Headlines
A Split Decision in New Britain’s City Elections
Democratic Mayoral candidate Merrill Gay’s campaign, in which he had said he wanted to revitalize and build-up city Democrats, brought a split decision in the 2017 city elections. The Democratic team led by Gay won victories over Republican incumbents across the city and won a 9 to 6 majority on the City Council, but Gay, […]
City Taps Patton Brook Well For Water After Calling Off Bargain Basement Sale, Hiking Rates To Pay For MDC Water.
By John McNamara More than a year after the Stewart administration and Common Council sought to sell off the Patton Brook Well at an undervalued price of $1 million the unused well is replenishing the Shuttle Meadow reservoir. Mayor Stewart and her Council majority authorized the sale in August 2016, seeking to give up the […]
Numbers Don’t Back Mayor Stewart’s Claim That State Budget Caused City’s Negative Credit Rating
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist Mayor Erin Stewart has blamed this year’s state budget crisis for the city’s negative credit rating in response to a November 2nd report of an “escalating” debt and her administration’s own budget that shows interest payments will cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars over the next four years. “We were downgraded […]
New Britain’s Bond Rating Drops From Stable To Negative: Huge Spike In Debt Through 2021 Cited By Moody’s
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist Republican incumbent Mayor Erin Stewart, in her re-election campaign this year and throughout her second term, has touted improving municipal bond ratings for New Britain’s fiscal solvency, claiming credit for budget surpluses of $15 million and pushing spending up at City Hall with no need for an election year tax […]
Information Available on Where to Vote, and How to Register to Vote on Election Day, Nov 7, 2017
Editor’s note (11/1/2020): This article is from 2017. The New Britain Progressive has published a similar article for 2020, Registering and Voting This Tuesday Nov 3rd. City elections are coming up on Tuesday, November 7th for the offices of Mayor, City Council, Board of Education, Town Clerk, Tax Collector, Treasurer, Board of Assessment Appeals and […]
Two Jr Canes Teams to Play for 2017 State Championships
Two Jr. Canes football teams will be playing for State Championships in upcoming games, after winning their semi-final playoff games. The 9U team advanced in their semi-final game, winning 35 to 0 against East Hartford. They will play their Division 1 game on Sunday, November 5, 2017 at 9:00am against Bridgeport, who advanced by winning […]
New Britain PAL Teams to Play in Playoff Games
New Britain Police Athletic League (PAL) football teams will be competing in playoff games this week. On Wednesday, November 1st, the Jr. PeeWee team will have a playoff against New Haven. The game will be 7:30pm to 9:30pm at the New Britain PAL facility at 544 Osgood Avenue. On Saturday, November 4th, the PAL PeeWee team […]
April 2016 Protest in New Britain Against Manafort Prescient of Recent Indictments
Criminal charges are being made, now, against former Trump campaign manager, Paul Manafort, by Special Prosecutor Robert Mueller, but, on April 23rd, 2016, charges against Manafort were being made by members of the Ukrainian community in New Britain, warning of things now front and center in the national consciousness. As Contributing Columnist John McNamara wrote […]
Will Erin Stewart Get Another Off The Books Push From An Absentee Landlord in 2017?
By John McNamara Contributing Columnist On the eve of the 2015 municipal election scores of tenants in New Britain got a notice about a possible rent increase from their landlord. It wasn’t an official increase but a not so subtle endorsement of Mayor Erin Stewart who at the time was cruising to re-election for a […]
Board of Education Candidates Discuss Education Funding, Diversity and Special Education.
Democrat Violet Sims and Democrat Annie Parker join incumbent Democratic Board of Education member Daisy Sanchez in running for Board of Education opposite Republican Nancy Rodriguez, current Republican Board of Education President Nick Mercier and Republican Board of Education member Mallory Deprey. The Board of Education is responsible for managing and setting policy for the New Britain school district […]