Letter To The Editor:

1-23-13

It’s that time of year again in City Hall ... Budget Preparation time. By now, the Mayor should have received proposed budgets for 2013 - 2014 from all departments and from the Mayor himself. Last year at this time, O’Brien had done just one thing, issued a hiring freeze that he immediately violated. The rest is History. Department heads and Directors let go - one Director is still receiving full salary until next August. Many departments have been dismantled and are operating with minimally qualified interim heads and the functions of these departments have been spread all over city hall. It is rumored that city hall morale is at an all time low.

City hall employees have been muzzled and prohibited from talking with a local weekly paper. The Mayor himself rarely issues a statement unless it is OKed by his deputy chief of staff.

Deficits have been announced ranging from $4 Million to $11.5 Million to $30 Million. The Water Dept. Reserve Fund has been raided twice to erase these deficits. As written in this column before W.D. Reserves accrue from monies collected from “ratepayers” not NB taxpayers. Taxpayers will be responsible for repaying the purloined funds. Water Dept. funds are just one of a few special “Enterprise Funds” in the city budget. Those of us that have served on the Council surely remember that these Enterprise Funds are not part of the General Fund and used for special purposes only.

As part of his shady Department Reorganization Plan which has yet to be shown to the people of New Britain, O’Brien placed the W.D. under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Dept. Then, he mingled W.D. funds with the Public Works Funds, “allowing” him, so he thinks, to raid the W.D. Reserves again. I believe that is illegal but O’Brien must have received the OK from the Corp. Counsel’s office and of course, our eunuchoid Council.

When O’Brien took office the W.D. Reserves totaled about $21.5 million. I am venturing a guess that the fund is now down to about $3.6 Million. Please, somebody on the Council please challenge the assertions I have made. Or perhaps, the Water Dept. or Public Works Dept. Directors or the interim Finance Director.


Lou Salvio