Report by Paula Antolini, April 27, 2020, 2:13PM EDT
OPINION
On Wednesday, April 22nd the Trumbull Board of Finance voted to approve a 2020-21 municipal budget that does not increase taxes.
“The board-approved $178.9 million package is about $1.1 million less than First Selectman Vicki Tesoro submitted March 3. Members acknowledged the world economy had been turned upside down by the COVID-19 outbreak in the seven weeks since Tesoro’s proposal,” reports the Trumbull Times on April 24, 2020, “The board reduced the expected debt service costs on a 2012 bond by about $1 million through refinancing at the current very low rates, and voted to allocate $2.96 million from the town’s fund balance to offset the tax increase that would have been required to fund the budget.” … “The board also hopes to save money by asking town employees — except for police, EMS and fire marshals — to forego their contractual pay increases.”
On another related issue, Vernon, CT will feature a drive-up vote on April 28th. View story “Vernon Annual Town Meeting To Feature Drive-Up Budget Voting” here. “The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. via telephone conference. Comments on the budget can be made during the virtual public hearing, town officials said. Drive-up voting will then commence outside in the RHS auditorium parking area. Walk-up voting will also be available,” reports the Patch.
Bethel residents are wondering why our town officials cannot do same, allow a vote on the budget, by citizens, and not raise taxes and the mill rate particularly when businesses and families are struggling to pay bills due to the COVID-19 Coronavirus quarantine, after numerous Executive Orders were placed by CT Governor Ned Lamont. Bethel residents are also not wanting their right to vote taken away, especially when even town officials are not clear on the meaning of some of the governor’s Executive Orders.
During an online (Zoom) Board of Selectman meeting on April 21st, First Selectman Knickerbocker stated, “On April 1st a subsequent executive order was issued, this was 7s, chapter 7, and it contains some very vague and poorly crafted language, and I’m sorry if I am throwing somebody in the governor’s office under the bus, but a lot of people spent a lot of time trying to figure it out.” Yet First Selectman Knickerbocker is indicating a referendum cannot take place because of the governor’s EO’s.
Also, a member of the Bethel Board of Finance, Cynthia McCorkindale, has now started a petition on ipetitions.com that reads “Restore Our Right to Vote” saying “It is NOT OKAY for government to engage in voter suppression on ANY level.” It is addressed to Governor Lamont. It presently has 243 signatures of the 1,000 requested. View the petition here.
Comments on the petition page include:
“This is outrageous! If there is no budget referendum due to the virus, keep the budget where it is with no increase & delay the referendum for 90 days like everything else that’s been delayed,” from Monica Walthers
“No Governor Should be able to TAKE VOTERS RIGHTS BY Executive Orders, NEVER!!!” from Kevin P. McGuire
“It’s 2020 no reason why we cannot vote online,” from Justin Peppe
And from Jay Berardino, he lists his reason for signing as, “Former member Durham Board of Finance.“
We asked First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker for his comments on ALL the above issues, including Trumbull no-tax-increase and Vernon drive-by vote and McCorkindale’s petition for a citizen vote on the budget (we sent him all the links to stories and petition) and his answer was one line as follows:
“I would suggest you call Bob Manfreda for comment about the budget; the Board of Selectmen have no further input, only the Board of Finance does,” said First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker. That was his only comment when we asked him about the Vernon and Trumbull articles and issues and the McCorkindale petition. We emailed him again asking for HIS words, and he wrote back saying, “I do not have time to write at the moment.”
We have a message out to Bob Manfreda, asking him the same questions, and we will update with any further info.
Also view First Selectman Knickerbocker’s April 1, 2019 letter in the News times here where he urges a YES-YES VOTE on the last budget, “I am going to the voting booth this Thursday to vote YES-YES on Bethel’s town and school budgets to protect the investments that all of us have approved. This year’s budget calls for a modest 2.2 percent tax increase, only about the same as annual inflation. And even at that, nearly all of that increase is simply the new bond payments on the construction projects voters authorized in the past three years.
Knockerbocker said, “Aside from that new cost, this budget merely maintains present services. There are no costly additions or new initiatives. Yet this budget also includes the things our town needs to stay safe. It will support the continued rebuilding of Bethel’s roads, replace aging portable radios with new digital systems that allow all police and fire agencies to communicate with one another, and provides new breathing tanks for our volunteer fire fighters. This is a sensible budget that pays for our projects without sacrificing services or quality. I hope you will join me in voting YES for our town and YES for our schools.”
Is he saying the same thing year after year no matter what the financial situation is with residents and business owners? Even during a quarantine from a pandemic? Where people are out of work and/or on unemployment and businesses are closed? And raising taxes, mill rate, and salaries for town and school employees? Also taking away the right for citizens to vote on the budget? Are you okay with this?
If you would like to contact First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker yourself his official email address is KnickerbockerM@bethel-ct.gov .
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UPDATE April 27, 2020, 3:47PM EDT:
We Heard from First Selectman Knickerbocker once more via phone text, and he stated the following:
“I am not commenting on any other town’s budget or budget processes. What the town of Vernon did with a small town meeting (just 50 votes or so with only one question) has no bearing on the challenges of conducting a full scale referendum where we would expect 3,000 votes.
“The State of Connecticut has pushed the presidential primary all the way back to August 11th for the simple fact that it’s not safe to run an election at the present time.
“If it’s not safe to run a primary it’s not safe to run a referendum that could be even bigger.
“Regardless of what some might want to read into the governor’s orders the one that requires towns to fix a budget without a town meeting or referendum is still in effect.
When we asked Knickerbocker, “How can you say a drive-up vote is any more unsafe than how people get food pick-ups from school? You can use the same process. People can show ID through a closed car window then pull up and deposit a ballot further down. Tim Beeble went over the safe process registrars suggested [at the last BOS online meeting].”
Knickerbocker answered, “Who touches the ballot? Who puts it in the machine? How do people vote if they don’t drive? What do you tell people who threaten to sue the town because it went ahead with a vote when some felt it was not safe? Who fills in the ballot (it is illegal to have someone fill in a ballot for someone else)? What do you do if someone claims they filled in a ballot but the person did not run it through the tabulator (which would be inside the building and out of site)? What does the town do if the Secretary of State disqualifies the results because of all the security problems? Who pays the tab if poll workers catch the virus as a result of working the polls (like what is happening now in Wisconsin) and sues the town? What of they die?
“I don’t really care what Tim Beeble has to say about it. He’s not an attorney nor is he a health official. He talks about the referendum that was held way back on March 10th, which is before any of the governor’s orders were issued. We would not be allowed to hold that same referendum today.”
Once again, if you would like to contact First Selectman Matthew Knickerbocker yourself his official email address is KnickerbockerM@bethel-ct.gov .
Let your voice be heard.
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UPDATE April 27, 2020, 7:15PM EDT:
The News Times just reported that there will be “No tax hikes planned for Redding“ in an article posted 4:40PM today. It reads in part, “Several finance board members said the budgets needed to be cut, echoing concerns of other residents that the coronavirus pandemic has left many in town with significant pay cuts or without jobs.” … “We’re in the middle of the worst economic and health crisis that any of us has ever seen,” said finance board member Jenifer Wyss. “I think it would be very irresponsible for the Board of Finance to accept the proposed budget.” Read more here.
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