UP CLOSE | Cities try regional solutions
BETHANY, Conn. — Bethany is small, says its First-Selectman Derrylyn Gorski — so small in fact, that the town of 5,600 relies on its neighbors to get by. Several years ago, Gorski said, Bethany officials realized it could not afford both a street sweeper and a catch basin cleaner (an elephant-like vacuum used to clean storm drains). The solution, Gorski says, was to work with the nearby town of Orange to split the cost of the equipment.
“We maintain the street sweeper, and they have the catch basin cleaner, and we share them” she says.
As towns across Connecticut face...
The reason, or major reason, former suburbs have industrial parks and large shopping centers is because the price of doing business is because of high taxes and other costs. Not only must Connecticut compete with a regional, national and global economy our towns and cities are still beating eachother up for an ever decreasing tax base.
The recent agreement between New Haven and East Haven over Tweed-New Haven Regional Airport shows that regionalism may work. The airport will take the necessary steps to operate more efficiently and economically while at the same time making East Haven a full partner. As for towns losing their "identity" ("home rule") , well, didn't the Southern U.S. states tout "states rights" as an attempt to avoid desegration?
Ms Green of 1000 Friends of CT says: People are already losing their town’s independence due to budget cuts.
She's got it exactly backwards. Budgets are being cut because people DO HAVE CONTROL,
Mr Count,
How many years did it take for the heads of East and New Haven to be knocked together to get the "Agreement" signed? Just in time for a economic downturn in the entire travel industry. It should have been done years ago. Prior West and New Haven bilked a Minor League Baseball team out of town because the field was on a Border Site. Its not town identity the politicians are protecting its their re election prospects.
The minute Sharkey mentioned new sources of taxes for New Haven and balancing neighborhoods, any hope for regional government collapsed. New Haven already takes the lions share of state and federal money. And suburban residents pay to use the services, plus surcharges at the hospitals. This poorly disguised attempt to sneak through annexation pops up every few years. The only people who thinks it's great are the tax and spend crowd. The shoreline towns would merge and form their own city before allowing Destefano's nose inside the tent.