News Analysis
Would Election Changes Turn Around Record Low Voter Turnout in New Britain?
Voting turnout is key to a healthy democracy. High turnout often means voters are motivated and believe their vote makes a difference. Politicians will tend to be more attuned to their constituents when turnout is high. However, in the US including Connecticut, municipal elections tend to have low voter turnout and as a result local […]
Connecticut Gets a Grade of “Incomplete” on Protecting Health Coverage of Medicaid Eligible Residents
By Dr. Peggy Lampkin, An open letter: Dear Gov. Ned Lamont; l am a resident of this state. I am sending you this message to urge you to act now to end a major health emergency regarding Medicaid Disenrollment. A coalition of Partners from the human rights community have developed state-focused scorecards that grade each […]
Are the Finances of the City of New Britain in Order?
In October 2023 both the New Britain Progressive and the New Britain Herald reported that the City of New Britain has failed to submit its 2022 financial audit report on time and was 10 months late. The city indicated it would submit its report by Halloween, but it has missed that deadline as well and […]
Should there be a New Britain Chief Operations Officer
On the 2022 elections ballot there were three questions for the voters to vote yes or no. One question was put by the state legislator whether to institute early voting. The other two questions were put by the Republican majority based on recommendations by the city charter re-opening committee. One question asked the voters whether […]
Former Mayor Tim Stewart Ethics Dilemma
According to the minutes of the City of New Britain Zoning Board of Appeals, former mayor Tim Stewart has been representing applicants to obtain zoning variances for them since 2020 and continued to do so for at least 7 cases (cases: #4931, #4943, #4955, #4994, #4995, #4976, #4977) since being appointed by his daughter, mayor […]
Excessive Mayor’s power in the city of New Britain
by Aram Ayalon As the new 2-year elected administration in the city of New Britain is beginning, it’s important to examine the mayor’s growing power and the lack of balance between the executive and legislative branches of the city of New Britain. As has evolved in the past 20 year the mayor’s power has become […]
City Claims Late Audit Due to Staffing Shortage, “Projected” Completion on Halloween
The administration of Mayor Erin Stewart (R) claims that the city of New Britain failed to file a required audit more than a year after the close of its 2022 budget year because it was short-staffed in its finance office. Yesterday, the New Britain Progressive broke the news about a stern letter from the state […]
New Britain School Test Scores Remain Low and Behind State
At the October Board of Education meeting, the New Britain school district attempted to paint an upbeat picture of school test scores for New Britain in 2022-23 that appear to remain on a downward long-term trend and far below statewide averages. According to analysis of data from the State Department of Education, between the 2015-16 […]
Household Income of New Britain Residents Less Than Pay of Jobs Located in City
Data in a recent study by DataHaven shows household income in New Britain lags behind the pay of jobs in the city. The data raises the question about how much of the relatively higher income jobs that are located in New Britain are held by workers who reside in other towns. The study, DataHaven’s New […]
NBPD Publishes Arrest Log Online After FOI Controversy
A July controversy over the City’s and New Britain Police’s denying access to arrest logs to the New Britain Herald without formal Freedom of Information requests has led to the New Britain Police Department (NBPD) posting a weekly arrest log online at https://pd.newbritainct.gov/safety-prevention/police-blotter. The link shows arrests made in the city for one week — […]