Public comments from the 3/8/10 Board of Education meeting inspired the following post.

Some of the issues raised at the Board of Education meeting are listed below. The Board of Education members face balancing the needs of all students and numerous programs. The economy and expected budget cuts weigh heavily on everyone's minds.

Tonight the Board of Education quickly voted to pass the Superintendent's Proposed Budget for 2010/2011 without any cuts. In a 7-3 vote, the Board voted as follows:

YES	Mark Stapleton, PhD (R): Chairman (First District) mstapleton@milforded.org
YES	Tracy Casey (D): (Second District) tcasey@milforded.org
YES	Jack O'Connell (R): (Third District) joconnell@milforded.org
YES	David Amendola (D): Minority Leader (Fourth District) damendola@milforded.org
NO	Suzanne DiBiase (R): (Fifth District) sdibiase@milforded.org
NO	James Tranquilli, Jr (R): (First District) jtranquilli@milforded.org
YES	Gregory Oliver (R): (Second District) goliver@milforded.org
YES	Robert White (R): Majority Leader (Third District) rwhite@milforded.org
YES	Diane Kruger-Carroll (R): (Fourth District) dkruger@milforded.org
NO	Josip Jukic (R): (Fifth District) jjukic@milforded.org

The meeting began with Board of Education Chairman

Going Rogue

Mark Stapleton raising the issue of opening up the City Charter to have longer terms and/or overlapping terms for BOE members. While having experienced and knowledgeable board members would be beneficial for everyone, with one political party controlling the Mayor’s office and elected Boards, whose agenda will be in the forefront of change? Once the City Charter is opened, the entire Charter is subject to alteration. Whose voices will be represented?

Jack O'Connell asked the Chairman if he and the majority leader have met with the Mayor and the BOA to see what their objectives are because he feels it's a waste of time for the BOE to meet for long hours the next 6 days and work on a budget that they'll cut anyway. He asked for the Chairman to get direction from the Mayor a few times. He insisted that because the BOE, BOA and the Mayor are all Republicans, they should be able to work together to get something done. He believes that a City Charter change is necessary and that either the Mayor should be the Chairman of the BOE or the Mayor should appoint a Chairman/Board.

MEETING HIGHLIGHTS:

* Pumpkin Delight School needs an elevator.
* Milford Public School Capital Improvement Plan received the BOE’s approval unanimously. The Mayor will select and recommend those projects he views that the city can afford.
* Early Dismissal Wednesdays deemed successful and necessary by the school administration.
* Response to Intervention (RTI) will eventually replace the present way of classifying special education students.

DETAILS BELOW:

There is so much distortion and confusion about the healthcare debate. To try to dispell some of the misinformation and myths out there, I've found some information that may be helpful. Below are links to facts about health insurance reform.

The Milford Democratic Town Committee has been lucky enough to hear presentations by three potential candidates for Governor. Susan Bysiewicz, Dan Malloy and Jim Amann. (Jim Amann is the only one to officially declare.)

Jim Amann spoke to the Committee late last year and received a rousing endorsement from those assembled. He had a fantastic opening at his headquarters in Devon one week ago. Even Mayor Richetelli was there. Always a good sport, Jim and his wife Terri took the time this week to attend a fundraiser (pizza) for Paul Tarbox for Orange First Selectman.

Susan Bysiewicz spoke to the DTC in February and got a standing ovation. Susan explained how Jodi Rell has essentially abdicated her power to her staff and spends most of her time away from the capital - at home. (This fact was mentioned by all three candidates.)

Dan Malloy gave a short speech and took a number questions at the DTC meeting last week. The theme of his talk seemed to center on transportation (I-95 and rail) and the deteriorating infrastructure of Connecticut.

When one reflects on where Connecticut stands now and where they could be, we can only come to one conclusion. Connecticut needs a Democratic Governor.

The Mayor's speechifying aside; the numbers are speaking for themselves. Mayor Richetelli has proposed an average 4.6% annual increase in spending during his tenure. This year's 5.7% proposed increase (City Side) is just icing on the distasteful cake.

This spending frenzy had not been kept in check until last year; when the Democrats took control of the Board of Aldermen. Here are the facts.

Since his first budget proposal in 2002, Mayor Richetelli has requested increases in spending that should have made the "fiscally responsible" Republicans blush. Unfortunately, all Republican controlled Board's of Aldermen rubber stamped his proposals. Thankfully, the Democrats took control of the board in during the election of November 2007 and literally reversed this trend by rejecting the mayor's spending requests. Count on the Democratic majority on the Board of Aldermen for more real fiscal responsibility this year.

The following is from the Barack Obama campaign.

The era of greed and irresponsibility on Wall Street and in Washington has created a financial crisis as profound as any we have faced since the Great Depression.

Congress and the President are debating a bailout of our financial institutions with a price tag of $700 billion or more in taxpayer dollars. We cannot underestimate our responsibility in taking such an enormous step.

Whatever shape our recovery plan takes, it must be guided by core principles of fairness, balance, and responsibility to one another.

• No Golden Parachutes
• Main Street, Not Just Wall Street
• Bipartisan Oversight

Please sign on to show your support for an economic recovery plan based on the following:

Haven't registered to vote yet? Know someone who wants to register? There's still time. Read on.

Voter Registration Forms are available at the following locations:

Registrar of Voters
(Parson's Complex, 70 West River Street)
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Monday - Friday