Mayor Uses On-Line Survey To Encourage Participation: Appointments Pending For Boards and Commissions

Democrats, Republicans and Unaffiliated voters — are welcome to submit their names and qualifications to be considered for a nomination to one of the volunteer boards where citizen oversight and participation can make local government more accountable to residents. Over the last week Mayor Tim O’Brien completed his appointments to the city Police Commission. But 26 other bodies must be filled to have all hands on board for the new administration.

Mayor O’Brien has invited interested residents to submit information via an online survey available at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/93LHK6X

Commissions such as Fire, Parks and Recreation, the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Board of Finance and Taxation, Civil Service/Personnel and Veterans are mandated by the City Charter. Special acts require the Board of Water Commissioners and the Fairview Cemetery Commission to be filled. Other commissions that have been established or re-established by ordinance after Charter change in 2003 include the Arts, Building, City Plan, Aging, Persons with Disabilities, Youth and Family Services, Ethics, Human Rights and Opportunities, Parking, Public Works, Health, Conservation, Ordinance Appeals Board and Housing Board of Appeals. Mayoral appointments will also be made for the Commission on Community & Neighborhood Development and the Municipal Economic Development Agency. Complete information on commissions, their composition and schedules is available at the city’s website: http://www.newbritainct.gov/liv_boards.html

Persons interested in serving may call the Mayor’s office at 860-826-3303.

In Seeking Support For Senate Murphy Shares a New Britain Story

U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, in a holiday weekend message seeking support for his Senate bid,  shares the story of his mother's upbringing in hardscrabble New Britain.

The appeal for support draws a sharp contrast with Republican frontrunner Linda McMahon and the untold millions the former WWE CEO will spend in 2012.

"Yesterday, like many of you, I spent Thanksgiving with my mother. I saw the proud look on her face as she sat on the couch surrounded by children and grandchildren who are all healthy, happy, and secure. 

Her pride runs so deep because she knows - and we all know - how hard she struggled to get to this point in her life. My mother grew up in the Mount Pleasant housing projects in New Britain, and though her family lurched in and out of poverty, she was determined to defy the odds and succeed. She did - she went to college, became a teacher, and raised me to believe I could do anything I wanted to in life if I just set my mind to it.  

But my mother didn't do it alone. She lived in public housing, her father got a job making things for the federal government, and she went to college with the help of federal aid.  

She succeeded because her community helped her succeed. And to put it simply, I'm running for the Senate to restore that magical partnership between individual will and community investment." 

24th House District Special Election: Sharon, Rick and Mike Vie For the 24th

24th State Rep Nominating Convention Tuesday, 11/29 In Newington

The convention to nominate a Democratic candidate for the 24th House District seat vacated by Mayor O'Brien will be held Tuesday, November 29th at 7 p.m. at Newington Town Hall Council Chambers, 131 Cedar Street.

Three candidates with considerable public service and legislative experience have emerged to replace O'Brien: BOE President Sharon Beloin-Saavedra, Former Ward 1 Alderman Rick Lopes and Common Council President Mike Trueworthy.  They are seeking support from 13 delegates chosen last year for Rep. O'Brien's re-nomination.  The 24th District lies in New Britain and Newington -- a multi-town district that requires a delegate convention instead of a nomination through the Town Committee.  In New Britain the district comprises the Vance, NB High School, Roosevelt and Gaffney school polling places.

At a New Britain Democratic Town Committee meeting November 17th involving New Britain and Newington DTC members and delegates, Beloin-Saavedra, Lopes and Trueworthy all pledged to abide by the result of the convention and unify for a special election that is expected to be held January 10th.

The candidate elected in January will served in the short session of the Legislature that begins in February and will almost immediately roll into the endorsement for a new term with Town Committees' selection of delegates in March.  New political boundary lines will also be established by then as the result of the 2010 Census and the work of the Redistricting Commission that has not completed its work. All of the announced candidates are expected to remain in the 24th District after the district lines are re-drawn.

from New Britain Democrats.  11/25/11 post  http://t.co/PFLkH1XM

Reflecting On the Inauguration: Tim O'Brien Wants To Be The "Education" Mayor

Today's swearing in of the new Mayor, Tim O'Brien, and other municipal officials elected last Tuesday was most significant for where it was held as much as what was said at the ceremony.

 The New Britain High Band played the music and the Madrigal Singers sang the National Anthem as classes at the high school, the state's largest, were in full session.

As a legislator O'Brien has been nothing less than passionate about public education and how it can be improved in a city where pressures on keeping the property tax down are paramount. O'Brien has balanced the need for aid to education with solid plans to reduce the reliance on property taxes to pay for quality education.  O'Brien should fervently hope that Governor Malloy, formerly an urban Mayor, will address the school funding issues if he can get out from under the state's recession over the next two years. Among other things O'Brien has called for use of magnet school funding  to give New Britain parents a choice and to develop Sheff-O'Neill regional schools within the city which hosts one of the major teacher colleges in the state in CCSU.  Upwards of 600 New Britain students now journey to Hartford every day to attend the Classical Magnet or the college-oriented Capital Prep.

In the last two City Hall administrations (Pawlak's  and Stewart's 16 years)  the local allocation to the schools has been contentious and successive administrations have skirted or scuttled the requirement for a minimum level of support to education. Less than two years ago the Democratic Council restored more than $1 million  to avoid larger classroom sizes only to have it scuttled by the Mayor.

Unquestionably, Tim O'Brien faces enormous fiscal issues as he takes office amid the deep recession and less in the way of help from Hartford or D.C.  But based on his call at today's inaugural for cooperation and a clear statement that education IS a priority in his administration the terms of the debate have significantly changed.  Education will be a priority and O'Brien intends to be the "Education Mayor".  As the more perceptive politicians in our town have pointed out that is the only and best  strategy to retain and attract middle-class families to stay here and move in from anywhere else.

Beware of Professional Politicians Accusing their Opponents of Being A "Professional Politician"

I once knew a state representative in Lynn, MA who came up with a winning slogan: "Tim Bassett Is A Lousy Politician".  As I recall, the  Lynn lawmaker used the phrase to win  a term or two or three up on Beacon Hill giving  meaning to the use of irony in politics.

That same claim has been resurrected over and over again at every level and every year since I first heard it.

In presidential politics this year Mitt Romney, the former Governor of MA, the  former nominee for U.S. Senate and 2008 presidential contender, is using the line again, having accused his GOP opponents of being "professional politicians" in a recent speech. Shameless.

In New Britain, Mayoral Nominee Tim O'Brien's primary opponent, a multi-term alderman and office seeker, labeled himself the "people's advocate, not professional politician!!!"  Shameless again.

Most voters easily dismiss the "professional politician" charge because it always comes from a professional politician trying to deflect attention from issues and their own credentials.   The use of the tag line, however, is just another way of putting down the pursuit of politics and public service -- a meaningless phrase that further contributes to voter apathy and indifference.
And what's wrong with voting for a professional politician? He or she may know what their doing when they attain public office.

Op-Ed: CEOs Rewarded for Corporate Tax Dodging

Other Words Op-Ed: Week of September 5-13 CEOs Rewarded for Corporate Tax Dodging by Chuck Collins

For an elite group of American CEOs, sacrifice is for chumps.

As the nation struggles with budgetary constraints, Congress has exempted a group of imperial CEOs and their companies from contributing to the solution.

High Wire CEO  by Khalil Brendib  www.otherwords.org

One special group of CEOs enjoys huge compensation packages while presiding over companies that pay little or no taxes. Twenty-five companies paid their CEOs more last year than they paid in U.S. corporate taxes, according to a new report from the Institute for Policy Studies that I co-authored.

Instead of building better products or providing superior customer service, they spend millions to lobby Congress to change the tax laws so they don't have to pay.

The ranks of these profitable tax dodgers include Honeywell, General Electric, Verizon, eBay, International Paper, Boeing, Dow Chemical, Ford Motor, and Qwest Communications.

John Lundgren, the CEO of toolmaker Stanley Black and Decker, got a 234 percent pay hike in 2010, bringing his compensation to $32.6 million. Meanwhile the company is shedding thousands of jobs and moving more operations and profits offshore. They have 50 subsidiaries in offshore tax havens. Instead of paying taxes, they collected a $75 million refund.

Twenty of these 25 companies spent more money lobbying than they paid in taxes. When confronted by their tax dodging, their PR flaks complain, "We are just obeying the law." Last year, these 25 companies spent $150 million to influence the law, through lobbying and campaign expenditures.

These companies win gold medals in accounting gymnastics, using subsidiaries in low- or no-tax countries to avoid their tax obligations. Here's how the game works: A corporation pretends its profits are earned in offshore subsidiaries while its losses are incurred in the United States. At tax time, these corporations report to Uncle Sam that all they have are losses. Together, these 25 companies have 556 subsidiaries in tax havens like the Cayman Islands, Ireland, and Bermuda.

These U.S.-based companies use our taxpayer-funded infrastructure, including roads, bridges, broadband, and transportation. They benefit from taxpayer-funded research and spin-off products like the Internet, advanced jet engines, and drug research. Their corporate assets are protected by the U.S. military, police departments, and firefighters — and they rely on our U.S. justice system to defend their intellectual property.

Yet 20 of these companies paid no taxes in 2010. They didn't chip in one dime to pay for the services they enjoy — and that contribute enormously to the success of their businesses. Five companies paid symbolic amounts of taxes, less than the paychecks of their CEOs. But most, in fact, collected checks from Uncle Sam.

We taxpayers just hired Boeing for $35 billion to build new aircraft for the U.S. military. Honeywell also receives huge U.S. government and military contracts. But we don't require either company to pay a nickel for national defense or public services.

As wages for most Americans have remained stagnant over the last several years, these imperial CEOs saw their compensation jump 27.8 percent between 2009 and 2010. The average CEO of an S&P 500 company collected $10.8 million in compensation. But the CEOs of these notorious tax dodgers were paid an average of $16.7 million in 2010.

Shareholders should reward CEOs for building better products or delivering better services, not for accounting gymnastics that game their tax bills down. Shareholders at Stanley Black and Decker are trying to reverse their CEO's pay grab.

Congress should pass the Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, which would generate an estimated $100 billion in revenue annually. It would save jobs at patriotic U.S. companies that are forced to unfairly compete with corporate tax dodgers on an unlevel playing field.

Our nation needs all hands on deck, with everyone pulling their weight to address our fiscal challenges. As we try to recover from the worst economic depression since the 1930s, middle-class taxpayers and domestic businesses shouldn't have to carry these slacker companies on their backs.

Chuck Collins is a co-author of the new Institute for Policy Studies report, "Executive Excess 2011: The Massive CEO Rewards for Tax Dodging." www.ips-dc.org

Murphy To Take Up GOP Plan To Outsource and Increase Costs of Medicare, Social Security At New Britain Senior Center 7/18

Congressman Chris Murphy (D-5) will discuss the future of Medicare and Social Security in New Britain Monday July 18th amid Republican plans to reduce benefits and privatize the federal programs for older citizens.

Murphy will be joined by Judy Stein, the executive director of the Center for Medicare Advocacy at the New Britain Senior Center, 55 Pearl Street, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m.

In announcing the New Britain meeting Cong. Murphy released the following statement:

“Rep Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, has proposed a budget that includes drastically changing Medicare. At the same time, many in Congress are calling for an overhaul of the Social Security system. Congressman Ryan’s voucher-based plan would result in increased costs for most Medicare beneficiaries, especially those who are the sickest. Please join Congressman Murphy and Judy Stein to hear how these proposals would impact you.”