Simply Ledyard CT

From my seat on the Ledyard Town Council

The Ledyard budget was approved  by an overwhelming margin; good news considering other towns in the area had a harder time of it. Although Ledyard citizens will face some reduced services, their taxes were not increased. More hard work is ahead as we transition into the implementation phase. While the council holds the purse strings in Ledyard, it is the mayor’s responsibility to implement the budget approved by the voters.

To avoid inconvenience to our citizens, they must be informed of any changes that will effect how they will be conducting business in town hall in the future. I stopped in my local bank last month and was given a business card with the bank’s new reduced hours. A simple gesture.  Ledyard needs to make similar gestures. There is nothing wrong with closing an office within town hall at lunch time, or requiring an appointment to speak to a land use professional. Other towns have conducted business this way for years. 

For this reason, the Ledyard’s website will become an important resource for citizens. Ledyard’s MIS Director, Regina Brulette, is encouraging all town departments to add more information to the website. The hope is that more news, forms, permits and applications will be available on line.

In recent news, Ledyard was selected to participate in a pilot project to use social media to enhance their outreach with the public.  The Town will receive $8000 in consulting services from a social media consulting firm. It is hoped, that in addition to the Town website, you’ll soon be able to follow Ledyard news on Facebook and Twitter. Maybe I can even convince the rest of the Town Council to start blogging!

On July 1st, municipal leaders around the region, will begin implementing their budgets.  How towns deal with reduced services will say a lot about a town, its leadership, and its citizens. Ledyard can make the worst of a crappy budget or the best of it.

I hope Ledyard gets it right.

From my seat on the Ledyard Town Council

I’ve been involved in local government since the mid 1980’s and my frustration level has never been higher. When I read this morning’s editorial in The Day, Ledyard Must Tighten Reigns on Mayor, I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. Maybe hit me in the head with a two by four is a better description. You see, I should have written that editorial or at least spoken those words. Doggone it, I’m mad at myself. For the sake of party unity and respect for the office of the mayor, I have remained mostly silent. Remaining silent isn’t the right thing to do.

The subject of the editorial was mostly about legal fees. I made a campaign promise that I would try to curb the town’s over reliance on using lawyers for routine matters. I happen to like our lawyers a lot, but speaking through them, or having a lawyer present for an interview with the newspaper, is not a prudent use of tax payer dollars. I complained privately, but I didn’t take action publically, despite the fact that, as Councilor Diaz has pointed out, the Town Charter lists overspending the budget by a certain percentage as cause for removal.

Legal fees are only the tip of the iceberg as to what is going wrong in the Town of Ledyard. It’s a mess. Honestly, some of the things going on, I couldn’t make up if I were writing a novel. For the past couple of months, I have warned that I was about to jump. Who would have thought it would be an editorial in the newspaper that would push me off the edge?

After each council meeting, an “action list” is prepared for the mayor and includes the following: In addition to the above actions, the Town Council would like to bring to your attention that the following items were discussed or have been discussed with you at previous meetings and a status is requested at your convenience. Dates are shown for previously identified, but yet unresolved, issues.

At your convenience?  Items on the list date back almost a year and include things like FOI complaints, Land Use issues, Staffing, WPCA, and the ongoing dispute of using a receptionist at the front desk, despite the fact the position was cut in the budget.  How is that possible? (Yes, I’m yelling!) As a start, I am going to request that a review of the action list be added on the next available council agenda for discussion.

The last paragraph of the editorial knocked me down for the count. “Through it all, Mayor Allyn has continued to thumb his nose at the council, walking out of Wednesday's meeting before members finished discussing the legal-fee issue. But while he's showing that lack of respect to the council, really it's the taxpayers who are short-changed.”

Yes, the taxpayers are being short changed. In these worst of economic times, The Town Council owes it to the taxpayers to provide leadership. If not us, then who?

Please note:  While I’m ready for the criticism this post may bring, especially from my party, I want to clarify one thing. I have no aspirations for higher office. None. I really enjoy my job, playing golf, and taking photos of Ledyard. I’d probably sleep better and have a lot more time for them if I gave up this council gig. I'm sure there are more than a few that would encourage me to do so. 

From my seat on the Ledyard Town Council

Town finance committees around Eastern Connecticut have begun the task of preparing budgets for the 2010-2011 fiscal year which commences on July 1, 2010.  I’ve been involved in local politics since the mid-80’s and budget season is never easy. Sometimes it can be downright ugly. I remember a particularly contentious year when we found it necessary to have a police presence at Ledyard High School for the Annual Town Meeting.

Budget seasons can be divisive for a town. When it comes to evaluating a town budget, a senior citizen on a fixed income won’t share the same perspective as a mother of 2 elementary school children.  Voting on a budget can even become a sport as Stonington demonstrated two years ago  when it took 5 tries before the voters agreed on a budget. While I support a person’s right to vote against a budget, I don’t support voting no for the hell of it and I’ve seen that happen too.

As an elected official, the lack of interest during budget deliberations can be pretty frustrating.  Too often, taxpayers wait until too late to become involved and then wonder exactly what happened.  In Ledyard, as in nearly every town in the region, there is plenty of opportunity to follow the budget process. The local newspaper coverage is woefully inadequate but if you are willing to attend a few meetings, you’ll be better prepared to make an informed voting decision, and I can promise most town officials are interested in citizen input.