Cockayne: My Opponent Can’t Get It Done.
(Bristol) City Councilman Ken Cockayne (R-2) the Republican
nominee for Mayor of Bristol, today assailed his Democrat opponent for not
being able to deliver on the promises he has made in the campaign. Cockayne took issue with comments made regarding
the budgetary process and the candidate’s claims that he could save 1% by
turning to Performance Based Budgeting in Bristol.
“I find this suggestion comical due to the fact that my
opponent was a member of the Mayor’s Budget and Efficiency Task Force created in
2011 by Mayor Ward, “Cockayne continued, “During that entire process my
opponent never offered this proposal to the Task Force and as a matter of fact
offered no new suggestions on how to save money in the budget and enhance
efficiencies between the city and board of education.”
The Task Force was created at the suggestion of the newly
elected Republican members of the City Council in an effort to develop strategies
to help reduce spending and save the taxpayers of Bristol some hard earned tax
dollars.
“I cannot stress enough that my opponent made ZERO
RECCOMENDATIONS during this process,” Cockayne asked, “In addition, the Task
Force did not find 1% in savings, and if it could have found this savings where
was my opponent during this process?”
The results of Performance Based Budgeting are very
subjective and it is a tool used by the State of Connecticut to determine which
school districts are failing and which get more aid in the form of ECS money.
“This proposal cannot work in an environment where administrations could change
every two years along with the priorities of a new administration,” Cockayne
said.
“What my opponent should have done is advocated for the
Republican City Council proposal to survey the public and find out which
services and programs were most utilized and which were less utilized,”
Cockayne continue, “This way we could have enhanced the programs and services
most utilized and scaled back on those that were underutilized.”
“My opponent’s Johnny-come-lately-approach to our budgetary
problems is almost tragic since he boasts that he was the Chairman and Member
of the Board of Education Finance Committee and his budget since taking office
on the BOE has risen over 31%.” Cockayne said.
“I have stated many times that there are duplicate functions
being performed by the City and Board of Education and that those functions can
be consolidated in order to be more cost effective and I plan to implement
these efficiencies as your next Mayor,” Cockayne concluded.
No comments:
Post a Comment