When it comes to the city budget, financial watchdog John Marshall Lee is like a dog gnawing on a bone. Once he starts it’s hard to get him to stop, and that’s not good news for some city officials who wish he’d grind down his teeth to nothing. Lee’s latest commentary on the budget centers [...]
Entries Tagged as 'John Marshall Lee'
General Lee Harbors Budget Review
May 1st, 2013 · 3 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council
Tags: John Marshall Lee
Searching For Light In Sherwood’s Budget Forest–Can A Tax Hit Be Avoided?
April 29th, 2013 · 16 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council
During the Joe Ganim mayoral years (November 1991 to April 2003) the city’s fund balance, or financial reserve, grew to more than $50 million that represented the city’s relatively sturdy financial position that included 10 straight years without a tax increase. In the last 10 years the fund balance has been raided on several occasions [...]
Taxed To The Max, Councilwoman Brantley’s Ready To Sell And Get Out–General Lee Tells Council ‘You Fail As Fiscal Watchdogs’
April 23rd, 2013 · 21 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council, News and Events
Last week City Councilwoman Evette Brantley told OIB she was going to vote against Mayor Bill Finch’s budget proposal and in fact any tax increase proposed by her peers on the city’s legislative body because taxes have reached her breaking point. Was she blowing smoke? Well Monday night at a sparsely attended public hearing on [...]
Tags: Andy Fardy·Brian Lockhart·CT Post·John Marshall Lee·M. Evette Brantley
General Lee Seeks Money Conversation With City Council
April 16th, 2013 · 3 Comments · City Budget, City Council
Fiscal watchdog John Marshall Lee addressed the City Council Monday night urging an “open, accountable and transparent process in City governance by finding ways to increase conversations throughout the year, not just before elections or at budget time.” His remarks follow: President McCarthy, Council members, fellow taxpayers and neighbors, and TV viewers, we are long [...]
Fire Department Struggles With Internal Flames Over Pension Plan
April 10th, 2013 · 16 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, Firefighters
Last week Stuart Rosenberg, the long-time chairman of the Board of Fire Commissioners, resigned in a dispute involving the city’s proposed changes to the retirement benefits of city firefighters. James Morley also resigned as treasurer and a trustee of the Pension Plan B. How and where pension benefits are executed has become the talk of the town [...]
Tags: John Marshall Lee
General Lee Covers Budget Session
April 4th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, News and Events
City fiscal watchdog John Marshall Lee Wednesday night attended the first session of the City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee as the city’s legislative body began review of Mayor Bill Finch’s budget proposal for the spending year starting July 1. He files this report: Last evening some members of the City Council met in the [...]
Tags: Andy Nunn·Anne Kelly-Lenz·Bill Finch·John Marshall Lee·Tom Sherwood
The Challenging Future Of The Diocese Of Bridgeport
May 17th, 2013 · 12 Comments · Analysis and Comment
Long before John Marshall Lee began examining city budget books in his quest for an “Open, Accountable and Transparent” government, he had been urging the Diocese of Bridgeport to eat its OATs. The diocese has been facing all kinds of challenges including heavy financial losses. Lee examines: The Diocese of Bridgeport has been without a [...]
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Tags: Bishop William Lori·John Marshall Lee