Story from Saturday's Bristol Press:
Democratic mayoral nominee Ellen Zoppo said Friday that she's trying to improve the quality of life in Bristol while her challenger is merely trying to pad his pension.
Zoppo said that as a state veterans counselor, city Councilor Art Ward would "expand his state pension benefits substantially" by raking in a mayor's salary of about $100,000 annually that would count toward the calculating his state retirement pay.
"By serving as mayor for a term, Mr. Ward not only will more than double his take-home pay, but he also stands to increase his overall state retirement by almost 50% and receive medical benefits for life," she said. "No wonder he will stop at nothing to get elected.
"This election should be about the quality of life for the people of Bristol, not about the quality of life for Art Ward," Zoppo said.
Ward, who is aiming to snatch the Democratic endorsement from Zoppo in Tuesday's primary, took a deep breath after hearing her charges.
"Wow," Ward said. "Is this desperation? My goodness gracious."Ward said that "this is the first time I've ever heard of the statute" cited by Zoppo that would allow him to use the mayor's salary to bolster his pension payments.
He said that in his talks with personnel officers "that was never, ever mentioned." Ward said he makes more than $60,000 now so Zoppo is wrong in saying his pension would "more than double" if he wins the city's top job.
Pensions are based on the average of a state worker's top three years of earnings so if Ward served a two-year term, two of the three years would be counted at about $100,000 instead of his current salary.
Ward is already entitled to the medical benefits that retired state employees get because he is vested as a state worker after a decade working with veterans, he said. "If my motivation was the quality of life for Art Ward, I would have run for mayor a long time ago, like my sixth year" as a councilor instead of his 14th year, Ward said.He said his interest is purely in the quality of life for all of Bristol families, including his own and Zoppo's.
For more information on Zoppo's statement, please see reporter Steve Collins' Bristol Blog at http://bristolnews.blogspot.com.
Ward misses meetings
BRISTOL – Democratic mayoral nominee Ellen Zoppo blasted primary challenger Art Ward Friday for his lax attendance record at city meetings.
Zoppo said that she has brought "insight and intensity" to her role as a councilor and racked up a "nearly perfect" attendance record during the past six years despite working two part-time jobs and raising three young children.
She said that she makes nearly all of the sessions of the dozen committees she serves on while Ward is present "far less" often at the four committees he's on.
"In some cases," Zoppo said, "he only makes half the meetings he is required to attend. As chair of the City Council Veterans Committee, he has not even called a meeting of that committee in the last two years."
Ward said there's been no reason for the veterans panel to meet because the Bristol Veterans Council is handling veterans issues well.
He said he's done well with attendance except for meetings that occur while he's at work at his full-time job counseling veterans for the state.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
18 comments:
Sounds as if Zoppo is desperate and trying to discredit Ward on the pension crap. You need to do your research before blasting this one out. But as you do - shoot out your mouth without facts. Frist Ward is a veteran and gets medical benefits with the VA, as well as the state for working all these years with the state.
IF anything it seems you are trying to DOUBLE your salary Zoppo - afterall you only work part time. Your husband works for the city so he has a nice fat pension coming and medical. YOU would gain from the Mayor seat more then Ward would - so be honest for once in your life. YOU ARE TRYING TO DOUBLE YOUR TAKE HOME PAY, NOT WARD. He already makes more then you working fulltime!!
Why told you tell people Ellen how you are over $300,000 in the hole with the Public works budget you Chair? Are you going to blame Ward for that too?
Ellen Zoppo works part-time at the New Britain Chamber of Commerce and the Bristol Historical Society. I'm sure it doesn't add up to the mayor's salary, and neither job has a government pension and benefits. She stands to gain a lot more than Art Ward does. If she were to become mayor, she'd be boss over all the department heads, including her husband's boss, the police chief. That's a pretty big incentive, too, to do everything she can to grab that high paying job. Hell, Ward's already on the state dole. If he's elected mayor, it's just a little more taxpayer money going to Art, and a new state job opens up. He's already set with pension and benefits.
But if Zoppo becomes mayor, her whole household income, police officer and mayor, comes from the city taxpayers, and it's a lot of money. And two dinky part-time jobss open up, if she lets them go. After all, she's painting herself as Superwoman, with her husband, three kids (who she prefers to leave in the care of her very nice husband), two jobs and council, after all. Why not just add the mayor's office to that list? She'll do a great job with all of it, I am sure!
Superwoman? Do you know how many women work and have kids? Give us a break - we all are doing the same thing as Zoppo juggling FULLTIME work and kids - she needs to stop pounding her chest that she is superwoman. Zoppo would gain a heck of alot more with pension, pay, benefits then Ward. How stupid of Zoppo to come with this against Ward whenits her to GAIN MORE.
We can do better! Let's forget about Democrats or Republicans. What is in place is not working... period. I agree that there are enough new candidates running for council and even mayor to just start over. It is time for a clean sweep and just get rid of everyone. Electing a batch of new candidates(who cares if they just happen to be democrat or republican) can't be worse than having to deal with all the issues raised in this blog. At least we could put an end to all this crap, clean house and the new group might actually make things better then they are now. The current leadership is just beyond repair! We have a choice...CLEAN SWEEP!
To the anonymous poster who thought that I (the previous anon poster) was calling Ellen Superwoman and that she'd do a great job of handling the mayor's job, her two puny jobs, her husband and kids... don't you know SARCASM when you hear it?
Jeezz... give ME a break.
Ellen must be getting desperate. She sent out a negative campaign mailer that I got today.
It's exactly what she vowed she wouldn't do when she announced she was running.
"Ellen must be getting desperate. She sent out a negative campaign mailer that I got today. It's exactly what she vowed she wouldn't do when she announced she was running."
Criticizing your opponent on a public policy issue is not what most people mean by "negative campaigning." "Negative campaigning" is using an old DUI or an elderly parent's tax delinquency. This has been a hard-hitting campaign on both sides, but it has not been negative.
STEVE,
AFTER READING TODAY'S PREES
I NOW KNOW WHY FIRE FIGHTERS UNION PRESIDENT TOM BENTIVENGO HAS NOT LEFT ELLEN'S SIDE.SHE MUST NAVE PROMISED HIM HE COULD RAID THE HEN HOUSE WHILE SHE DISTRACTS THE TAX PAYERS.DON'T COUNT ON IT ELLEN.
"Ward said there's been no reason for the veterans panel to meet because the Bristol Veterans Council is handling veterans issues well."
Sounds like Stortz: make a decision all by yourself that something you're supposed to do is no good (because you're the smartest guy in town), effectively kill it by doing nothing, and never tell anyone what you're up do. Classic Stortz.
You know nothing about veteran issues, The city veterans council tried to make all the issues political and Ward was not for that. Veteran issues are not about the politicians. So unitl you know what you are talking about I suggest you keep your lips together. Again, how zoppo-ish!
"You know nothing about veteran issues, The city veterans council tried to make all the issues political and Ward was not for that. Veteran issues are not about the politicians. So unitl you know what you are talking about I suggest you keep your lips together."
Okay, I see that I'm not getting through so I'll try to do this in words of just one syllable. The point is that Ward does not do his job on the City Council. There is a City Council committee called "Veterans Committee". Ward is the chair of that group. That group, with him as it's chair, has done next to nothing. He says it's because there is nothing for it to do. If he can not find stuff for it to do, then he should step down and let one of the other City Councilmen who are veterans (Rimcoski, Minor, Nicastro, and McCauley) take over as chair. The fact that he does not, shows how big his ego is and how small his work output is.
Okay lets put this as simple as we can for you. THe Veterans Counicl has been handling veteran programs, issues, etc....There isn't a need for the City Veterans Committee. The councilmen you listed are only complaining about it because they think its about them. Case in point when the issue was brought to Nicastro about a war/campaign date missing on the CT War Time Medal application he brought it before his committee in Hartford claiming HE noticed it!
It was brought to HIS attention by a Veteran. Frank tried to make it all out to be about him and HOW HE IS so concerned about the omission of the date!! Get real here. Craig, Kevin and Frank only care about themselves and how this committee can make them more important.
Yeah, that Art Ward guy never ever uses his veteran status in order to score political points.
Hey..Why isn't Ellen going after Frank Nicastro for his salaries.
He gets a pension from the City for being a Mayor and Traurant Officer, He gets his Council salary, he gets $30K per year as a State representative and now he's running for re-election again...as a councilman, and next year as a State representative...How many jobs and salaries does he want???????
Ellen won't go after Frank because he is on "her team." Talk is - Frank is just as whimpy as the other two.
"Ellen won't go after Frank because he is on "her team." Talk is - Frank is just as whimpy as the other two."
You Ellen-bashers are so consumed by your hatred of her that you think the only reason Minor, McCauley, and now Nicastro could possibly support her is because they are wimps. Maybe, just maybe, it's because they have a common vision of what's best for Bristol and are all working together to accomplish that? What a concept!
There's a difference between supporting someone and coming to their rescue every time a citizen says anything that could even remotely dim her light.
They aren't body guards, they are councilmen.
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