Despite Best Efforts by the Livable City Initiative, We Live in an Unlivable City
/Despite the best efforts from our dedicated and hard working LCI employees, we homeowners are finding it harder and harder to call the city livable.
I believe LCI has been tasked with too many responsibilities and not enough resources and authority. I’m hopeful and optimistic our new Mayor will fix the LCI function and give the current team the resources they need to succeed. We need to give them a chance. I am looking forward to hearing more about LCI 2.0. In the meantime, this is what too many neighborhoods face on a daily basis.
The photos above are of Elm Street (btw Brownell and Ella T) - the street where I grew up and called home for more than 50 years. The area was once a clean beautiful neighborhood with long-time homeowners. It has since been destroyed by out of town absentee landlords. I took the photos above a week ago - after the trash had been picked up. It may look different today (i’m out of town) but it is always full of trash and violations.
The slumlord at 869 Elm was renting to Section 8 at above market rates even though it shouldn't even pass inspection. I'm told by people familiar with the property that it is falling apart inside. The grey house at the corner of Elm and Ella T is owned by a guy from Milford. I've emailed the city about this house on no less than 6 occasions over several years and always without success. Still no fines. The frustrating aspect of all of this is that an LCI inspector lives on the same block as all these violations, and yet I still need to repeatedly file complaints before the city will act; the LCI employee takes no initiative.
My family and I finally got tired of cleaning up the garbage and calling the City with no response, and we moved. Unfortunately, we are now experiencing issues with blight in Westville. Tomorrow I will chronicle my experiences with trying to keep that neighborhood clean.
Ricci Ripoff ??? Custom Pension in the Works!
/Today I learned NHFD Union President and Wallingford Resident Frank Ricci entered into a secret agreement with the Harp Administration in 2019. Six months ago I referenced the secret MOU when I testified before the Board of Alders regarding the latest NHFD Fire contract. I urged the Board of Alders to demand a copy of the MOU and I filed FOIA requests with the Harp administration to obtain a copy. The BOA never followed through and the Harp administration never provided the documents. I still don’t have a copy of the MOU, but it is referenced in the image at the end of this post.
I am told the secret MOU will provide Ricci with a custom pension that will provide an additional $600,000 ($20,000/Yr x 30 Yrs) to his personal pension payout.
I’m told this special MOU was signed at a time when the City was negotiating a new contract with the NHFD and Mayor Harp was desperate for political support from the City’s Labor Unions. I believe the taxpayers deserve an independent investigation into this agreement.
This is one more example of how people pretend to have the best interest of New Haven at heart and then betray the trust of our residents and abuse our hardworking taxpayers. Make no mistake about it - Mr. Ricci is no friend of New Haven.
My sources tell me that the MOU still needs to be approved by the pension board and it MAY, repeat MAY, require approval by Mayor Elicker. I trust Mayor Elicker will make the right decision. Please join me in asking the BOA and Mayor Elicker to block this special agreement.
Dennis Serfilippi
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Time for Chief Alston to Resign
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It’s time for Chief Alston to resign. Yesterday the Controller’s office published the monthly financial report and it shows NHFD overtime hitting $5 million this year. That’s $95,000 per WEEK and $2.8 million OVER budget.
More worrisome is the figures above don’t account for the financial impact on pensions. Approximately 35% of NHFD members are governed by a contract that includes OT earnings in pension calculations. Someone familiar with recent OT figures has told me that the Operations Chief has earned 450 hours in OT in the most recent year. If accurate, that would mean this one person’s overtime, by itself, would increase the City’s pension payouts by about $1 million ($35,000 per year over 30 years).
At a BOA hearing less than 6 months ago, Chief Alston and the Union Leadership testified how the new NHFD contract signed in July would SAVE the City millions of dollars a year. At the time, we testified how it would COST the City millions. Sadly, we’ve been proven right.
On Wednesday the NHI quoted Acting CAO Scott Jackson as saying “There seems to be a potential mismatch between our technological capacity and the work we’ve established in the contract”. Why didn’t we hear anything about this from the City labor negotiator, union reps, or Chief Alston when they testified about how good the contract would be for the New Haven taxpayers? Did they know and not say, or were they blissfully ignorant?
Here are a few quotes from people familiar with what is happening at the NHFD:
“the city has spent about half a million on time and attendance programs over the last 6 years. One cost $300K and was never used”
“the bloated OT is the result of uncontrolled sick and injury”
“Ricci runs the Dept, not Alston”
“historically the fire training school and fire marshals positions never rec’d OT, now it is out of control”
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Chief Alston has proven that he is incapable or unwilling to control overtime. And he has failed to address the abuse of paid administrative leave. It’s time for Chief Alston to resign, and take the suburban union leadership with him. The disaster within the NHFD “Management”, repeat MANAGEMENT, is but one more example of how people from outside New Haven have abused the trust of our residents and betrayed our homeowners and hardworking taxpayers. New Haven deserves better.
Chief Alston must resign, and the City must launch an independent investigation into the overtime amounts, how overtime is awarded, and the assumptions behind the contract signed in July 2019. New Haven taxpayers want answers.
Now that we have a Mayor committed to transparency, I’ll be filing FOIA requests to look into the issues discussed above. But, I’ll need help. If you can assist, please email me at dennis@ournewhaven.org.
Dennis Serfilippi
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Dirt Bike Season 3 Weeks Away
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Spring is fast approaching. Pitchers and catchers have reported to Spring Training. Unfortunately, in New Haven this traditionally has meant the illegal dirt bike madness will soon be here.
I’ve expressed our concerns with Mayor Elicker, Chief Reyes, and Asst. Chief Jacobson. The good news is they are working on a plan.
I believe we need the following:
1. The BOA to approve the ordinance recommended by Asst Chief Jacobson LAST August. Read about the ordinance below.
2. Funds to support aggressive enforcement; sell the Tens of Thousands of $$$’s in bikes previously confiscated by the City, or use money from Market New Haven
3. A Public Announcement and PR Campaign letting would-be riders know the behavior will no longer be tolerated in New Haven. State Law Enforcement should be invited.
4. Support from the New Haven business community; the business community has privately said the dirt bikes hurt business, but so far none have come forward to stand with the NHPD or the residents. It’s time for the business community to step up.
5. Continued support from the public; please sign/share this petition https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/help-stop-the-illegal-dirt-bikes
Let's make this year different by sending a message that New Haven will no longer tolerate the unlawful activity!
Dennis Serfilippi
The proposed ordinance would do the following:
1. Fine the drivers $1,000 with 100% of proceeds going to the City of New Haven
2. Allow the City to confiscate the bikes/ATVs and sell the bikes at auction with proceeds going to City of New Haven. Prior legislation required a criminal conviction at the State level.
3. Prohibit gas stations from selling gas for use in dirt-bikes, and fining $100 any gas station that does so.
4. Require gas stations to post notices FUELING OF UNAUTHORIZED VEHICLES PROHIBITED.
Alders/Concert Promoters to Meet in Secret
/Four months ago the NHCPA (New Haven Center for Performing Arts) appeared before the Westville CMT looking to win support for the Westville Bowl. The presentation was brief because the promoter was in a hurry to get down to City Hall for a meeting with the City Plan Commission. But he promised he would come back and update the community when more specifics became available. As we have seen through media reports, things are moving along.
The entire community was, and still is, very excited about the prospect of bringing concerts back to Westville. I have reached out to the promoter and his general counsel on multiple occasions asking them to return and update the community, but they have refused.
Instead, the promoters expressed their intent to “maintain lines of communication with the neighbors via a ‘working committee’ as selected by the Alders from the 23rd, 25th and 26th Wards.” But nothing is known about the working committee – who is on it, how were they chosen, when where and how often they will meet, etc. More importantly, the working committee will meet in private.
Mayor Elicker campaigned on a platform of increased transparency. And early indications are that he is committed to greater transparency. This is an example of where we need transparency. The Alders from the 23rd, 25th and 26th Wards should follow the Mayor’s lead. Discussions regarding public space, the use of public resources and public funds need to take place in a public forum at a public meeting space with adequate public notice.
It’s time for the promoter to make good on his promise to return and meet with the community – the ENTIRE community. Let's open up the discussion.
In the meantime, I have encouraged the Westville Bowl to create a profile on Next Door so Westville residents can be kept apprised of developments and communicate directly with the promoter.
Dennis Serfilippi
Harp Leaves City $14 Million Short. Meter Money Missing
/The November monthly financial report published by the City shows the City spending $12 million more than budgeted, and revenue falling short by nearly $2 million. That equates to a $14 million shortfall.
We knew last years budget was an election year charade, so none of this comes as a surprise. On the spending side it’s the usual suspects - the Board of Education and the Fire Department.
During December’s FRAC meeting we inquired as to the reasons for the deficit, but no details were forthcoming - apparently the BOE provides no details when it transmits its forecast to the city. One line item of note in this months report is that the BOE ‘Administration and Management Salary’ line is $3.5 million over budget. The total budget is $15 million. So that budget item is 23% over budget. That’s a really big miss on the budget. I suggest we begin to furlough our friends on Meadow Street.
Speaking of friends, the NHFD Overtime costs are again breaking records. Again, no surprise. We knew the recent NHFD contract was agreed to out of political expediency and the deficits would increase. I suggest we bring all the contract players back to the table. We need to understand what really happened to all the estimates of multi-million dollar savings.
On the revenue side there is an item that has bothered me for quite some time: Parking Meter Revenue. You see, parking meter revenue is actually DOWN from $2.7 million in FY ‘17-’18 to $2.1 million in ‘19 - ’20. This despite what appears to be many new parking meters added across the city, and an increase in the meter rates. This is surprising. I’ve been asking City Finance and the City BOA for an explanation for 9 months but nobody seems to have an answer. This is not surprising.
Anyone interested in reading the entire 56 page monthly report may do so by going to the link at the bottom of this post. The report includes some very good information, but also some rather useless data. At the same time, it omits key statistics. For example, until I raised the issue last month, the report compared 2019 crime statistics to 2016. It now compares 2019 to 2018. I have asked he City, FRAC, and BOA to work together with residents (hint!) to overhaul the report.
Happy New Year!
https://www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/mgmt_budget/monthly_reports.htm
Lots of Red Ink!
New City and NHPD Contract
/I have yet to review. Please click here for doc