Who's shoveling, and where?

Commentary 

In Connecticut, $1.65 billion will be spent on direct aid and grants from Stimulus Package dollars (an additional $1.3 billion of these dollars will be spent in our state on Medicaid assistance).  If the $1.65 billion were evenly divided according to population (and none is taken by State administrators), Middletown would receive about $25,000,000.  This amount of money has the power to significantly change the quality of life in Middletown.  And as has been pointed out in Pinch's critique of previous urban renewal attempts in our City, there is the potential to do great harm or great good to our City.  I agree with Pinch that we will suffer greatly if enough thought is not put into the identification and selection of projects to be funded.  

The process for selecting projects has been far from transparent.  

As reported earlier today, there are a total of 15 projects that have been mentioned for Middletown stimulus dollars, ranging from a sewage treatment plant to soccer fields to a new parking lot.  The mayor's list of projects seems to be a complete list of all projects that have been fully approved.  Most of these are within months of starting, whether or not the stimulus package dollars are provided.  For example, the $3.3 million Westfield water line, the $1.1 million Bartholomew pumping station,  and the $500 thousand downtown parking projects are already funded by existing Federal Grants or City Bonds.  

In these cases, the money that would have been spent is likely not available for other projects, and even if it were, no other projects for that existing money have been discussed. Thus, those projects will simply proceed as before, but with different dollars. If this is true, then we should quite deluding ourselves into thinking that the stimulus package will have any effect on our City.  

Other projects seem to have arisen from thin air or old pipe dreams, what is "Middlesex Hospital Renovations" for $5.6 million, or "Straighten Country Club Road" for $6 million? In some cases, residents can make educated guesses, but crucially important details are missing.  What is the difference between Giuliano's $4 million "North End Homeowners and Health Renewal Project" and Rell's $10 million dollar project with the same name?  What precisely will these dollars be buying?  

If residents are to be assured that projects are being selected for their ability to improve Middletown, there must be more transparency in the process. The source of each project should be clearly stated, and if a project has been placed on a list by a particular politician, s/he should stand up to take responsibility for that. This is the only way that residents can be assured that the interests of Middletown are being served, not the interests of political patronage.  Residents would be justified in suspicion of chicanery if information about project selection is not provided.  

The content of the project lists also leaves much to be desired

Where is the vision? Where are the projects that address pressing needs of our City, or transform the lives of its citizens, or make investments which will have long term benefits to all?  While I cannot claim to know what projects would benefit Middletown the most, it is informative to compare our projects to those of other cities in our state. 

The governor's web site with all state projects makes this comparison quite easy.  What is strikingly absent from Middletown's list, in these times of frightening cuts in the school budget, is anything relating to schools. Other towns have not been shy about seeking funding for their schools.  The word "school" appears 365 times in the statewide list of projects, in the context of replacing windows, boilers, roofs for energy efficiency, and in the context of building schools. No project in Middletown is targeted to schools.  

Other words also appear many times in the statewide list, including "sidewalk" (111 times), "park" (129 times), "bus" (14 times), "rail" (14 times).  Those words do not appear anywhere in the list of projects proposed for Middletown.  

With so much at stake, it is disappointing how little discussion or transparency there has been about the projects being proposed.  Is the list complete?  Are the Middletown projects ones that will improve our town? Do these projects provide long term benefits, in the form of savings or quality of life?  The Economic Development Committee meeting on Monday would be an opportune time to begin a discussion which addresses such questions.