57°
NORWALK, Conn. – Faced with an overflowing crowd of sign-carrying parents, children and administrators, Norwalk's often contentiously partisan Common Council voted in unison Tuesday night to approve a non-binding resolution requesting the city provide more money to the Board of Education in spite of concerns about the city's Triple A bond rating.
The resolution calls upon the city to make a special appropriation from its fund balance, sometimes called the "rainy day fund," of up to $1.8 million to the BoE to help cover a budget shortfall of $4 million discovered this spring. The city has already agreed to advance the schools $2.2 million to help bridge the gap.
"I think it's great that people came together to support the school system," said Superintendent Susan Marks after the vote. "It may be symbolic, but it's a good step."
This was the second time the council voted on a resolution to help the school system overcome its budget shortfall. The first was sent to committee where it died; this one featured simpler language with no reference to repayment by the BOE.
The meeting followed the third rally for education on the City Hall lawn, where more than 100 people held signs up to passing traffic, getting supportive honks. Most of those people then went upstairs, packing into the council chambers.
The council meeting began with a chant of "Move Downstairs," a request to move the meeting to the more spacious Concert Hall. Mayor Richard Moccia responded by holding up his arms in front of the crowd and telling them to "act professionally," explaining that moving downstairs was not that simple, as it included moving audio equipment and other things. "We'll get through this," he said.
Council members faced a packed house – people stood in the aisles and in the caucus rooms off to the side; people sat on the floor in front of a divider, in a space normally regarded as sacrosanct; people crowded against the divider from the audience side, leaning on a table.
Comments at the microphone were often blunt, testy and to the point. "Each of you remember what brought you to be senators (sic) and common councils," said Lisette Grijalva. "It's to be for the people. Well, right now you're against the people. And that's not cool."
"We will have a weakened education if the cuts are made and this will affect our future," said Alexis, a Nathan Hale Middle School sixth grader. "... We may not know much about politics but we can see what is going on all around us. By holding this meeting in this tiny room tells us that you think this is a tiny problem."
After more than an hour of public speaking, Moccia took responsibility for the cramped quarters. Last week's Board of Education meeting, when the vote on the reconciliation plan took place, was only attended by 60 to 75 people, and the council chambers were adequate for the BOE meeting held the Tuesday before that, he said.
"If you want to blame anybody blame me because, quite honestly, I didn't think we'd have this many people," he said, before being interrupted by a murmur from the crowd. "Now look. You think I want you to be mad at me by having a crowded room? There is no intent in that. There was no intent on my part or an intent of the city clerk. Normally these council chambers can handle it even if there are a few people standing outside. So it was not an intention to stifle you. You all spoke ... I apologize. I'll accept the responsibility."
Anna Duleep (D-At Large) made the motion for the resolution. "I urge you to pass the vote that in your heart you want to tonight, to do the right thing," she said. "... (you'll) be sending a powerful message, something more powerful than just a phone call every night to (BET) Chairman Wilms from me, or e-mails from all of us. It is saying this body, the legislative body of this city, didn't turn a blind eye, didn't ignore all of the people who came out to meeting after meeting, after midnight."
She said there were actually three parties on the council – the Republicans, the Democrats and the Unaffiliated. She was proud that she had Mike Geake, now unaffiliated, as a sponsor and said a Republican member almost sponsored it.
Michele Maggio (R-District C) later confessed to being that Republican.
Doug Hempstead (R-At Large) made a motion to amend the language of the resolution to include a promise to work on the formula for state's Educational Cost Sharing. That passed.
A short while later every council member present voted to approve the resolution. Nick Kydes (R-District C) had left.
Geake (District B) had cautioned during the debate that it was simply a gesture, without true recognition of the role of the council. "Tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up and the Board of Ed is going to be in the same financial shape and it's going to be up to the BET and the mayor and the Board of Ed to come up with a plan that then comes to the council for us to approve. Pure and simple. Don't delude yourself that anything else is going to happen," he said.
Then he addressed the audience. "We're sending a message, yes. But you people have been sending the same message by showing up in the numbers that you show up. I don't think ours is any more powerful than yours. In fact, I think yours will be more powerful because, as it has been pointed out, we are politicians."
"Hopefully it will have an impact since it comes unanimously from the council, and also the fact that all these people were here for the third time," said Bruce Mellion, president of the Norwalk Federation of Teachers. "It's the third major rally and each time the number of people has gone up. I think it's democracy. It's people demonstrating and rallying. ... If we didn't have this many people here tonight I don't think we would have ever gotten this result. I hope that they know that we're not done yet. It's important that they partake in this way every single year in the Democratic institution."
Jack Chiaramonte, chairman of the Board of Education, cautioned that even if the city finds a way for the board to delay repayment of the entire $4 million that covers an unexpected shortfall, there are still a "devastating" $5.9 million in cuts to make, the result of the cap set by the council.
Marks was more optimistic. She said, "We still have significant amounts to cut, but I think that maybe it would be more equal and we can put back some supports that we really need."
Correction made, 11:25 a.m.
Comments (23)
If moccia wants the facts, what we are calling a forensic audit is called a performance audit in big business and moccia might be able to reach out to one of the big businesses in town and get a performance audit donated. GE , for example, sends performance auditors all over the world to audit businesses that are part of GE and evaluate performance. Such an audit would discover paychecks being improperly issued to people who don't work for the BOE or at improper rates of pay. it could also discover wasteful practices in other areas of running a school system.
It may be the word forensic that troubles moccia because he doesn't want to be accusing anybody of criminal activity without proof. A performance audit could serve the same purpose without the color of criminal accusation. It is not unusual for performance audits to discover criminal activity, but their primary purpose is to discover waste and inefficiency. He, and others, obviously do not believe there are valid reasons for almost ten million dollar shortfalls in two year's budgets, and he could be right.
It all comes down to who do you believe. Dr Marks says the city didn't give the BOE enough to run the schools, moccia says they did and she spent too much. Without a performance audit, we will never know and LENDING ??? more makes no sense at all until there is a good accounting for where our money went that justifies adding more.
In my opinion the idea of LENDING money for operations of a city department is ridiculous. Either we increase the budget to cover the shortfall or we don't.
I am happy that the schools got SOME of the money they needed. But as I have stated before this is only a partial fix. Why do we need more police cars? Fix the ones we have and use that money for the schools. Why is Bruce not doing more to help this situation instead of demanding the teachers need a raise? Why they are one of the highest paid? Why do some gym teachers need to make over 100,000 a year when they sit in their chair and yell at students and do nothing. I'm sorry but some of them need to take a pay cut! If major companies are doing it in order to save jobs why can't we! Yes we got some money but what happens next year and the year after that. And FYI this supposed audit was suppose to happen years ago and it never did so I really won't hold my breath. Thanks everyone for all the support and make sure you make people know what issues we are facing here. Lets not be another Bridgeport or Waterbury.
Last night was a good step for the council to take. Heck, even Michelle Maggio spoke out on the issue! But I'll stay to the positive but I have to say it was nice to be recognized by her..Anyway, I agree with Lisa's posting and have already and have been sounding the ECS alarm on the elementary school level. And as you are aware there is a meeting on July 12th in Bridgeport for all stakeholders to come and speak on this issue. And it would really be a strong showing of support for our schools if we could get just as many residents to the meeting like we have had some wonderful turn-outs over the last month for the BOE, BET & Council. I mentioned that last night in my statement and come during the next legislative session I hope we have 6 or more busses heading up to the Looney bin known as Hartford.
And as for last night I'm very happy that the council saw the light and though non-binding but has the Mayor's support and the whole council except Nick (Where did he go BTW?) supported the resolution that was put forth and the BET should act accordingly. Now, my main concern is how we get the teachers back into the classrooms and especially at Wolfpit where we are getting gutted by 30%!!! More than any other school in Norwalk! What and why are we being targeted for? We are doing the right thing our teachers, staff, administrators are wonderful and really care for our children and we have the scores to prove it. We have some of the best scores on the elementary level! So I ask you why break up a good thing that is only positioned to get even better. We demand that our teachers be put back! YES I know we need librarians, AVP's and everything else getting cut but it all starts in the classrooms. I am still in support of the unions taking a freeze for the one year that alone will SAVE about 20 teachers! Jack, Bruce & Dr. Marks need to get into a locked room and stay there until we find the answers that are right there in front of them. We have all worked so hard at getting us back to the 5.9% reconciliation, meetings, meetings, meetings and more meetings but now we are here and there still is some work that needs to be done in the 11.5 hour to get even some funds into the budget and continue our the path that we have laid out for our students and do everything we can to continue to make them better and stronger for what lies ahead and it all starts at the elementary level. So, if anything is going to be put back it needs to start with our teachers!
Just a few mistakes I'd like to point out before I get into the swing of things.
1) The quote "We will have a weakened education if these cuts are made," was stated by Alexis, however she is a 6th grade student, not going to Norwalk High. The student going into Norwalk High was Maeve, who went up go speak along with Alexis and her sister. Her sister, Grace, said the quote about holding the meeting in the tiny room. Please try to pay more attention and get the facts straight on this...although I suppose it doesn't matter who said what in the big picture. But I have a son at Nathan Hale with these three girls and it was frustrating to see this. Sorry, I'm a parent. It's my nature to let my children and those of others rightfully recognized,
2) The other errors I was intending to point out were either already covered or edited within the time I wrote this comment, so nevermind to that respect.
Anyway.
All in all,I am quite pleased with the outcome, but I still have one minor question- why did Mr. kydes not stay for the vote? I remained until the end and I noticed that he left shortly after his vote and did not stay for the outcome. I recognize that Common Council memebers are not paid, this is not their full time job and they may have other obligations elsewhere. It just seemed offensive to us as parents for him to leave without any rhyme or reason. This is the fate of our children and gramdchildrens future, and you just leave after casting a vote? Sure, his vote was in support of it but isn't it a bit negligent? I don't know. I was nitpicking at everything last night.
Like the fact that, I am so thankful for the fact that Moccia cannot vote- as he is not in favor of the resolution and the rumor is that he was pushing the Republicans to vote against it to the point where one Republican member nearly resigned due to the pressure, as he was supportive of it. After the first Democratic vote, Moccia rolled his eyes, turned to a Republican colleague, and mouthed "Great, that's one." Throughout the whole meeting, before, during public comments and as e vote was going around, Moccia was making such gestures. As countless concerned parents spoke, Moccia seemed not to be listening and did not appear to have his full attention on what the people of this city had to say, whether he agrees with it or not. You just can't be so blatantly outward, and after the vote, he looked furious with the Republicans for not giving in to the peer pressure of going against the resolution. I am personally unaffiliated and I applaud the Republicans for this action. Although this is non binding, as I said before, I am glad to know that we have the Common Council on our side.
As for the resolution, I am curious to see whether the BET will release the supported funds per last nights vote as last week the Board Chair, in a quote, did not believe that releasing the funds was fiscally responsible. Unfortunately, the decision last night is not binding. All it says is that the Common Council agrees with the resolution, it does not mean that the resolution is in effect and, until we hear answers from the other two boards, this is not over yet.
Whether this is good or bad for the city is not a question here. What is more important- a AAA rating or the education of the 11,000 kids in these schools?
I have corrected the description of Alexis.
Other than that this is the same story that has been up since 4 a.m. There were some minor tweaks between 3 and 4 a.m., after it went online, but nothing was changed after that.
I think Mr. Kydes left BEFORE any vote was taken on the amendment or the resolution. I too hope the BET approves the funds. Now that the city has come up with some funds it is time for the NFT to maybe reconsider the 1.3 percent raise and maybe take a little less. I do not think a freeze, just a good faith reduction. I believe the teachers should get a little something. To say that they should take a freeze like some of the other unions is not fair. Police and Firefighters can make up for pay freezes by just working some overtime. The teachers do not have that option. Like I said, I believe a lower percentage would at least show that they are coming to the table to help.
You are correct, Nick Kydes left before the vote on the amendment.
i note that the city bond rating was reaffirmed by Moodys on Monday. Interesting that Finance continually referred to a potential downgrade during this debate even though they already knew the y already knew the rating was not going to be impacted.
That the Moody's rating was reconfirmed before anything is done means nothing. Trying to point out conspiracies that aren't there is what prevents anything from being done.
If the professional people who are responsible for maintaining the finances of the city (and who are not politicians) say that taking money from the rainy day fund is going to have an impact, it probably means we ought to pay attention.
When an idiot compares the requirement to put funding into the pension based on actuary's projections to "Wall Street Banks that lost billions" I tend to think that person might be trying to get people excited for political reasons.
I think if the council wanted to add money to the budget, they would have done this honestly, but adding a tax to pay for it.
More money but no plan from Supt Marks means more of the same problems.
This is a superintendent who could not name the four largest elementary schools where she would send assistant principals. She doesn't know our schools. She doesn't know our kids. Does anyone trust her ability to use the money wisely?
It is not about the dollars, it is about moccia showing Dr Marks who is the boss. She was given a budget and went above it this year and has already announced she plans to go above it again next year. There is so much smoke and mirrors in the school budgets nobody knows where all the money goes and for some unexplained reason moccia is totally against a serious forensic audit. He cannot avoid the suspicion his opposition raises.. Is there something crooked going on that he knows about and benefits from ?
To add to the confusion, his buddy Chiaramonte wants the teacher's union to break their contract, take a wage freeze, and save the city part of the shortfall. Parents want their children to get the best possible education, regardless of where they live or what they look like and they believe there are folks in this administration that don't share that goal.
Some of us learned last night the city has already outsourced the mail room job and plans to buy more 2011 discontinued model police cars.
@Old Timer
Numerous articles have already stated that an independent audit will be performed. As I predicted, that's not enough to stop you from leveling sleazy accusations of corruption without any proof.
It will not be a forensic audit so in other words it is useless such as you are.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
How much for your post?
what accusation ?
Do you have some better explanation for why he is so opposed to a forensic audit ?
I notice you have no response to the moccia showing Dr Marks who is boss statement. Does that mean we agree ?
Where in the world have you ever heard of a city LENDING money to a city department, such as a school system, and demanding it paid back ?
In an earlier comment, you remarked that an independent audit would not be sufficient because it doesn't track cash flowing in and out. That's not true - I am not a CPA but I do know that a regular audit by an independent third party generally does verify that funds in and out. I suspect your knowledge of auditing is even more limited than mine, and your main interest here is scoring political points by insinuating corruption. I'm sure if Moccia agreed to a forensic audit you would then find some sort of deficiency with that.
"Is there something crooked going on that he knows about and benefits from ?"
This is the same sort of question loaded with insinuations as "Has Old Timer stopped beating his wife yet?"
I believe Common Councilman Bruce Kimmel, who is a Democrat, stated that based on his years of experience a forensic audit was not necessary and an independent audit would be sufficient. Is Councilman Kimmel part of the coverup too?
I have no opinion regarding whether or not Mayor Moccia is trying to show Dr. Marks who is boss. What evidence do you have that this is what's going on, as opposed to, say, trying to keep a lid on expenditures so that taxpayers don't get hit with yet another tax hike?
Spooner, aka STAN
You are a paid hack for the mayor and here is example of your work. You are part of a right wing agenda to discredit the mayor's foes. The Republicans are in total control of city government and you want to keep it that way. The people have a right to ask questions and demand answers and your job on this blog is to shut them down. This is not a third world nation this is the USA, BABY! God Bless America, the land of the free!
You are so right
Halfwatt,
Is it a vast right-wing conspiracy? Maybe you should put on a tinfoil hat to protect yourself from it, and wear it to the next Council meeting.
In no way do I shut anybody down. But when I see people pursuing a petty partisan agenda that I disagree with, or make statements that I know to be factually incorrect, I do call them out on it. I'm sorry that upsets you to the point of posting personal attacks against me which are proven lies.
Your attack is a proven lie because I have criticized the Mayor and City administration for slow-walking Beach Road Highway improvements, for raising taxes, for poor handling of the Norwalk Museum closure, for approving raises to Unions that endorsed him, the list goes on and on... it's all there in the record, anybody who wants to can go and look it up. I've told you that many times, yet you continue to repeat things that you know are a lie. The readers of this blog are smarter than that.
Incidentally, I do agree that a thorough audit needs to be done and there needs to be a very clear explanation of exactly how the BoE came up $4 million short. The explanation should be in terms that can be understood by a layman who is not a CPA. To date I haven't seen anything of that nature. Where you and Old Timer and I disagree is that I'm willing to see what the results are of the independent audit, before I accuse the Mayor of personally benefiting from corruption. As you said this is America, and we believe in, among other things, the principle that people are innocent until proven guilty.
A forensic audit focuses on where the money goes and verifies every name on a payroll and every vendor that gets paid. It also looks at amounts purchased to see if they are reasonable. An expense item for floor polish, or example, that far exceeds established patterns will merit a closer look. Thieves can be very ingenious. I would be surprised if a normal audit, checking arithmetic and accounting practices, couldn't well be done in-house and should be mandated annually. A forensic audit requires a different approach and some are done by people with no accounting credentials, frequently by law enforcement. The audit at NEON was a mix of both and found money being spent where it was not intended to be under the terms of grants. A forensic auditor would look at how much was routinely spent for other than it was budgeted for. A school board has considerable autonomy and could resist an audit of any kind.
Moccia is wrong about forensic audits only being done when there is other evidence of crime. Some of the biggest companies routinely send auditors from the parent company corporate office to do forensic type audits on subsidiary companies. An independent fresh look can frequently find inefficient practices impacting the bottom line and order changes that save millions.
Getting a fresh look at how companies, and schools, are run is simply good business.
I was at the BET meeting the night before. No parents were there. I fear there is a naïveté on the part of the parents regarding what happened last night. The BET released an additional $466k but that was it. Last night might have been a feel good vote for everyone but it doesn't change the balance sheet! It would be nice to have seen some parents at the meeting the night before or applying some more pressure to the union leadership or showing up at the ECS battles waged. However, the state is still broke, and we haven't addressed the structural and contractual issues that most people (parents and teachers) haven't bothered to come up to speed on. Last night was Symbolic but pink slips are sadly, still being prepared. Parents need to get stuck into the fine print... For those of us who have been at this for awhile ( no offense Intended to the elementary Parents or NPS staff) there needs to be significant changes made on a whole host of issues or we will all be back In this politically charged circus-like atmosphere again. Not a popular posting but the truth.
A win for the schools & our kids education! But whether its good or bad for the City depends on how its dealt with in the long run.
@Ken P
Many think that the resolution passed last night solves the funding shortfall. It doesn't. Michael Geake's quote deserves more attention:
"Tomorrow morning I'm going to wake up and the Board of Ed is going to be in the same financial shape and it's going to be up to the BET and the mayor and the Board of Ed to come up with a plan that then comes to the council for us to approve. Pure and simple. Don't delude yourself that anything else is going to happen," he said.
It will be interesting to see whether or not the Board of Estimate (BET) releases any of the requested funds, especially considering that the Chair of that Board was quoted a few days ago as saying he felt that the Board of Estimate has already reached the limit of what it can do.
The resolution that was passed is not binding, it simply states that Common Council thinks it would be good if the Board of Estimate releases the funds. Common Council does NOT have the authority to force the Board of Estimate to do so. As I understand it, the Board of Estimate are an independent body and will have to decide for themselves whether or not it's fiscally responsible to release the funds.
It would be great if someone who has some historical perspective on the relationship between the Common Council and the Board of Estimate would weigh in on whether or not there's any relevant precedent. How does the Board of Estimate typically respond to resolutions of this nature when passed by the Common Council?
The overall tone of the BET meeting on Monday night was very positive. Both Mr. Hamilton (Finance Director) and Mr. Wilms (BET Chair) stated that they were comfortable with the resolution and this was before anyone knew about the AAA bond rating that the City had attained. That's major. It's a given that Mr. Hamilton is a finance profession, but so is Mr. Wilms and I believe that Mr. Mellow may be also.
So, while the resolution may be non-binding, I would imagine that there is the ability on the part of the BET to bring the resolution to fruition.
BUT, it's important to realized that despite the frequent and unrelenting claims by many of the parents and their children that the City does not care about the children, the problem here IS NOT based on the city side of the budget.
Listening to the way people talk, they think the City is some gigantic ATM machine that one can press a few buttons, enter the pass code and presto !, chango ! out comes more money to deal with the situation. That was evident when Mike Geake was booed when he pointed out that "In another place at another time" his class size was between 35 and 38 pupils.
It was also evident when one child came to the podium and announced that the fact that the meeting was being held in a "tiny" room (Council Chambers) indicated that the Council felt it was a "tiny" issue. Don't know who fed the kid that line, but guess again. While it sounded cute and got the audience applause, I'd bet donuts to dollars that Dr. Marks, Mr. Longo, Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Wilms, the Mayor and many Council Members can't wait for the issue to be settled so they aren't trapped in meetings that run for hours on end. That doesn't equate to a "tiny" issue to me. And probably not to the others involved who have spent long hours on trying to work this out. What a slap in the face! It's one thing to be holding a sign outside on a lawn for hours and another to be combing through spreadsheets and actuary reports trying to figure out a way to make it all work for hours at a time. Nawh, kid, you're right after all. They don't care. And with such disrespect, why should they?