The recent kerfluffle over the role and status of the Building Oversight Committee and its chair, Ken Carney, has several angles and issues to it. I highly recommend you read the comments attached to the Register article, as there are many informative posts....some of which I'll run with later.
First of all, I have to say I know Ken Carney's family well: his family and mine were neighbors for almost 50 years. They are without exception honest and hard-working people. His father is a person everyone I know respects; I looked up to him as a child, and have the utmost respect for him to this day. The entire family is an example of the "old West Haven" families we need more of. I knew (and babysat) Ken until he was about 10.
That being said, my main problem with this Committee is that this issue is most properly the domain of the City Council, and not of the Mayor's office. It does appear that in the waning years of the Borer administration, matching grant monies for projects were not applied for. I applaud Ken and the BOC for finding these opportunities, thereby saving West Haven taxpayers. However, why didn't the City Council (under Council Chair John Picard) create such a committee?
Had the Council (under Picard or subsequent chairs) done its required duty by creating this committee, perhaps we wouldn't have needed such a drastic RAISE IN PROPERTY TAXES.
Ken Carney, I believe is an honest man, and an honest businessman. But he keeps his eye on the ball, so he's a businessman first. A businessman must look after his own best interests first; otherwise, he's not going to be in business for too long. Our elected officials, on the other hand, are supposed to counter this by looking after OUR interests.
Maybe we need new elected officials.
Maybe, WE are the ultimate Oversight Committee. And maybe we haven't done our job.
First of all, I have to say I know Ken Carney's family well: his family and mine were neighbors for almost 50 years. They are without exception honest and hard-working people. His father is a person everyone I know respects; I looked up to him as a child, and have the utmost respect for him to this day. The entire family is an example of the "old West Haven" families we need more of. I knew (and babysat) Ken until he was about 10.
That being said, my main problem with this Committee is that this issue is most properly the domain of the City Council, and not of the Mayor's office. It does appear that in the waning years of the Borer administration, matching grant monies for projects were not applied for. I applaud Ken and the BOC for finding these opportunities, thereby saving West Haven taxpayers. However, why didn't the City Council (under Council Chair John Picard) create such a committee?
Had the Council (under Picard or subsequent chairs) done its required duty by creating this committee, perhaps we wouldn't have needed such a drastic RAISE IN PROPERTY TAXES.
Ken Carney, I believe is an honest man, and an honest businessman. But he keeps his eye on the ball, so he's a businessman first. A businessman must look after his own best interests first; otherwise, he's not going to be in business for too long. Our elected officials, on the other hand, are supposed to counter this by looking after OUR interests.
Maybe we need new elected officials.
Maybe, WE are the ultimate Oversight Committee. And maybe we haven't done our job.
Posts
2 comments:
Hey, what's the deal with Picard not running? How's that going to change the landscape there?
The whole thing hit us all as quite odd...particularly as it seems his wife didn't even know beforehand.
The WH Dems have a VERY short window to come up w/ a candidate.
Welcome into the looking glass that is my hometown party.
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