The first Bloomfield Town Council meeting since residents received their 2010 tax bills was on Monday, and the atmosphere was rife with vociferous citizen demands for budget cuts and lower taxes — particularly amongst residents from Haines Rd. and State Street. The final speaker in the public comment session dramatically explained that he delivers his tax bill in person so he can observe the work ethic of employees around Town Hall, noting that “most would be fired if they worked in the private sector.”
Past resentments between the mayor and lame duck council members Pat Spychala and Pat Barker also added to the contentious atmosphere. During a heated discussion of the current police chief’s legitimacy, Spychala was (as usual) threatened with removal from the room for interrupting the mayor. The exchange went like this:
Spychala: “We have one “(police chief)
Mayor. “No we don’t, and you’re out of order”
Spychala: ‘I’m sorry”
Mayor: “No you’re not”
The meeting was also a reminder that Bloomfield political leaders have a habit of not taking “No” for an answer. On Monday, the Open Space Trust Fund proposal (to reduce the .01 per $100,000 tax on asset properties for one year) — which was voted down 4 to 3 in January, and resubmitted in a different form at the last council meeting and again defeated with a 5 to 2 vote –was re-submitted for a third time. This time, the mayor kept details of his latest proposal to himself until the agenda item came up for discussion.
Mayor McCarthy’s latest plan re-interpreted the 9-year-old Open Space Ordinance referendum to include maintenance for all open spaces, rather than just future acquisitions. This iteration would enable the department of public works to raid the fund and cover it’s annual parks budget. The town attorney was on hand to back up the mayor’s interpretation of the original ballot issue from 2001. Nick Joanow, who shepherded the original proposal into law, led a vigorous challenge to the mayor’s reading of the ordinance along with several of his fellow councilpersons. The final vote was 4 to 3 against the mayor’s latest proposal, although “final” is a relative term here in Bloomfield.
Story by Geoff Gove, a Baristanet contributor
And you voted for him again people. Four more years.