Budget shortfall? Show us the documents
To the Editor -
At the end of this letter is the [East Hampton] Board of Finance response by the Chair that was published July 2, 2010 in the Rivereast, regarding the elimination of the position of the East Hampton Chief of Police.
My additional comments: This is a denial of knowledge of any action that was to be taken in firing the Chief or ANY personnel.
It also was an admittance that there was some sort of notification of “shortcomings in state aid to the town,” but it does not state whether those shortcomings were the ones already accounted for in this year’s budget, or upcoming budgets.
I would request that the [East Hampton] Board of Finance produce said notice from the State, dated right around this timeline, to validate this.
It [the Board of Finance letter] further goes on to say that East Hampton faces a shortfall produced by state aid reductions that occurred after our budget process…. again I would request that such proof be shown, and that the Board of Finance make a statement as to the process in which this was done [removing the chief's position], whether the Finance Board agrees with this process, or was it a convenient excuse for Mr. O’Keefe to use for his own reasons?
I feel that the Board of Finance knows this was improper, and does admit to not having ANY knowledge of this action that O’Keefe took until after the fact, and did ask for better lines of communication as shown in meeting minutes after Reimondo was fired.
We all know that State aid has been reduced across Connecticut. Our Finance Department did take that into consideration when preparing the budget for 2010-2011; it is very clear when reviewing the budget.
What we don’t know is, is there actual proof that on or around June 21-24, was there official NEW communication directed to our Town, regarding a shortfall that would occur in July 2012?
Regardless, this is not something that should have been addressed in this manner, by a knee jerk reaction.
Again, procedure , policy and protocol was not followed, and [more budget cuts] did not go to the public or even to any meetings for discussion – not Town Council meetings or Board of Finance meetings.
In early August, the State did announce that there would be Statewide cuts, at around $33 million. However, that is about $30 million less than cuts in prior years and again, this was AFTER the fact [of the budget vote] – a turn of events that O’Keefe took into his own hands.
I feel that the Finance Department needs to be interviewed about this, and show documentation if available, which needs to be verified by state officials.
We have a town in turmoil because of one man’s actions that were not sanctioned by anyone other than apparently Ms. Engel, Mr. Tuttle, [town attorney] Jean D’Aquila, and [East Hampton Police Lt.] Mr. Green.
We deserve answers. We are the taxpayers and the very individuals who make East Hampton. We are the face of East Hampton.
Letter to the Rivereast published on July 2, 2010:
To The Editor:
Many people have asked “Did the East Hampton Board of Finance have any prior knowledge of the recent lay off of the police chief?” The answer is NO. On Monday, June 21, the board was informed of shortcomings in state aid to the Town – this shortfall will have a great effect on the town’s finances.
The papers in recent months have been reporting that all Towns in Connecticut are besieged with budget problems. Topping the cause for these problems is lower state aid to towns. Everyone is feeling the pain.
At the public budget meetings this spring, I voiced my personal opinion that reductions in staffing, in an effort to present to the taxpayers a balanced budget, WAS NOT, at that point in time, a viable solution.
Having said this, East Hampton faces a shortfall produced by State Aid reductions after our budget process and how the town’s government will raise the necessary funds to address the fiscal challenge will be daunting, to say the least.
However, be assured East Hampton’s government is committed to providing all the protection and services that we can afford based upon the revenue we collect without compromising the public’s safety.
Mattie Walton, Chairman
East Hampton Board of Finance
Letter to East Hampton Today submitted by Jill and Andy Perruccio, Sept. 1, 2010
Posted Sept. 3, 2010
2 Responses to “Budget shortfall? Show us the documents”
On August 30, 2010, I wrote a “Letter to the Editor” citing my opinions about the current crisis in East Hampton and noting that the Board of Finance appeared to have been ignored by the Town “Manager” and Town Council in their actions to eliminate the Police Chief position by claiming budgetary reasons.
We have a group of people, chosen in most part, by Democratic and Republican Town Committees, and elected by us, who cannot get beyond their political rhetoric and behave as effective managers and leaders.
Some have cited corporate behavior as examples of how to effectively make decisions. Yet, the Town “Manager” and individual Town Council members have demonstrated that they don’t possess the comprehension, professionalism or experience required to utilize the resources available to them to make informed decisions.
The Town “Manager” for whatever reason, acted irrationally, prematurely, and capriciously in removing the Police Chief. There was no prior discussion with the Board of Finance regarding a budget crisis. There was no prior discussion with Department Heads including the Superintendent of Schools about a budget crisis.
It appears that Town Council members are only capable of defending themselves. There appears to be no true logic to their current positions. It’s important to have thorough discussions that encompass conservative, liberal and moderate points-of-view, but do so honestly and above board. While some of you may disagree with Susan Weintraub’s positions on some issues, she is the only one who has had the fortitude to cite the illogical and inappropriate behavior on the part of the Town “Manager” and Town Council members.
Keep in mind that the same people who brought the current Town “Manager” to East Hampton will be the same ones who will be selecting the new ones. Unless concerned Democrats and Republicans influence their respective Town Committee leadership, nothing will change in this Town.
Dale C. Maynard
Comment made on September 4th, 2010 at 11:47 amI would like to add, that on Friday, September 3, 2010, the State announced that it had secured $110.5 million in education grants from the federal government, for an application the State made for last spring. Now, this is additional money that will be allocated to each town, 169 of them, for next year’s budget process, 2011-2012. That is $650k per town. I am certain that our Town was astute enough to apply for this money as well, they apply for every other type of funding, and that is what a good Town Manager and Council do. Again, no shortfall,as Mr. OKeefe stated, but rather a gain.
The State also announced Friday that it had $450 million surplus of unused monies that they had budgeted for this year, again reducing the overall burden and shortfall for the upcoming two years. This additional $450 million surplus has made it so that we can reduce the budgeted amount to finance from 1.6 billion to 650 million. That is quite a big difference, almost half of what was allocated can now be deducted. Again, I ask, where is the shortfall that Mr. OKeefe said he was notified by Jeff Jylka that was going to happen. (As he stated to Middletown Press in early July 2010)
Comment made on September 4th, 2010 at 7:20 pmLeave a Comment