Ed Letter: Mayor's Spending Disclosure

To the editor:
Our part-time mayor wishes to allocate $21 million to the Board of Education in the interest of "disclosure." This from the same part-time mayor who last year submitted a budget that hid from view the complete reorganization of the volunteer fire departments as well as the shifting of the mill rate from downtown districts to Westover, Springdale, Glenbrook and the north. At the time he said it was "a few pennies a day." Actually it was close to $400 per homeowner and for a fire service we were not actually receiving.

Nonetheless, I applaud the initiative for "full disclosure," that is if he is willing to truly provide full disclosure. What are the full costs for the city's support of the Downtown Special Services District? How much do we really spend in support of the annual parade and the summer concerts? How much does the city truly spend on Smith House, one of only two municipally owned care facilities in the state. What about the cost for the Sterling Farms facilities, Gaynor Brennan, the Early Learning Center at Hillendale? Worthwhile as these may be we deserve an understanding of the full costs. Now that the mayor is into disclosure - how about telling us how much of a liability the city has for unfunded pension and medical costs for current and future retirees on a contract by contract basis?

The new "disclosure mayor" has yet to tell us how he plans to close the forecasted operating deficit. However, I have learned that one approach is to scale back the Department of Operations' maintenance of the baseball fields. Springdale Little League for one will not get access to its field until April 15 as opposed to the normal date of April 1. The result is that this year's Little League schedule has been cut from 20 games to 15. Delayed maintenance? In a year where snow removal has been almost nil? The city is going to balance its budget on the backs of 11- and 12-years-olds?

Maybe if the mayor was in town on a full-time basis he would be better able to deal with the issues here in Stamford.

John Marsalisi

Stamford