THE ZONING BOARD WILL CONDUCT A REGULAR MEETING
ON MONDAY, JULY 28, 2008, AT 6:00 P.M., 7th FLOOR,
LAND USE CONFERENCE AREA, GOVERNMENT CENTER
BUILDING, 888 WASHINGTON BLVD., STAMFORD, CT

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
Minutes Approval – July 14, 2008
July 21, 2008
2. PENDING APPLICATIONS:
B. CSPR-838 – CITY OF STAMFORD (West Beach Park), Shippan Avenue,
improvements to existing facilities at West Beach Park including installation of
two synthetic turf soccer fields, parking lot reconfiguration and resurfacing, site
drainage, landscaping and installation of pedestrian amenities.

Of course, the other unspoken and not readily measured “inflationary” cost to the taxpayer are property taxes. Apart from the adjustments made to tax bills this year due to the revaluation, the City of Stamford with all its “belt tightening” still had approximately a 9% increase in its budget this year compared to last year. Why with all the debt the City is taking on for “growth” do we the taxpayers believe taxes will ever be lower in the near future. I continue to fundamentally believe that a property tax cap of 3% is a must for the State of Connecticut and the City of Stamford in order to ensure that fiscal decisions are managed with the utmost discipline while protecting fundamentally an individual’s right to property. Without the CAP politicians and elected officials are too quick to spend our money on projects that aren’t needed ultimately costing us higher property taxes.

NEWS ALERT
from The Wall Street Journal

July 16, 2008

The U.S. consumer price index surged 1.1% in June, the largest monthly rise since June 1982. Excluding food and energy, the CPI advanced 0.3%. Both readings exceeded economists’ forecasts. On a year-over-year basis, consumer prices swelled 5%, the highest rate since May 1991. The core CPI grew a more modest 2.4% compared to June 2007, though that’s still well above the Fed’s long-term goal of 1.5% to 2%.

The data tighten the screws on Federal Reserve officials as they balance a stagflationary mix of rising unemployment, strained financial markets and rising inflation.

I see a problem here;

I stopped at the Shippan fire station after noticing that they were almost always out on calls during the day.
After speaking with a few of the firemen about how busy the station had become I learned that they are routinely (daily basis) re-assigned to work in other areas, leaving our closest fire truck to come from a different station.

This could result in serious delays when you desperately need help.

I also learned that the Shippan area is the largest neighborhood that is covered by a single fire truck.

My question is simply why take away our protection to send it elsewhere and leave us to wait?

Are we not paying enough in taxes to afford adequate service?

Thank you in advance for addressing this.

Please watch the enclosed video on you tube and know that Stamford is not alone in this battle…

…then click on the video to the right that say’s Question of Ingestion and this will give you an idea of what these fields are truly made of…

Malloy defends budget moves

By Stephen P. Clark
Staff Writer
Stamford Advocate

Article Launched:04/07/2008 01:00:00 AM EDT

STAMFORD – In his proposed capital budget for next fiscal year, Mayor Dannel Malloy bundled smaller projects into larger ones, raising concerns that he violated the city Charter and undermined the authority of elected boards.

By combining certain capital projects, Malloy has, perhaps inadvertently, stripped the boards of their power to determine how much funding each one gets, some elected officials said.

“I think it’s disgraceful the powers of the citizens are being eroded by a mayor who doesn’t have respect for the Charter, nor do the people whom he appointed,” Republican finance board member Joseph Tarzia said.

Board of Representatives President David Martin, D-19, wrote in a memo to elected and administration officials that Malloy’s actions challenged the Charter but didn’t violate it.

“While this may provide administrative convenience, it is arguably counter to the Charter requirement that each project should be submitted separately, and infringes upon the powers of the Planning Board, the Board of Finance and Board of Representatives to act on specific capital projects,” the memo read.

Malloy said he made the change to complete projects faster and to make capital spending more flexible after getting caught between the Planning Board’s $50 million request and the Board of Finance’s $40 million spending limit.

“I had to accommodate all of the work that the Planning Board had done and the demands of the Board of Finance,” Malloy said last month at an editorial board meeting with The Advocate. “I think I found the right way to do it.”

The Board of Finance votes on Malloy’s $447.8 million city and school operating budget, and his $72.6 million capital budget, tomorrow. Malloy’s proposal would increase property taxes by at least 9.38 percent.

The $72.6 million that Malloy is requesting for projects would be funded by $40 million in tax-supported general obligation bonds; $19.4 million in state and federal grants; and $13.2 million in other funding resources and self-supporting debt.

Malloy’s capital budget now groups projects by category. For example, he requested $5.3 million for 19 projects renovating parks and fields, including synthetic turf fields that have drawn fierce opposition from Shippan residents.

He also requested $1.6 million for 12 renovation projects covering leased facilities and outside agencies, including the Bartlett Arboretum, Stamford Historical Society and Yerwood Center.

“These are the projects that I believe need to move along,” Malloy said last month. “That’s how they’re grouped. But in the engineering and execution side, certain projects can move forward more rapidly than others. I want to be in a position to have the money necessary to move those projects along.”

It also will reduce the need for departments to go back to the finance board with requests for supplemental appropriations as the construction market changes, Malloy said.

Tarzia said he doesn’t accept Malloy’s reasons.

“He must think we’re all stupid,” Tarzia said. “If we lived under his reasoning, I guess we wouldn’t have a Board of Finance and a Board of Representatives. I think he’s obviously talking about a one-man rule. If citizens think that is the way to go, fine.”

But if elected boards want to divvy up the capital projects, they can reduce or eliminate Malloy’s proposal, forcing him to request funding separately later.

“We still have the authority and ability not to appropriate anything we choose not in the best interests of the city,” Board of Finance Chairman Michael Pollard said. “So to that end, it really leaves the Board of Finance power intact.”

Even so, Pollard requested a legal opinion to make sure the change does not violate the Charter.

According to the Charter, the capital budget must include a detailed estimate of the cost of each proposed project, and a report summarizing the status of each previously approved project, noting those that have been completed.

In a legal opinion issued this week, city attorney Thomas Cassone said the city frequently has combined several parts of a project into one, including the upgrade of vehicles, major bridge repairs or street resurfacing. Elected boards approved them, Cassone said.

“I do not believe that there is any qualitative difference in the current submission, except that existing capital project accounts are listed for informational purposes in the new submission,” Cassone wrote.

Tarzia dismissed the opinion because Cassone works for Malloy.

“It’s an opinion of the guy whose job is at the discretion of the mayor. Now give me a break,” he said. “The guy who works for me is going to do what I tell him to do. He’s not interested in protecting the Charter or the rights of the board.”

Pollard said the legal opinion reassured him that Malloy did not violate the Charter.

“I personally think you do need to have some degree of flexibility as to managing the city’s budget,” Pollard said. “I understand why he’s doing it and how he’s doing it and it’s not against the Charter.”

City Rep. Randall Skigen, D-19, chairman of the Fiscal Committee, said he still is concerned because the only way the boards can stop a project is to vote against an entire group of them. For example, the boards would have to vote against all 19 park and field improvement projects if they wanted to stop the city from installing two synthetic turf soccer fields at West Beach.

He also is concerned that the 12 renovation projects for the leased facilities and outside agencies would create competition among them to be the first to start construction or risk not having the project completed, Skigen said.

“I think there has been an unanticipated consequence of trying to create more efficiencies in the capital budget and that consequence is reducing the powers that the elected boards have and their oversight and approval of capital projects,” he said.

Skigen asked Director of Administration Sandra Dennies for a list of all the projects in each category. The Fiscal Committee, which is reviewing the budget until the end of the month, may vote on each project separately, Skigen said.

Malloy said that if the boards reduce or eliminate his request for certain projects, he may seek other funding sources, which would stall the work.

The changes he made this year are not different from what he did in the past, Malloy said. He’s trying to give Stamford residents the services they want by using a system that has proven it moves projects forward, he said.

“I tried to give the people of Stamford the biggest bang for their dollar,” the mayor said.