New Haven Independent

Posted by: Shameful Groveling Display | March 17, 2008 1:04 PM

Memo
To: Governor Rell
From: A New Haven resident
Re: Letter from John Daniels
Date: Today
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Honorable Governor,

I just want to let you in on a little secret here in New Haven. John Daniels, our former Mayor, that many of us supported and hoped would succeed, has basically lost it. While he brought us community policing, he also was otherwise (how to put this nicely) a disaster.

While he could play the role of elder statesmen in our community, he instead gripes continuously about his successor -- who we know has some issues and a bit of history with you. But I encourage you not to be drawn in by our charming former Mayor. While he says that he has remained silent until this point, it might be more fair to say no one has listened to him, since he attacks the current resident of City Hall on a monthly basis.

You might expect that he would care about things like your dumping of prisoners in New Haven and how this effects our tax base. But some who have lived here for a few decades remember that taxes and what drives them into the stratosphere were never his strong points.

We do appreciate that you have now admitted that you were wrong and are sending subordinates to see if a solution can be found. Hopefully that will include programs to help prisoners returning and a way to reintegrate former prisoners into their own hometowns and not into ours.

I am guessing that given your somewhat overwhelming problems at the state police department, and ongoing hearings on corruption, racism and sexism there, you will not again mention any issues with management of the police department. To be sure most of us are quite disgusted with corruption in New Haven's finest or the State's finest. But our former Mayor may be less aware of the state police issues since they don't involve our current Mayor.

And while we all think that the guy we have elected something like a dozen times can fly off the handle from time to time, we have elected him. And most of us prefer his approach to the groveling displayed in our former Mayor's letter to you. It was enough to make at least this voter regret two votes (one given with pride, one with discouragement) given to our former Mayor.

Have fun visiting with the new Governor of New York. Seems like a wonderful fellow.

Posted by: FIX THE SCHOOLS | March 17, 2008 3:15 PM

"Education is a patronage source here in the city of New Haven. As a result, our test scores are low, truancy in our schools is high, absenteeism is high. The drop-out rate is above the national average. All because there is no sense of the value of education." - John Daniels

Daniels may have lost it, but never were there truer words spoken.

Posted by: Darnell | March 17, 2008 3:50 PM

Memo
To: Governor Rell
From: A New Haven resident very proud of our former Mayor
Re: Letter from Groveling
Date: Today
----------------------
Honorable Governor,

I just wanted to apologize for the gratuitous letter from the very thinly disguised city hall staff person addressed as Shameful Groveling Display. Many of us here in New Haven are very proud of the past accomplishments of former Mayor John Daniels, and his continued advocation on behalf of New Haven residents and taxpayers.

While many of us do agree that there should be additional assistance or support for those leaving the corrections system, we do not see the DOC returning prisoners to their hometowns as the cause of the city's $17 million budget deficit. Perhaps our Mayor should focus on those high drop out rates in our city's high schools, which landed our city on a national drop out factory list. Nor do we blame your office for the low CAPT and CMT scores our schoolchildren have maintained under the current Mayor's 14 year reign.

And of course, we certainly do not blame you for the high and continually rising tax rate in our city, since you attempted with your last budget to lower these taxes by eliminating the automobile tax, to which our current Mayor opposed (we should take into consideration that he was running for Governor at the time, so why should he support an initiative that helps his constituents). Perhaps if our administration was not buying $3500 closets, we could balance our budget.

I do not remember you or your office admitting that you were wrong on this dumping thing, but as you well know, programs to help anyone, including ex prisoners, cost money. We hope that you will find a way to develop these proposed programs without increasing taxes on us already beleaguered taxpayers.

I, and many others (a record turnout) voted for the former Mayor, and would do so again. If I were an adviser in your office, I would encourage you to take his comments seriously.

I do agree with one point Groveling made, the new Governor of New York seems like a wonderful person, and so do you.

Posted by: cedarhillresident | March 17, 2008 4:48 PM

Although Rell's letter did get a little chuckle out of me....it was shameful. She tried to down play what the state is doing to our city and to the tax paying residents. She was trying to cover her ass with what is happening with the release of these prisoners. Thank goodness for The Registers investigation that proved her wrong.

Daniels hmmmm ...come on Darnell do you really think he was a good Mayor?? Ask him what the deal was that he made with Yale in the 80's for the 2 million, Ask him what he gave up when he made this deal.... ask him if we would be getting alot more money from Yale all these years if he did not make a deal with them back then. Ask him what the Revenue commission almost had for us. ... I could be wrong.

Posted by: WestvilleMom | March 17, 2008 5:18 PM

Darnell:
All I can say is "ditto."
In the interest of full disclosure, I was not particularly a fan of Daniels when he was mayor, but having said that, I have to add one thing....an art critic need not be Picasso or Van Gogh in order to be an accurate and articulate art critic; in similar fashion, Daniels does not have to have been a stellar mayor in order to make intelligent criticisms of the current administration.......and his valid criticisms are indeed informed by his insider experience. His commentary should not be dismissed.

Posted by: Outta-order | March 17, 2008 6:28 PM

Daniels = irrelevant.

Posted by: Darnell | March 17, 2008 8:22 PM

Cedar,

It is always good to converse with you. Yes I do believe that Daniels was a good Mayor, considering the handicap he inherited from the previous administration. Remember, it was John DeStefano's financial Dept that put together the deficits that Daniels inherited. He seems to have learned only one lesson then, and he is doing it now, tax, spend, leave the problem for someone else to clean up. So what if he gave up a few streets to Yale for that money. At least he didn't put us in additional debt. Look at what this administration has done, selling off the water pollution dept for a one time payment, which added debt and foreclosures to NH taxpayers. Trying to sell off the garbage transfer station for a one time payment, thereby adding another $10-12 mill of debt to the overtaxed NH citizens. Who do you think will be paying off those bonds they plan to sell? You and I and our children.

Maybe Daniels wasn't as successful as we wanted him to be, but at least he didn't add to our problems.

Posted by: Gary Doyens | March 18, 2008 7:06 AM

DeStefano's problem on prisioner re-entry is that his actions conflict with what he claims are the facts. If it's such a problem and some say it is, then at best, he's johny come lately to a serious problem and chose to do nothing for years. If he didn't take it seriously, why should the state do anything differently?

His claims of violence tied to prisioner re-entry as yet, have not been backed up with facts. Were any of those involved in the day of violence that triggered DeStefano's latest accusation laden outburst recent releases? Last thing I read was no.

Using words like "dumping" are inflamatory and designed to score political points with residents who live in the neighborhood who want the ex-cons dropped off somewhere else. When "dumping" wasn't scarey enough, horror of all horrors, the DeStefanatti found sex offenders in the homeless shelters! One would have to have been living under a rock for the last three years to have been unaware that registered sex offenders are homeless. It's a chronic and growing problem nationwide. Growing restrictions on where they can live and neighborhood concerns are making it increasingly difficult to find a home especially given their other mental, emotional and behavior problems. So why the surprse?

DeStefano's entire presentation on prisoner re-entry, is dishonest and typical of how he enacts public policy. Like the City I.D. launched under the false premise that illegal immigrants didn't have access to banking services (in reality they did have access) and therefore were at greater risk for theft and violence, the goal again is to launch a new and expensive city program with federal and state grants that will fix a house of horrors.

Even if DeStefano gets what he wants, which is money out of the state, it will solve nothing because the problem is a mirage. Whatever problem there is, could have been fixed with a conversaton with DOC or the governor, in which practical solutions could have been discussed and enacted like adults.

By the way, the City ID program launched with a grant, and despite promises otherwise not even a year ago, has debuted in the city budget under Community Services. Price Tag? $220,000.

Posted by: JMac | March 18, 2008 4:15 PM

The sex offender profiled in the Register article was from Plainfield and didn't want to go to New Haven, but was "dropped off" here anyway. Ergo "dumping". That's precisely what it is.

Maybe Rell should propose a rotation program where a few busloads of assorted felons, sex offenders etc., maybe even some from (gasp) a city like New Haven or Hartford, get dropped off in West Hartford or Greenwich or Madison now and again. Share the burden. Guess that wouldn't go over too well though. Something tells me that the suburbanites would use terminology a bit stronger and more hysterical than "dumping".

Not only should the state be fully compensating New Haven for housing and servicing these people, there should also be a fat surcharge for the quality of life impacts on the city that their presence is likely to entail. Say $10,000 per out of town criminal dumpee. Certainly, some (not all), are going to re-offend, and we are going to be the ones to have to deal with it.

If suburban CT refuses to re-accept their hometown criminals after they are released from prison, they need to pay handsomely for the privilege of their NIMBY elitism.

Posted by: gdoyens@yahoo.com | March 18, 2008 5:41 PM

JMAC: That's a big and heroic ERGO - the man had nowhere to go. Perhaps you'd have him dropped in Plainfield with no house, no family, no money, no job. Where do you think he would go? He will either break into a house or he will eventually find his way to a homeless shelter. Where are the homeless shelters? New Haven, Bridgeport, Hartford etc. Was it not more humane to bring him directly to a homeless shelter where there is counseling, a hot meal and a warm bed? Do you think New Haven will see more or less ex-cons coming here if we launch, expand and grow a re-entry program with a bunch of city plutocrats who know nothing of the complicated and systemic issues around this group of people? You build it, they will come.

Posted by: Bill Saunders | March 18, 2008 6:00 PM

Shameful Groveling Display,

Anytime you address an elected official in a public forum, you need to honestly identify yourself, otherwise your ideas can be easily construed as political pandering.

So, please, I urge you to come forward and identify yourself. Failure to do so impugns your credibility. That said, if you are a 'political insider' in this current administration (as Darnell has suggested), I wouldn't expect you to know much about full disclosure.

Posted by: strangerthanfiction | March 19, 2008 12:35 AM

Poor John Daniels. Nice man, but what a lousy mayor. The city was in a fiscal hole, drug gangs were shooting up the town, autocratic School Superintendent John Dow was tying up the city with lawsuits, and real estate values sank like a stone. I wish him the best and hope he is enjoying his retirement. But sir, please just let it go already. You had your chance to govern and thank goodness, the city was able to recover from that period.

Posted by: WestvilleMom | March 19, 2008 10:37 AM

To StrangerThanFiction: Did you express a similar sentiment when Jimmy Carter got the Nobel Prize? (Talk about failed administrations!) Seriously, though, let's take it one by one...fiscal hole? hmmm, so New Haven is fiscally fabulous now? (How ABOUT that latest tax increase?) ....gangs shooting up the town...I guess you don't hear the gunfire I do at night. And I personally know of 2 Yale students who were "jumped" and injured--but somehow these crime reports are not showing up anywhere---what are the TRUE crime statistics of New Haven? (Just wondering.).... School Super tying up the city with lawsuits....in order to avoid the Sheff v. O'Neil debacle, we instead have a ridiculously socialist "lottery" system which prevents children from going to their neighborhood schools and has resulted in "Drop-out Factory" (from the national press) high schools....real estate values sank like a stone ....yep! Mine is down 20% from 2 years ago...this happens like clock-work every 15-20 years or so.
I'm not suggesting Daniels was a great mayor because he wasn't. But he is now performing a service to this city by questioning the status quo....something that's long overdue in a one-party town that lacks a fully functional dissenting voice. Can we please get off the "bash Daniels" bandwagon and face up to the fact that without Yale, New Haven would be nothing more than a depressed, post-automotive industry town in Michigan. New Haven is being artificially propped up by Yale...and Mayor DeStefano, with his "lottery" schools and pro-illegal immigrant obsessions, is pushing this city inexorably toward a proven failed system of socialism. It's time for a change and to the extent that former Mayor Daniels can foment that change, I support him.

Posted by: strangerthanfiction | March 19, 2008 4:57 PM

There's still alot of work to be done in New Haven for sure. But the city is light years better off than it was in the early 1990s by almost any measure. Of course, the involvement and concern of any citizen is a good thing. But any observer can see that over the last few years, John Daniels has attacked everything John DeStefano has done and backed every candidate or cause opposed to him. At times, it seems a lot more about Daniels' personal grudge with DeStefano than about the issues. He is constantly writing attack letters of gloom and doom which I cannot recall any other former mayor doing. But the fact is the only time I thought New Haven was in "deep, deep trouble" was during the Daniels administration.

Posted by: Gary Doyens | March 19, 2008 5:11 PM

Rockin' Westville Mom - a little edgy but pretty close to a bull's eye. There are many troubling signs in New Haven that can be turned around if one was inclined to do so. Unfortunately, the mayor is fiddling and providing false assurances as the city burns.