Investing In New London

City manager's call for authorizing $18 million in bonds for capital improvements deserves support.

By The Day    Published on 4/16/2008

Print This E-mail Link Send Letter Send Correction For far too long, New London has neglected itself. City buildings are in disrepair, their grounds oftentimes unkempt; parks and playing fields woefully inadequate, sidewalks crumbling and police cruisers and public works vehicles true clunkers. City Manager Martin H. Berliner has a plan to start fixing all that. He has proposed that the city issue $18 million in bonds, in addition to the $3 million already approved for rebuilding Nathan Hale and Winthrop elementary schools, and use the cash infusion to start fixing up city property. The council and public should embrace this bold idea. New London needs to take pride in itself if the city is ever going to move forward. And attractive and well-maintained buildings, parks, schools, vehicles and roads are a way of infusing and growing pride, which leads to enthusiasm and accomplishments. The $18 million cannot solve all the problems. A conservative estimate by city officials places New London's capital improvement needs at $40 million. But the process must start. Mr. Berliner suggests, but is not committed to, spending $7.5 million for additions and renovations to city buildings, $2.5 million to improve athletic facilities at the high school, $2.5 million for resuscitating city parks, $2 million for sidewalks, $2 million for vehicle repair and replacement and $1.5 million for storm drainage work. He came up with those numbers after consulting with staff but said the capital improvements are so important for all of New London that the City Council should discuss allocation of any such funds in great detail. New Londoners traditionally do not like to spend money. And with so little taxable property that is understandable. The burden of maintaining the city's services, schools and buildings has fallen mostly to average homeowners. But decades of neglect have taken a toll. The city's new, interim public works director said he could not find a single city building that did not have roof leaks. And he was flabbergasted that some city vehicles had logged hundreds of thousands of miles, resulting in costly repairs to keep these gas-guzzling, inefficient, unreliable vehicles on the road. City parks and playing fields are sorely in need of tender loving care. New London's youth and families deserve to have safe and clean parks with workable equipment and usable ball fields. The city should not delay. Mr. Berliner calculates that a $21 million bond package ($18 million for capital work and $3 million for the two elementary schools) could over time be absorbed within the city's general fund budget with minimal tax impact. This is because the debt service from previous bond sales is going down and new sources of revenue are coming on line. The city manager also intends to seek state and federal grants to stretch the city's $18 million investment. And he suggests that the city at least consider committing now to using the additional annual tax revenue that it will take in — estimated at $1.5 million to $1.75 million — when the Pfizer Inc. 10-year abatement of real and personal property taxes ends in 2012-2013, to continuing the capital improvements. “The recommendation to issue bonds is based on the need to begin to rebuild the city's infrastructure and replace old and tired equipment that costs more in the long run to keep running than buying new,” Mr. Berliner said in making the recommendation. New London says it wants to turn a corner, and this is a real chance. The lending climate is favorable and the city, with a renewed vigor for self-improvement, can embrace Mr. Berliner's suggestion and start making real changes. The negative attitude has to stop. New London should listen to its city manager and support his plan to improve the city. Buscetto Proposes Shakeup In City's Employee Structure New London 'reallocation' targets planners, adds police, firefighters By Kevin Dale    Published on 4/15/2008 Print This E-mail Link Send Letter Send Correction New London — About a dozen current city employees, the majority of them in the Office of Development and Planning, would lose their jobs, according to detailed proposal of budget changes prepared by Councilor Mike Buscetto III. Presented at Monday's meeting of the council's Finance Committee, the report — which appears to have been given the advance blessing of the council's four Democratic councilors — would also create roughly 10 new positions in the city's police, fire and public works departments. “I would say this is a reallocation of priorities,” Buscetto said of his proposed shake-up, which a frustrated City Manager Martin H. Berliner said he had just learned of Monday night. The proposed cuts, which the committee voted to recommend to the full council, would hit the city's Office of Development and Planning hardest. (Outside that office, the proposal would eliminate the positions of the typist-clerk in the Registrars of Voters Office and the public works technician.) The positions of Director of Development and Real Estate Bruce Hyde, Economic Development Coordinator Ned Hammond and recently hired Downtown Development Coordinator Joseph Celli would all be eliminated, according to the proposal, which Buscetto said he drafted. The proposal would also remove several lower-level and support-staff positions in the Office of Planning and Development, including two secretaries, an administrative assistant and the city's housing rehabilitation coordinator. “I think it's overkill. You decimated the department,” Berliner said when Councilor Rob Pero, chair of the Finance Committee, asked him for his reaction. Berliner added: “Like Mr. Buscetto said: You're the policymakers.” “What I will say is overkill is $250,000 in economic development (salaries) when half our storefronts are empty,” Buscetto said. “They're empty and they've been empty. ... The idea is it's not working.” “Can't go with the same old, same old,” said Councilor John Maynard, who voted in favor of the recommendations. “You've got to build a foundation before you can build a house.” To that end, the newly created positions would, among others, include: two police officers, two police sergeants, a fire-training lieutenant, a “public assistance specialist,” a building custodian and another member of the city's code-enforcement team. Buscetto said the position changes would only result in a net loss of two city positions. His recommended job changes were part of his larger effort to reduce a proposed $3.7 million budget increase. His changes, which included almost halving the Board of Education's nearly $2 million proposed budget increase, reduced the city's preliminary budget from $82.3 million to $80.8 million, according to the proposed spending plan approved Monday by the Finance Committee. The reduction translates into a roughly 2-percent increase in the city's tax rate — from 30.17 to 30.85 mills. The City Council still must give the budget three readings and has yet to hold public hearings on the 2008-09 spending plan. Buscetto also recommended reducing the city's roughly $3 million overtime budget by 10 percent. “I'm going to ask all the departments to be 10 percent more efficient,” he said. “I do not think our city is running at 100-percent efficiency.” Buscetto termed the department changes as “realigning to our current needs” and said the layoffs that may result from his plan shouldn't be taken personally. “There is a net job loss of two. I think that's a significant statement,” he said. “Take the emotion out of it. You've got the run the city like a business.”