Town - Regular Meeting

Where the budget dollars go. This slide illustrates how FY2027 budget dollars are allocated across three key areas. Funding supports departments, programs, and essential services, as well as the Board of Education. A significant portion of the budget is dedicated to fixed costs, including insurance, pensions, and debt service. Additional resources fund miscellaneous and operational expenses necessary to maintain day-to-day services. The budget is primarily funded through $102.28 million and local property taxes, representing the town's largest revenue source. An additional $9.33 million comes from state and federal grants, helping to offset costs and support specific programs. Overall, the slide highlights both where resources are invested and how those investments are funded. FY2027 recommended budget is no rate.

Can you present something that nobody can read?

Intentional. Disgusting. Can you see that? That is problematic. Do you want to add something else?

Is there any way that we can?

I just keep talking. Tony, keep going. Are you trying to move forward?

So the FY2027 recommended budget reflects a balanced approach to sustaining services while managing long-term fiscal stability. The budget incorporates the phased implementation of the moderate year-over-year tax FMI 2027 represents the second year of a four-year phase-end plan designed to smooth the transition to updated property values under this approach only 25 percent of the increase is assessed property values and assess property values FY 2029. This phase strategy helps reduce sudden tax spikes and provides predictability for tax payers. The recommended budget results in a mill rate increase from 33.37 to 34.55 mills or 1.17 mills or 3.51 percent. The overall tax impact gradual incorporation of revaluation changes. The approach balances fiscal responsibility with taxpayer affordability while maintaining essential town and education services. Town Council's revisions to Town Manager's budget. Through multiple Town Council deliberations on the FY2027 Town Manager's proposed budget, the Council conducted a detailed review of all major budget components, including town operations, the Board of Education, fixed costs, and unassigned fund balance. The Council's work focused on developing a balance and responsible budget scenario that preserves essential municipal and educational programs and services. Emphasis was placed on maintaining service continuity and responsible budget scenario that preserves essential municipal and educational programs and services. Emphasis was placed on maintaining service continuity while carefully evaluating cost drivers across all departments and funding categories. Fixed costs and long-term obligations were reviewed to ensure fiscal stability and compliance with contractual and statutory requirements. The use of unassigned fund balance was evaluated cautiously to support one-time or strategic needs without compromising long-term financial health. The resulting budget framework reflects the council's goal of sustaining core services while maintaining fiscal discipline and responsiveness to community needs. And budget expenditure highlights for 2027. So the Board of Education increase is 1,578,520, or a 2.91% increase. Maintain support for community programming delivered through the Human Services Center, ensuring continued access to local services and engagement opportunities, and accounts for increased debt service policy associated with recent bond issuances reflecting prior capital investments in town infrastructure, restores funding to return the Prosser Library to full service, supporting public access to library buildings and resources. includes support for community-wide weekend celebrations such as memorial day observances the summer concert series and the west indian celebration promoting civic engagement and cultural enrichment town budget expenditure highlights 2027 with the budget modifications fy 2027 recommended budget includes these targeted budget modifications includes these targeted budget modifications are embedded in details within departmental operational budgets these modifications are recommended for talent council approval to support the continued advancement of talent operations and service delivery collectively These enhancements represent a total investment of $551,522. To offset some of these investments, the town has identified corresponding savings through operational efficiencies, personnel adjustments, and cost containment strategies across multiple departments. Ongoing evaluation of service delivery models continues improve efficiency and overall effectiveness effectiveness of town operations the fy 2027 expenditures summary the fy 2027 recommended budget reflects an overall five percent increase in expenditures across departments and offices continue to rise due to contractual obligations, insurance, and other required expenses. Additional increases are seen within boards and commissions, reflecting expanded responsibilities and operational needs. A significant portion of growth is associated with the Registrar Voter's Office, primarily due to early voting implementation election-related costs. These adjustments reflect evolving statutory requirements and expanded election administration responsibilities. Overall, the budget growth is concentrated in essential mandated and service-driven areas necessary to support town operation and compliance. Expenses for drivers 2027 increases. FY 2027 budget increases are driven primarily by fixed costs, contractual obligations, and essential services. Town operations increase of 1.1 million, or 3%, driven by personnel contracts and inflationary costs. Board of Education increase of $1.6 million, or 2.9%, reflecting staffing, special education, and instructional needs. Debt service increases of $8.6 million due to borrowing for the library and affiliate or 15.2% is driven by utility rates and infrastructure costs. Health insurance premiums increased 6.3%, reflecting the rising health care and utilization trends. Council's recommended budget FY2027. So the FY2027 recommended budget totals $119,268,107 funded primarily through a property tax levy of $100,430,277 or 84.2%. Non-tax revenues total $15,172,892, including state aid, permits, fees, interest earnings, and other local revenues, an increase of $2.16 million, largely driven by anticipated education cost share, or ECS, funding and higher investment earnings. A $3,665,000 use of general fund unassigned fund bonds is included, which reflects one-time resources including $665,000 in bond premium from the January 2025 refinancing. The recommended no rate is 34.7%. mill rate of 33.37. The calculation assumes a 98.5 tax collection rate to reflect historical collection performance. Revenue assumptions also include level funding of municipal aid pending final state budget decisions for the upcoming biennium. Town Council's recommended budget FY2027 revenue highlights. So FY2027 continues the four-year phase-in of the 2024 revaluation with 25% of the increase in assessed property values applied annually from FY2026 through FY2029 to moderate taxpayer impact. The mill rate increases by 3.2%. reflecting changes in property values revenue needs and overall budget requirements non-tax revenues are impacted including a significant reduction in the state motor vehicle cap grant due to the lower mill rate and declining investment income and a lower interest rate environment building permit revenue activity the unsigned fund balance contribution remains within town policy guidelines pending year-end audit results and the final financial closed out the property tax election rate is assumed at 98.5 percent consistent with historical collections performance and conservative revenue forecasting council's recommended budget fy 2027 capital budget funding in accordance with section 903 d of the town charter the five-year fy 2027-fy 2031 capital improvement program totals 81.8 million dollars reflecting a comprehensive capital needs. The FY2027 recommended capital budget representing year one of the plan totals $2,920,000 and supports eight capital projects. FY recommended capital projects The Town Council supported a capital plan focused exclusively on grant-funded capital improvement programs, CIP projects, to minimize local tax impact. This approach prioritizes leveraging external funding sources, including state and federal grants, to advance critical infrastructure and facility improvements. The CIP continues to support essential investments in public facilities, infrastructure, equipment, and long-term asset maintenance. Future issues, FY27 and beyond. The Town Council's recommended FY2027 budget reflects financial pressures. Total education funding is $55.9 million, a 2.91% increase over FY 2020. The non-education budget totals $64.4 million, increasing 6.86% driven by fixed costs and operational needs. Key cost drivers include labor and health care expenses, pension refuse collection, contracted services, and new library operations. The budget also supports Board of Education funding, town operations, Metropolitan District Commission costs, and debt service obligations. FY 2027 represents year two of a four-year phase-in the 2024 evaluation to gradually reduce taxpayer impact only 25 of increased property values are applied annually through fy 2029 to ease the revaluation tax burden Overall, the budget reflects careful strategic decision-making amid economic uncertainty and structural cost pressures. Summary and closing, I'd like to thank town council for their strong commitment while maintaining fiscal discipline. We also appreciate the town staff and the Office of the Town Manager, Department of Finance, and all members of the community serving leadership team for their dedication and commitment throughout budget process. The process reflected collaboration with the Board of Education to ensure coordinated planning and alignment of shared community priorities. Throughout all deliberations, decisions were guided by a consistent focus on minimizing the impact on taxpayers while maintaining essential services. And at this time, that concludes

At this time, we will start public comment. For public comment, public statements on the budget, statements by members of the public, that's back at the speaker's name and address, and shall continue no longer than three minutes, unless committed by the mayor. I'm going to call up the first five people who signed up. If we can start a line, maybe down this aisle. So first will be Mark Slip, Jeanette Kempf, JoAnne Hanrahan, kathleen is a. JoAnne Hanrahan, Kendra Madison and Claire kingdom.

JoAnne Hanrahan, very light on him to.

Hello, good evening, Mayor and Councillors, I'm Mark Slade, I'm the Executive Vice President of LEAN in the Galbraith-Condominium community. I'm not sure if I learned anything useful tonight. it seems there have been a number of miscommunications during this process and i thought perhaps our the town's 800 000 communications department might be able to find effective ways of communicating changes changes to the meeting schedule and a number of such things so the community can actually be more uh my second comment sort of picks up on that You did hear us. We turned out in large vocal numbers over the past couple of weeks. I don't see anything here about reducing the budget of that $800,000 communication. Nothing to reduce the headcount. And I know it's not possible to do anything about TOWN MANAGERS BOIDED SALARY AND FREE CAR THAN YOU WANT. WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT THAT. PERHAPS IN THE FUTURE YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT ISSUES LIKE THAT WHEN YOU'RE CONSIDERING CONTRACTS WITH TOWN MANAGERS. IT DOESN'T SEEM THAT YOU'VE RIGHT-SIZED THE BUDGET OR THE HEAD COUNT RELATIVE TO THE OTHER TOWNS NEARBY ON THEIR CHART BEFORE. is in violation of the charter and so is the town council as long as it permits the town manager to not believe with him

Good evening, my name is Jeanette camp and I have one family street teacher and speaking this evening on behalf of Portland Davis a sixth grade teacher Carmen every school could be here this evening she's at five Woodward drive here in Bloomfield dear members of the town council. I am writing as a resident taxpayer and teacher in our local school district to express my serious concerns about the proposed budget cuts and broader invocations they will have on our schools and community. In my role as an educator, I see every day how essential adequate funding is to student success. Budget reductions will likely result in our larger class sizes, fewer instructional resources, and cuts to the programs that support students with diverse academic and social-emotional needs. These are not abstract consequences. They directly affect the quality of the education that we provide and the ability of the students to then thrive. At the same time, as a taxpayer in the district, I find it deeply concerning that the taxes continue to rise, while the funding for education is being reduced. This creates a troubling disconnect and residents are now being asked to contribute more financially Yet, one of the most critical investments in our Community our souls is facing the cuts, it raises important questions about priorities and allocation of those resources. Many of us support paying taxes, because we believe in strong public services, especially education and when those funds do not appear to support that goal it understandably does lead to frustration. And it makes it very difficult to retain experienced teachers. ultimately impacting the educational outcomes for students. Beyond the classroom, strong schools are fundamental to the Friday community here in Bloomfield. They support your poverty value. attract families and continue the overall quality of life in this town. Reducing investment in education while increasing that financial burden on the residents, it risks undermining the long term benefits. I recognize that budget decisions are complex and that they are competing needs right now to consider. However, I do urge the council to reevaluate those proposed cuts. Consider whether they align with the values of our community in a Texas are increasing residents deserve transparency and priorities listed within the community. They will have that assurance that the funds are then being used to strengthen but not weaken the schools. Please thank you for your time, your consideration, your continued service to the community. Sincerely, Coralyn Davis, the sixth grade teacher from Carmen Aries Middle School.

Good evening. My name is Kate Roscoe, and I live at 75 Hoskins Road. Members of Council, Mayor Harrington and Bloomfield residents. For ten years I have been a proud resident and teacher in Bloomfield. I'd like to discuss tonight the understanding that Bloomfield schools have never been fully funded during this decade. Every year, the schools do not get the funding they need to operate optimally. They risk falling further and further behind. This fall may be academic because they cannot provide support and academic coaching to students. It may occur in the arts and athletics because we cannot provide programs and enrichment to enhance student experiences, which also assist in creating the whole child, both academically and socially. It may occur in staffing so that students are not getting the attention they need to succeed. This council and the town at large cannot expect to consistently cut from the school system and expect superior outcomes. It is already a testament to our students' desire to learn and our teachers' passion as is that the children are performing as high as they are, but motivation and passion are not enough. As a resident, I have seen my taxes go up astronomically in the last year, and we were told this would continue throughout the next several years due to the reevaluation of properties. It is a particularly tough time to be going through this process while also seeing basic needs like food and gas prices rising as well. My feeling is this. If our taxes are going to be raised anyway, I'd like them to go where they do the most good, the students and well-being of our schools. To be absolutely clear, I do not want my high taxes going towards one department in town hall that has been raised by 33% and only helps a handful have an easier job. I do not want my taxes going towards pet projects that we can't afford right now, such as a carved wooden bed. I do not want my taxes going towards excessive administrative employees when less will suffice to do the job. I will always choose for my tax dollars to go to the highly qualified teachers we have in Bloomfields who are currently facing a job loss and who are necessary to the children of Bloomfield. I believe Dr. Youngberg has a long-term plan for success to bring Bloomfield schools to a place of fiscal equilibrium, but it cannot be done in one year. We need your allyship to raise up the success of Bloomfield schools. I implore you to re-evaluate the budget you have brought to us and make very certain that our high tax dollars are going to serve as many people as possible in Bloomfield. Thank you for your time and consideration this evening.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Kendra Madison. I live at 28 Packard Street. I am currently a fifth grade teacher in Boonville Public Schools, a proud graduate of Boonville High School Class of 2017. Over the past few weeks, many have spoken about the impact that not fully funding the BOE will have on our staff, our community, and most importantly, our students. I stand here as one of our boys in that force. As a product of Bloomfield Public Schools, I experienced firsthand the power of supportive and enriching educational environment. I've learned so much as a student and I continue to grow every day as a teacher. While I could have chosen to work in any district across Connecticut, I made the intentional decision to return back to Bloomfield to give back to the community that has given me so much. During my time as a student, I was surrounded by educators who poured into their students with unwavering dedication. They didn't just support me, they supported everyone around me. I went on to attend UConn, enrolling in one of the nation's top teacher preparation programs, and ultimately returned to Munko. It felt only right to pour into the same community that once poured into me. I ask you not to deny today's students the same opportunity and support that was given to me. And as an educator, I see how critical it is to keep the class size as low so that every child receives the attention they deserve. Beyond the classroom, I had the pleasure of bringing back the girls' middle school basketball team. The students work incredibly hard, and there's so much room for growth. They're excited to return next year, and more students are eager to try it out. Reductions in funding, risk-taking away opportunities like these opportunities that students engage, motivate, and connect to their school community. The 4.7% increase proposed by Dr. Youngberg will help ensure these opportunities remain available for current students and future students. I am fully supportive of Dr. Youngberg's plan and as being here, I have some approval of what mental public schools can do. And I'm just one of those many examples across generations.

Thank you.

Well, that's a tough act to follow. Claire Kendall, 27 Hyde Hill Road. Thank you, Mayor Harrington, Deputy Mayor Lloyd, and members of the town council for hearing us. When you passed the budget, you assumed you'd be getting $1.4 million additional in ECS money, and it looks like it's only about a half a million. But if I'm reading the paper correctly, the legislature is saying you can reopen the budget and that they will be passing a law to permit that. So I didn't look up the law, but I did read the paper. SO WHEN YOU DO THAT, I WOULD RECOMMEND TAKING A HARD LOOK AT PETER FRANK'S BETTER BUDGET FOR BLOOMFIELD, WHICH GIVES A COUPLE OF GOOD IDEAS. SOME OF THEM MAY WORK, SOME OF THEM MAY NOT, BUT IT'S WORTH A SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. IT'S A VERY CAREFUL AND THOUGHTFUL PIECE. AND THERE'S A LOT OF CONCERNS I THINK THAT ARE UNDER PROCESS AND ON THE MERITS, BUT I'M NOT GOING TO FOCUS ON SOME OF THE FIXED COSTS AND JUST ASK FOR A COUPLE OF CONSIDERATIONS. The fixed charges for employee benefits go up 377,383, or about 10%. And the town does not have a Medicare Advantage plan. I am 65 years old, recently retired from the state. As soon as I turned 65, let's just say DAS was ruthless. of requiring me to file out for Medicare and gave me a Medicare Advantage plan that gave me the exact same benefits, exact same co-pays, exact same everything, but now Medicare is covering about 40% of my coverage. Why on earth are we not doing this for our retirees in this town? Other towns in the area have been doing this and you'd save a lot of money on that. I am here because you guys like we're going to cut traction coverage and I have lots to say. But then, and then we had our last public hearing, we have a discussion after public comments suddenly there was a golden handshake recommended. And then the Council had said, use cars buildings, you know you have two days to decide or that's it. Well, that is going to cost, on page 143, $883,000 for the accrued sick leave and vacation time. So I'm concerned about what kind of savings we're really having. So I would ask that you reopen the budget, that you have a zero cap on the FTEs if you're going to admin positions and ask people to take furloughs. I would say if you're going to add positions, you've got to cut positions. and have a flat number. And finally, retiree health benefits and require your 65-year-old retirees to join Medicare and do what everybody else is. Thank you for your time.

My name is C. I'm not going to sit and talk about the division when I was on the budget because when I stood up at the original budget evaluation, I think I suggested $635,000 in costs. that was only looking at the first 60 pages of the question i suggest you that there's more than that they could be a change you may have already looked at that i don't know so i'm not going to repeat that again i will tell you that i stood here a year ago with the private council administration and i warned that we're going to have a rainy day but guess what we now have rainy days And because you can blame it on the federal administration, whatever, but the bottom line is, I said, I look at the paper every day and I look at the news and I see Sinsbury and East Granby and Granby and Windsor and all others that are coming out with economic development. With Bloomfield, nothing. I see nothing about Bloomfield. When $4 million was taken out a year ago, I said, we are not told how it's going to be spent. I suggest we save it for a rainy day. Well, folks, we still have that $4 million sitting there. I still don't know what it's going to be spent for, but that's beside the point. The issue now is we now have another rainy day. And if we don't have economic development in Bloomfield, we can't have an increase in the grant list that was widely trumpeted by saying, oh, we have this wonderful increase, but it's on the backs of the homeowners in Bloomfield because of redraft. and we can't have increases in the grand list simply because the homes are more expensive people can't meet their needs they can't meet these things that they have to pay for in the new budget i saw that there was an economic development specialist for over a hundred thousand dollars in one of the departments that is a total absolute waste of money that especially Normally, I'm going to suggest that there be $200,000 and then it'd be a separate department director within the town of Bluefield responsible to this administration and to this council in order to go to the people in town and say, what kind of economic development should we have? Let's let this specialist, this expert go out and talk to developers and put everything together and bring it to the manager and to this administration. This administration, I believe, will do it. The previous administration did not lift finger one. Between last year and this year, we've had absolutely nothing in Bloomfield. I predict that next year, if something isn't done, I'm going to be standing here again, and I'm going to say it's another rainy day. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, the next five speakers will be Mark Sanderson, Abigail Mullins, Jeanette Martel, Roy Duncan, and Irene Glassman. Thank you.

Hello, Council. Thank you. Mark Sanderson, 17 Oak Lane. And I just got the budget yesterday, so it's the first time I've actually looked through it. Can I just see a show of hands of how many of you have actually looked through the budget line by line? you can see all the accounts okay thank you um i think in looking at it i'm sorry i'll wait till you guys get back thank you Um, anyway, in, uh, started looking through it today and I'm about a third of the way through the budget. And I started looking at each account, right. And there's, I've identified about 45 line items where there's up to a 30% increase for, I can't understand why. Um, it also says anticipated 26 projected 26 totals are way out of, they're not even there. If they are, they're not accurate. They're less than the 2025 budget was. But the 2026 and 2027 they're asking for is more. So the anticipated 2027 total or 2026 total is wrong, or we just haven't funded it. I think it doesn't make sense to me. So when you start looking through the numbers, in some cases, they don't make sense. The 2026 anticipated total is missing. And there's a lot of increases, like one was for the police admin. There's an extra $2,000 for washing their uniforms. There's ADDITIONAL POSITIONS WITHIN SEVERAL DEPARTMENTS, OBVIOUSLY, BECAUSE THEY'RE UP SIX FIGURES, OVER SIX FIGURES, FROM THE 2026 ANTICIPATED ACTUAL TO WHAT THE 2027 IS, AND THERE'S NO JUSTIFICATION FOR IT. IN EVERY DEPARTMENT IN OFFICE SUPPLIES, RIGHT, FOR OFFICE SUPPLIES, THEY JUST PUT AROUND $5,000 IN EVERY ACCOUNT. SO IN EVERY DEPARTMENT FOR OFFICE SUPPLIES, IT'S $5,000. ONE DEPARTMENT ONLY USED $99 WORTH OF OFFICE SUPPLIES. in 2026 budget so why is it all open five thousand dollars i mean by the time you're done that's another fifty sixty seventy thousand dollars we should say so out of the third of the budget that i'm through i'm up to 1.6 million then i question why is it there right and i'm only a third of the way through budget now i don't have all the information so i'm sure that all of this doesn't apply the total wouldn't be accurate but there's a lot of money that you could save And it just looks to me that somebody just threw money in the budget and didn't go line by line and said, do we need this or do we not? Nobody's done that. I mean, it's obvious if you look at the budget, right? And it's time that somebody did it because we're just going to keep paying and paying and paying. Thank you.

Good evening. Abigail Mullins to Julie. I'm a 7th grade teacher at Laurel Literacy Academy in Bluefield. It's my first year teaching. And like my middle school president, I mentioned last week when I came up here and spoke that I've gone through the Bluefield school system. I've been to every single school in Bluefield, including GEMS. So I have a very good experience of all of the programs that have been offered in the updates and everything. Myself and many others stood in front of you last week to express our concerns about the budget. And as of June 18th, 2026, our last day of school, I no longer have a job in the public schools that this budget continues to pass in the way it does. Right now, my second graders are learning about citizenship and they're learning about what it means to be an active member in your society. And I hope that coming up here is a good representation to them about how your voice matters. Well, this is more than just where students come to learn. They come here to grow, build relationships and memories that shape what they're going to become. They are the future of our town. They will go on to make a difference anywhere they choose. That is true. That was true for me as a student, and it is why I strive to create that same environment in my classroom every day. This year, classrooms across our district have seen growth from students learning to read, finding their voices in the school choir, and forming friendships that may last a lifetime. Right now, what is at risk? We are already beginning to see the impact of this budget, and it will inevitably lead to fewer staff, fewer supports, and changes in programs that many students rely on. While those may sound like statistical changes, their impact is deeply human. They larger class sizes, less attention, fierce opportunities for students to feel seen. Long Hills is a community that shows up for its students, and it's a place where education is not just valued, but deeply rooted in who we are. The goal has never just been to get students through school, but to help them thrive and set up lives for themselves when they leave buildings. These decisions are not easy, and they're not taken lightly. But as you move forward, I ask that you keep the students in the center of your conversations. Think about the classrooms that they're going to walk into next year, what the support is going to look like, whether they're going to go one way or the other. Think about the kind of experiences we want them to have. And you want school to be fun. You want it to be extraordinary. You want to think about the things that you did. You want to run to your parents and tell them all the amazing things that you learned. And without those extra things, they're not going to have many of those moments. Our school, our students, sorry, deserve to be in the classrooms where they feel supported and they should have every opportunity. Thank you.

all right good evening my name is lindunas i am the teacher at laurel elementary school and i'm speaking on behalf of chanel martell who lives at 7 milton drive she cannot be here to attend dear members of bloomfield town council i am a long-term resident of bloomfield special education teacher within our district i am ready to express my deep concern regarding the proposed budget cuts when i understand the complexities and municipal financial management that on our students, our staff, and the overall health of our community. In my daily work with my seventh grade students, I see firsthand how vital individualized attention to academic and social success, the prospect of increasing general education class sizes to 25 students is fundamentally environment delineates the ability to provide effective inclusion services and makes it significantly harder for them to access the curriculum and thrive alongside their tutors. Furthermore, I'm extremely concerned about the proposal to increase caseload caps for special education tutors. My role is not limited to classroom instruction. It requires sort of recycled direct teaching, progress monitoring, and detailed documentation. When case caseloads are increased, This delicate balance is destroyed. It eliminates any hope for healthy work-life balance, directly fueling teacher burnout. We are already facing a national teacher shortage. By overextending our current staff, the town risks a high turnover rate. This creates a secondary crisis. When a teacher leaves due to burnout, it is the students who suffer most, as their mandated services are disrupted by the district's struggles to find qualified replacements. who then inherits an even more overwhelming system. Short-term savings in the education budget will inevitably lead to long-term costs, including potential legal challenges regarding service delivery and a declining educational reputation that draws families to Bloomfield. I urge you to reconsider the cuts town's future thank you for your time and your service to the community chanel martin good evening my name is ivan glassman and i'm an educator at men of promise school

In speaking on behalf of Vanity Smith 323 Park Avenue, as she could not attend in person this evening, to the elected town council members, I come to you in several roles. As a proud Bloomfield High School graduate, class of 2003, a lifelong community member, a parent in Bloomfield Public Schools, and a social worker at Carmen A. Lace Intermediate School. These perspectives give me a clear understanding of how your decisions impact our students, families and staff. The proposed 2.91% budget allocation for the Board of Education is insufficient to meet the growing and increasingly complex needs of our students. This level of funding presents significant limitations at a time when demand for academic, social, and emotional support continues to rise. In my role, I work closely with students and families navigating these challenges. This work is not only my profession, but a responsibility I take seriously. It is therefore deeply concerning to witness the effects of our current budget decisions, including cuts to essential student support staff, such as school psychologists, school counselors, teachers, and instructional assistants. These professionals are integral to student success, and their absence weakens the support systems our students depend on. Our schools serve as more than educational institutions. They are vital sources of stability, connection, and care. As a parent, I share the concerns of many families regarding our ability to continue meeting student needs in meaningful and equitable manner. The impact of these financial constraints is already evident. They affect the level of support available to students, place increased strain on staff, and risk eroding the trust families have in our schools. While our educators and support staff remain deeply committed, sustained underfunding creates challenges that cannot be ignored. budget decisions reflect priorities. When investment in education is limited, it communicates a message, whether intended or not, about the value placed on our students and their future. I respectfully urge you to reconsider this allocation and do a stronger investment in our schools. Supporting our students is not optional. It is essential to the long-term strength of our community. As Whitney Houston once stated, I believe the children are the future. That belief calls for meaningful action. So I ask you, will you stand with the rest of us in this room, online, and across our town to invest in our children? If we stand for nothing, we respond for anything. The choice is yours today. Thank you. Respectfully, Vanity School.

I just wanted to give Mr. Duncan another chance to come on up and speak. Okay, so I'm going to proceed with Gail Jaden, Jordan, Dorothy Oberg, Libby Rowan, and Winston Campbell.

adjust that downwards good evening town council members i want to start by first thanking you for the time that you've spent delivering your budget i've been here every step of the way you know wow we've been through a lot um i just wanted to first step up and say i know mr oliver you mentioned last week that this is organizing yes it's i would take full responsibility this is what organizing looks like When I first stood before you two weeks ago, I spoke to you specifically about what it is that our purpose as Bloomfield Education Association is. I'll repeat it. As a member of the teaching profession to work for the welfare of school children, the professional interests of teachers, and the improvement of instructional opportunities for all. So if I'm honest with you, I'm proud of the people that have come before you. I know that there are people that have sent emails and I know that there have been accusations of the organizing that we've done to try and suppress voter voice. So this evening I made it my goal to really make sure I brought before you the 10% of our staff that are residents within town. that live in this town. Their taxes are going to be increased. There's no question about that. Their children's education is going to be negatively impacted. And as you heard, some of them are losing their jobs. I had the challenging job of calling 11 people last week to tell them, sorry, as a community, you will no longer be working Our class sizes are definitely going to be increasing. Our services will definitely be decreased. There's no way that that's the solution. I don't disagree that throwing money at education is the answer. I very much agree that being very mindful and planned with our money is the answer. Now, we're not going to take this video picture of that doctor number and not get mongled on everything. We have plenty of meetings. However, I believe in her overall vision. She knows what she's doing. And we need to support her. Relying on the ECS funds is not going to save us. I hope that you've seen how much is actually coming. Nowhere near what you thought is exactly near where I didn't think it was going to be. And we need to do better for our students. We can't rely on the state to save us. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Make sure you speak directly into the microphone. As we tend to align. And the comments that are made tonight are very reflective of both the comments that we made at the meeting. There was a lot of emphasis on what's being done with the Board of Education in terms of cuts. Now, in your presentation, in your budget, there is a table that shows Bloomfield Town Regional. And one of the line items in there is, I think, a metric assessment, small balance assessments that were met or exceeded. And it has math and age. You know, there's no information as to what the and you use the bench wall to reflect how good you're doing, it's not going to get better.

Before we proceed with our next group, I'm just going to call in on Roy Duncan and Dorothy Oglesred and Libby Bone. With that, I will move on. Liz Harrigan. Jeannie Pespone. Prince Joel.

Dix.

Dix, thank you. Donna Huggs, Nicole McLaughlin, and I'm sorry, am I pitching the first name? Last name, Graham Davies. And before I speak, please speak into the microphone for the benefit of our residents at home.

And please share your name and address. Thank you. Good evening everyone, my name is Liz Kerrigan and I live at 390 Parkin. Or at least part of each day. Probably three quarters of it. So my name is Liz Kerrigan. Two of my children attended Bloomfield schools and I've been a full time teacher in town for a very long time, since 1998. And I'm wrapping up my 28th year of consecutive service here. Where I am a very dedicated teacher and you can argue that I'm a resident of Air Race. I spend a great deal of time in that building, like many of my colleagues, way beyond contract hours. working tirelessly for your children, our children, who are the future of the town of Bloomfield. This weekend in the opinion section of the Hartford print, I'm not sure if everyone saw it, but just in case anybody didn't, there was a piece titled Bloomfield residents deserve a budget that reflects reality. That was written by Rickford Curtin JoAnne Hanrahan, And it of course caught my eye and he addressed a number of town budget concerns and he stated well efforts physical quote. JoAnne Hanrahan, Well, efforts are underway to move our school system forward this budget introduces cuts without a clear explanation of why, instead of reinforcing progress it creates uncertainty that coupled with all of these calls that miss Jordan had to make to. tell people about their fate as of June 18th this year, it's quite daunting. So I'm asking that you reconsider your budgetary decisions. Last week I spoke about dangers of staff layoffs, which are no longer dangers, they're here, and eliminations of programs and expenses that aren't quote unquote mandated, but However, they may not be mandated, but they're very important to our children. And tonight, what I want to focus on, because I got cut off last time, was class size. So over the years, I've had classes as small as 16 and as large as 30, three out of three tens. I want to focus on class sizes because I want people at home and you know just non-teacher non-board of ed non-school staff people to understand this isn't about oh teachers want to put their feet up and have fewer kids in a class small class sizes you know just going from the data that the gentleman just shared small class sizes are essential because they're going to help us to personalize instruction that's critical to promote that growth they will allow us to provide faster feedback and tailored support to each student. They enable teachers to build stronger connections with students and families. They foster, these small class sizes really do foster increased student participation. So please reconsider your spending options and invest in our students and fund our futures.

Good evening and thank you, counselors. for this opportunity. I'm Jeannie Pastone. I live with Liz at 390 Park in Carmen Aries. I'm one of the two SOAR teachers that helped to develop the BTS Talented and Gifted program, working alongside a dedicated team to define the services for our highly capable and highest performing students, and that's academic, social-emotional, and executive functioning. Bloomfield is recognized in the gifted community as an underrepresented population where students are often overlooked for gifted services due to racial and socioeconomic barriers. That reality is precisely what drives us forward every day. I recognize that this is a difficult budget year and that Dr. Youngberg is doing the best she can for the resources she's been given. But it truly hurts my soul to know that she's been placed in a position to make difficult cuts and in particular, reduce the scope of the SOAR program. especially at a moment when we stand on the threshold of something transformative, bringing SOAR's foundational principles to all classrooms through enrichment and fusion and collaboration with teachers. As Connecticut finally passed a long overdue increase in ECS funding, and as we've said tonight, still not enough, it's not the time to retreat. It is the time to invest in our students. The SOAR program grew out of the 2021 portrait of a graduate initiative built on input from all stakeholders and informed by collaboration with a national gifted consortium. Bloomfield was losing students to magnet schools every year. When the POG team interviewed those families, the message was consistent. They wanted a program that challenged students to excel, and they believed magnets could offer what we could not. Our team set out to change that. In consultation with UConn experts, we established identification and PPT guidelines, developed curriculum, and created opportunities for students to compete and showcase their work. This weekend, we were represented at the History Day State Finals by Tristan Stanberry with her documentary, The Bombing of Hiroshima, and that is how our students SOAR. SOAR is still a young program. Her first round of fourth graders are just entering eighth grade this fall. We've invented more time for SOAR teachers to collaborate with classroom teachers to expand student thinking and deepen their learning. We've only just begun to realize that vision. The consolidation of schools gives the SOAR team greater scheduling and flexibility to build on this momentum, working alongside classroom teachers to strengthen our commitment to MTSS and UDL and expand enrichment for all students. Dr. Joseph Renzulli, the world-renowned gifted researcher and educator whose work inspires our program, often says, a rising tide lifts all ships. That philosophy is the promise we made to every student in Bloomfield when we launched the SOAR program. We have needs across the entire learning spectrum that need to be addressed and supported. Please support our schools and be sure our ECS funds are going to Dr. Youngberg so that she can continue to build on that important work every day.

Thank you very much.

Thank you and happy to appreciate it.

So we need to realize that as we go along, there are programs that work and then they're cut. And now we're reinventing the wheel. And I hate to see that. Secondly, this was a 5-4 vote for this budget. That's pretty close to 50-50. I think you really need to talk to each other, and to work this out, and it needs to be at least a majority budget as far as maybe even being unanimous. You need to work together and make this count. There is a loan. There is a loan. communications, things that we aren't seeing on a daily basis because they're not happening. If we're paying $800,000 a year for communications, we need a lot more communications and we need honest communications. I grew up in marketing. I run a business that I market. and not reality. We really need to focus on what's important in this town to keep it the town that it is. I love this town. I've been in my home for 50 years and I am a graduate of Bloomfield High School. We need to keep our town moving forward.

I'm just going to turn the microphone a little bit so I can look at all of your beautiful faces. Hello, my name is Nicola Poplin, 9 Brighton Parkway. I want to prepare a written statement. I'm going to read Peter Frank's statement, but I was going to write my own statement. And it would probably have exceeded the three minutes, but if you knew me as an educator in Bloomfield for a principal, I don't need a microphone. So first I wanted to say that I can't stand by and allow a lazy and incompetent town manager to ease his job load by hiring an administrative assistant that on day one will make more than a teacher on step 13 would not want. Can't help it. Town Council, you are carried.

to the town charter seems to be conditional.

You adhere to it when selecting a mayor. You adhere to it when deeming that the budget at the referendum last year had not met the necessary number of votes. But when it comes to the town manager's residency requirements, where is he, by the way? Car trouble in St. Mary, ran out of gas that we pay for. The town car that we pay for.

I'm going to say it.

You all are complicit, but you can do better. You can rectify this today by passing a fair budget and working together for the better of Louisville. You campaigned for this last year. Make it better for Louisville. I didn't want to come here and be angry and be upset. I want to be a team player. But you're not playing fairly. And I noticed that none of his recommendations got cut. How is that possible? Rectify this today. And Peter Frank had a couple of questions. I'm going to make this really quick. Number one, he wants to know under what specific legal authority is the town council allowing the town manager to operate in direct defiance of section 502 of the town charter and section 11 of his own employment contract, mandating his residency in Louisville? Number two, since the town attorney is an appointee of the town council under charter section 501, under what legal or statutory authority did the mayor or town manager unilaterally increased the town attorney's hourly rate to $250 without the formal vote by the town. Number three, why would the fiscal year 2027 document fail to present parallel columns showing actual revenues and expenditures for the first eight months of the current fiscal year? I believe it was up there, but no one could see it. Number four, how can taxpayers trust $119 million budget requests when internal memos confirmed 50% of recent financial activity bypassed the town's ER system. Excuse me, thank you. And in 2.19 million, a current spending remains uncategorized to under 1, short of $0.9 billion.

Thank you very much.

I'm ready for the double A, double A, double A, double A, double A, double A, double A, double A. plan if the state fails to provide the money to TCS. Why does the operations and communications budget exceed over $800,000 a span? I finished this one, Mr. Peter Frank, and the draft is 21-1. Please.

Hello, everyone. My name is Prince Joel Dix. First of all, I want all teachers to stand up and get recognized. All teachers, stand up, please. These teachers divide our students with a new education in politics, in world hunger, My father, who I am here on his behalf, Douglas Dick, some of you may know our family, we're really well known. My brother ran Bloomfield Pool. Aaron was a BPA person that went to volunteer ambulance. And I have the next in line to my dad's legacy and his throne. For those of you here seeing this town council, this is not Bloomfield at all. The way I see Mr. Harrington sitting there looking at the timer that this lady is speaking is disgusting and despicable. That was wrong. You should be ashamed of yourself. In fact, I'm going to recommend to the Attorney General, who is a close personal family friend of ours, that he do an investigation into you, and this budget, and the town, and him. You're going to find out a big family name very soon. The Department knows us, the state troopers know us, and now you are going to know who we are. You need to be removed, sir. You need to take that cattle smack and say I have to remove my tongue. You are the same color as me and yet you are making me disgusted. I've watched all these people speak and you've watched that timer. I came here with a different tune, but now I come here to make sure you're held accountable. People of Bloomfield, the attorney general will be contacted forthwith tomorrow, Mr. William Tong. And I will make sure as you have seen his track record that he investigates all of this situation. You have made an enemy in the little town of Bloomfield, and now you will reap what you sow. Welcome to politics. What's definitely making it hard for us to run south, people, is that we need to change the face of Bloomfield. We spent money on the browser library. That wasn't needed to be fixed. We're a small country town with creatures, farmers, teachers, politicians, and a great place to be. You want to know what they say about politicians? Well, they're not kissing babies, they're stealing from them. And that's what they're doing. Again, my name is Prince Joel Dix. Feel free to hit us up at dix.parker.edu about all of your concerns. I hope this young lady is the next senator or congressman. With that, mic drop. Have a good day.

Thank you.

Okay, Lugansi Grand Bays, Wittenbury Avenue. And I share the same sentiment that both Mr. Dix and Nicola also shared. My father used to run town council in Bloomfield for at least 15 years. I grew up watching the politics here in Bloomfield. I grew up in the Bloomfield school system and remember when it was a high quality school system, where in junior high school, we went to London. Seventh graders would go to London, Some have gone to Paris. That is the lawful school system. I think that due to your level of incompetence or your lack of research, because when you presented it was total garbage, like you really shouldn't have been ashamed. to present that high level and the thing that you had to read it to us was embarrassing okay because everybody wants to get to the nitty and the gritty and you only made that available yesterday okay so people still have more to do but i think you have a terrible town manager who doesn't know what he's doing i have a problem with your town attorney I think that the town accountant doesn't know what he's doing because you haven't been able to fulfill the audit in over four years. And you expect these people to believe these numbers that you're giving us. And your books aren't even balanced. You can't even manage your books and you haven't been able to do that for years. You're not constantly loading something to Moody's. you're finding, and this is what investigative reporting, and when the investigative reporter reaches out to you, Peter Franks, okay, you come back with this one no comment, no comment, like you're cyborgs, like you're not independent thinkers. I think you need to put on your creative energy hats or whatever you need that would impart and use some common sense that will work for the best interests of this town and not for your image or how important you think you are because you sit on this council. You answer to the people of Bloomfield, and I hope the people of Bloomfield will hear this, okay? I hope that they go and take over your DTC because you've elected the previous finance director who never had meetings as your vice chair, which will continue to perpetuate this fuckery Okay, I think that you really need to realize that I know you don't like my tone, I know you don't like it, but I'm not here for you to like it. Okay, you haven't seen me in a long time and I try to encourage you to be a leader, I still have minutes, I have seconds. I encourage you to be the leader because you're the leader, but you don't know how to do that. Okay, and you can't, you keep on coming back with garbage. every other year when things were tough there was always multiple scenarios and you should know that thank you very much i'm a teacher over at global experience management school

I came here from Jamaica as a trained teacher. And starting in the district, I started to work as a special ed aide. And I remember one day, the superintendent came over. And when she came over, I said all of a sudden, I'm going to use the opportunity to speak to her. And right then and there, I raised my hand and I informed her of the of the skill set that I brought here. And immediately she saw something inside of me and she gave me a chance. And ever since HR has worked with me and I've got my certification here, I had to pay a lot of money to get my documents certified here in the US. And I became a certified teacher before the end of that school year. My goal this school year, which is 2020, I started at James as a certified teacher. Now the other day I got a letter that my services is no longer needed here in Goldfield. I felt so disappointed, you know, being an immigrant, no family, just my daughter. And also I'm disabled because I had to go into open-heart surgery. And I'm like, what am I going to do? I didn't go to school that sweet for a day. Went back to school, my students said, Ms. Grandison, why weren't you here? I said, excuse me, it's not like you guys miss me anyway. They're like, Ms. Grandison, what are you talking about? You inspire us so much. And I thought about it, and I'm like, really, I do? And they're like, yes, Ms. Grandison. When we're having a bad day, even though you're not our science teacher or algebra teacher, or capstone teacher, or chemistry teacher, we always come and find this currency. Middle schoolers, I don't teach middle school, but I teach 9th, 11th, and the seniors. And I find that I have such an impact on the students, yet still, I'm going to let go. These students need me as much as I need them. They are my family. Like I said, I don't have any relatives here. It's just my daughter and I. And so after getting that letter, I had to call the mortgage company to let them know that my first son and I have to foreclose on it because what is going to happen to the children? No job to look forward to. That is my two piece. Thank you very much.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm just going to move over there to pick up the other sheet that has been signed during public comment and we will proceed from it. We'll start with Mr. Rickford-Curtin.

Good evening.

I think I'm going to start off by requesting that the council apologize to Dr. Youngwood. I literally watched you all interrogated her at the last council meeting on April 28th. Interrogate her while we have a town attorney who's basically ripping the town off. And he came up and told you all that you don't have responsibility in regards to his contract. That's a lie. You hired the town attorney. You should be increasing any increase for him. It shouldn't be the town manager who was a frat brother of him. That's a conflict of interest. So we have an unethical town attorney that should be replaced. That's the first thing.

Yeah.

What is that?

So Dr. Youngberg was very insightful. She told you don't rely on the ECS funds. The mayor stood at the April 28 meeting and confidently told the residents of Bloomfield that the town of Bloomfield will get $2.3 million. Guess what? We didn't get $2.3 million. What the town of Bloomfield received is $322,000 for the Board of Ed and $264,000 for the town. That's a total of 586. There's a shortfall of $814,000 that's reflected, that's not reflected in the budget that you presented to the residents tonight. So basically the budget that was presented tonight is not accurate. It's been a consistent problem with this town council. And I thought that you would have been transparent tonight and explained that to the residents. You didn't. So once again, you're misleading the residents of Bloomfield. You're paying the town manager more than the town manager of West Hartford, three times our salary. You're paying his executive assistant $134,000, more than many of our teachers within the town of Bloomfield. And you all know that I know the numbers. I've gone through the numbers. I've reached out to you. The MDC projection that you have of $550,000, $70,000, that's incorrect. The reason why it's incorrect, because of the lack of your compliant budget, the MDC received incorrect information from you all. So that increase within the budget is not correct. And the finance director knows it's not correct. There's no way that there will be 15% increase and an MVC in one year for the town of Bloomfield. That's impossible, unless there's something strange going on that I can't explain. But you all refuse to adjust that number. We cannot continue down. By the way, do you all know that they took $3.6 million from the fund balance budget, plus another $4 million for a center of town development Then it's not going to go forward because currently the owner of that. The next three, four years, so they're wasting your funds.

And find out the remaining names that have previously signed up, we have James mcgovern. Erin Farranger, Renee James, Shane Davis, and Lucy Hurston. Thank you.

James recovered at 25, not even a drive, been a Bloomfield resident for 50-something years, attended Bloomfield schools K through 12, just so you know why. Year after year, spending grows as well, accountability lessens. The gap doesn't leadership. It's delay. Let's be direct. When the town's cost structure becomes unsustainable, maintaining it isn't compassion. It's negligence. It limits future investments, weakens services, and risks far worse corrections later. That brings us to layoffs. No one takes that lightly. These are real people. They deserve transparency and respect. But keeping positions that no longer align with the town's need or financial reality doesn't protect employees. It sets them have cut down the road. The responsibility of this council is to ensure long-term stability, not short-term comfort. Residents must ask the hard questions. Why does our mayor act like an ass clown and focus more on Robert's rules of order to shut down necessary conversations than telling us our plan of theatrics to enable the town council to appear heroic when they restore it. No one is that big a freaking idiot to propose cutting trash as a viable idea, right? Are decisions being driven by data or fear of political backlash? Right now, it looks like fear is winning. The layoffs are delayed. The worst outcome will be. Likewise, late vitriol does more than describe its own. It delegitimizes participation. It signals to the community that only certain kinds of speech are welcome, measured, agreeable, and convenient. But the First Amendment does not protect speech because it is comfortable. It protects speech because it is essential. Councilwoman Cooper was not elected to serve as a openly and without prejudice. Our town government does not exist to protect those in power. ass the most and put them on your list of people to terminate instead of terminating all the good teachers that we've met here students will gladly give you the information you need to make an informed decision the town council should focus on ensuring that every role delivers 100 value or should be eliminated we need to as a town fire the town manager town attorney as a starting point let's pray that mary barrington will also resign tonight so that we can give cindy lloyd a shot thank you very much confident that he didn't do anything good evening aaron behringer 28 kenmore road

First, I want to reiterate and support the comments that I've heard from not only the teachers, residents and parents last Monday, but again tonight. I strongly support public education and believe in investing in our children as they are our future. I want to change gears because 49 days ago during citizen statements at the finance budget audit and bonding subcommittee meeting, I raised several concerns. And to date, I have not received any of those responses. I don't know if director hill is still here or anybody else from finance. But I haven't. heard from my citizen statement and my follow-up email. So I'll read part of my follow-up email that I sent those 49 days ago. I'm following up tonight to request the clarification on two items, the undefined category and the one-time paid vendor. I understand that MUNIS serves as our town's system of records and open finance is our tool as the public facing reporting tool. With that in mind, I'd like to ask that someone in finance clarify why the undefined category in the public facing reporting tool currently lists over $2 million as undefined. I'm not an investigative reporter like Peter Frank, but I know how to use open finance. And tonight I did look and it's still at 2.19 million. So for residents that rely on this platform to understand how Bloomfield uses our finances and how we spend our money, it would be very helpful if Bloomfield's finance people properly record invoices and categorize them under the appropriate department rather than undefined. I raise this because transparency tools like open finance are valuable for our community and especially when we're talking about budget. So ensuring that categories are not only clear and accurate, helps the public better understand how our funds are not only being spent, but being reported, especially during this budget time. Clarification on these items would improve transparency and strengthen public confidence in this data. Thank you. And I look forward to that information because 49 days later, I still don't have it.

Lucy Ann Hurston, 5 Christine Circle. I have been in that house in this town for 45 years. In case I'm too far away from the camera and you can't read the sign that I had at our last meeting, let me read it to you. It says the town manager and attorney are not worth their salary packages. Now, we're the beloved line of the town manager's office. or the town attorney's office and part of the communication department that can't be used in a better way to enlist the aim of our future. I can't see wasting money over there on someone who is unethical as an attorney who would do something like redefine a legal term to fit that round peg when it's a square hole, okay? Because that's what you're doing when you define residency as 40 hours or less, 40 hours or more in the town. That's how they define residency to define our charter that says the town manager must live in town. So if you start with a financial foundation, you get deals like, let me give you a raise. I'll hold, I'll take a raise this year. You can get a raise next year and you just divvy up our money like that. But you start with a financial foundation and you put a fly in the ointment and that's what you get. people that do not have a problem, adding positions, giving raises, getting cars, paying for insurance, rather than do it with a chartered stand. And anyone that does not agree with that, now is your time to be an ethical, honest, constitutional, chartered, banded witness to this disaster. Speak your mind if you think that you are not defying your charter and THIS MAN IS TOWN MANAGER AND THAT MAN IS A TRAINER. THANK YOU.

SHANE DAVIS, 46 WILSON AVENUE AND 390 PARK AVENUE. DEAR MEMBERS OF THE TOWN COUNCIL, I AM SPEAKING TONIGHT TO they've allocated to boring education. Bloomfield is more than just the town where I look. It is the community that helped shape who I am. I am a proud product of Bloomfield Public Schools. I attended J.P. Vincent, Laurel Elementary School, Carmen A. Race Intermediate and Middle School. The relationships I built there as a student had such a profound impact on me that it ultimately led me back to serve in the same community that served me as an educator. My connection to Bloomfield runs even deeper. All of my siblings attended Bloomfield Public Schools. My nephews attended Bloomfield Public Schools. And even my late father dedicated years of service as a building substitute at Carmody Race and Bloomfield High School. Vernon Davis. This is not just where I work. This is a community that my family has been invested in for generations. Bloomfield has long been known for its ability to retain dedicated, passionate teachers who invest in their students year after year. And unfortunately, this budget will change that. I was fortunate enough to learn from educators such as Irene Glassman, Elizabeth Kerrigan, Jennifer Manalia, Donna Mims, Eileen Richters, Dorothea Jones, Jessie White, Diana Bunting, who is now my principal. And the list goes on. These are individuals who not only taught me academically, but also modeled what it means to truly care for students. Today, I have the honor of calling them my colleagues, even our current superintendent Tracy younger was my vice principal when Carmen a race intermediate school just open. These connections are not incidental they are they are the foundation of what makes Bloomfield special. SUPPORTED AND INSPIRED. BLOOMVILLE STUDENTS LIKE I ONCE WAS DESERVE ACCESS TO A HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION DELIVERED BY EDUCATORS WHO VALUE THEM DEEPLY AND ARE EQUIPPED WITH THE RESOURCES TO MEET THEIR NEEDS. AS BOTH A RESIDENT AND A TEACHER IN THIS DISTRICT, I URGE YOU TO THOUGHTFULLY AND SINCERELY RECONSIDER THE CURRENT LEVEL OF FUNDING FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

As a taxpayer, I would feel more comfortable with an increase that at the very least funds our students.

We were already in jeopardy of staff changes before the Board of Education budget was proposed. Carbondale Race Intermediate School and GEMS is closing. Now here we are losing 20 staff members, 10 of which are a part of our teacher union. I'm not sure you all understand how much of a tremendous adverse impact on our students It is not okay. It has been said from members of the council that this budget reflects the priorities of this town based on where the money is going. I ask that you carefully reflect not only on the budget and the numbers, but consider the stories such as mine that represent the lasting impact of what an

If there are no further any person public comment, we're going to move to online comment.

See, it's like

Good evening, everyone. I'm Kat Davis. I live at Fort Lisa Lane. I was not planning to talk. I didn't even think I would be here this long. But I just really wanted to come to the mic and for the record to state that everything that has been said has been said. But I just want to make the town council aware that when we're here speaking, this is because we are invested. And we really need you all to understand that it seems that you're not. You're not invested in the things that we really need as residents, as taxpayers, and the things that we need to do. I think someone spoke about the vote five is more on the budget and that's not the majority. So we appreciate that. I appreciate the ones that are finally realizing that we're here to speak. It's not just about, we want controversy or we want to make you look bad, but in hindsight, I just want to come to this mic and say, I want my money to go to the board of ed. I don't want my money to go in your town hall. I think everybody has a job and everybody has a job to do. But if the budget is how it is, and I have to sacrifice as a taxpayer and a homeowner, my property taxes are paid more. If I got to pay more, I want the money to go to the board of ed because they are our future. Not to the town manager, not to the town attorney, not to anyone else. You guys are volunteers and you're suffering too, which I don't understand. why you don't feel like me i can't understand why you all don't feel like me you are residents in this town and you understand the impact that this budget is going to cause all of us as taxpayers and again i'm going to be all right but i'm nervous i'm about i'm a senior citizen and i'm so proud But seriously, no, I'm not joking, but put our resources where they belong. We got a lot of things that are happening, a lot of cuts that are happening, and I understand and read about, I understand it all. And I'm telling you, regardless of how y'all feel about Mr. Curry, what he's been posting, I learned a lot. Aaron Behringer, the things that they're putting on social media that you claim that you don't see, that information is really transcending for me. I learned a lot by coming here. I've been here. I'm going to stay here. Been a resident for 28 years, raised my kid. superintendent was my son's teacher she saved my oldest and i'm not telling you this i'm a fight miscarriage i'm gonna fight miss jordan understanding i'm gonna fight for bloomfield because we deserve better we're not just saying don't forget all of you want to make that happen but i can't personally tell you because i don't know how to appreciate you stop talking y'all taking their time I don't need any more seconds, though, but I appreciate everybody and I really hope you hear us. I really hope you hear us tonight. Reconsider all that you're doing. I don't want to take money out of nobody's pocket, but I don't want money taken out of my pocket and given to somebody who don't live here. Thank you. All right, good evening.

My name is Renee James. I live at 23 Mayfair Road. I'll be brief tonight. I'm going to switch tunes a little bit and just thank you all for your hard work and commitment to passing the budget. We're working towards passing a budget and a really difficult. I'm a DC team. I'm a DC chair. I'm kind of town committee chair. And I just want to thank everyone, the town council, town staff, all the people who came out to speak. I mean, this is a process that's been very painful throughout the entire process i've been in communication with other chairs from across the state and all the towns are dealing with a similar situation we see it when we go to the pumps you pay more you get less you go to the grocery store you pay more you get less there's no different in our town budget it's very hard i know money is very near and dear to all of us in our pockets and i want to appreciate send appreciation to town council for taking hour after hour we budget to see where we can find the savings to see, to make some very challenging decisions. You know, these are people's jobs, their lifelines, even the Board of Ed and the town side. So I understand, I see you guys not taking these decisions very lightly, and it's very serious to all of us. I've seen spending time listening to us. So I want to say thank you. And I don't envy you at this moment. So good luck . Thank you.

Betty Williams, 48 Yard Road. So as you can see, I am in support of the school system. I've been for 28 years. My children went public school all the way up. And I said this before, I fully support Dr. Youngbird's vision. I think she has us moving in a forward direction. And if we can't get all of that money, we just need a little more. We need some more. It is heartbreaking to hear first day to first year teachers, teachers who have lived here, to be persons on the chopping block. That is very saddening. And I do think that there's places that we can squeeze out that are not on the Board of Ed side, that are not out of Dan Carter's pocket, that are not out of Dave Malesko's pocket, or the library's pocket. I just think that everybody here, including the town, we have to make tough decisions. And some of that is in Town Hall. It can't be a bunker. We are not the military. We don't have . And my manager and some of you're going to believe that I applaud him for all of his initiatives and the things that he would like to do, but maybe some of that just cannot happen now. And we need to think twice and we need to ask what might be able to be shaped a little bit and move a little bit of money. So I thank you all. I wish we had gotten more ACS, but I'm a realist. I knew we were not gonna match up to some of these other towns, but appreciate it. I know you have a lot of hard work to do. I know we all been sitting here for weeks doing it already, but thank you. And I look forward to a budget that helps the majority of our community. Thank you.

Thank you.

Last call for in-person public comment going once. Last call twice.

Last call three times. We'll open the floor to our online residents.

for our residents online. Last call. Okay, we have one. Okay, we are opening up the floor.

Hi, I'm sorry, I couldn't be there in person. I have been an educator in Bloomfield for 26 years. These last several years, we have had smaller class sizes. I'm a third grade teacher at Metacama Elementary School. And I can just say that the smaller class sizes makes such a difference. Again, 26 year teacher here and the class sizes of 13 to 15, it allows us personalized instruction. It allows us to make small groups based on student ability and needs and cutting those positions would just be horrible and detrimental for our students and our staff and all of our school buildings in general. we need these small class sizes especially to help our students that are in need and that's just basically all i have to say thank you thank you can you please state your address yes i live outside of district i live in 489 wilcott street number 21 in bristol connecticut zero six zero one zero

Thank you. And we have public comment for Katie, if you can state your name, your address and three minutes please. Kate, you may be muted if you are available.

You have three minutes or starting.

You are being asked to unmute. Going once. Going twice. Okay, we have one more. Alvin. with no other hand raised on zoom going once going twice three times and we are closing public statements thank you

But there will be a special meeting of the town council immediately following

All those in favor?

Aye. Those opposed? Any abstentions? Motion passes. We will now All the meeting to order. This is a roll call.

Also Cooper. I'm going to be in Brown. I'm so on there. So Oliver president.

I'm so married. I'm so what else?

Yeah.

I'm so good one for the deputy mayor Lloyd. Mary here. under council business new business 2026-51 consider and take action regarding appointment to the town plan and commission tpz the alternate vacancy excuse me adjourn. Any abstentions?

Okay.

So, we called the order, we did the roll call new business 2026 dash 51, consider and take action regarding appointment to the town plan and commission. That's not what's town planning and zoning commission. The alternate vacancy.

No paperwork.

There is no 1. I don't think there's any.

Okay.

Okay, can we table.

table yeah next meeting to second second.

No.

they're all in favor.

Michael.

So what we'd like to do is see if we can get clarification from India Rogers in terms of the name, because there is a statutory retirement requirement that this person be identified and seated tonight. If we could take a moment to feel that information.

We have to decide on.

We decided. We gotta decide this. Which works.

So just a little background information, a vacancy for a town plan and zoning TPZ alternate became available March 9th, 2026. Town Charter allows for 60 days to fill this vacancy by Town Council for the deadline to fill the vacancy by 5-8-26. The term ends 11-8-27 and disclosure is required. The Town Charter states that when the vacancy member was elected as a member of a political party, the appointment to fill the unexpired term must be a member of the same political party. accordingly as a vacancy was created by a democrat the position must be filled by a democrat the bloomfield democratic town committee did not submit a nomination for this vacancy please note the appointment will not be official until the appointment candidate submits their disclosure form and is sworn in in person at the town clerk's office attachments, interest forms received in alphabetical order. Desiree Cotton, James Jenkins, Lorna McLeod, and Tashawna Turner. Town Charter Chapter 2, Election of Officers. The following motion must be in order. Move that the town council appoint. So we're waiting for some more information. Parliamentarian. Excuse me.

Mr. Mr. One on at a time. Mr. Mayor? Yes. If time allows, I would like to make a motion to table this until Wednesday.

You took my table, but I second it. If the parliamentarian can give us clarification, I was going to ask that he come up after they finish conversing.

Yeah. I would like to.

And there was a motion on the floor to table. There was a second to the motion to table.

We didn't hear that.

Already. No, you made the second.

I seconded it.

I made the motion. It was already seconded. There was a motion on the floor already. Okay.

Okay.

I don't think we have enough information to be able to vote on it. That's just my opinion.

Okay. Perfect. Okay. Can we get the parliamentarian to speak on this?

Thank you. Our question was if you could provide clarification on the amount of timeframe that we have to act on this because I don't believe council and anybody else here is ready to act upon it. Okay. Thank you.

We have until the eighth. to make that decision.

Thank you for turning from me.

Thank you.

He said that the appointment doesn't have to be made until the 8th. We needed clarification because no one here felt we had enough time to weigh in on the candidates, particularly when not getting a recommendation from DTC, the advisor we have until the 8th. Thank you very much.

and we would like to let you know that it will be handled on the 8th because we do plan to have another council meeting on the 8th, Wednesday.

Excuse me, excuse me.

Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the 6th, Wednesday the 6th. So the next item, 2026-52.

Mr. Mayor, we still have to vote on the table, so I'm calling it a question.

We just took a motion.

We didn't vote. We only it was a emotion in a 2nd. Yes. We don't have to go on it.

All those in favor aye. Those opposed. Any abstentions. The next item 202652. Consider and take action regarding the adoption of the town of Bloomfield. F. Y. 2027 budget. And set the mill rate for fiscal year 2027.

So, you can't vote on it because the numbers aren't right.

But this is our opportunity to do the consider part. We don't have to vote on it tonight, but we're at least.

You can consider yes, speak about deputy deputy mayor please. Deputy Mayor.

Thank you. In light of the numbers not being updated to the ECS, as well as many, many more concerns about some numbers in the budget that I know are looking at being adjusted, I make a motion that we table this item. Second.

all those in favor aye those opposed nay any abstentions motion passes we'll have discussion there's a motion to adjourn thank you everyone for coming out