High Schoolers See Government Firsthand

Greg Nobile and Dan Prota, seniors at Branford High, spent the day with First Selectman Unk DaRos (pictured). ​“We were bowled over by the scope, depth and magnitude of his job,” Nobile reported afterward.

Nobile, who at 18 is the president of a foundation designed to help restore the Stony Creek Puppet House, knows DaRos from many meetings on that project. He said in an interview he had no idea how many components are involved in actually running a town.

“It was very cool to see him up close and personal. We had an incredible day,” he said. 
 

The two seniors were among 27 Branford High students who participated in a ​“Youth in Government” day that began with a meeting of the Board of Finance held at their school yesterday morning.

Perhaps the most dramatic part of the day occurred just before the Board of Finance (BOF) formally set the mill rate before an audience comprised of the students, town department heads, educators and DaRos. Typically the BOF does not air its differences in public. It prides itself on professionalism and in acting above party politics.

But their newest Republican member, Jennifer Aniskovich, believes in going public when she feels the need arise. So she took the opportunity to admonish her own board in public and to say she was disappointed in the Representative Town Meeting for failing to reduce the town’s $93.6 million budget in a significant way. The RTM adopted the budget last week. The budget, she said, ​“needed to be pared back more and it wasn’t.” Nonetheless, she cast her vote for the new mill rate, making the BoF’s vote unanimous. 

Before the vote that led to the formal adoption of a 24.27 mill rate, upon which a homeowner’s taxes are based, Aniskovich told the audience that while there are three Republicans and three Democrats on the BOF, in her view there was virtually ​“no Republican input in the [budget] process, not at the BOF and not at the RTM. “ She said she was upset by a nearly 3 percent increase in the budget over last year’s. (The RTM committee process had Republican input and compromise but in the end the nine Republican RTM members voted against the town budget.)

In a subsequent interview Aniskovich said a way has to be found to change how the BOF process works and said she hoped to influence that process by 2012. 

“Here is my disappointment,” she told the Eagle. ​“I am a new member. So this year was my year to learn. I took it seriously. I spent a whole week with the budget and I came up with my own set of cuts. I didn’t eliminate personnel and I didn’t require deep pain to the [town] departments. I easily as an amateur found $1.2 million dollars to cut. I brought that information to my (Republican) caucus. I don’t know what the discussion was at the upper levels of the Board of Finance. What I do know is that 20 minutes before I walked into that meeting, ( billed as a work session for the BOF) the Democrats, who had their own caucus in another room, walked out and set at our place settings a list of what they were willing to approve. So there was not an opportunity for a give and take. For that reason I am disappointed in the process. When a ​‘work session’ is really a vote for something already decided by the other party, then it is not a cooperative venture.”

She said that ​“I know now what the process is and next year I will push for that. There is a better, more transparent way to do government. And we have an obligation to do that.”

After Aniskovich declared her unhappiness with the process, Joe Mooney, the chair of the BOF, found himself explaining to the students that politics can indeed intrude into the budget process. He noted that three members of the BOF were Democrats and three were Republican and that in the event of a deadlock, which almost never happens, the first selectman as an ex-officio member can step in to break the tie. 

He said that while his board is diverse in its views and it’s good to have the give and take, ​“we try to keep it as professional as possible. We recognize that this is part of a political process as well. Again that is the way we work through it and we have been successful so far. We try to respect each other, but we come to the table knowing we are going to have differences.” 

Then the students took off for Town Hall, paired with various department heads. One went with Hamlet Hernandez, the superintendent of schools, as he headed for board headquarters near Town Hall. The purpose of the day was to see how decision making works in government and education.

DaRos, who gets out as often as he can in order to take the pulse of the town, took Nobile and Prota to the newly rented public works facility to see how things were going (“very well,” came the report,) to the solid waste facility, (“just fine,” came the report) and to Stony Creek to check up on a new fire boat project. At one point, the students listened to a conversation DaRos had with the town’s legislators who were on a conference call with him from Hartford. 

The students were also given a tour of Town Hall and met many of the town’s department heads. ​“It was eye-opening to see his administrative skills and his people skills. There is no book to read about how to do this job. He runs it. He makes the decisions,” said Nobile, who has had a long career as an actor and understands how drama unfolds.

DaRos pointed to the mailboxes outside his office. He told the students, they said, that if a department head comes by to pick up mail and has an issue he or she wants to discuss, ​“they can come inside. He told us he has an open door policy and seeing someone and talking to them often resolves an issue right away. “

Before they took off for various points, DaRos greeted women of the Branford Garden Club who were at the Green putting up their spring flowers. In the rain and the mist they worked in teams to get it done. Pictured are members Priscilla Kissick and Karen Rossomando.

“He showed us that the volunteer base in the town is what keeps it moving. He told them how much they were appreciated. And he meant it,” Nobile said. 

Throughout the Town Hall students met with various government officials and learned about their jobs. We caught up with some of them. 

Cameron Brow, a senior, met with Finance Director Jim Finch. They talked about the business of running a town.

Kelly Laske, a granddaughter of Tootsie Laske, now retired from the town clerk’s position, is a junior who is interested in journalism. She spent her day with Joyce Forte, the head of Human Resources.

Carley Weted (pictured) said she learned a great deal about tax assessment from Assessor Barbara Neal.

Brendan Shea and Grace Nardella were given a tour of the Inland Wetlands operation by Diana Ross, head of Inland Wetlands and Laura Magaraci, the town’s Zoning Enforcement Officer. 
 

Bookyo Sur amd Allie DeVito, both juniors, along with Pete Berges, a senior, explored the town clerk’s and tax collector’s domains. Here they are with Joanne Cleary, the town’s tax collector. 
 
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