New Haven Independent

Posted by: THREEFIFTHS | July 10, 2007 9:48 AM

King John And His Puppets Should Learn The Yoga
Move Levitation, This Way They Can All Levitate For Good Out Of New Haven

Posted by: Taxed To Death | July 10, 2007 12:53 PM

1,000 kids per day -- are those unique kids or the same kids? What's the cost? I'd like to see the breakout on a per kid basis. Just out of curiosity.

One of the mayor's would be henchmen at the opening of his campaign HQ in the Dixwell neighborhood said she wanted these centers open 24/7! Just thought I'd do a little pre-calculation of how bad we'll get soaked if she and the mayor wins.

Posted by: elmcity | July 10, 2007 1:17 PM

It seems that every time Mayor DeStefano does anything it is always wrong. Will he ever get credit for the good things he is doing for the city. Every neighborhood has different needs and he's trying to address them one by one. Youth need jobs...he creates Youth@Work which this year is employing 1,200 kids. Kids need places to go..ok we'll have 9 open schools this summer. Kids are getting in trouble... he works to create the street outreach program. We need more cops..he recommends more cops then people flip out because they don't want to see increases in their taxes. Why does the city hold so much of the responsibility for youth. I understand government is set to improve our lives but where does the line end with the administration and start with the families. Parents need to be parents and discipline their kids. Kids don't always like it but believe me they will be thankful in the end. Coming from a single parent home where my mother held 2 jobs I still had her on my case everyday.
I do acknoweledge the fact that cops need to walk the streets and be more visible instead of sitting in their car or driving around. We do need to make the administration aware that we need to use our resources to their fullest potential.
All I'm saying is that in September I'm still going to Vote for mayor Destefano because he is the best candidate. I'm going to vote for the guy that has ideas instead of bashing others. I didn't want to plug in my election pitch but i do urge people to look into the candidates instead of voting based on pure dislike. Ask yourself what the candidates have done in the past, what they are doing right now and what their plans are for the future.

Posted by: Taxed To Death | July 10, 2007 9:35 PM

Elm City -- one votes on both the alternative candidate and the track record of the one in office. I am more concerned about the track record than what some other candidate may or may not do. Right now, the picture for this mayor is not good and hasn't been for a long time. He, like Joe Lieberman, abandoned the city to make a play for governor but his track record was not very steller before then either -- it just wasn't so obvious.

Fact: We spend more on our kids in New Haven than nearly any school district in the state -- we spend four times what is spent in Ohio. With debt service on the schools, we spend enough per pupil to send our kids to any of the best private schools. Yet, we graduate only 65% of them.
Fact: Poverty is rising in New Haven.
Fact: Jobs are leaving New Haven -- job growth is at a stand still or declining and has been doing so for a decade.
Fact: City spending and its resulting tax increases are reaching record levels -- this growth plane is unsustainable.
Fact: City debt is at or near an all time high and is slated to go even higher.
Fact: The city is running nearly $7 million in the hole, despite huge increases from the state and city taxpayers -- the only way the budget is being balanced is by using prepayments of property taxes in the last budget year.
Fact: There is no demand from the mayor or any of the staff people at city Hall demanding that parents do what parents are supposed to do -- take care of their kids and teach them right and wrong.
Fact: Homeownership is declining.

There are a lot more facts -- but you get my drift. This ship called New Haven needs a sharp right hand turn. It's not going to be done by the guy in the mayor's job all these years. He's the one who brought us here. I'm not sure I care who the other candidate is -- I'm looking for a life preserver and the first guy who has one, is the one who has my vote and deserves the vote of everyone else as well. History matters.

Posted by: let's think about it | July 10, 2007 9:57 PM

Elm City,

We have an out of control budget problem. Your candidate was missing in action of rabout three years, which helped create this mess. School construction is so out of line it's not worth anymore comment. Gateway never happened, the coliseum was a mess. NHPD fell apart, so much so the only person with any confidence is the mayor himself in its leader. Despite numerous calls for reorganization. City Hall staff is full of campaign workers.
People have been trying to get youth programs going for years. I'm on of them. I founded a non-profit and was with the YMCA programs.

The city needs a change in administartion. That's clear. We may not have great options, but nobody can fix what is wrong in two years, and the current administration will only continue the folly. We must vote for a change in administration, and then hold the new mayor accountable for the people he appoints. Things might change a little, at least we will see some of the hidden secrets. Then maybe the election after this will have some very talented people involved.

Posted by: bjfair | July 13, 2007 10:36 AM

I'm not so sure as much money is spent on our children as it states on paper when many students indicate they are in classrooms where there isn't enough books for each student. You might find that a lot of the money is spent on administrative staff. we have superintendents, asst superintendents and assistants to the assitant. How much is truly being spent on individual kids and why are we comparing expenditures to Ohio? Parents can spend less time working and more time with their children if they had living wages.Parents could also raise their children if the state didn't overstep their boundaries telling parents how to discipline their children. (I'm not talking about the child abusers or neglectful parents).I'm talking about hard working,struggling parents who may lose their temper on an occassion and the family ends up supervised by an agency that is doing such a horrible job with the children already under their supervision. Finally,It always annoys me when candidates try to clean up their act and mingle with the community when it's election time.(sitting with the kids, talking with the kids, listening to the kids,and kissing the babies when aside from election time they are so removed from those same people.