FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -- April 28, 2008
MANCHESTER DEMOCRATS MEET TO DISCUSS BUDGET PRIORITIES;
SUBCOMMITTEE RELEASES “WATCH LIST”
The Manchester Democratic Town Committee will meet at Waddell School on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 7:00 PM to discuss their priorities for the Town Manchester’s FY 2008-2009 Budget. This follows a meeting of the DTC’s Policy and Action Subcommittee where subcommittee members had the opportunity to meet with Democratic Directors and discuss possible scenarios for the Budget and develop a Watch List to monitor important programs and departments in the Town government that may be targeted for dramatic budget cuts.
“The Policy and Action Subcommittee had a very productive meeting and wants to highlight several points to the full Town Committee,” said Democratic Town Chairman Michael Pohl. “Most importantly, we are concerned that the responsible stewardship of the Town and the progress made by the Democrats over the past 16 years is threatened by drastic and dangerous cuts that may be coming for the programs and departments in Town government which reflect the basic values that we as Democrats hold and which we believe are also reflective of the values of our community as a whole.”
The Subcommittee identified the following Watch List and described the possible affect of budget cuts in those areas that are priorities for Democrats:
· Education - There is no more important service for protecting the quality of life and our property values in Manchester than providing a quality education. If there are further cuts in the Board of Education’s budget, we can expect to see “non-mandatory” programs like gifted and talented education, freshman or junior varsity sports and other enrichment programs cut back or eliminated completely. We also fully expect reductions in staff including full-time and part-time teachers and para-professionals under the Republican budget. Finally, we expect that the re-opening of the Bennet 6th Grade Academy - a $40 million dollar investment by the taxpayers - will be underfunded by nearly $1 million.
MANCHESTER DEMOCRATS MEET TO DISCUSS BUDGET PRIORITIES;
SUBCOMMITTEE RELEASES “WATCH LIST”
The Manchester Democratic Town Committee will meet at Waddell School on Thursday, May 1, 2008 at 7:00 PM to discuss their priorities for the Town Manchester’s FY 2008-2009 Budget. This follows a meeting of the DTC’s Policy and Action Subcommittee where subcommittee members had the opportunity to meet with Democratic Directors and discuss possible scenarios for the Budget and develop a Watch List to monitor important programs and departments in the Town government that may be targeted for dramatic budget cuts.
“The Policy and Action Subcommittee had a very productive meeting and wants to highlight several points to the full Town Committee,” said Democratic Town Chairman Michael Pohl. “Most importantly, we are concerned that the responsible stewardship of the Town and the progress made by the Democrats over the past 16 years is threatened by drastic and dangerous cuts that may be coming for the programs and departments in Town government which reflect the basic values that we as Democrats hold and which we believe are also reflective of the values of our community as a whole.”
The Subcommittee identified the following Watch List and described the possible affect of budget cuts in those areas that are priorities for Democrats:
· Education - There is no more important service for protecting the quality of life and our property values in Manchester than providing a quality education. If there are further cuts in the Board of Education’s budget, we can expect to see “non-mandatory” programs like gifted and talented education, freshman or junior varsity sports and other enrichment programs cut back or eliminated completely. We also fully expect reductions in staff including full-time and part-time teachers and para-professionals under the Republican budget. Finally, we expect that the re-opening of the Bennet 6th Grade Academy - a $40 million dollar investment by the taxpayers - will be underfunded by nearly $1 million.
· Youth Services/Recreation - We are concerned that the Republican majority will cut or refuse to adequately fund youth programs that have been developed under Democratic leadership. The funds allocated for the reopening of the East Side Rec and the proposed plan for a "Bennet Leisure Center" is one example of where we expect such services will be woefully underfunded or not funded in this budget. Every cut to youth programming is a cut that threatens public safety in our community.
· Public Safety - We are concerned that the Republican majority will turn the clock back on the advances made under Democratic leadership towards putting more uniformed officers on the street and decrease staffing at the Police Department, threatening the safety of our neighborhoods. Specifically, we believe they will refuse to fund important staff positions such as increased security at the library and a student resource officer at the new Bennet 6th Grade academy.
· Community Agencies - The Republican majority has expressed a desire to cut back on assistance to community non-profit agencies that the Town has traditionally supported including organizations like MACC and PAL which provide vital services to the our neediest residents and youth, and they have even refused to honor their supposed desire to at least keep increases to town services in line with the rising cost of living.
· Infrastructure - We anticipate that the Republican majority will cut within the Public Works budget, freeze additional positions, and borrow from reserve fund balances, all of which threaten the maintenance of our existing infrastructure including roads, bridges and town facilities.
“If the Republicans do make the cuts identified on the watch list to any significant extent” said Pohl, “we see it not only as endangering our Town, but also as an egregious violation of the promises they made in their ‘Covenant with Manchester Taxpayers’. The Republicans specifically promised to cut taxes and to do so without cutting services. From what we have seen, we believe it is likely that they will violate both of these promises. Furthermore, they promised to adhere to a system of ‘performance based budgeting’, to assess the community’s need or desire for specific programs and they have not made any attempts to do that in this year’s budget and have made their determinations on where to cut the budget without any kinds of “performance measures” and without public input. In addition, the Republican majority denied the public an opportunity to learn more about town programs and spending and to offer their input when they rejected the Democratic proposal to televise the Budget workshops and they refused to meet with the Democratic caucus on the Board of Directors in a joint deliberation session.”
On the other hand, said Pohl, beginning in November, the Democrats have identified their own priorities for the budget and have brought forth productive and important ideas, including through several resolutions presented before the Board of Directors such as:
· Support for full implementation of the town staff’s recent proposal for the so-called “Bennet Leisure Center” at the new East Side Rec
· Fund All Day Kindergarten at all 10 elementary schools
· Increase funding for Community Service Agencies to keep pace with inflation
· Increase funding for additional Public Safety Officers at places like Mary Cheney Library
· Increase funding for additional school crossing guards at Illing Middle School
Most importantly, said Pohl, the Democrat Directors have a plan to provide funding for these important initiatives while still decreasing overall spending under the Manager’s proposed budget. Nevertheless, the Directors expect that these concepts will be rejected outright by the Republican majority.
