Mark Boughton

Last night the Danbury Main Street Partnership kicked off its first meeting at City Hall.

The Danbury Main Street Partnership consists of 10 members who were appointed by my office last month. The mayor sits on the partnership as a full voting member.

The objective of the organization is to promote the revitalization of the Downtown Revitalization Zone. The Downtown Revitalization Zone or DRZ, was created as an overlay zone by the Zoning Commission late last year to delineate an area of the Main Street corridor that we have targeted for investment and redevelopment.

While just an organizational meeting, it was good to see stake holders and business people from various walks of life engaged in discussions about the future of Main Street.

We set a regular schedule of meetings (the first Thursday of the month at 4 pm), a rough agenda for the next several months , and a format for the meetings.

Next meeting will be a briefing on the Main Street Renaissance Task Force reportthat was completed at the end of 2010.

This is a terrific opportunity to begin some critical thinking about our urban corridor and will gives us a vehicle to promote change and investment on Main Street

We have set aside time for public comment/input so feel free to attend the partnerships meetings.

Governor Malloy has decided to take on teacher tenure. While I applaud his interest in accountability and academic success for Connecticut’s children, I am not so sure that teacher tenure is the most important issue facing our public education system.

The most important thing that we can do for our public education system is address the gross inequities in the school finance system and then take steps to arrest the explosive growth of school expenses.

Every school district in the Greater Danbury area is asking for a substantial increase from their local municipality for the coming  school budget, every year school districts and municipalities across the state engage in what can sometimes be a rancorous debate about how much the budget will increase – most of the time the proposed increase far outpaces the rate of inflation. In many communities the school budget actually goes up even when the school population goes down (with the exception of Danbury - as we are growing).

The discussion is never about cutting the current budget, it’s always about “cutting the proposed increase” that has been requested by the local school board and the Superintendent of Schools.

Cities and towns are put on a never ending treadmill that their limited property tax base can’t possibly keep up with – leaving the property taxpayer to continually fund the increases. Bridgeport was the first community to hand the State of Connecticut the keys to the school district because of their inability to adequately fund their schools – in the coming years, I suspect more may follow.

The number one driver in these budgets are personnel costs divided between salary increases and health insurance. In many cities and towns, teachers, administrators, paraprofessionals, custodians, and other support personnel are the largest pool of municipal employees. Modest raises and changes to the health care benefit have a tremendous impact on the school budget. In Danbury, of the 7.2 million new dollars requested by the Board of Education, almost 4 million dollars are for benefits and wage increases.

The structural problems of education finance will continue and will accelerate in the coming years, leaving student outcomes as an after thought, if the actual cost of education is not addressed.

The second piece of the puzzle is the ECS formula itself. I am thrilled that Danbury schools will receive more money under the proposed state budget. However, there is a structural flaw in the formula that short changes Danbury even with the increase that has been proposed.

Under the new budget Danbury will receive an increase of $1,696,559 or almost 7% to our ECS grant. That will make our total grant $24,554,515. Our student population is 10,505. All that sounds great. Until you compare us with other communities in the state:

Bristol: Total ECS Grant – $43,047,496, student population?  8,762.

East Hartford: Total ECS Grant – $43,425,561, student population? 8,027.

West Haven: Total ECS Grant – $42,781,151, student population? 7,390.

New Britain: Total ECS Grant –  $73,929,296, student population? 10,854.

As you can see there is no rational reason why some districts who are much smaller than Danbury receive tens of millions of dollars more in aid or a reason that a district that is slightly larger than Danbury, receive almost three times our grant.

Teacher tenure? It’s important, no question. But, it will all be moot if we don’t grapple with school funding and school finance.

Kinda hard to worry about tenure when districts can’t buy books and are busy laying off teachers..

This morning a consultant hired by Governor Malloy issued his report regarding the performance of CL&P during the winter storm that paralyzed the State of Connecticut.

As I watched the report, I could not help think that we are just nibbling around the edges of the real problem.

The real problem is that we do not have a system for the delivery of electricity that was envisioned in the deregulation bill that was passed by our legislature in the late 1990′s.

As residents we were told that the deregulation bill would create competition in the market place and spur innovation and efficiency in the delivery of electricity to our homes and businesses.

We were also told by policy makers that competition would provide for us a level playing field that will lower electric prices for consumers.

As one example, here is what then Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said at the time of the deregulation bill in 1998 (to be fair, most state politicians on both sides of the aisle were saying the same thing).

Unfortunately, none of the happened. The deregulation bill did not give us choice, to the contrary, it allowed two entities CL&P and UI, to have private monopolies over a public service.

We pay some of the highest electric rates in the country.

Profits and profit taking were placed over basic maintenance of things like tree clearing, maintenance workers, and infrastructure improvements.

There is no choice in the delivery electricity to our homes and businesses, most of us have CL&P a few of us have IU, none of us can switch companies after the latest debacle.

Competition in the market place does lower costs for consumers and demands companies deliver exceptional customer service.

Right now, we have the worst of both worlds:

A highly regulated monopoly that is privately owned.

The Legislature should reopen the deregulation bill to create a true open system, encourage competition in the market place so consumers have choices of suppliers. Similar to they way in many parts of the state you can chose ATT-Uverse, Cable, Dish, and soon Fios for the delivery of your TV signal. That system has allowed consumers to leverage pricing and service for the best of both.

Or the Legislature can restore the delivery of electricity to the way it was in the past. A highly regulated public utility managed by the State of Connecticut.

Both options have their pro’s and con’s. But the current system is indefensible to the residents of Connecticut.

So let’s open up the deregulation bill,  and let’s get it right…

Last week the City of Danbury announced a new strategic partnership with the Winters Brothers organization regarding the transfer station located at 307 White Street in Danbury.

The partnership will provide Danbury with a “host benefit fee” for trash that is brought to the transfer station of $1 per ton. In addition, the Winters Brothers organization has agreed to sponsor our “Clean City Danbury Day” (an event than can cost the City of Danbury up to $60,000 for the disposal of all of the bulky waste that is collected on that day).

Finally, Winters Brothers has agreed to indemnify Danbury and the other communities in the HRRA region from something called the “put or pay” clause in the Wheelabrator contract that provides for disposal of the trash generated by HRRA communities. The clause in the contract states that should the region fall below a specified waste tonnage requirement, the participating communities would have to pay a penalty to Wheelabrator for failing to meet the tonnage requirement in the contract.

Essentially, this is a new day for the transfer station and for the city.

The Danbury Solid Waste Authority will provide oversight and transparency for the facility and will ensure that all waste haulers in the area are treated fairly.

Winters Brothers has pledged to spend a significant amount of resources bringing the facility up to current standards and investing in new technology to make the facility more efficient.

All good things for Danbury.

By now you have probably been inundated with Hurricane Irene information so here is what you need to know:

Rain should pick up and become steadier as the afternoon goes on. Wind will follow this evening, you should expect a steady wind of 40+ mph winds with gusts up to 75 mph.

Our challenge will be flooding due to the rain and the staturation of our ground. We are expecting 6-12″ of rain. To put that in perspective, Tropical Storm Floyd only produced roughly 5″ of rain.

The War Memorial will open at 6 pm for anyone seeking shelter.

Jensen Community Center will be open for Jensen Mobile Park residents who are facing potential flooding.

If you want to move your car off of the street, the Patriot Garage will be open starting at 4 pm for resident parking.

We have pre-positioned material and supplies throughout the city for any contingency.

Have a 3 day supply of water and food in anticipation of losing power.

Governor Malloy has asked for a travel ban after 8 pm tonight. I would heed his warnings.

The Emergency Operations Center will be open for tomorrow.

Visit our website at www.danbury-ct.gov for storm information and updates.

Hang in there, we will get through this.

Friday night’s surprise downgrade by the credit rating agency Standard and Poor’s from “AAA” to “AA+” has hit our country in a deeply profound way – and has caused panic in the Obama Administration. This past weekend the Administration was busy trying to dispel the importance of this action – mainly because they were concerned of its impact on the economy.

But the action of the Administration misses the mark. The downgrade will be about the stock market and the economy in the short term, but in the long term the action by S&P has damaged the psyche of our country and our business community.

American exceptionalism has been questioned, and now, an independent agency, has said that we are no longer the gold standard in the world economy.

This has done and will do tremendous damage to our fundamental belief in the system that has served us for the last 200 years.

Once the foundation that our economic system is built on is questioned, the belief that this country can do anything, be anything, and accomplish anything, is greatly diminished. Once the foundation of our economic system is questioned, the American Dream becomes a ghost for Americans, something that once was, but does not exist for future generations.

So what the should the President do? While government cannot run the economy, the President needs to focus on the economy – not on health care or any other issue, the singular American issue is job creation. He should fire his senior economic staff, reconstitute his economic team, and speak to the American people about his renewed focus – his presidency, and the future of our nation, is at stake.

Finally, the President should cancel his vacation(s) and ask the Congress to cancel its summer recess. Americans are not getting vacations, our leaders should not rest until the American people can rest.

The Republicans should recognize this for what it is and what it has been for the last three years. A crisis that strikes to the very heart of our country. Stay away from being the party that dances on the grave of our dreams (although it’s OK to have policy differences) and provide positive pro-growth solutions.

Both sides should not engage in finger pointing and laying blame,  there will be time for that later.

The downgrade has been a tremendous blow to the psyche of the United States. This is about so much more than our ability to pay our bills or an election, it’s about who we are as a people and as a nation – the toughest kid on the block, the place were dreams happen, the country where anything is possible.

Mr. President, Congress, get to work..

Danbury High School is an outstanding institution. It’s a wonderful blend of 3000 students who are taught by a caring, passionate staff.

It has become the flagship institution of the Danbury Public School system.

Sitting at the top of Clapboard Ridge Rd., it is a beacon of hope for thousands of our young people as they pass through its doorways. Danbury High graduates have attended some of the best universities in the world.

Alumni of DHS can be found in business, politics, science, theology, medicine, the military, the arts,  and the building trades.

Danbury High School represents the culmination of an investment made by this community in its children. Tuition  for out of town students is over $10,000 (yes students actually pay to go to DHS). For each 9th grader who walks into the building this fall, the taxpayers of the City of Danbury have invested close to $108,000 in their education.

That’s why Danbury High School is so important to our city.

While the sudden departure of Dr. Rossi this past weekend came as a surprise to our community, the reality is that the Board of Education should look at this as an opportunity to enhance an atmosphere of academic excellence directed by a new Principal.

So while everybody is gathering their collective breaths, a few thoughts for the Board of Education on a succesor:

1. Don’t rush. There is no hurry. Danbury High is blessed with a great senior administrative team – that know how to run the building.  Appoint an interim Principal from our pool of current administrators, and then promote a teacher into their place. This will give you time to do a search and hiring. You will have time to get community input, conduct your interviews, and determine the right choice without the pressure of a timeline.

2. Pick someone local. Please – no more flying all over the country for a “national” search when we have a ton of talent in Connecticut and in the Greater Danbury area. Having knowledge of Danbury and the State of Connecticut as well as having the correct certifications makes for an easier transition.

3. Promote from within. If at all possible, try to give priority to internal candidates that are committed to educational excellence.

4.  Change is important. But only if it is put into place to respond to changes to education law, and only if the change is well thought out and well executed.

5. Hire someone who is in it for the long haul. Having seen a revolving door of Principals for the last several years, pick someone that is committed to being here for a while. We invest a lot of time and energy on these hirings, we need a solid five years as a minimum.

6. Communication is key. Effective communication to the Board of Education, to the City of Danbury, to residents, to the media, to staff, to parents, to students is an absolute must.

7. Pick someone who understands the financial pressures that the Board of Education, and the City of Danbury are facing. “Doing more with less” is no longer just an empty phrase, it’s real – an effective administrator has to get every ounce of efficiency out of their staff, the building, and its programs.

8. Students and their educational experience come first. Always.

Danbury High School presents an opportunity for the right person. As someone who worked there for many years, I know of the potential and possibility that exists at our flagship institution.

We just need the right leader to get us there..