Opinion
New Britain Progressive Opinion Page
On this page, you will find Op-Ed pieces, news analysis and other opinion in which the authors seek to inform on topics of interest to the New Britain community. If you would like to send commentary for consideration, please email it to newbritainprogressive@gmail.com.
Numbers Don’t Back Mayor Stewart’s Claim That State Budget Caused City’s Negative Credit Rating
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist Mayor Erin Stewart has blamed this year’s state budget crisis for the city’s negative credit rating in response to a November 2nd report of an “escalating” debt and her administration’s own budget that shows interest payments will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over the next four years. “We were downgraded […]
New Britain’s Bond Rating Drops From Stable To Negative: Huge Spike In Debt Through 2021 Cited By Moody’s
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist Republican incumbent Mayor Erin Stewart, in her re-election campaign this year and throughout her second term, has touted improving municipal bond ratings for New Britain’s fiscal solvency, claiming credit for budget surpluses of $15 million and pushing spending up at City Hall with no need for an election year tax […]
Will Erin Stewart Get Another Off The Books Push From An Absentee Landlord in 2017?
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist On the eve of the 2015 municipal election scores of tenants in New Britain got a notice about a possible rent increase from their landlord. It wasn’t an official increase but a not so subtle endorsement of Mayor Erin Stewart who at the time was cruising to re-election for a […]
Berriault Calls for Change in Leadership Because of Taxes and Spending
By Bobby Berriault After two terms of Mayor Erin Stewart, I say it’s time for a change in leadership. In her two terms of office, Republican Mayor Stewart raised our property taxes by 19% or $19,231,280! Our mill rate is currently at 50.5 mills, making it the fourth most expensive of any town in the State […]
Did Stewart Get A Prohibited Campaign Freebie In Mailing Of Car Tax Bills?
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist New Britain motor vehicle owners finally got their bills on September 1 along with a glowing missive from Mayor Erin Stewart that makes the case for her re-election. The city held up auto tax notices this year, blaming the state budget impasse for the two month delay. Uncertain was whether […]
GOP Alderman Hits School Board On Salaries But Rubber Stamps Pay Hikes, More Spending At City Hall
By John McNamara The sometimes fragile relations between City Hall and the Board of Education took a backward step this week over complaints from Ward 2 Republican Alderman Kristian Rosado appearing in the New Britain City Journal. Rosado, in a front-page story in the City Journal, derided a unanimous BOE move on salary increases for […]
Merrill Gay: Why I am running for New Britain
by Merrill Gay Why, in today’s world, does anyone want to run for mayor of New Britain? It’s a good question. When I came to New Britain in 1989, I was immediately impressed by its people, its parks and natural resources and its rich cultural diversity. At once I knew this was the place to […]
Support for Merrill Gay for Mayor
By Bobby Berriault After two terms of Mayor Erin Stewart, I say it’s time for a change in leadership. Under Mayor Stewart, New Britain has seen our property taxes increase by 16%, making New Britain the second highest property taxed town in the state. New Britain has the second lowest performing school system in the […]
Support for Malloy Budget Increasing State Aid to New Britain
By Bobby Berriault I write in strong support of Governor Malloy’s proposed state budget for FY 18 and FY 19. His budget calls for increasing state aid to New Britain by $24.2 million over the course of the next two years over what we currently receive. His proposal allows municipalities like New Britain to add […]
City Hall Watch: Deferring Municipal Debt Payment Means Cash Now, Higher Interest Next Year
By John McNamara The Stewart administration is shifting $6 million from a scheduled payment on the city’s rising municipal debt— creating an election year windfall to avert yet another tax increase. The Common Council approved what representatives of William Blair & Company, the city’s bond counsel, called a “re-structuring” of a $28 million bond at […]
Berriault Defends Critque of Stewart
By Bobby Berriault In response to a recent post on the President of the Board of Education Nick Mercier Facebook page, calling me a liar, saying I live by “alternative facts” and complaining that I blocked him on my exploratory committee Facebook page, I want to rebut his first allegation and explain why he and […]
Martin Luther King and the Economic and Social Bill of Rights
By Tim O’BrienColumnist Editor’s note: The following commentary was originally published on January 20, 2014 on Tim O’Brien’s blog. This weekend, our nation, state and communities celebrate and remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his accomplishments. It is a time when I have always felt inspired by his work, as a leader, […]
Stewart’s Economic Record Criticized
By Bobby Berriault I take issue with Mayor Erin Stewart’s recent assertion that our city’s economy is better than ever. While it is true that a few businesses have moved into New Britain – namely the food truck that is downtown a few hours a week, for every business that has moved into our city, […]
City Hall Watch: Stewart Wants More Money For Tilcon Watershed Study; Costs To Exceed $350K
By John McNamara The Stewart administration is seeking an additional $17,500 for an environmental study of Tilcon Inc.’s long-term plan to lease city watershed for trap rock mining. The extra cost is up for consideration at the December 14th Common Council meeting and follows the June 2016 Common Council approval of a $337,000 no-bid contract […]
New Britain Election Postscript: “If Trump wins will I have to leave the country?”
By John McNamara “If Trump wins will I have to leave the country?” The question was asked of me by a Holmes School student when I was leaving the Masjid Al Taqwa mosque on Arch Street on a Sunday evening in August. It didn’t matter that the 5th grader has probably lived in New Britain […]
New Britain Independent Rededicated as the New Britain Progressive
Editorial Message The New Britain Independent has been renamed the New Britain Progressive, as New Britain’s not-for-profit community newspaper organization has decided to redouble its efforts at achieving its core mission – to tell the truth that is so often left out of or falsely reported in the for-profit newspapers and to share news and information […]
Senator Terry Gerratana Eliminates Car Taxes
By Robert Berriault As a resident of New Britain, I encourage New Britain families to show their support for State Senator Terry Gerratana, who has fought to cut taxes for hardworking families in New Britain. Recently, Terry lessened our tax burden by phasing out property tax on motor vehicles. The new law will save Connecticut […]
Alderman Questions Stewart on Well Sale in Light of Water Supply Alert
By Emmanuel (Manny) Sanchez In both a press release and an NBC interview roughly two weeks ago, Mayor Erin Stewart stated we are in a “first water alert”. But all facts and statistics show that we’ve been in one since May. I was also informed that the City was at 39.72% capacity when that press release […]
Stewart Conservation Commissioner Accused of Abuse of Power
By Robert Berriault Mayor Stewart’s Conservation Commissioner Ken Hass had threatened members of the community by threatening to expose private information that the city possesses on them, including their allegedly nonpublic criminal and civil records, in an attempt to embarrass them publicly, in retaliation for publicly stating their opposition to the Tilcon deal. At 9:21 […]
New Britain’s Nastiest Politician Costs Taxpayers $9,500
By Tim O’Brien Columnist During a failed attempt at running for state representative, one of Ald. Lou Salvio’s own election flyers misspelled his name as “Salvo”. For a man who has repeatedly shown himself to be the nastiest politician in New Britain, the moniker “Salvo” has stuck – and for all the wrong reasons. Salvio’s […]