Not Quite GAAP
The budget workshops have concluded. For now. We were actually quite impressed with the degree of cooperation between the Council and the various departments in Town. Of course, each department thinks they need every penny they are given to survive. We know that is not true due to the work by Councilman Dumas and the ridiculous stipends given out to a select few favorites along with take home cars to six figure employees. We are a bit surprised that the twenty seven or so sets of car keys haven’t been confiscated yet.
Nonetheless, we congratulate each and every Councilman for the hard work and attention they’ve given. With one exception, which we will get to shortly.
We must note a glaring absence. Not a single employee from the Board of Education has made an appearance. The BOE accounts for slightly over half of Stratford’s expense and yet not even a comment has been made by the BOE chairman Feehan, Superintendent Robinson or COO Zachary. Either they believe they are unable to save a single dollar or they believe that they are above review. Both views are completely wrong.
And now to the glaring exception. One Councilman has taken it upon himself to exact revenge for perceived personal slights that occurred over five years ago. That is Councilman Harden (4th District). Mr. Harden was a member of Stratford EMS before he was asked to resign his commission as a “lieutenant”. Mr. Harden has refused to volunteer as an EMT ever since. Now that he has been elected to the Council against almost zero competition, his only stated interest is cutting the EMS budget and exacting his revenge on the membership. Mr. Harden has made broad and specious claims about EMS operations, policies and commitments that we know to be untrue. He has made claims that he has been given exclusive power by his colleagues on the Council to decide the fate of Stratford EMS. He has already consumed hours and hours of EMS administrative time with frivolous demands. Of all the departments in the Town, it is sad that he would place his personal feelings above the citizens who are sick and injured. We can go further and state that he will seriously impact the ability of EMS to be a profitable enterprise that generates real revenue. We find his actions disgraceful.
