From John Milardo, President, Middletown Managers and Professional Association
Members of the Middletown Managers & Professionals Association (MMPA) have voted to endorse individuals seeking to represent Middletown residents and taxpayers in the upcoming election. It is the first time since the inception of our Union, 27 years ago, that we have decided to become involved in local elections. Many issues involving Middletown have prompted our concern, and in turn, our action.
The Middletown Managers & Professionals Association has not been solicited to endorse any candidates. We have studied their track records, regardless of party affiliation, and endorsed those we believe can make a difference for the City of Middletown.
We feel strongly about the direction our City is being taken, and believe a change needs to be made. Understanding the City’s socioeconomic issues, we believe the endorsed candidates, have the knowledge and leadership to make the City of Middletown a better place to live and work in, for everyone. They are strong labor oriented individuals, not only for union workforces, but for the general working class citizen, and will serve the City well.
The Middletown Managers & Professionals Association is proud to endorse the following individuals for the 2009 Middletown Municipal election:
For Mayor:
Incumbent Republican, Sebastian Giuliano
For Common Council:
Incumbent Republican, Joseph Bibisi
Incumbent Republican, Philip Pessina
Republican Candidate Michael Marino
Republican Candidate, Matthew Scarrozzo
Showing posts with label John Milardo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Milardo. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Milardo's View on Union Involvement in Budget Reductions
John Milardo, president of the Middletown Managers & Professionals Association, Local 6092. He regularly publishes a newsletter which has tackled contentious issues in town.
His latest issue, which was published on April 24, gives his take on the "concessions" and reductions that a coalition of Middletown unions have proposed to reduce the city budget.
Some of these proposals have proved to be controversial (closing Palmer Field on Sunday, charging 100% for all labor and costs for tournaments).
Milardo writes:
We understand what the Common Council has been saying, that we are in “tough economic times”, and to get out of it will “take tough decision making.” We have put our heads together with the City and brainstormed to come up what we think is a viable plan for not only today, but for the future. We understand it is hard for people to accept and understand change. As the Marine motto goes; “Adapt and overcome!” That is what we think we have done. It was our initiative to assist the City of Middletown during these tough times. No one held a gun to our head; they just asked.
The Common Council will address some of these issues in a budget hearing tonight at City Hall in Council chambers at 7:00 pm.
His latest issue, which was published on April 24, gives his take on the "concessions" and reductions that a coalition of Middletown unions have proposed to reduce the city budget.
Some of these proposals have proved to be controversial (closing Palmer Field on Sunday, charging 100% for all labor and costs for tournaments).
Milardo writes:
We understand what the Common Council has been saying, that we are in “tough economic times”, and to get out of it will “take tough decision making.” We have put our heads together with the City and brainstormed to come up what we think is a viable plan for not only today, but for the future. We understand it is hard for people to accept and understand change. As the Marine motto goes; “Adapt and overcome!” That is what we think we have done. It was our initiative to assist the City of Middletown during these tough times. No one held a gun to our head; they just asked.
The Common Council will address some of these issues in a budget hearing tonight at City Hall in Council chambers at 7:00 pm.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Mayor announces $1 million in savings for City from union concessions
Mayor Giuliano held a 2PM press conference at City Hall on Wednesday to announce that his negotiations with the four unions representing city employees had yielded over $1 million in savings in next year's budget. The press conference was attended by about 50 union members, who were lauded by the mayor for being "the best work force going."
Union Concessions
The four municipal bargaining units which gave concessions that directly affect the city budget are:
- Police Union, Local #1361
- American Federation of State, and County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), local #466. This union represents employees throughout the city government, including Public Works, clerical, Parks and Rec, etc.
- Firefighters Union.
- Middletown Managers and Professional Association, Local #6092. This union represents 49 engineers and managers working for the City.
They put their community first in everything they do.... I have a great deal of respect for them and I think they have a corresponding degree of respect for me.Giuliano said that he supported furloughs over pay freezes because a furlough does not have a permanent negative impact on future salaries, and it did not affect pension contributions as much. He said that non-union city employees, including directors and himself, would also be taking unpaid furloughs, "The pain will be spread around."
I asked Mayor Giuliano what sort of service cuts the residents might expect to see when city employees took furloughs. Giuliano said he did not foresee any reduction in service, he said that the furlough days would be spread uniformly, and that the efficiency and dedication of the employees would ensure no reduction in service.
Union support
The union members in the audience loudly cheered the mayor several times during the press conference. After the press conference ended, Jeff Daniels (picture in blue shirt at right), president of AFSCME 466, told The Eye how his union approached the budget discussions, "I knew what we were up against. It's important for us to look out for the community, our job is to step up."
Daniels echoed the mayor's words in speaking frankly of his frustration with the Board of Education budget process. He wanted the Board of Education to be accountable to the taxpayer, "There's no control over the Board of Ed, that bothers me.... If they don't get what they want, they threaten to close schools."
Two other unions, the Middletown Federation of Teachers, Local 1381, and the Middletown Federation of Paraprofessionals, Local 3161, have joined with the above four unions in forming the Middletown Coalition of Municipal Employee Unions. This coalition authored a letter and spreadsheet to the Mayor recommending a long list of cuts to the City and the Department of
Education budget.Their suggested changes in the Board of Ed budget include the return of surplus funding from this year, and cuts in 7 administrative positions (the "Business Manager", "Assistant Superintendent of Pupil Services" 4 "preK-12 Supervisors, and "Alternative Education Supervisor"). The letter from the coalition claims that these changes would allow the Board of Ed to avoid cutting 13 teachers in next year's budget.
Unions look to Common Council
Both Mayor Giuliano and the union leadership spoke about the role of the Democratically controlled Common Council in the budget process moving forward.
Derek Puorro, President of the Police Union, told The Eye that all of the union members were prepared to become heavily involved in the Common Council elections taking place later this year, "We pay attention to how Council votes. We let our family know, we let our friends know how things go." John Milardo, president of MMPA (pictured in green shirt at right), echoed those thoughts in a letter to his union members, "You better think hard and long when you go into the voting booth this coming year."
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Comment: Middletown and Wesleyan?
Melissa Pionzio writes a blog on issues in Middlesex County for the Courant. The other day she reported that every month she gets sent a copy of a newsletter from the Middletown Managers and Professionals Association. These newsletters often include an opinion piece by the group’s president, John Milardo. This month’s installment, which she links to on her blog, is entitled, “Where is Wesleyan University?” It is an interesting, thought-provoking piece. After paying Wesleyan several compliments, Mr. Milardo writes, “I grew up in the neighborhoods surrounding the University. My parents and their parents lived in the same neighborhood before me. I know the school grounds like the back of my hand. The only thing I don’t know about Wesleyan University is; what do they do for the City of Middletown residents?”
Mr. Milardo feels that the university is too isolated from the town, that by creating lounges, eateries, etc., it has created too much of a town within a town – and that “[o]ther universities and students’ involvement with their towns is much greater and noticeable”. While I’m not sure I agree entirely, I do think it is the case that too few students are aware of what an interesting, welcoming place Middletown is.
Most of Mr. Milardo’s piece, however, is devoted to a different if related topic. He feels that Wesleyan needs to “step up to the plate” for Middletown in the way of a financial contribution, in short, that Wesleyan should pay higher taxes, particularly in this time of economic stress. He observes that though Wesleyan has a physical plant and real estate valued at nearly 290 million dollars, it only pays taxes on about 7.5 million. This translates to about 230,000 dollars per year in taxes. Mr. Milardo then compares Wesleyan's contribution to the city coffers to those of other colleges and universities, mostly unnamed – save for one important exception – which, he argues, do much more for their host municipalities. The example Mr. Milardo cites is Yale University, which (according to Mr. Milardo) pays about 10 million dollars to the city of New Haven every year in addition to boasting its own police and fire departments. 10 million per year is about 43 times more than Wesleyan contributes to Middletown's treasury. What is Yale's endowment? About 17 billion (with a 'b'). Wesleyan’s, meanwhile, is about 500 million (with an 'm'). [These figures are based on where Wesleyan and Yale thought they stood as of about December. Neither figure reflects debt obligations, as far as I am aware.] Yale's endowment would appear, therefore, to be about 34 times greater than Wesleyan's. So while Wesleyan’s relative tax contribution, when factored only for size of endowment, is slightly lower than Yale’s, it is not dramatically so. And this comparison does not take into account other 'contributions' Wesleyan makes on an annual basis, such as the amount Wesleyan has spent on the Green Street Arts Center in recent years, which is sizeable (probably equal to or more than Wesleyan’s tax contribution). Or the considerable financial assistance Wesleyan provided several years ago to bolster the Inn at Middletown development on Main Street. Or more routine line items like occasional free events at the Center for the Arts or in the athletics program, the occasional gratis use of Wesleyan sports fields and gallery space by city schools, and the various 'service learning' activities that emanate from the Center for Community Partnerships at Wesleyan, including big brother/sister programs or tutoring or research on childhood hunger, etc.
Now, one may argue about the real worth (not to mention worthiness) of some of these additional 'contributions', which is why I put the term in quotes. Whereas the Green Street and hotel projects can be quantified fairly easily, some may feel these are not wise expenditures. Meanwhile the value of free athletic events, mentoring, tutoring, and usage of CFA space and sporting fields is harder to calculate. In any case, reasonable people can disagree on whether Middletown and Wesleyan should sit down and recalibrate its tax burden.
But a larger and more important point is raised in Mr. Milardo's letter, which has to do with how Wesleyan approaches Middletown (and how Middletown too often perceives Wesleyan). So long as the city's relationship to Wesleyan University is perceived and promoted solely or mainly as one of "what can Wesleyan do for us" – or, from Wesleyan's perspective, "what can we do for Middletown?" – the image of Middletown as a basket-case community perennially in need of charitable handouts will persist. Certainly this is the perception of too many people at Wesleyan, especially as you move up the food chain, who prefer, perhaps partly as a result, to live in other villages and towns such as Guilford, Madison, the Haddams, Chester, Old Lyme, and West Hartford (of course, there may be other perfectly good reasons as well, such as the quality of schools, but that is an issue for another series of posts). The “basket-case” rhetoric unfortunately also underwrites much of Wesleyan’s institutional engagement with the community, some examples of which are noted above.
The “basket-case” rhetoric is bad for Middletown, and bad also (I feel) for Wesleyan. Insofar as it deters Wesleyan employees from living in Middletown, it means lower homeownership rates, a depressed grand list and lower tax revenues for town hall, less consumer spending in town (especially in Main Street businesses), and less engagement in town politics. It means more cars and parking lots clogging the streets and neighborhoods, more speeding by commuters in a hurry, and less pedestrianization and bicycling, especially in the core neighborhoods of the city. For Wesleyan it means faculty and staff who are not as involved as they should be in the life of the institution, particularly those occasional faculty who decide to come to campus only on the two or three days per week when they have to show up to teach. (Of course, it’s not clear that living in Middletown would produce an appreciable change in this behavior.)
In my opinion, we need to get beyond the “what Wesleyan can do for Middletown” thinking. Like any town, Middletown has its problems. But Middletown is actually a fairly nice place to live. It has many beautiful old houses and an increasingly lively and, for the most part, walkable downtown (save for the occasionally poorly placed parking lot). It has a fascinating maritime history. It has a multiplex theatre, a decent array of restaurants, a great “children’s museum” (KidCity), a “top-100” hospital, and is situated in a beautiful natural environment. And what Connecticut town has a better public library? Sure, we need more retail on Main Street, and it would be great if we could reconnect with our waterfront. But these are problems that can be overcome, especially with a more engaged population.
Rather than constantly harping on “what Wesleyan can do for Middletown”, perhaps we should be thinking in terms of “what Middletown can do for Wesleyan”. (And, insofar as it is possible, we should avoid expressing these issues in terms of dollars and cents.) For example, instead of being embarrassed about Middletown, Wesleyan should showcase the town’s many amenities for recruitment purposes, whether to students, faculty, or staff. I do so, on a regular basis - often to the amusement of my colleagues.
The best thing that Wesleyan can do for Middletown, and that Middletown can do for itself, is to stop thinking in terms of “what Wesleyan can do for Middletown”, and to start asking, “how can we leverage Middletown’s many unique and positive features to improve Wesleyan?” This will, I believe, pay dividends for Middletown.
[Full disclosure: I am on the faculty at Wesleyan. And I am a homeowner in Middletown.]
Mr. Milardo feels that the university is too isolated from the town, that by creating lounges, eateries, etc., it has created too much of a town within a town – and that “[o]ther universities and students’ involvement with their towns is much greater and noticeable”. While I’m not sure I agree entirely, I do think it is the case that too few students are aware of what an interesting, welcoming place Middletown is.
Most of Mr. Milardo’s piece, however, is devoted to a different if related topic. He feels that Wesleyan needs to “step up to the plate” for Middletown in the way of a financial contribution, in short, that Wesleyan should pay higher taxes, particularly in this time of economic stress. He observes that though Wesleyan has a physical plant and real estate valued at nearly 290 million dollars, it only pays taxes on about 7.5 million. This translates to about 230,000 dollars per year in taxes. Mr. Milardo then compares Wesleyan's contribution to the city coffers to those of other colleges and universities, mostly unnamed – save for one important exception – which, he argues, do much more for their host municipalities. The example Mr. Milardo cites is Yale University, which (according to Mr. Milardo) pays about 10 million dollars to the city of New Haven every year in addition to boasting its own police and fire departments. 10 million per year is about 43 times more than Wesleyan contributes to Middletown's treasury. What is Yale's endowment? About 17 billion (with a 'b'). Wesleyan’s, meanwhile, is about 500 million (with an 'm'). [These figures are based on where Wesleyan and Yale thought they stood as of about December. Neither figure reflects debt obligations, as far as I am aware.] Yale's endowment would appear, therefore, to be about 34 times greater than Wesleyan's. So while Wesleyan’s relative tax contribution, when factored only for size of endowment, is slightly lower than Yale’s, it is not dramatically so. And this comparison does not take into account other 'contributions' Wesleyan makes on an annual basis, such as the amount Wesleyan has spent on the Green Street Arts Center in recent years, which is sizeable (probably equal to or more than Wesleyan’s tax contribution). Or the considerable financial assistance Wesleyan provided several years ago to bolster the Inn at Middletown development on Main Street. Or more routine line items like occasional free events at the Center for the Arts or in the athletics program, the occasional gratis use of Wesleyan sports fields and gallery space by city schools, and the various 'service learning' activities that emanate from the Center for Community Partnerships at Wesleyan, including big brother/sister programs or tutoring or research on childhood hunger, etc.
Now, one may argue about the real worth (not to mention worthiness) of some of these additional 'contributions', which is why I put the term in quotes. Whereas the Green Street and hotel projects can be quantified fairly easily, some may feel these are not wise expenditures. Meanwhile the value of free athletic events, mentoring, tutoring, and usage of CFA space and sporting fields is harder to calculate. In any case, reasonable people can disagree on whether Middletown and Wesleyan should sit down and recalibrate its tax burden.
But a larger and more important point is raised in Mr. Milardo's letter, which has to do with how Wesleyan approaches Middletown (and how Middletown too often perceives Wesleyan). So long as the city's relationship to Wesleyan University is perceived and promoted solely or mainly as one of "what can Wesleyan do for us" – or, from Wesleyan's perspective, "what can we do for Middletown?" – the image of Middletown as a basket-case community perennially in need of charitable handouts will persist. Certainly this is the perception of too many people at Wesleyan, especially as you move up the food chain, who prefer, perhaps partly as a result, to live in other villages and towns such as Guilford, Madison, the Haddams, Chester, Old Lyme, and West Hartford (of course, there may be other perfectly good reasons as well, such as the quality of schools, but that is an issue for another series of posts). The “basket-case” rhetoric unfortunately also underwrites much of Wesleyan’s institutional engagement with the community, some examples of which are noted above.
The “basket-case” rhetoric is bad for Middletown, and bad also (I feel) for Wesleyan. Insofar as it deters Wesleyan employees from living in Middletown, it means lower homeownership rates, a depressed grand list and lower tax revenues for town hall, less consumer spending in town (especially in Main Street businesses), and less engagement in town politics. It means more cars and parking lots clogging the streets and neighborhoods, more speeding by commuters in a hurry, and less pedestrianization and bicycling, especially in the core neighborhoods of the city. For Wesleyan it means faculty and staff who are not as involved as they should be in the life of the institution, particularly those occasional faculty who decide to come to campus only on the two or three days per week when they have to show up to teach. (Of course, it’s not clear that living in Middletown would produce an appreciable change in this behavior.)
In my opinion, we need to get beyond the “what Wesleyan can do for Middletown” thinking. Like any town, Middletown has its problems. But Middletown is actually a fairly nice place to live. It has many beautiful old houses and an increasingly lively and, for the most part, walkable downtown (save for the occasionally poorly placed parking lot). It has a fascinating maritime history. It has a multiplex theatre, a decent array of restaurants, a great “children’s museum” (KidCity), a “top-100” hospital, and is situated in a beautiful natural environment. And what Connecticut town has a better public library? Sure, we need more retail on Main Street, and it would be great if we could reconnect with our waterfront. But these are problems that can be overcome, especially with a more engaged population.
Rather than constantly harping on “what Wesleyan can do for Middletown”, perhaps we should be thinking in terms of “what Middletown can do for Wesleyan”. (And, insofar as it is possible, we should avoid expressing these issues in terms of dollars and cents.) For example, instead of being embarrassed about Middletown, Wesleyan should showcase the town’s many amenities for recruitment purposes, whether to students, faculty, or staff. I do so, on a regular basis - often to the amusement of my colleagues.
The best thing that Wesleyan can do for Middletown, and that Middletown can do for itself, is to stop thinking in terms of “what Wesleyan can do for Middletown”, and to start asking, “how can we leverage Middletown’s many unique and positive features to improve Wesleyan?” This will, I believe, pay dividends for Middletown.
[Full disclosure: I am on the faculty at Wesleyan. And I am a homeowner in Middletown.]
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