Important election for city and future
Every two years it is our civic duty to elect a Mayor who will lead our City in a responsible and professional manner for the betterment of every resident in the City of West Haven. This is an extremely important decision and consideration should be given to who is best suited for the job based on qualifications, past record and their vision for our future.
This year we have three choices. Ed O’Brien has had the opportunity over the last four years to serve as Mayor and I believe that we as a city are far worse off than when Ed took office. We have seen our deficit increase, not had a balanced budget during his two terms in office and there has not been any fiscal restraint at city hall under Ed’s leadership. The promise of revitalizing the downtown area of our city has not materialized and quality of life issues have been neglected.
Nancy Rossi has a long record of serving on the City Council using her qualifications as a certified public accountant to advance her vision for our community. Nancy believes in a fiscally conservative approach to government by balancing revenue and expenditures to produce balanced budgets each and every year. She has consistently lead the charge to reduce government spending and develop policies that would create a culture of fiscal restraint by living within our means .
For example, back in 2014 Nancy presented a communication to the City Council entitled Deficit Mitigation Plan. This communication was a resolution requesting that the mayor (Ed O’Brien) implement a hiring freeze for non-essential personnel. She requested that staff levels be reduced through attrition and that letters be sent to all department heads requesting that they aggressively monitor, manage and correct abuses of overtime line items.
This resolution failed. The council vote was 6 in favor, 5 against, and one abstention. The abstention was from Dave Riccio who is also running for Mayor in this year’s election. I fail to understand how anyone could not have voted for this motion. If we had taken a proactive approach such as this our city workforce would be smaller, our overtime costs would be greatly reduced and we would not be facing a potential state takeover of our city finances.
Having served on the council for many years with Nancy Rossi, Ed O’Brien and Dave Riccio I think that Nancy is our best choice for mayor. I would urge all voters to do what’s best for our city, and not vote for the nice guy or the incumbent. We need a change and Nancy Rossi can get us back on the path to fiscal responsibilty.
Gail Burns
Former 10th District City Council
O’Brien’s trying to fool taxpayers
Just a couple points to make since the primary election that need to be point out. First, Mayor Edward M. O’Brien is trying everything to take away from the fact that he does not have the financial capability to run the city.
He is criticizing Nancy Rossi for being a Certified Public Accountant and comparing that to the fact that he is more qualified because he ran a small business.
O’Brien is throwing everything against the wall to see if something sticks.
He is trying to fool the public and saying that financially the city is much better.
Here are some facts: he had
a deficit every year he has been office; his last budget, which ended June 30o, also had a deficit.
Do you want me to prove how bad he is at running the city.
He asked for an $8 million bailout in the budget he just started. Let me say that again. He has asked for an $8 million bailout in a budget he just started from a state that has no money.
Again, he is not being truthful with the public, saying the state is going to give him the money with no strings attached.
The state will send in a review board like it did in 1991, and double the taxes.
O’Brien is welcoming the help because he is not financially capable of running the city, and, I would argue successfully, that the state isn’t capable of running either.
O’Brien spends a lot more money than he takes in and the taxpayers of West Haven are going to pay a huge price for his complete lack of financial knowledge.
On the economic development front, he keeps talking about the Haven project and the Atwood project as his major accomplishments.
One, the Haven project was handed to O’Brien on a silver platter (yes, Ed, too many people know the truth) and in his rush to take credit for it, he announced the project way too soon, back in May of ’14, which delayed the project for years.
Once it was announced, all the landowners wanted more money for their property. The second project is the Atwood, which is a glorified apartment project that brings in little revenue for the city because O’Brien fought hard to give them a seven-year tax break.
So let’s recap the facts: O’Brien is going to try everything possible to take away from his lack of accomplishments.
He has increased the deficit from $7 million to almost $30 million.
He has spent more money than he has taken in every year.
Letters He is bragging about an apartment project that has a seven- year tax break, and a Haven project that, because of his insecurity, has been delayed for years (I’m sure a building or two will be knocked down before Nov. 7, which is more of Ed’s smoke and mirrors).
Lastly, because of his lack of financial capabilities, he has proven that he will always spend more money than he takes in.
Unfortunately, the taxpayers are going to pay a heavy price for his blatant disregard for the City of West Haven.
Harry Orm