News Analysis
Campaign cash soared in ’21 municipal election but voter turnout declined
By John McNamara “Money is the mother’s milk of politics” goes the observation first coined in the 1960s that applies to almost every state and federal election cycle as all kinds of committees and special interests raise billions in reported and anonymous donations. That old saying about money in politics applies less frequently to local elections where […]
Stewart Apparently Proposes Borrowing To Cover City Spending Again
Republican Mayor Erin Stewart is proposing $49.5 million in taxpayer borrowing to refinance existing city debt…
Campaign 2022: Fictional Bob On TV Is Same Bob Who Ran For Governor in 2018
by John McNamara Bob Stefanowski’s story is the stuff of hardscrabble immigrants making it to America in the 20th century to raise their families and realize the American Dream. That is the narrative in Republican Stefanowski’s re-branding to voters in his first television commercial for Connecticut’s GOP gubernatorial nomination in 2022. No doubt that Mr. Stefanowski’s parents […]
Top 10 of 2021: #3 – Stewart vs. Education?
Republican Mayor Erin Stewart has developed a reputation of antagonism toward both school funding and those who run the city’s schools.
Top 10 of 2021: #6 – Landlord Group’s “cage fight between Lamont & Zherka” remark stumps the press, brings apology to Governor
A May scandal occurred that may have been a statewide story, but there’s no mystery about who Sam Zherka is in New Britain.
Top 10 of 2021: #6 – Landlord Group’s “cage fight between Lamont & Zherka” remark stumps the press, brings apology to Governor
A May scandal occurred that may have been a statewide story, but there’s no mystery about who Sam Zherka is in New Britain.
Behind Mayor Stewart’s War On Supt. Sarra and the BOE
The vandalism and trouble that occurred at New Britain High School in September needlessly escalated the rift between Mayor Erin Stewart and New Britain School District leaders.
The Return of Tim Stewart: Ex-Mayor Chairs SBC As $50M School Project Begins
By John McNamara Former Mayor Tim Stewart is the new Chairperson of the School Building Committee, gaining reappointment by his daughter, Mayor Erin Stewart, just as the seven-member committee moves forward with expenditures on the $50 million major renovation at the Chamberlain Elementary School on the city’s East Side. The former four-term Mayor resigned from the […]
Landlord Group’s “cage fight between Lamont & Zherka” remark stumps the press, brings apology to Governor
There’s No Mystery About Who Sam Zherka Is In New Britain By John McNamara West Hartford-based Connecticut Coalition of Property Owners (CCOPO) had to issue a quick apology on May 19th over its first version of a press release opposing an eviction moratorium and use of $400 million in federal pandemic aid to landlords and […]
School Building Committee Resolution Curtails Checks and Balances On Construction Projects
“A consequence of the new SBC resolution is that it contributes to a bigger divide between City Hall and the BOE. New Britain’s close to last ranking in how much the municipal government contributes to public schools is a perennial and contentious issue at budget time every year and this year is no exception.” By […]