Friday, November 14, 2008

Teachers' union contract discussion heats up

Here's the five minute clip that everyone seems to be talking about:

I wonder if this one will get the link emailed and go viral?

Tim White

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that was a loaded clip.
Dr. Florio was way out of line in his statements. I understand he has a job to make sure the teachers are taken care of, but the TC also has a job (at a lot less pay) to make sure the town is taken care of.
We are in a recession, whether he wants to believe it or not. The "real" private sector is getting hit hard. Salaries are being frozen.What world is he living in?
He knows that there will be tough decisions down the line. I wonder what concessions he will be willing to make when the next budget is up for consideration.

On a separate note, Matt Hall is asking for "dignity" while he loses his cool and takes the Lord's name in vain. He owes the citizens an apology for losing his dignity!

Anonymous said...

Pompous, arrogant, uninformed is this one viewer’s perception of the school superintendent based on the babbling contained in the video clip. The multi-republican response was well directed and I’m wondering why none of our democrat council members were also disturbed enough to comment.

We are clearly in a new era of greatly declining personal wealth, increasing taxes, higher and higher unemployment and massive institutional failures and bailouts. The response to all this by the local BOE and the superintendent is first to oversee an excessive teacher pay raise and next is the impromptu speech by the superintendent in the video clip.

It is time for some personnel changes. The actions granting this overinflated set of teacher pay raises is a significant burden on all local taxes payers.

Anonymous said...

This should have heated up in the summer. Where was our BOE? Once again this was kept under the radar. Why shouldn't the TC and public make some comments before the negotiations begin. Obviously someone knows how much $$$ the town has and is willing to give. The cat was let out of the bag. Let's see what solution the majority has with the perfect storm approaching (new contract, re-evaluation and the economy).

Anonymous said...

I agree that Matt Hall owes the public an apology. His taking the Lord's name in vain was totally uncalled for.

As for Florio he said something about "money being shifted around," - what's he talking about? He does that all the time with the budget. He is a pompous, arrogant man. Time for a change.

Anonymous said...

Councilman Hall absolutely owes everyone a public apology for his actions. His remarks were uncalled for. The debate between Florio and Ruocco was not that bad, albeit entertaining.

Anonymous said...

I believe the entire meeting is on channel 14 now also.

Anonymous said...

First of all it was his intention to say those things and place blame on people because god for bid anyone would want to not give the teachers a raise above what the rest of of the work force gets. This guy is full of S&$@. And as far as Mr. Hall...are you kidding me???He must think it's a locker room or something. You can see Mrs. Esty cringe when he says that. Of course he owes the people Cheshire and the council an apology, but you will never get one.

FUBAR SAYS IT TIME FOR A REVOLUTION!

Anonymous said...

We better budget for a delayed telecast software for the future TC meetings. I can only imagine what the budget meetings will be like.

Anonymous said...

Evidently Florio doesn't understand who he works for. Someone needs to expain to him what his job is so that he understands that he works for the residents of Cheshire and not the teachers. He has a management position. It is his job to make sure the children get a proper education and that it is done at a reasonable cost. Like any business, he has to manage cost.

It seems that he thinks that his main responsibility is to the teachers.

His ranting and raving against the private sector was as if everybody in the private sector is responsible for the economic mess and that only those in the public sector are far above any blame. Well, he better realize that it is the private sector that is the main source of funds that support the public sector, and all the costs of the public sector add to the cost of products and services produced. In a global economy, we just can't keep adding more cost from the public sector to our products and still be able to survive. The times have changed and the people in management positions, like Florio, have to change also.

Anonymous said...

"realize that it is the private sector that is the main source of funds that support the public sector." Public sector employees pay taxes just like private sector employees. Those taxes go to the same services and personnel. They are all based on the same formulas. It is the private sector - medical insurance, banking failures, lawsuits, unstable markets that have caused the current issues. I really dont see how a firefighter, teacher, or sewer pump worker helped cause the current conditions, their work hasnt changed. There arent more fires, less kids, or more sewage due to the economy

Anonymous said...

It is the private sector - medical insurance, banking failures, lawsuits, unstable markets that have caused the current issues.

Only made possible through Washington's all too typical misguided and uninformed decisions on Monetary Policy.

My remedy is add one fairly simple regulation:

The Congress shall have Power To coin Money, regulate the Value therof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures. (US Constitution - Article I, Section 8)

The Founders used the word "shall," not "may." They were very clear in their intent. But what should we expect from a body that long ago decided that declarations of war were irrelevant to modern society?

Anonymous said...

I do agree though that town employees are taking an unfair bad rap here. Most town ee's I know work hard and do care about Cheshire and the surrounding communities.

Sure, every group has a bad apple or two. But most Cheshire town ee's do a good job.

Anonymous said...

The work might be the same but the private sector has to compete with the rest of the world to make a profit. Times are tough for everyone and yes we all pay taxes but costs must be controlled in order for ALL of us to survive.

Anonymous said...

I liked the colorful language -- that was a fun clip. I was far more offended by the comment from Slocum than by anything from the super or Matt.

TS sounds like he's so hopped up on right-wing talk-radio that he probably looks under his bed at night to check for socialists.

Relax, TS.

Anonymous said...

No re-cap details of the negotiations were given by a board member to the TC. How do we the public have any idea that this new contract was fair to all? Is it available somewhere to be reviewed? I believe the citizens were let down. I don't know why the Supt had to say anything. He only added fuel to the fire. We are in deep and troubled economic times and many taxpayers (whatever sector they work in) are scared about their JOBS. Without jobs all of this means nothing. We will have no money to pay for anything. A presentation explaining to the public the details of the new contract would have been time well spent.

Anonymous said...

many taxpayers (whatever sector they work in) are scared about their JOBS.

The fear factor is a big concern for me. Personally, I don't know many people who have lost their jobs in the past six to twelve months. But most people I know are extremely concerned about keeping their jobs and paying their bills, esp. their big bills - mortgage, college tuition, car payments, etc.

Anonymous said...

The teachers don't need a union president....they have Mr. Florio!!!

Anonymous said...

What disturbs me the most is the complete lack of parlamentary proceedure. Councilor Ruocco was being adressed and he responded. He can say whatever he damn well pleases if he has the floor. Matt Hall did not have the right to shout him down and then use profanity in an open public forum. He needs to re-read or even READ Robert's rules and then appologize to this town for his unprofessional behavior. God forbid a councilor express and opion in opposition to the dems.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Tim White said...

I edited the above comment because of the unnecessarily derogatory comments that were posted anonymously. Add your name and I may allow the comments to stay next time.

IMO Matt Hall was right to interrupt; in accordance with Robert's Rules, the tone was certainly out of hand, as begun by G. Florio, who apparently doesn't realize that he is the key PUBLIC SECTOR official of our school department. BUT, Matt Hall had no reason to insert profanity of any type; he showed why our Town is in the mess that it's in, and can't extricate itself from the littler messes (Pool, Norton School Boiler, CHS, etc.): it's all about POWER.

(deletion)

as usual are duking it out over stupid stuff and ignore the heart of the issue at hand. GF's comments were meant as a distraction to the issue and were sucessful! The topic is hot because people treated each other disrespectfully, not rightly because the teachers got an inordinate pay raise in the face of potentially the largest economic disaster in world history. When given the opportunity to rise above, Matt Hall proved he has the power to talk like a sailor on shore leave.

(deletion)

Anonymous said...

No apology needed Matt. Heat of the moment and the situation was quickly diffused.

If there are to be apologies offered up, Tom Ruocco should share the stage. Two cases of temporary insanity don't make a right.