City Council

JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH APRIL 17, 2014 The first Public Hearing for the 2014-2015 fiscal year was held April 17, 2014 at 6:30 PM in Council Chambers. Present: Aldermen Desaulniers, Noblick, Bettencourt, Eyberse and Mayor Hinchey. Absent were Aldermen Wilson and Nash. City Manager Bergren and Corporation Counsel Michael Driscoll were also in attendance. Mayor Hinchey opened the public hearing. Lin Ping, 187 Hamilton Ave., spoke as and adult education student and parent of children enrolled in Norwich Public Schools. She supports Norwich Public Schools and please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Doreen Marvin, 9 Brown St., commented that she is a 27 year resident in the city and with children who completed their education Norwich she continues to volunteer and support the schools and requested that the proposed Board of Ed budget be approved. She feels the current students deserve the same level of education her children received. Joyce Werden, 13 Lost Acres Rd., spoke in depth about NFA as a great school and noted that children entering NFA require a strong early education. They cannot play catch up once they enter high school. Education is not just about NFA it’s about education in this city. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Kim Jacobs, 9 Scotland Rd., stated that as a Norwich Public school teacher she was saddened to make the decision of removing her children from public to parochial school in order to provide her children the best education. She stressed the proven importance of early education. Jean Maignon, 23 Denlar Dr., conveyed a message from a parent that feels neighboring towns are provided a better education to their children than Norwich is providing. He quoted Martin Luther King Jr. statement of “I have a dream” and made the connection to all of us as having dreams also. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Eltane Mascelu, 18B Hillcrest, as a Norwich Adult Education student and parent of 3 children in Norwich Public Schools she shared her story of not attending school in her country until she was eleven years old because her family did not have the money to send her. Early education is very important. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Mark Cook, 62 Gulliver Circle, noted that the Board of Education and Abby Dolliver have done everything to keep the School Budget down. He stressed the importance of the instrumental music program. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Coralee Boulware, 385 New London Tpke., noted that over the past seventeen years the Norwich Public Schools budget has been streamlined. Now is the time to make changes and invest in our schools for better education. The change to make is to approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Shiela Hayes, 288 Central Ave. , thanked all the department heads for their budget presentations. She has submitted a detailed list of budget suggestions. If all of the requests of the school budget cannot be approved please fund the four kindergarten positions. 1 JOURNAL OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NORWICH APRIL 17, 2014 Mary Berry, teacher at Norwich Adult Education, commended the two previous immigrant speakers who support Norwich Public Schools. She noted that the foreigners that we are teaching to speak English are bilingual and we need to teach our children to speak foreign languages as well. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Yvette Jacaruso, 192 Wightman Ave., quoted Bill Kenney, “Education the window and door to future success”. Norwich students are making gains this year. We need economic improvement. We need to attract the people that live here. We need schools that provide world language, all day kindergarten, instrumental music, and full time library staffing in the schools. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Abby Dolliver, 6 Deepwood Dr., thanked the Council for past support and the people who came to speak in support of the schools. She also stated that one third of the Board of Education budget is funded by grants and that’s a little scary. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase to maintain what we have and restore what we have lost. Zorka Harrison, teacher Adult Education, stated that people in the world feel the United States provides a great education please don’t let Norwich be a place where that is not true. What is takes to make a great education is support financially and emotionally. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Elwin Sakett, 18 Hillcrest St., she attends Norwich Tech marketing and she is appreciative to have these types of courses offered. Because she can take these classes it will help her to achieve her goals. Please approve the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. John Blackburn, 15 Alice St., noted that we are still in a recession and some of us have not seen any significant pay raises in a few years. Shortfalls from the federal government and the state always fall on the backs of the property owners. He reminded everyone the tax money is our money not yours. The spending must stop. He is not in favor of the proposed Board of Ed budget increase. Gene Arters does a great job and Gene needs a new vehicle. He suggested using a lower mileage police vehicle until Gene can be budgeted for a new one. LeeAnn Gomes, 39 Tanglewood Dr., completed Joyce Werden’s presentation supporting Norwich Public Schools due to the fact that she ran out of time. She again commended NFA and noted that “It’s not just about NFA. It’s not just about Norwich Public Schools. It’s about education in this city.” There being no further speakers Mayor Hinchey declared the public hearing closed at 7:15 pm. ASSISTANT CITY CLERK 2