Mark Boughton

The United States Postal Service has agreed to conduct a public hearing about the future of the Danbury Post Office located on Main Street.

The Public Hearing will be held on May 4th in the City Council chambers at 5 pm.

Residents and patrons of the Post Office are encouraged to attend to express their views of the potential closure. In attendance will be Post Office Review Coordinator Barbara Mastroianni.

If you have any questions feel free to contact Cityline 311.

Special thanks to Governor Malloy and to Lt. Gov. Wyman for making their way to Danbury as part of the Governor’s 17  Town Hall meetings.

As someone who has conducted countless town hall meetings in Danbury (with a few more to go) I know that it isn’t easy to stand there and take the criticism. So the Governor should be commended for the effort- he and the LG are welcome in Danbury anytime.

However, I am thoroughly puzzled by a statement made by Malloy about halfway through his presentation. In fact, I was so stunned that I asked my staff the next morning if they heard the same thing that I did– all of them heard the same thing.

During the question and answer session, Malloy stated that the budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal year– the second year of his proposed biennium budget, is out of balance and has a projected deficit.

Come again? Another deficit? — this is like ground hog day all over again. So let me get this straight, we are being asked to pay $500-$1000 in new taxes, the state employee unions are being asked to give back a billion dollars each year, and after all the “shared sacrifice” we will still have a deficit.

If this is in fact the case, then I think the residents of Connecticut deserve an explanation. Why, if we are being asked to sacrifice so much, is there still a deficit? What’s the plan in year two of his budget to close the gap? More union concessions above the 2 billion? More cuts? More taxes? A combination of all three?

I have looked for a copy of the meeting so I could listen to it again, because I can’t believe that this would be the case. If you have a link to the entire meeting, please send it to me.

The Governor has done a service for our residents by doing these town hall meetings– it is much appreciated.

As far as another deficit..

Say it ain’t so Joe errr. Gov.

There are a lot proposals and ideas floating around the Legislature.

Some of them good, some of them not so good.

One of them is to eliminate HVCEO.

Deep inside HB5782 (part of Governor Malloy’s budget) there is language that reduces the Regional Planning Organizations from 15 to 8. While on its surface consolidation is a good idea, the net result will be that HVCEO will not survive the merger,  which could possibly place Danbury with Waterbury in the same RPO.

As the economic driver of the region, it’s critical that Danbury maintain its economic viability and visibility. If we were merged with Waterbury and it’s surrounding communities, Danbury and the 9 other particpating towns would be swallowed up by the larger communities with much different interests and priorities.

The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials has been around since 1968 as a Regional Planning Organization for our communities.

Its mission has been to foster communication and planning among the ten towns in the Housatonic Valley. We meet monthly to discuss regional issues that range from transportation to health care.

The federal government has charged HVCEO with the Regional Transportation Plan, and the state government has charged HVCEO with developing a Regional Growth Management Plan.

Every state and federal highway project in the area is thoroughly vetted through HVCEO. Each of the CEO’s in the region work in a cooperative spirit to help prioritize these highway and road improvements, sometimes there is a little horse trading, but all in all we figure it out.  We also work closely together on economic development issues as well as emergency management.

HVCEO has been a success at getting our town and city leaders to think regionally and to act locally.

It’s one inexpensive government program that works.

Let’s not mess that up.

While many parts of Governor Malloy’s budget have come under scrutiny for a variety of reasons, there is one proposal that has flown under the radar.

The Earned Income Tax Credit proposal has drawn little fire from politicians and has not been the focus of discussion at the town hall meetings the Governor is having across the state.

The EITC is a tax credit that will be granted to over 100,000 qualifying residents across Connecticut who file but do not pay state income taxes. The EITC will allow these filers to receive a check from the State of Connecticut of up to $1700.00.

That’s right, with a 3.6 Billion dollar deficit, the Malloy administration is proposing that we give a check to people who don’t pay state income taxes to begin with.

The cost to the State of Connecticut is over 100 million dollars in the first year of the budget. It is by far the most expensive new proposal in the Governor’s spending plan.

In an era when the Governor has spoken about shared sacrifice, once again, a segment of our state will not only be spared, they will recieve a windfall from the Governor’s spending plan.

In an era when the Governor has rightly spoken about a crushing deficit that threatens to derail every corner of our state, he has miraculously found the money to start one of the largest social welfare programs in the history of Connecticut.

One has to wonder what public policy benefit there is to giving away money (that’s your money) to people who don’t pay state income taxes at a time when Connecticut is facing a fiscal crisis of biblical proportions.

If this proposal should make it into law, I’m guessing that the constituencies who delivered the election to Malloy in November will make out very well.

Not quite what I would call shared sacrifice..

LIGHT RAIN OCCURRING ACROSS WESTERN CONNECTICUT AT THIS TIME…
HEAVY RAIN LIKELY LATE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING MAY CAUSE MODERATE TO MAJOR FLOODING IN WESTERN CT…

Municipalities are reminded to review their Local Emergency Operations Plans.

At 2:45 PM radar showed light rain over Western CT.  Rain is forecast to very slowly spread to the East during the rest of today and tonight.  Temperatures are currently in the low to mid 40’s.  Warmer and more humid air is currently located in Central NJ and is expected to begin moving into Southern New England this evening.  This storm has the potential to bring another 2 – 4 inches of rain to some locations in the Northeast resulting in 2 – 3 inches of snowmelt in some areas.  The current axis of heavy rainfall is still forecast to be located in Eastern PA and NY, however western Connecticut is very close to the area of heaviest rain and any shift to the East in the axis could bring 2 – 4 inches of rain into the Housatonic River basin.  The rest of the state is forecast to receive 1 – 2 inches of rain.

Most of the heavy rain from this storm is still expected to occur between midnight tonight and noon on Friday as a very slow moving cold front (currently located in Eastern PA) moves through Western CT late tonight and Friday morning with some embedded thunderstorms.  Urban flooding is likely to begin  just after midnight with small streams and rivers rising above flood stage by daybreak.  The Housatonic River is expected to begin rising around midnight reaching moderate flood levels by daybreak.  Towns are advised to very closely monitor this storm.  Any stalling of the cold front or training of thunderstorms could result in severe urban flooding and major river flooding if total rainfall exceeds 3 inches between midnight and Noon on Friday.  The Department of Environmental Protection is also monitoring this storm closely.  The Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security will issue another update on this storm at 6:00 PM.

RIVER                                                 CURRENT     FLOOD           CURRENT FLOOD   PRELIMINARY FORECAST
STAGE           STAGE           LEVEL                                    FOR FRIDAY
Farmington River at Simsbury           11.3 FT            12.0 FT            Below Flood Stage      Rising to 15.7 Feet by 2 PM Sat
Housatonic River at Gaylordsville        9.4 FT              8.0 FT            Minor                           Rising to 12.4 Feet by 2 PM Sat
Housatonic River at Stevenson          12.8 FT            11.0 FT            Minor                           Rising to 15.4 Feet by 2 AM Sat
Still River at Brookfield                       10.2 FT            12.0 FT            Below Flood Stage      Rising to 16.0 Feet by 8 PM Fri*
Connecticut River at Hartford            16.4 FT            16.0 FT            Minor                           Rising to 17.6 Feet by 8 PM Sat
Connecticut River at Middletown         9.5 FT              8.0 FT            Falling then rising        Rising to 9.0 Feet by 6 PM Sat
Quinnipiac River at Southington           4.4 FT              6.0 FT            Below Flood Stage      Rising to 8.0 Feet by 4 PM Fri*
Quinnipiac River at Wallingford            6.0 FT            10.0 FT            Below Flood Stage      Rising to 10.0 Feet by 8 PM Fri*
Pomperaug at Southbury                     5.0 FT              8.0 FT            Below Flood Stage      Rising to 15.0 Feet by 2 PM Fri*

*Estimate based on historical flow records from April 2007 Flood Event.

Based on the weather forecast for the next two days, things could get rough around here.

The National Weather Service is predicting 2″-4″ of rain starting late tonight. Coupled with the rain over the last week and all of the melted snow, if their prediction comes true, it will be a challenge.

I have already met with our Chiefs and our Emergency Management officials to ensure that we are as ready as we can be for any potential flooding.

If the forecast holds, expect closures of all of the usual roads, West Street, Newtown Rd., Federal Rd., Kenosia Avenue, Williams Street, as well as other localized street flooding.

Hold on to your neighbor, its gonna get rough..

I have been reluctant to write or comment about Governor Malloy’s budget for a variety of reasons. Mostly because it has taken myself and my staff about a week and half to pour through the numbers and  to listen to the rationale behind the policy decisions that were made in the budget.

It has been stated by the press and the editorial page writers that the budget protects cities and towns from significant cuts. This is only partially correct. Cities and towns have the same challenge that the state has as it relates to structural budget problems– and the Governor has taken a pass on addressing those structural problems.

Malloy’s budget does nothing to strengthen the bargaining position of communities that are going to have to make core changes to pensions and health care benefits for their employees. Without a recognition by the State Legislature that Mayors and First Selectmen do not have the flexibility to alter the contracts that are currently being negotiated, the municipalities continue the march towards financial calamity–even with the new revenue enhancers that the Governor’s budget provides for cities and towns.

The Governors budget does not address the issue of unfunded mandates and their impact to Danbury and the surrounding communities. The Governor should have proposed a repeal of many mandates and should have agreed to veto any new unfunded mandates that are approved by the Legislature.

In addition, the Governor eliminated an important reimbursement program that the state provides called the Manufacturers Machinery Exemption. This grant reimburses cities and towns for a tax exemption that they are required to give for certain types of manufacturing equipment.

For Danbury, this is a $1.4 million dollar cut in state aid.

Then there are the taxes. The taxes, the taxes, and the taxes. For cities and towns the Governor has proposes increasing a little known tax that the state charges on municipal employee health care plans. Not sure what the tax is even for, but the cost for providing health care for municipal employees continues to escalate, the Governor just added to their problem.

Finally there are critical components to this budget that simply don’t add up.

The Governor has proposed 1 billion dollars a year in state employee concessions. That will be a difficult task to complete. Concessions of that magnitude would amount to a give back of approximately twenty thousand dollars for each state employee. An almost impossible feat. Expect state layoffs at some point this year.

The elimination of the property tax credit and the addition of the earned income tax credit has left people scratching their heads.

The property tax credit is a much utilized five hundred dollar credit that the working men and women of Connecticut can take on their state income tax. This credit has been eliminated. What does this mean? It means that Governor Malloy just raised property taxes by as much as five hundred dollars on some of the hardest hit families during the current recession.

The earned income tax credit will require the State of Connecticut to, get this, give up to seventeen hundred dollars to people who don’t pay any state income tax. That’s right, we have a 3.5 billion dollar deficit, but, we can find the money to give tax dollars to people who don’t pay any taxes to begin with.

Confused? Me too..

To be continued

Today marks the 10th straight day that our city workers have been clearing and inspecting our school roofs. Over the last two weeks we have inspected all of our city roofs and have been busy clearing drains and knocking down the drifts on our school roofs.

With over 50 public buildings in our inventory, we have been very concerned about the weight of the snow that the recent storms have placed on our roofs.

We have engaged private contractors, the Danbury Fire Department, and our Public Works staff in an ongoing basis to remove the snow.

In light of yesterdays long term forecast,  over the weekend, our Director of Public Works- Antonio Iadarola, Fire Chief Geoff Herald, and myself spent several hours on the phone coordinating our response to the threat of extra weight from any potential incoming storms on our school roofs.

I am proud to work with such a dedicated staff who truly care about Danbury’s children.

Special thanks to Danbury’s Volunteer Firefighters and our paid Fire Department for their hard work.

With a warm up on its way, we should be in great shape for the rest of the winter.

Can’t wait for spring.