsible for representing that school.
In an effort to always have qualified individuals in key roles, not only did we increase the requirements for many Department Heads, but the CRC also moved certain positions from elected to appointed. This has absolutely nothing to do with the people currently occupying those positions and everything to do with insuring qualification standards for future hires into these positions. Again, this is not an attempt to take your voting rights away, but to make sure that the individuals working in these positions are qualified. The treasurer is currently elected and is responsible to invest the city’s money, pay our bills and sign off on all bonds. 80% of municipalities our size in CT appoint this position because they recognize that this position needs to have significant qualifications to properly perform the job functions. Our Tax Collector is also elected today and in charge of our highest income stream, the individual must pass a comprehensive Tax examination and fulfill a 3-year tax collection experience requirement to be certified. 93% of municipalities our size appoint this position because of the rigorous requirements. The City Clerk is elected today and responsible for all Land Records, Land Surveys and Maps, Military Discharges, Marriage and Birth Certificates, Business licenses and Burial Permits, as well as certain duties with elections. In order to be certified, they need to complete 5 classes, pass an exam and have at least 2 years’ experience. The question about these positions is “are you as an elector consistently getting the opportunity to vote for qualified individuals for these positions?” The answer is no and because it is illegal to require qualifications to run for office, the move to appointed was deemed necessary and in the best interest of WH. Simply put, we deserve to have qualified people, all the time, in these important positions.
The vast majority of the City Manager’s salary is already directly offset in other areas of the proposal. The average CT salary for a City Manager is $150,000/yr. By moving the Mayor to part-time, it is anticipated that will save $60,000/yr, also included in the charter is the City Council no longer receives stipends, which is a savings of $34,000/yr and moving elections to 4 years instead of 2 years saves another $28,000/yr and other direct offsets amount to $8,000/yr. So, even before the City Manager is selected, we have offset all but $20,000 of the estimated salary. This does not account for any of the cost savings the City Manager will undoubtedly implement once hired.
West Haven has been operating in the same manner under the same antiquated City Charter for 60 Years, and our track record speaks for itself. There is nothing cynical, back-room, backhanded, or un-American about this proposal. This proposal represents a fundamental change in how we manage and govern our city. The people of WH deserve stability and want to enjoy everything our great city has to offer without having to continuously pay for past mis-management. It is time to always have an experienced and qualified professional running our city, someone who understands everything there is to know about how to run a city and the long-term impact of every decision made.