The Budget Proposal Details – Here are the Republican and Democratic Plans

Here are the specific budget plans put forth at yesterday’s budget meeting. It’s interesting to note that the Democrats’ proposed (and adopted) budget is actually less than the one put forth by the Republicans.

The Democrats’ proposed reductions totaled $2,285,916 for a proposed mill rate of 33.81824.

The Republicans’ proposed reductions totaled $2,201,518 plus a plan to increase revenue by $50,000 by auctioning surplus town equipment for a proposed mill rate of 33.84615. The Republican plan shares many of the same cuts as the Democratic proposal and as a result proposed only $799,103 in new reductions.

Had the entirety of both plans been adopted the mill rate would be 33.55 which would still represent a tax increase greater than 5.9%.

I am convinced that a referendum is necessary here, even though under current Charter rules it is toothless. Perhaps the proper followup to a referendum would be to submit our own citizens’ budget to the Council and Mayor. We don’t need to get elected. We have the political courage to do right by ourselves and our neighbors.

2010-2011 Republican Budget Report

2010-2011 Republican Budget Proposal

2010-2011 Democratic Budget Proposal

East Hartford 7th District Republican Primary Results – Endorsed Slate Takes It

-Updated-

The results are in for the controversial 7th District Republican Primary. Somewhere between 4,800 and 7,000 dollars later the entire slate endorsed at the Republican Caucus in February was elected to the Republican Town Committee 7th District Committee.

Final costs for the district primary will be in the range of $50-70 per vote cast with 97 102 (including 5 absentee ballots not yet tallied) of just over 600 Republicans coming out to vote.
I don’t have the vote counts for each candidate but The vote counts are now below. The lowest vote getting endorsed candidate received 70% of the vote while the highest vote getting petitioning candidate got 39% of the vote.

The Candidates were: (* = winner)

Endorsed Slate
George Vernon Barrow Jr.* 78
C. Edwin Carlson* 81
Charles H. Clarke* 76
Esther B. Clarke* 81
Robert J. Damaschi* 86
Lois Gero* 73
Peter R. Gero* 80
Carolyn V. Kronen* 68
Joe Kronen* 68
Vincent J. Mondo Jr.* 82

Petitioners
Michael R. Brinius 35
Victoria Gaudette Brinius 36
Daniel F. Moura Sr. 37

Oh my… $5,000 for a one district party committee primary?

I just read a JI article regarding the East Hartford Republican Town Committee caucus on Jan. 11th. The article reports that two of the 7th district members, Mike and Vicky Brinius, lost their seats and the party chairman feels his position is at risk when RTC members elect new officers in March.

What’s the big deal? Mike and Vicky are attempting to force a primary for the Town Committee seats which registrar Mary Mourey estimates will costs us, the taxpayers, $5,000. This is definitely taxpayer abuse.

District 7 consists of somewhere between 500 and 600 Republican electors. We can expect a turnout of 50 to 100 voters if this primary goes ahead. That’s a per voter cost to the town of $50 to $100.  My recommendation to Mike & Vicky, take it as a learning experience. Join the district committee if you are still interested and move on.

From the article:

Two members of the Republican Town Committee who said they felt unfairly ousted from their membership are petitioning for a primary to regain the seatsthey lost in the town’s 7th district.

Michael Brinius and his wife, Victoria Gaudette Brinius, were ousted during last week’s Republican caucus. Seventh district Republicans have 10 seats on the town committee, and the Briniuses found themselves finishing 11th and 12th in the voting.

 

Also:

Town Chairman Paul Roczynski said he believes Kronen and other Republicans have been planning to overtake the committee for some time now. When officer elections to the committee take place in March, Roczynski expects a challenge, and in all likelihood, he said, the opposition is likely to seize control of the party.

As always, if you are interested in becoming involved I’d be glad to assist you with joining the RTC. Even in full districts you can be a member of the individual district committee.