OPEN LETTER TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION. [FROM RIDGEFIELD PRESS]

Here's how it works.

An issue is added to the agenda.

There is discussion & public commentary.

Naturally a consultant is contracted.

The issue is tabled.

The consultant reports out.

There is more discussion & public commentary.

But then:

Someone needs to make a motion on the issue.

Someone needs to second that motion.

The matter is then open for more discussion.

The matter is discussed even more.

Then the vote is called.

You vote.

You move on to another matter.

Well, that's not what we have in the current BoE. We have a diddling board that cannot, or will not, make important decisions.

For years -- despite a declining student population, two or three consultants, facts, figures, deadlines & commitments -- you, the Board of Education, failed to make a decision on closing a school. 

For years no one has gotten a handle on Special Education.

For years we were told there were no savings in power, busing & health care. That proved to be wrong.

Currently, despite consultants, discussions and more discussions we see more diddling on start times & now you've employed a familiar tactic: delay and more consultants.

But on a different note, after all the steps described above, plus singing, you, the BoE, finally decided to remove German from the curriculum but then promptly rescinded your vote and reinstated it.

I know everyone on the board is a volunteer. None of this commentary is meant to say that these decisions are easy or should be made in haste. But it is to say that it is the responsibility you signed up for.

Your first responsibility is to the students. Your second is to the community you serve. I realize that's a lot of responsibility, but that's the job. Please do it.

A strong supporter of great education.

Jan Rifkinson
New Road 

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT (:-) IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

The conversation about parking ebbs and flows. A few years back there was discussion of building a multi-level parking garage off Bailey Avenue. The current discussion has taken on a new dimension. 

On the one hand there is the danger of burying a stream near the Boys & Girls Club & creating "too much asphalt". 

On the other hand, there is an idea, voiced by the First Selectman, to create a pocket park frontage to hide more parking spaces on Catoonah -- a creative idea. 

However, I have a different take. I'm not sure there is a parking problem. I think there is a people problem. We chose Ridgefield to live in, not for parking convenience.

This is what I saw On Monday, July 17th at 1:00:40 pm.

Even though these are snaps of one sliver of one summer week day, it still raises the question (in my mind) whether we really do need more parking spaces. 

If it's for weekends or community events, maybe we should consider walking more. We know taking 10,000 steps daily is a healthy goal. 

I ask myself, if downtown is so crowded on Saturdays, why are so many businesses going out of business? Is everyone having coffee at Tazza?

And what about weekday parking? Here's something else I saw at 11:04:27 the same day.

A woman walked out of this Main Street establishment and erased the chalk parking mark from her right front tire.

While I'm sure she's not alone in this kind of activity, I submit that before we spend one additional taxpayer cent on more parking, we FIRST address the people problem. Otherwise  we risk transforming our quaint village into a parking lot to service the lazy and inconsiderate.

Jan Rifkinson

169 New Road

ANOTHER STEPPING STONE TO EXPANDING OUR SEWER SYSTEM

CLICK HERE

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT -- The Importance of the Town Meeting Form of Government

The New England Town Meeting was not intended to be a rubber stamp. 

It was started by New England Yankees as an antidote to fiats or what we now see in countries like Russia, China & (soon) Turkey wherein the people's "representatives" simply rubber stamp what is presented for approval. Never is there a negative vote. The "fix" is in before the meeting, the outcome a foregone conclusion. It only has propaganda value. It is simply for show.

Begun in 1633 "The informal, majority-rules forum became a foundation of early American democracy and they are still used throughout the country today." Source: smithsonianmag.com

"A town meeting is a form of direct democratic rule [one man, one vote], used primarily in portions of the United States - principally in New England - since the 17th century, in which most or all the members of a community come together to legislate policy and budgets for local government."
Source: 

 participedia.net

That's the historical background.

Otherwise what comes from the leader(s) of the Town Meeting becomes a "Dictat [...] This technique hopes to simplify the decision making process by using images and words to tell the audience exactly what actions to take, eliminating any other possible choices." Source: en.wikipedia.org

And that is exactly what happened at this year's Town Meeting.

Our Town Charter, Section 10-1 (c) stipulates:

The annual capital and operating budgets of the Board of Education and Board of Selectmen as recommended by the Board of Finance shall be brought to the Annual Town and Budget Meeting for discussion and then sent to referendum. The meeting shall have the power to decrease or delete any line item, but it may not increase or add to any line item or establish any additional line item. Source: Town of Ridgefield, CT Finance and Taxation 

But that didn't happen. It was "interpreted" by town counsel, and transmitted by the First Selectman, that the ONLY way a registered voter at the Town Meeting could offer a motion to reduce the $90 million school budget (which would require discussion and a vote) is by referring to a line item in that budget. 

But just look at the April 20th, 2017 issue of the Ridgefield Press budget presentation. You will note that there are line items for the town side of the budget but not for the education budget. The school budget is presented as a whole. 

State statutes do not permit anyone -- even BoS or BoF members -- to reduce any educational line item. The only people who can address line items in the school budget are members of the Board of Education which is appropriate. 

So when one member of the audience at this year's Town Meeting offered a motion to reduce the school budget as it was presented (i.e. as one of the seven line items of the entire budget) it was ruled out of order. Whether you agree with a reduction or not, the motion was never allowed discussion nor vote by the voters present at the Town Meeting. This is what is known as a catch-22 and undercuts the historic intent of the Town Meeting.

Does this make sense to you? It doesn't to me because it means the Town Meeting vote has been reduced to a diktat and has nugatory value and is a total waste of time. At this point it should be abolished and end the New England tradition that began in 1633. Is that what you want for Ridgefield? I don't.

What should happen is that the Charter should be amended to indicate that voters at a Town Meeting can offer reduction or deletion motions on any item presented for a vote. 

This, then, would obviate any interpretation which might become politically suspect and would maintain our long held tradition of direct democracy.

Jan Rifkinson

New Road

Sources for this article

http://participedia.net/en/methods/new-england-town-meetings 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Town_meeting 

http://time.com/4190233/town-hall-meeting-history/ 

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-town-hall-debate-180960705/ 

http://ecode360.com/14227676?highlight=10-1#14227676 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

"It’ll be hard, tough — “devastating,” a couple of school officials called it — but the state’s 2.5% cap on municipal spending increases is a limit officials at [the] tri-board meeting said Ridgefield should stay under. [...] That’ll help keep taxes down."

And now the State wants to shift a portion of the teacher's pension cost from the state to the towns. 

That's the way this year's budget process began. It was certainly an important wake up call.

While I appreciate the Board members who spend hours on budgeting, most years the bottom line is aided by pulling a rabbit out of a hat. This year “Revenues exceeded budget by $1,460,000, due largely to collection of back taxes,” [BoF Chairman] Ulmer said." 

But it is my opinion that going forward, we must develop zero based budgets without rabbits because, eventually, they will go the way of the dinosaur & taxes will definitely soar.

[BoE] Ms. Baldwin drew a line with three supervisors. Mr. Hendrikson purportedly put $120,000 in the wrong budget column &  Ms. Manners is “[...] offended every year by the [BoF] who feel that they have to cut us [...]" 

OK. So everyone played their role in this annual drama.

I have long argued that Ridgefield should develop budgets & subsequent mill rates that are not subsidized by transfers from the surplus fund. 

Otherwise there will come a day when we will lose some services we currently enjoy or taxes will rise to a level that will limit the real estate market only to the wealthier amongst us.

New Canaan, Darien & other Fairfield towns have fine school systems but many of you, young families, can't afford to live there which is why you chose Ridgefield. Our real estate prices and taxes remain affordable and we have a fine school system.

Please, let's keep it that way.

Published in the Ridgefield Press

May 4th, 2017

GOOD CHANGE SHOULD MAKE COMMON SENSE

An excellent Letter to the Editor was titled "Insufferable amount of time to replace Route 35 bridge"

And this is the outfit we want to "improve" our little Main Street?

What for?

If you are one who is annoyed with the inconvenience of waiting a few minutes on Main Street while on your way to the Post Office, I say "beware".

All you will get is less sidewalk and more traffic. And if you are one who is worried about lack of parking space, you will have less.

If you are one who wants to straighten the intersection from Prospect Street to the CVS parking lot, I ask why? You will lose even more parking space and will end up with a traffic lane adjacent to a Ballard Park entrance instead of having a buffer.

And will all this speed Route 35 traffic along Main Street? Maybe. By 10 seconds? 20 seconds? 30 seconds? An entire minute? And the trade-off is?

Well, if the bridge on 35 is any guide, downtown interruption will last for who-knows-how-many-months, there will be less sidewalk, fewer parking spaces, replacement trees, more traffic traveling faster.

While further down 35 how many vehicles do you see just missing each other at the intersection with 116 or darting out of South Street or across double yellows coming out of Starbucks or Adam Broderick or pedestrians dodging traffic crossing 35? How about all the cars with children and seniors gauging their chances driving into and out of the Recreation Center & Founder's Hall?

What we really need are improved pedestrian crosswalks from Main Street to Farmingville, re-marking 35 so there are turning lanes to the strip mall businesses and a traffic light on 35 at the Recreation Center intersection.

I'm all for change but it should make common sense.

Published in The Ridgefield Press, April 27, 2017

THE BOTTOM LINE: LEADERSHIP MATTERS

It’ll be hard, tough — “devastating,” a couple of school officials called it but...

“From my perspective as a superintendent,” Baldwin said, keeping three elementary supervisors is a “non-negotiable” need.

 

“It’s a totally different environment,” Baldwin said. “The bottom line: Leadership matters.”

I agree 100%, Ms. Baldwin. "Leadership matters."

But just so I understand this: you are saying three administrators supersede improved curriculum? This really makes you sound more like a bureaucrat than a school superintendent whose priority should be focused on learning.

Despite fewer students, the reason we had a 5.5% increase in last year's school budget was -- according to you -- because we had to solve IEP inequities.

Well, this year IEP is still the problem. In fact, it has been a problem for every one of the 19 years I've lived in Ridgefield. Time to come up with something else, I think.

Naturally parents fall for your edu-speak because they want the best for their child. That's totally understandable but does it make sense?

Well, I'm one resident who is willing to spend more of my money on education BUT NOT ON MORE BUREAUCRACY. So I will vote 'no' on this budget especially when other towns in our DRG have requested far less.

For parents who, like me, want more dollars spent in the classroom: here's a thought.

1,262 kids are issued Chromebooks costing $189,300. How about you BUY that $150 Chromebook for your child; not a big deal for a wealthy community, right?

It would be a tiny bit of tax relief for your neighbors or it could mean more dollars for the classroom if you can make it clear to your superintendent that you want your tax dollars spent in the classroom, not for more administrative bureaucracy.

PTA, BoE & all voters, remember "the bottom line, leadership matters".

Published in the Ridgefield Press April 20, 2017