Don't miss my story in today's Bristol Press about a proposed renovation to the aging Dutton Heights housing project. The $14 million project hinges on whether the location of a little-used bus stop can be shifted by one block, officials said. Read the whole thing here.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Showing posts with label Bristol Housing Authority. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bristol Housing Authority. Show all posts
December 15, 2009
October 7, 2009
Other housing managers also got secret raises
Housing Director Mitzy Rowe wasn’t the only manager at the Bristol Housing Authority to receive a secret raise this summer.
All of the supervisors for the Bristol Housing Authority were evaluated behind closed doors in June and new salaries for them set by consensus, according to the authority’s attorney.
Salvatore Vitrano, the agency’s lawyer, said Wednesday that four housing commissioners listened during an executive session in June as Rowe talked about the performance of each housing supervisor and recommended pay hikes for each.
While some received the same 3 percent hikes that the authority’s union members later got, others wound up with more.
Some ended up with the same 5 percent pay raise that Rowe received -- at her recommendation.
Vitrano said the raises were partly based on job performance but they were also meant to reflect changing duties.
It’s not clear which managers received the raises or how much each got.
Vitrano said that commissioners realized they should vote on the supervisors’ pay hikes in public as well as Rowe’s salary, but could not add it to the agenda for Tuesday’s special meeting where they renewed the director’s raise in public.
At the next regularly scheduled housing board meeting -- at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20 in the meeting room at Cambridge Park -- commissioners plan to vote again on the pay hikes they handed out in secret in June.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
All of the supervisors for the Bristol Housing Authority were evaluated behind closed doors in June and new salaries for them set by consensus, according to the authority’s attorney.
Salvatore Vitrano, the agency’s lawyer, said Wednesday that four housing commissioners listened during an executive session in June as Rowe talked about the performance of each housing supervisor and recommended pay hikes for each.
While some received the same 3 percent hikes that the authority’s union members later got, others wound up with more.
Some ended up with the same 5 percent pay raise that Rowe received -- at her recommendation.
Vitrano said the raises were partly based on job performance but they were also meant to reflect changing duties.
It’s not clear which managers received the raises or how much each got.
Vitrano said that commissioners realized they should vote on the supervisors’ pay hikes in public as well as Rowe’s salary, but could not add it to the agenda for Tuesday’s special meeting where they renewed the director’s raise in public.
At the next regularly scheduled housing board meeting -- at 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 20 in the meeting room at Cambridge Park -- commissioners plan to vote again on the pay hikes they handed out in secret in June.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Secret pay hike draws criticism for BHA
A secret 5 percent pay hike awarded to the Bristol Housing Authority’s director in June drew harsh criticism Wednesday.
Mayor Art Ward said he was upset and bewildered that housing commissioners would give Mitzy Rowe a 5 percent pay hike in the middle of a recession.
“I don’t see how they could not have realized” the need for them “to demonstrate the severity of the conditions” in Bristol’s economy by keeping any salary hikes minimal, the mayor said.
“Everybody around us is not getting raises,” said Ward, who voted this year to slash the mayor’s pay by 5 percent in the coming term to ensure the city’s leader sets the right tone.
Rowe received her pay hike to $100,000 annually in a closed-door executive session in June after the board reached a consensus to hike her salary by 5 percent. The decision was never ratified in public until Tuesday night, after city Councilor Ken Cockayne and reporters began asking questions about it.
“It was really an oversight,” said Brian Wolverton, the chairman of the housing commission. “There was never any intent to keep it out of the public forum.”
Wolverton said that Rowe, who declined to comment, got a raise starting July 1 because of her outstanding performance in the job and because the authority could afford to pay her. He said nobody talked about whether it was appropriate to hike the salary so much during hard times.
‘Honestly, if someone brought it to the table that evening and said maybe this wouldn’t look so good, I would have given it consideration, but honestly it just didn’t come up that night,” Wolverton said.
Cockayne said that in “this tough economy,” when the city and state governments are asking workers for concessions and “the federal government is up to its eyeballs in debt,” he questions whether it is “morally right to take a 5 percent increase.”
Cockayne said that Rowe should not have received more than the 3 percent pay hike that BHA workers got this year.
“A fair raise would have been what the workers below her received,” Cockayne said. “If they’re good for a 3 percent raise, then why wouldn’t the director be good for a 3 percent raise?”
Wolverton said the panel wanted to give Rowe an increase over and above the norm to reward her for a solid performance in a difficult job.
Though housing commissioners said the failure to record in the minutes that Rowe received a raise was an oversight, several officials said privately it was done deliberately to avoid letting the BHA workers’ union know how much more the director would receive.
The commission didn’t want to complicate negotiations, the officials said.
Wolverton said it’s possible they meant to keep it secret.”We may have been glibly instructed” to keep it quiet until negotiations were over with the union, he said, but he doesn’t remember it.
“That would be true for the management increases” generally, he added.
The housing panel was told this week by its attorney it did not have to vote in public because there was no dissent about the pay hike, but opted to do it anyway, Wolverton said.
“We decided it was just a matter of good form to officiate it in the form of a vote,” Wolverton said.
The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission’s Valicia Hamon said Wednesday she urged Vitrano to push the commissioners to vote in public because it would ratify the solid performance review done behind closed doors.
She said, though, that it doesn’t appear an improper vote was taken in executive session in June because it was “really a performance review” more than a discussion about pay levels.
“The executive session wasn’t about how much. It was about how great,” Hamon said.
It did, however, result in a pay hike that Rowe began receiving in July without public notice.
Wolverton said the commission is establishing new procedures to make sure it evaluates managers in the right way and awards raises in public in the future. Transparency is crucial, Wolverton said.
Wolverton said he regrets the way this was handled.
“It was a very regrettable chain of events, I think,” Wolverton said.
Ward said the housing authority operates separately from the city government, but because the mayor appoints commissioners, he felt “a moral obligation” to speak out against the raise that Rowe received.
He said that his own decision to support a 5 percent pay cut for whoever is elected mayor next month shows the magnitude of the fiscal crisis that’s hit the community.
Taking a 5 percent salary increase in such times, Ward said is wrong.
“They really need to be cognizant of the effect on the community” that so large a pay hike can create, the mayor said.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Mayor Art Ward said he was upset and bewildered that housing commissioners would give Mitzy Rowe a 5 percent pay hike in the middle of a recession.
“I don’t see how they could not have realized” the need for them “to demonstrate the severity of the conditions” in Bristol’s economy by keeping any salary hikes minimal, the mayor said.
“Everybody around us is not getting raises,” said Ward, who voted this year to slash the mayor’s pay by 5 percent in the coming term to ensure the city’s leader sets the right tone.
Rowe received her pay hike to $100,000 annually in a closed-door executive session in June after the board reached a consensus to hike her salary by 5 percent. The decision was never ratified in public until Tuesday night, after city Councilor Ken Cockayne and reporters began asking questions about it.
“It was really an oversight,” said Brian Wolverton, the chairman of the housing commission. “There was never any intent to keep it out of the public forum.”
Wolverton said that Rowe, who declined to comment, got a raise starting July 1 because of her outstanding performance in the job and because the authority could afford to pay her. He said nobody talked about whether it was appropriate to hike the salary so much during hard times.
‘Honestly, if someone brought it to the table that evening and said maybe this wouldn’t look so good, I would have given it consideration, but honestly it just didn’t come up that night,” Wolverton said.
Cockayne said that in “this tough economy,” when the city and state governments are asking workers for concessions and “the federal government is up to its eyeballs in debt,” he questions whether it is “morally right to take a 5 percent increase.”
Cockayne said that Rowe should not have received more than the 3 percent pay hike that BHA workers got this year.
“A fair raise would have been what the workers below her received,” Cockayne said. “If they’re good for a 3 percent raise, then why wouldn’t the director be good for a 3 percent raise?”
Wolverton said the panel wanted to give Rowe an increase over and above the norm to reward her for a solid performance in a difficult job.
Though housing commissioners said the failure to record in the minutes that Rowe received a raise was an oversight, several officials said privately it was done deliberately to avoid letting the BHA workers’ union know how much more the director would receive.
The commission didn’t want to complicate negotiations, the officials said.
Wolverton said it’s possible they meant to keep it secret.”We may have been glibly instructed” to keep it quiet until negotiations were over with the union, he said, but he doesn’t remember it.
“That would be true for the management increases” generally, he added.
The housing panel was told this week by its attorney it did not have to vote in public because there was no dissent about the pay hike, but opted to do it anyway, Wolverton said.
“We decided it was just a matter of good form to officiate it in the form of a vote,” Wolverton said.
The Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission’s Valicia Hamon said Wednesday she urged Vitrano to push the commissioners to vote in public because it would ratify the solid performance review done behind closed doors.
She said, though, that it doesn’t appear an improper vote was taken in executive session in June because it was “really a performance review” more than a discussion about pay levels.
“The executive session wasn’t about how much. It was about how great,” Hamon said.
It did, however, result in a pay hike that Rowe began receiving in July without public notice.
Wolverton said the commission is establishing new procedures to make sure it evaluates managers in the right way and awards raises in public in the future. Transparency is crucial, Wolverton said.
Wolverton said he regrets the way this was handled.
“It was a very regrettable chain of events, I think,” Wolverton said.
Ward said the housing authority operates separately from the city government, but because the mayor appoints commissioners, he felt “a moral obligation” to speak out against the raise that Rowe received.
He said that his own decision to support a 5 percent pay cut for whoever is elected mayor next month shows the magnitude of the fiscal crisis that’s hit the community.
Taking a 5 percent salary increase in such times, Ward said is wrong.
“They really need to be cognizant of the effect on the community” that so large a pay hike can create, the mayor said.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
October 6, 2009
Pay hike for housing director?
I can't make it to the Bristol Housing Authority meeting tonight, but I'd sure love to hear from anyone who can.
Mitzy Rowe, the housing director, may be in line for a decent pay raise -- months after everyone else at the authority got a pay freeze.
Here's the meeting agenda:
DATE: October 2, 2009
TO: All Commissioners, City Liaison and General Counsel
The Special Meeting is scheduled for October 6, 2009. The Commissioners of the Housing
Authority of the City of Bristol will meet as follows:
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Cambridge Park Community Room
AGENDA
1. Roll Call
2. Public Participation Related to Agenda Item
3. Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matter Involving Pay Raise Issue Relative to
Executive Director.
4. Any Action necessary as a result of Executive Session
5. Adjournment
Respectfully Submitted,
Mitzy Rowe
Executive Director
If you do go and you're not used to these things, here's the deal. They can -- perhaps -- meet in executive session about the possible pay raise, but they must come out of the the secret part of the meeting to take any votes on the record. There may even be some dissent on the issue.
If anyone goes, I know I'm not alone in wanting to find out what happens and if anyone says anything.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Mitzy Rowe, the housing director, may be in line for a decent pay raise -- months after everyone else at the authority got a pay freeze.
Here's the meeting agenda:
DATE: October 2, 2009
TO: All Commissioners, City Liaison and General Counsel
The Special Meeting is scheduled for October 6, 2009. The Commissioners of the Housing
Authority of the City of Bristol will meet as follows:
Date: Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Place: Cambridge Park Community Room
AGENDA
1. Roll Call
2. Public Participation Related to Agenda Item
3. Executive Session to discuss Personnel Matter Involving Pay Raise Issue Relative to
Executive Director.
4. Any Action necessary as a result of Executive Session
5. Adjournment
Respectfully Submitted,
Mitzy Rowe
Executive Director
If you do go and you're not used to these things, here's the deal. They can -- perhaps -- meet in executive session about the possible pay raise, but they must come out of the the secret part of the meeting to take any votes on the record. There may even be some dissent on the issue.
If anyone goes, I know I'm not alone in wanting to find out what happens and if anyone says anything.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
February 12, 2009
Ethics probe at housing authority
I've lost count of the meetings the Bristol Housing Authority's Ethics Review Committee has held behind closed doors in the last few weeks to investigate some sort of ethics complaint.
All I've been able to discern is that the sessions are meant to probe an alleged breach of the authority's ethics policy.
On Tuesday, I actually went over to one of the meetings, even though I knew they would simply vote to go into executive, or secret, session. It was slated for 6 p.m.
Nobody showed up. No signs were posted explaining what had happened to the meeting. It simply wasn't.
I've asked around a bit about this thing and come up dry.
If anybody can fill us in on what's happening, even in the most general way, I'd sure like to know. I hate secrets.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
All I've been able to discern is that the sessions are meant to probe an alleged breach of the authority's ethics policy.
On Tuesday, I actually went over to one of the meetings, even though I knew they would simply vote to go into executive, or secret, session. It was slated for 6 p.m.
Nobody showed up. No signs were posted explaining what had happened to the meeting. It simply wasn't.
I've asked around a bit about this thing and come up dry.
If anybody can fill us in on what's happening, even in the most general way, I'd sure like to know. I hate secrets.
*******
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
January 14, 2008
Water department stops maintaining private hydrants
Leafing through the Water Board's meeting minutes the other day, I found that it agreed in October to stop maintaining 145 private hydrants located around town. The department said it had a hard enough time keeping up with needs of its own hydrants.
Spurring the change, according to the minutes, was "a recent fire on Davis Drive where it was found that all of their private hydrants were inoperable."
Imagine that.
All of the hydrants at the Cambridge Park housing project, where there are scores of old public housing units, weren't working.
It's damn lucky that there wasn't a catastrophe.
I don't know if they've been fixed.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Spurring the change, according to the minutes, was "a recent fire on Davis Drive where it was found that all of their private hydrants were inoperable."
Imagine that.
All of the hydrants at the Cambridge Park housing project, where there are scores of old public housing units, weren't working.
It's damn lucky that there wasn't a catastrophe.
I don't know if they've been fixed.
*******
Copyright 2008. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
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