December 14, 2004
On Tuesday, December 14, 2004 One Connecticut held a Community Budget Forum at City Hall in Norwalk. The Forum, hosted by Mayor Alex Knopp and Family & Children's Agency (FCA), Inc., drew nearly 100 participants. More than a dozen speakers shared their concerns about the impact of state budget decisions on their families and community. Hearing their comments, including: innsufficient affordable housing, the minimum wage, property taxes, services and education for children, were Representatives Joseph Mann, D-140th District; John Ryan, R-141st District, Toni Boucher, R-143rd District and state Senate-elect Bob Duff, D. Several city council members, city officials and board of education members also attended. Jennifer Donalds, FCA and local organizer for the event, encouraged participants to call and write their legislators to be sure their concerns were heard.
We held 7 successful Regional Budget Forums around the state. Hartford, Meriden, Danbury, New London, New Britain, Manchester, and Willimantic. Take a look at the DVD, this is our "Vision for the State" event in January 2004. It is a compilation of testimony from each forum. Each legislator was given a copy with the vision statements in each of the issue areas - Budget & Tax, Healthcare, Housing, Economic Security, Education, and Effective Democracy.
