Not only does Stamford have a brilliant mayor in Dan Malloy, but it looks like their legislative delegation realized that the strength in numbers strategy makes for strong political statements. Like, the one that appears in Brian Lockhart’s article in the Norwalk Advocate:
“We’ve sent a message, loud and clear, that this plan doesn’t work for Stamford,” Shapiro said. “If this is the (tax) plan in a year when there’s a surplus, what would the taxes look like for Stamford in a bad year?”
Leone said by working together as a delegation, party leaders “have to talk to us as a group. At the least we hope they give us the respect to address our concerns.”
I’m somewhat willing to give Chris Perone the benefit that somehow he’s wrangled more funding for Norwalk as a promise for his vote, but given the years in which that hasn’t happened, my skepticism remains high. But that dangled slice of bacon is what turned his vote:
As of late Tuesday, Perone said he was planning to vote no, but yesterday changed his mind.
Perone said afterward he appreciated Amann’s efforts to raise the threshold of the tax hike.
“Originally it was $190,000 - that’s who Hartford considered rich,” Perone said. “We got it up to $270,000. . . . That’s not hard to defend.”
But Perone said he also was swayed by a commitment from Democratic leadership to consider more school aid for Norwalk.
“They haven’t closed the door and want to work with me,” he said “(That’s) why I could get behind this.”
But he also said there is no guarantee Norwalk will see any more money in the Democratic budget. Perone said the difference between himself and Duff is the senator represents all of Norwalk and part of Darien.
But Perone was not the only bacon bit waffle on the vote. Kim Fawcett of Fairfield voted for the tax package too. The Stamford delegation should be applauded for a valiant defense for sticking together for the greater good of their town. I wish Norwalk’s reps could have done the same. According to Lockhart,
Truglia and Stamford state Reps. Gerald Fox III, Carlo Leone, James Shapiro and William Tong followed McDonald’s lead yesterday afternoon. They joined eight other Democrats, including Joseph Mioli, D-Westport, and Tom Drew, D-Fairfield, plus Cafero and his 43 House Republicans. The package passed by a 92 to 57 vote.
The only conclusion that can be drawn by Perone, Morris and Fawcett’s votes is that they decided to serve their leadership instead of their constituents. Arm twisting and promises held sway over holding the legislature accountable for responsible spending and revenue planning. It is appalling that the legislature continue to operate without adopting GAAP.
Let me draw an analogy of what this vote essentially means. They have decided to buy a Hummer on credit cards without any idea whether their commute is 1 mile or 150 miles. They plan on using credit cards to pay for the gas. They have no job at the moment but plan on earning commission on sales of typewriters. Since there is no other typewriter company in the area, they think they have no competition to they plan on selling a million typewriters, and getting a billion dollars in revenue. That is the mindset of our legislature. But back to the actual vote.
One of the interesting things about how the vote went down is that it revealed the problem with the two major party tactics. You would think that there would be more discussion about the merits of the budget given how lopsided the allocation of ECS funding is. This means that it shows how largely ineffective Cafero was in reaching out to Democrats in similar high taxed bacon bits in return situations. The resulting vote pits lower fairfield country against the rest of the state, and that is not quite how the unfairness of the state ECS funding works out. Coastal towns upstate get bacon bits too.
I’m not sure what’s next though. The bill the House passed is a different one from the one the Senate passed. And the big question is whether Rell will sign it, in whatever form it takes.
source: Norwalk Advocate, Many locals split with party ranks, , May 31 2007
