WAR OF WORDS

For the past month now there has been a rather heated exchange in the “Letter To The Editor” section of the Republican-American regarding the “accomplishments” of the Independent Party of Waterbury.

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2008/12/14/letters/385931.txt
City's Independents are 'petty people' who pretend to lead. – Jason Van Stone

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2008/12/29/letters/388568.txt
Critic overlooked many achievements of Independents. – Frank A. Burgio Sr.

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2009/01/03/letters/389291.txt
City's Independents unable to show any accomplishments. – Jason Van Stone

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2009/01/08/letters/390281.txt
Alderman's personal attacks on critic were untoward. – Allyson Modica

http://www.rep-am.com/articles/2009/01/14/letters/391317.txt
Hypocrisy manifest in Republican's political critique. – Frank M. DePaola

Of the two responses from supporters of the Independents, Mr. DePaola’s in the most informed, providing examples of the Independent Party’s so-called “accomplishments”.

Unfortunately these “accomplishments” are also riddled with numerous inaccuracies that need to be addressed. Many of the projects listed in Mr. DePaola’s letter are mis-represented, mis-priced, or both. If the Independent Party wishes to serve the citizens of Waterbury, then it needs to make sure that everyone has the correct facts. Here are the facts, in no particular order.

First, with regards to the school-bonding project, there are several things that need correcting. There was no time where the city was considering spending $1 Billion dollars in one bonding package. The $1 Billion price tag that Mr. DePaola holds up was actually the proposed price of twelve phases of work, to be bonded in individual sections, over a decade or more, IF the city needed all of those projects. Some of these twelve phases have been scrapped, others have moved forward since the initial referendum of 2004. There was no $900 Million in savings, because there was never a single $1 Billion dollar bonding package.

In fact, the package that was approved by the Board of Aldermen in June of 2004, and by the citizens of Waterbury in that November’s referendum, was only slightly different from the package that was originally approved by the Board of Education. Mr. Theriault may have saved the city some money with his ideas, but those savings were negated by the Independent Party creating a delay in the construction process by forcing a referendum, and were nowhere near the $900 Million that Mr. DePaola suggests.

Secondly, there are numerous inaccuracies with respect to City Hall. Once again, there was never a time when the city of Waterbury was proposing a $60 million budget for City Hall alone. In fact, the closest that the city came to a $60 million price tag for any project that involved City Hall was a combined package that included City Hall, and a new firehouse, AND a training center. If these proposals had been adopted, the results would have been a long-term benefit to the city, as our ISO rating would have been reduced from a 2 to a 1, saving us all money on our homeowners insurance. It also could have saved the city money in the long run, by allowing the city to move several of its offices out of space that it is currently leasing.

In his letter, Mr. DePaola also tries to take two bites of the apple when he mentions the $17 Million firehouse on East Main Street and the so-called $60 Million City Hall project. The firehouse was part of the City Hall project that Mr. DePaola mentions, NOT a separate expenditure. Furthermore, the $5 Million firehouse on West Main Street was a proposal by the city in an attempt to compromise with the Independents.

Finally, with respect to First Light and the Mixmaster, Representative Noujaim (a Republican) was involved in the discussions regarding First Light, before Mr. DePillo tried to rally the citizens of Waterbury around the issue. Also, the Mixmaster is a project being run by the State of Connecticut DOT, not the City of Waterbury. Furthermore, there are members of the Republican Party on the steering committee.

Mr. DePaola is welcome to tout the accomplishments of the Independents. After all he was paid by the Independent Party to stand at the polls for them this past November. However, with the number of errors in his letter, most of them perpetuated by Mr. DePillo and Mr. Telesca of the Independent party, the “accomplishments” he mentions seem to be nothing more than hype.