Windham Moves Up in State Distressed Ranking

Should  Abilities of Town Politicians be added to State Criteria?



Last week 25 towns in Connecticut,  including Windham, received a special designation from The Conn Dept of Economic and Community Development.  Along with the designation these towns  were awarded the privilege to apply for various grants through The Ct. Enterprise Zone Program.  To qualify Windham  joined a group of the most distressed municipalities in Connecticut. No newcomer to this group Windham has qualified for the designation since 1999. Over  13 years Windham's ranking has hovered  in the middle of the pack though its score has dropped from thirteen to eight to seven  the past three years.  (Low rankings signify more distress)  Windham's raw score (Average 1350) has remained relatively constant while competing town's scores fluctuate up and down from year to year.

The DECD  website offers little information on how they reached these rankings, criteria used and what grants and how they could be used in helping Windham and other distressed communities.  By hook, crook, begging and borrowing I have filled most of the state voids so that we have a more clear understanding of this designation.

Below, is a list including Norwich (which did not qualify as a distressed town in 2012), Groton (which was added by the DECD's list this year) and Windham  (in red).  The body of the report is from The New London Day. Windham's statistics are taken from: Ct Economic Resource Ctr.,Ct Fiscal Indicators and U.S Census

What's Considered 'Distressed'

The state Department of Economic and Community Development designated 25 communities as "distressed" this year based on nine criteria. The second number represents the town’s ranking among the state’s 169 cities and towns.

Per capita income 2010
Groton: $31,110, 133

Norwich: $26,702, 150

Windham: $18,441

Percentage of poverty in the population
Groton: 7.2 percent, 130

Norwich: 14.4 percent, 158

Windham: 22.8 percent

Unemployment rate 2011 (counts twice as much in total ranking system):
Groton: 9.3 percent, 140

Norwich: 9.6 percent, 146

Windham: 11.4 percent

Population change 2000 to 2010:
Groton: 0.5 percent increase. 151

Norwich: 12.1 percent increase, 22

Windham: 10.5 percent

Change in employment between 2001 and 2011:
Groton: 0.9 percent net loss. 142

Norwich: 12.9 percent (gain), 10

Windham: 9.7 percent  (gain)

Change in per capita income, 2000-2010
Groton: 29.7 percent increase, 80

Norwich: 28.7 percent increase, 89

Windham: 10.5 percent

Percentage of housing stock built before 1939
Groton: 17.8 percent, 24

Norwich: 42.5 percent, 54

Windham: 46.3 percent

Population of adults 25 and older with a high school diploma or higher
Groton: 89.8 percent, 122

Norwich: 84.4, 154

Windham: 75 percent

Adjusted equalized net grand list per capita
Groton: $41,777, 107

Norwich: $23,466,156

Windham: $56,031 

Links used to determine Windham's designation as a distressed community

• Ct Municipilities Fiscal  Indicators
• Ct Cerc
• US Census

Links to The New London Day

• Fortunes Shift with state ranking of 'distressed' cities and towns
• Distressed, Really

History of Connecticut  Distressed Municipalities : 2012 / 2011 / 2010 / 2009 / 2008 / 2007 / 2006 / 2005 / 2004 / 1999-2012 / 

Distressed communitys receive grants (if applied for)through DECD Enterprise ZoneOPM on Distressed MunicipilitiesDept. Economic and Community Development

The Worst Grocery Stores in U.S.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/ 

Not all supermarkets are created equal. For many Americans, stopping by a chain supermarket has become a major chore, involving long lines, rude employees, unsanitary conditions and poor selection. Consumer Reports recently conducted a survey of more than 24,000 shoppers to rank the best and worst out of 52 grocery store chains – and the results show just how disappointing customer experience can be at some mega stores.
The Windham Region has its share of the bottom twelve grocery stores

The Worst Grocery Stores in the U.S.

Claire's Italian Garden

We have added another 30 pictures to Claie's Italian Garden
Claire's Italian Garden

Six Decade's Worth of Negative Campaign Ads

Harry Truman

Throughout history politicians have used various methods, such as whistle-stop speeches, political advertising and political rallies, to achieve their "primary goal, the winning of votes. However, over the years, politicians have found that it is most advantageous to use political advertising to persuade voters. According to  Behr and Iyengar (1991), campaign spending in the United States grew fifteen-fold since 1952 from $140 million to nearly $2 billion in 1988.They say less than 5 percent of campaign expenditures in 1952 were devoted to radio and television time. By 1972, 15 percent of campaign expenditures were for broadcasting. By1988, about 20 percent of nearly $2 billion went to purchase airtime. If you add the salaries of media consultants and advertising production costs, at least 40 percent of campaign dollars are spent on media expenditures in 1988. Dwight Eisenhower's campaign in 1956 was the first presidential campaign which relied heavily on political television commercials. After the election, "Truman, referring to the effects of political advertising . . . commented that it was the first time in 148 years that a president had been elected without carrying a Congress with him.
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Sixty Years President Attack Ads

Walking Claire's Main St Before Redevelopment

Claire Mickle has been kind to share her thoughts, memories and recollections of what downtown Willimantic was like, before redevelopment, in the late 1950's. early 1960's

GO HERE FOR "LINKS" TO WALKING CLAIRE'S MAIN ST BEFORE REDEVELOPMENT

     

Who pays for Windham's education?

Yesterday, it was brought out that Windham students are  some of the most expensive to graduate in Connecticut.  Windham's costs are ranked fourth highest after Hartford, New Haven and New Britain.

Our first thought probably is,"that's why our property taxes are so high." Not really. Windham has the benefit of being ranked the second poorest town (Hartford is the poorest) in Connecticut.  With the advantage of poor-ness the State and all of Connecticut tax papers help us out. The most current numbers available shows Windham receiving 15 million dollars more from State Government  then the town generates to the state

Education eats up the majority of a town's budget but the State and Federal Governments contributes to local education weather a town is rich or poor. 

Where the revenue comes from to educate our students (Average Conn. town)

• Local Revenue  62.3%
• State                 28.8%
• Federal              6.6%

Where the revenue comes from to educate Windham students

• Windhams contribution  28.2%
• Federal                         17.6%
• State                             50.6%

Windham School District
	Finance - Percentage of Revenue by Source Year(s): 2009-10
				- Indicates no data
			Revenue Type Including School Construction Excluding School Construction Federal Grants 17.6 18.7 Local Grants 28.2 27.2 State Grants 50.6 50.3 Tuition Fee 3.6 3.8

Payments to municipalities and and governments provides a listing of payments made to all 169 Connecticutmunicipalities and other local governments from various agencies of the State of Connecticut.

Payments to Municipalities 













Revenues sent to state vs revenues sent back to Windham

State of Connecticut Revenues Received from Towns versus State Disbursements to Towns
For Fiscal Year 2009-2010
The following provides insight into which of the 169 CT Towns are receiving more money from the State than their town generates to the State.  Where does your town fall?

http://www.ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=Townxxxx.htm%20&location=Home&buttonname=Home

http://www.ctact.org/default.asp?callcontent=yes&filename=Townxxxx.htm%20&location=Home&buttonname=Home

Payments to Municipalities and Local Governmentshttp://www.ct.gov/opm/cwp/view.asp?

=2984&Q=386118

Reinburcement percentages
http://www.csde.state.ct.us/public/dgm/grantreports1/ReimbPercViewRpt.aspx

What does it cost to educate a Windham student?

How much does it cost to educate a Connecticut student starting in Kindergarten through high school graduation?  The average Connecticut school district spends $150,934.41.  Windham spends $244,025.48, nearly $94,000.00 more then the average Ct school district..  Nearly a quarter million dollars per student to sustain one of the poorest performing school districts in the state.

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Thats why God gave them camels

 That's why God gave them camels.

Anew Airbus 340-600, sits just outside its

hangar in Toulouse , France without a single 

hour on its engins.

Enter the Arab flight crew of Abu Dhabi Aircraft

Technologies (ADAT) to conduct

pre-delivery tests on the ground, such as engine

 run-ups, prior to delivery to

Etihad Airways in Abu Dhabi .

The ADAT crew taxied the A340-600 to the run-up area.


Then they took all four engines to takeoff power with

a virtually empty aircraft. Not having read the 

run-up manuals, they had no clue just how light an

 empty A340-600 really is.

The takeoff warning horn was blaring away

in the cockpit because they had All 4 engines

at full power. The aircraft computers thought

 they were trying to take off, but it had not

 been configured properly (flaps/slats, etc..)

Then one of the ADAT crew decided to pull the circuit

breaker on the Ground Proximity Sensor to silence the 

alarm. This fools the aircraft into thinking it is in the air. 

The computers automatically released all the brakes and

 set the aircraft rocketing forward.

The ADAT crew had no idea that this is a safety feature

so that pilots can't land with the brakes on.

Not one member of the seven-man Arab crew was

smart enough to throttle back the engines from their 

max power setting, so the $200 million brand-new aircraft 

crashed into a blast barrier, totaling it.

The extent of injuries to the crew is unknown due to

the news blackout in the major media in France and 
elsewhere. Because........

Coverage of the story was deemed insulting to Muslim Arabs.

Finally, the photos are starting to leak out.




One French Airbus: $200 million dollars
Untrained Arab Flight Crew: $300,000 Yearly Salary
Unread Operating Manual: $300
Aircraft meets retaining wall and the wall wins.

PRICELESS!!!

"And that's why God gave them camels"!

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Parents & educators fighting back in Windham

Claim Adamowski inflated Graduation Rates In Hartford

At last week’s Windham and New London Board of Education meetings, concerned parents and public school advocates handed out flyers educating citizens about the damage Steven Adamowski did when he served as Hartford’s superintendent of schools and warning Windham and New London residents, now that Adamowski has been put in charge of their school districts.

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