Mayors And First Selectmen Get A Good Reception In Rell’s Office

HARTFORD (AP) — It took a little more than six weeks for Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell to accomplish what city and town officials had been trying to do with former Governor John Rowland for more than six years. Mayors and first selectmen, including Newtown’s First Selectman Herbert Rosenthal, went to Gov Rell Monday seeking more money for schools and homeland security and pushing for tax reform.

After the meeting wrapped up, Mr Rosenthal said he was pleased to have the opportunity to speak with the governor who resides in neighboring Brookfield.

“It was certainly a refreshing change,” he said during the public portion of Monday evening’s selectmen’s meeting. “We spent six years trying to get a meeting with Rowland.”

Newtown’s first selectman joined fellow municipal leaders in the hopes of securing some financial commitments from Gov Rell, but he said she made no promises during her first meeting with the members of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM) and Council of Small Towns.

Mr Rosenthal was included in the meeting because he currently serves on the council board, and is the first vice president of the CCM.

Mr Rosenthal said the town leaders discussed a variety of topics, including increasing funding for school readiness and other early childhood development programs, increasing the amount of money the state gives towns for education and special education, and providing more state funds for Homeland Security first responders.

They also talked about changing the state’s tax system to cut municipalities’ reliance on property taxes.

Gov Rell said she told her audience of 12 town and city officials they should not count on getting any of the state’s estimated $200 million state surplus, or any other additional funding at this time.

“They’ll tell you they were sitting there with a big smile on their face,” Gov Rell said following the meeting. “And then there was a deflated look because there’s no money.”

Gov Rell has insisted that any surplus be deposited in the state’s now-empty rainy day fund for future emergencies.

Municipal officials said they were pleased just to meet with Gov Rell following what one mayor said had been a poor relationship with her predecessor.

The meeting was a “positive development,” said Phil Schenck, Avon’s town manager and president of the Connecticut Conference of Mayors.

Norwalk Mayor Alex Knopp said there had been a “chilly relationship” with Mr Rowland, who he said resented municipal officials for aggressively lobbying for money.

Mr Knopp said municipalities plan to ask lawmakers to dedicate .5 percent of the state’s sales tax revenue, or about $15 million, for municipal aide. The six percent tax generated $3 billion in 2001, the most recent year available.

Gov Rell said she will begin working on her budget plan in earnest in the next month. But her spokesman, Dennis Schain, said Mr Knopp’s suggestion is “not something on the governor’s agenda.”

Mr Rosenthal said he was confident that, based on the governor’s demeanor, she would be receptive to input from town leaders during her tenure.

“She showed every indication of being involved in issues related to towns and cities,” Mr Rosenthal said. “Her advice was to pick our concerns carefully, to build the necessary legislative support, and come back to her for her backing.

In the few private moments he had with the governor, Mr Rosenthal said they discussed her planned visit to Fairfield Hills to mark the historic transfer of the former state mental hospital to the town.

“We’re trying to pin down a timeframe that is convenient for the governor, and one that gives us enough time to prepare and publicize the event so townspeople can come out for it,” Mr Rosenthal said.

(Newtown Bee reporter John Voket contributed to this story.)