Friday, July 29, 2011

Why I Decided to Run For Mayor

To give you an overview on why I am running for Mayor is to present a simple message to the people of Milford. "The Two Party System Is Disingenuous and Cannot be Trusted."

Last year both Democrats and Republicans took credit for the citywide tax decrease, however both sides neglected to mention they borrowed the money to do it. This borrowing increased our debt to 240M in 2010, not including interest.

The "Entrenched Two Party Leadership" also fattened their pension fund to an astounding $380M a 100% over funding according to the Mcready article in the MOB!! In turn, the People of Milford were left with a current estimated 300M in 2011 debt... debt voted on and spent by both parties.

Since 2008! the CAFR's (Comprehensive Audited Financial Results) indicate our city liabilities are growing at an alarming 17.7% per year, while our city assets are growing at 6.6% per year.

Neither Democrats nor, Republicans want to acknowledge that their collective leadership is the cause of Milford "Heading of a Cliff!!" We will soon have "More Liabilities than Assets" by 2014-2015 if nothing changes.

For the last year I viewed and studied the books of Milford, I read the auditors reports and am keenly aware of the many reactions of our city leaders who are stuck on a 10% fantasy debt ratio figure. This is a method that I disagree with. If elected I would adjust the pension model to pay down city debt, something I believe both my opponents would refuse to do.

While I have no intention of arguing with the overly optimistic accounting logic at City Hall, I do take issue with the selective appropriations that secure the futures of those individuals who redirected these excessive sums of public tax money to their private pensions.

On a final note, there are many other issues that have me frustrated with the conspiratorial silence of the self serving money dolers that are our disingenuous two party buddy system. I expect that this year will be no different than any other, the Big Developers, Law Firms etc... their personal rational interests and their money will corrupt the voters in favor of owed jobs, contracts and work for a select politically connected few. We must not allow these people to get away with the "Highjacking" of our city!

When people vote for Me or any independent, they are voting for a "Level Playing Field." We are a party that does NO FAVORS FOR ANYONE! Not land clearer's, Not Cadley House wrecking developers, Not Law firms, Not Big Banks, and Certainly Not other Politicians. Our Goal is to make winning deals that are to the advantage of the taxpayers... not the other way around.

This is perhaps the single greatest reason why getting elected as an Independent is so difficult. While the Democrats and Republicans have accepted what amounts to "bribes" from a great many destructive forces in Milford, the Independent Party has refused all special interest money and rejected all donors with implied conditions. We are not open for business, nor are we for sale! We would rather run a campaign with little to no money than to sell out for a big Billboard on the Post Road.

In order to run a truly honest City we cannot accept "Money for Influence." We can only accept "donations from the Heart."

Rocco J. Frank Jr.
ICO ComputerFox Inc.
374 New Haven Ave.
Milford, CT 06460

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Tired of Dishonesty in Milford? Then Join The Independent Party!

Come to the Official Caucus and candidate selection process it will be held this July28th 2011 in accordance with our agreement set at the last meeting of May 30, 2011. Please be advised that this date is in advance of the final caucus date of Wednesday August 3rd.

August 3rd, is the final date for all appeals re: candidate decisions and final last call placements.

Milford Fat Cats have Bloated Pension Fund, Residents in Deep Debt
The meeting location for the Caucus will be at Gusto's, in the Private Party Room on the lower level. The address to Gustos is 255 Boston Post Road, Milford, CT 06460 (203) 876-7464.

This is going to be a real Fun event for everyone, and if you plan on running for a city post your attendance is strongly encouraged.

The caucus is an open Caucus and will commence at 7:00P.M in the lower level private meeting Room. Press members we encourage you to post the date in the customary way that your paper or periodical does, and we encourage all members of the public to attend.


Ref. Brian Mcready, Milford Orange Bulletin July 14, 2011 Article "Layoffs averted in Milford."

Ref. Cited in MDB of June 9, 2011 "Milford's Comprehensive Audits Indicate Excessive Liabilities"

Friday, July 8, 2011

Connecticut's Problems May Hit Home

When Dan Malloy won the job of our state Governor I was delighted, but not for the reasons that most of his fans and supporters were. While my friends were rather perplexed, and really did not understand my affinity for Mr. Malloy I had to clarify my support of him.

This support was mostly based on my disdain for partisan bickering in Hartford. I personally believe, and have seen, that whenever, a single branch of the state Capitol is controlled by another party the blame is quickly shifted on that branch of government as if they are the cancerous evil that is the demise of society. With the Democrats in firm control over all three branches of government we have addressed the issue of the "Blame Game" and since we are in a Great Recession who is better suited to fire state employees than the people and parties who they lobbied for and spent millions to put in office.

Dan Malloy is making Wisconsin's Walker look like a Liberal, not because Malloy is or is not a Liberal but because he inherited a state that is much like the HMS Titanic after it hit an Iceberg. While everyone on board in the State of Connecticut is going on as if all is well, and some feel that their years of service entitle them to job security, our Governor is swimming in an unbalanced pool of debt that some call an illegal budget. One person in particular challenging this "illegal budget" in court is Republican Tom Scott. The unions are currently panicked, their austerity vote was rejected, and last minute midnight deals and special sessions are in the works to make the impossible possible.

Unions are now blaming their own voting rules for requiring more than 51% to pass a wage measure. The state of Connecticut employs some 48,000 people and the numbers of layoffs have been estimated from as few as 5,000 to as many as 10,000. However in the words of our Independent Democratic senator Gayle Slossberg, she voted against the Malloy budget because it did not seriously address the issue of "New spending" in a serious financial situation.  Slossberg said that the "budget shortfall is so severe that the Governor could lay off all 48,000" employees and still not fill the budget gap. That aside she found it upsetting that the Malloy budget included funds for "the restoration of an Opera house" in the wake of layoffs.

As of yet no state employees have been let go, but the longer the structural deficit issue looms on, the more severe the budget constraints on the state labor unions become. These unions have many reasons to be concerned, not just over their loss of a job, but also over their pension obligations that are also  underfunded and set to fail sometime in the year 2019-2020. Ct not only cnnot afford its employees but it cannot afford their pensions either. The notion that layoffs will fix the problem is also a paradox because unemployment of that many people will hurt the state economy, especially if it accompanies a tax increase during a bad economic period. The state of Connecticut will also need to set aside 100's of millions of dollars to pay all of the expected unemployment claims that could linger on for up to 99 weeks.

Moving forward Milford's city leaders should start taking our wasteful spending issues seriously. There is a very likely event on the horizon that will require us to prepare for the inevitable and eventual cuts to our town. The cuts could entail and include our road improvement subsidies, our manufacturing credits, our grants, our education dollars or anything else they decide to eliminate. The final word of this post today should be to mention that Governor Chris Christie of N.J. is laughing at Connecticut's Solitaire playing legislators and Malloy's reticence to make effective management decisions.