No images? Click here MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Wednesday, April 7, 2021: Edition #2 Mark Merritt Dear , I want to thank you all for taking the time to open and read our inaugural newsletter last month. Our newsletter open rate was incredible and since then, we've received fantastic feedback with engagement on our website (including donations), our Twitter account and our Facebook page. It's clear that West Hartford residents want to know our vision for the town, be aware of its issues and our solutions and want to be even more engaged. In this month's issue, we have several items of importance to discuss and I'd like to draw your attention to a few of them. First, Town Council Minority Leader, Lee Gold and I participated in a We-Ha.com Forum on April 1st, to share our Town Committee's platform for West Hartford. We focused on our '21-'22 budget and beyond. We are in "Budget Season" and the proposed budget raises your taxes. Make your voice heard on this issue. We must demand transparency in spending and to know how the town is planning on using the American Rescue Plan funds of $35 million. You'll also see a letter to the editor that I recently wrote to We-Ha.com about an attack on our zoning infrastructure at the state and local levels. You'll be able to see the legislation and our newsletter will provide you with the means to help us battle this issue. We need your help because the majority party in town and our State Legislator are okay with giving up local control. We are also getting ready to accept nominations from those interested in running for municipal office. If you're interested in running for Town Council or Board of Education, please contact us immediately. Nominations and the convention will be held in May. Want to know when our next West Hartford Republican Town Committee meeting is? Would you like to join us and learn more? We'll provide the details on how to attend our next RTC meeting in the newsletter below. Lastly, we'll hear from a couple of our Town Council representatives, one of our Board of Education representatives, our Registrar of Voters representative and our State Central representative. They will provide you with the latest information you need to know to stay informed. Please remember, that we need your donations to promote our vision for West Hartford. Of course, if you have any questions, feedback or if you need additional information, please feel free to contact me at chair@whgop.org. Take care, Mark Merritt
West Hartford Republican Town Committee Shawn Daly, Vice-Chair & Deputy Treas West Hartford, Republican Town Committee Won't You Please Donate to the West Hartford Republican Town Committee?We wanted to take a moment to thank those who have made contributions to the West Hartford Republican Town Committee this year. For those who have donated, your donations have already been put to great use. You have already read about our platform and our efforts to implement it within the town. These efforts require the financial support from readers like you to help us advertise and put pressure on the Democrats and the media to implement these ideas. In addition, we need your financial support so that our candidates can win our local and state elections in November. Please click on the button below to donate to our organization so that we may continue our efforts to improve the quality of life for West Hartford residents. Thank you, Ari Shell and Shawn Daly Your Contribution Can Make A DifferenceAn Attack on Town ZoningDo you want the state to take over our zoning in West Hartford? Do you want cities and towns other than West Hartford to decide what is best for our town? We need to fight these actions. Click on the button below to see the recent letter to the editor in WeHa.com from March 15. Then, click on the button below to read the proposed legislation SB1024 proposed by West Hartford's own State Senator and backed by our Mayor and Democrat members of the Town Council. Want to help fight this proposed bill? Click on the button below to send an email to our Town Committee Chairman. Let him know you want to help and we'll send you a checklist of things you can do to help stop this legislation!
Democrat Lawmaker Shows True Colors About ZoningDuring a Public Hearing of the State Planning and Development Committee on Monday, March 22, State Representative Michael Winkler (D - Vernon) provided some extremely anti-Asian comments that have outraged much of the community in Connecticut. In response, the West Hartford Republican Town Committee issued a press release calling for West Hartford Democrat elected officials and the West Hartford Democrat Town Committee to join us in demanding the resignation of Representative Winkler.
WeHa.Com Round TableThis past Thursday, April 1st, our Republican Town Council Minority Leader, Lee Gold, along with our Republican Town Committee Chairman, Mark Merritt, participated in a fantastic discussion about issues facing our town with Ronni Newton and John Lyons. The event was a We-Ha.com Facebook Live Roundtable event. The event provided a great opportunity for the RTC to formally present its platform to help enhance the resident experience for the town. Other items that were discussed were the issues surrounding the proposed budget tax increase for the town, regionalization and zoning issues as well as Lee's ideas around how facility consolidation can lead to Grand List growth for the town. It was a great opportunity for our Republican representatives to showcase how our party has a viable, sustainable plan that's right for this town regardless of party lines. Click the button below to see the We-Ha.com article as well as the recording of the Facebook Live event! Want to Run for Elected Office? The West Hartford Republican Town Committee is accepting requests of interests from those who may be interested in running for municipal or state elected office for this November's election. If you're interested in being considered by the Town Committee, please click on the button below and send an email to our Chairman, Mark Merritt, to receive an application so you may be considered. Budget Proposal Comments The proposed 2021-2022 West Hartford Town Budget totals $308,620,511.00. Per the Town, the proposed budget would increase taxes on the average homeowner to $10,754.00. To put that into context, on March 10, 2015, West Hartford's Chief Financial Officer stated that the average West Hartford tax payer was paying $8,334.00 annually. If the proposed budget is adopted that would mean the average West Hartford tax payer is paying $2,420.00 or 29% more in taxes in just 6 years. This sort of exponential budget growth is unsustainable. It would increase the budget by $8,373,753 - or 2.79%. There are many budget drivers including a $829,261 increase in contingency to cover unsettled labor contracts, a $465,493 increase to the Town Health, Retiree Health Insured, Self-Insured, Heart & Hypertension and Workers' Compensation programs, an increase in Board of Education salaries of $2.25 million - among others. The bottom line is that the Town's unsustainable budget trajectory has continued under the Majority Party and is reflected in this budget. This trend, however, does not need to continue. With more prudent policy which advocates for residents' pocketbooks while maintaining services in the most efficient manner possible, West Hartford's budget could become manageable, consistent and lead to West Hartford's best days. Chris Williams Town Council ReportIt is a very busy time for the Town Council. We are in the throes of budget season. The proposed budget will increase our mill rate to 43.16 mills, one of the highest in the state. Your Republican Town Councilors are opposed to any hikes. Last year we pushed hard to keep our tax rate flat. Our taxes are making West Hartford unaffordable, particularly for seniors and young families. In addition to the unsustainable budget, our Democrat majority party on the Town Council has approved issuing $365 million in pension obligation bonds. The town's pension obligations have been woefully mismanaged through the years by the Democrats, and sit at only 43% funded (i.e, 67% unfunded). Having led retirement businesses, I understand our pension obligations and the lure of using pension obligation bonds. However, issuing these bonds will not stop the town from incurring future liabilities such as an improving mortality and morbidity rate as well as volatile stock markets and interest rate risk. The bonds dramatically increase our debt leverage, and may not be viewed positively by rating agencies. Furthermore, we also hold liabilities for retiree healthcare. Healthcare and pensions need to be overhauled, like the private sector did decades ago. Our town simply cannot afford these rich benefits. The Town Council also approved granting $3 million to purchase the former Saint Brigid school campus adjacent to Beachland Park. The buildings are old, contain contaminants, and will be expensive to remediate. After the debacle of the UConn property, the Democrat majority on the Town Council has proven that property development is not a core competency for them. Lastly, our Town Manager has proposed to eliminate the overnight parking ban. Many residents, myself included, are opposed to this. Many of our streets are narrow, which will create issues for emergency vehicles, create a blight in our town, and possibly add to car thefts and break-ins (which have steadily increased in town since 2013). It’s very easy to leave your car in the street when the situation requires, by calling the police non-emergency number. I was quoted in a Hartford Courant article on Monday, April 5th, opposing the lifting of the parking ban. Click on the button below to read the story. Also, you may have seen Mayor Cantor propose several resolutions opposing mass shootings and gun violence against ethnic groups. While these resolutions pass unanimously, I’d like to see some action around local and Hartford shootings. As a supporter of Second Amendment rights, we are not going to solve shootings by punishing legal gun owners and their right to protect their families. Feel free to contact me for suggestions and questions. I’m fighting hard for you! Mary Fay Board of Education ReportThis is the time of year when the Board of Education (BOE) is heavily involved in our budget process. It’s perhaps the single most important element we work on all year, as it sets the direction of our education system for the next academic year. I want to provide a brief glimpse of where we stand as a school district and our budget at the release of this monthly newsletter. · 9,123 students (10th largest in CT) · 3,939 minority students (43%) · 2,435 students eligible for free and reduced lunch · 1,307 students receiving special education services · 84% of our budget goes to salaries and benefits · 59% of our BOE budget is part of the overall town budget · 2020-21 revised adopted budget was $172.37 million · 2021-22 RECOMMENDED Budget $176.30 million of a 2.28% increase This is just a snapshot of the budget, however it provides content for what the overall budget looks like. Liz Wilcox and I have thoroughly gone over the budget, line item by line item and will present additional cuts and cost saving ideas at our next meeting specifically around the impending ESSR III funds from the federal government to help offset additional COVID-19 cost. As always Liz and I are available for questions and comments. Mark Zydanowicz Registrar of Voters ReportHello from the Office of the West Hartford Registrar of Voters! As this is our inaugural entry in the newsletter, I thought it would be a good idea to give you some general information about the Registrar of Voters office and share some of the tasks our office accomplished in 2020. The mission of the Registrar of Voters (ROV) Office is to fulfill all election statutes and regulations as mandated by Connecticut Secretary of the State. The ROV is charged with ensuring the voting rights of citizens and administering all elections based on current election laws within a safe environment for voters and election workers. Additionally, the Registrars are responsible for conducting an annual voter canvass to maintain an up-to-date list of eligible voters and their permanent addresses. These responsibilities are fulfilled under the guidance of the Secretary of the State. We have heard time and time again, that 2020 was a year of unprecedented challenges, and those challenges certainly had an impact on our office. Regardless of the limits and restrictions imposed, the ROV successfully executed its duties and exceeded the goals we had set for the year as listed below: · Executed two successful elections, including a Presidential Preference Primary that was rescheduled twice, and a Federal Election with an historically high voter registration and turnout, regardless of a worldwide pandemic. · Successfully implemented all directives in Governor Lamont’s Executive Orders as they applied to absentee ballots, polling locations, and Election Day Registration. · Applied for and received, in cooperation with the Town Clerk, various grants from the State of Connecticut, including a Secure Polls Grant in the amount of $17,500, an EDR Stretch Grant in the amount of $2,500, an Absentee Ballot Support Grant in the amount of $32,536, as well as a grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life in the amount of $31,952. This money was used to offset expenses incurred due to various directives in the Governor’s Executive Order relating to the June Primary and the November Election. · Processed and counted absentee ballots for over 18,000 registered voters, an unprecedented amount for our town. · Together with the Mayor and Town Clerk, created a video detailing the process for safely voting in-person on November 3rd in order to assuage the public’s concerns of COVID transmission within polling locations. · Relocated District 4 polling location from Elmwood Community Center to Charter Oak International Academy as a means to increase voter accessibility. As you can see, we had a busy year! I look forward to sharing updates, accomplishments, and goals of our office throughout the year. Please feel free to reach out to me at Beth.Kyle@WestHartfordCT.gov with any questions or concerns regarding the Registrar of Voters office. Thank you for your continued support! Beth Kyle State Central Report Dennis Swanton State Central Representative - Connecticut's 5th District The Connecticut Republican Party (CTGOP) elected a new interim Chairperson, Sue Hatfield, back on Monday, February 22nd. Sue is the former Vice Chairperson for the CTGOP and was recently elected to the interim position, replacing JR Romano, who resigned in January. Susan Whitman Hatfield, a registered nurse and an attorney, was the Republican nominee for state Attorney General in Connecticut in 2018. Sue will be in place until July when the CTGOP will elect a new Chairperson. To fill the seat left open by Sue Hatfield, the CTGOP elected Mary Anne Turner as Vice Chairperson. Mary Anne is the current Chairperson of the Enfield Republican Town Committee. The State is looking to make decisions on local zoning, taking them from West Hartford and other towns. Please click on the button below, for the "CT 169 Strong" website to see The "Dirty Dozen" Bills state legislators are proposing, to take away zoning rights from local governments. These proposed laws could ruin our town and our state. The website also shows you how to contact your legislators to help put a stop to this. Dennis Swanton How Do I Get Involved?Would you like an opportunity to really contribute to the town? We have a few spots still available for membership on the West Hartford Republican Town Committee. Please click on the button below to see how to join our committee. If you're interested in attending one of our Town Committee meetings, please email our Town Committee Chairman, Mark Merritt at chair@whgop.org and he will provide you with the details. How Can I Get Even More Information?Click on the buttons below to visit our West Hartford Republican Town Committee Website or you can click on the button to learn about our volunteer opportunities or donate to the West Hartford RTC. |