The Capital Community College’s faculty and staff senate will take up a resolution Wednesday calling for a 25% cut in the generous salaries of central office bureaucrats. The resolution reflects the growing disquiet that the System Office is inflicting sacrifices on others that it will not impose on itself.

Here’s the lengthy resolution:

Whereas, Capital Community College exists for the primary purpose of furthering academic excellence;

Whereas, The CCC Senate is the official representative body of the Faculty and Staff;

Whereas, The Board of Regents has a lengthy history of fiscal mismanagement dating back to at least 2010 as documented in the APA1 Executive Summary, dated 10/1/2020 for fiscal years ending 2016 and 2017, which identified 32 areas requiring improvement and violations that included unspent allocations, budgetary miscalculations, and non-compliance with the 2017 SEBAC Agreement;

Whereas, Nearly all of the universities and colleges voted no confidence in President Ojakian and the Board of Regents last year;

Whereas, The Board of Regents is largely comprised of individuals who have limited to no experience and knowledge regarding institutions of higher education, and who have spent virtually no time on the campuses they are supposed to lead;

Whereas, Taking the COVID-19 pandemic into consideration, each college, university and the System Office submitted a budget for FY 2021 to the Board of Regents, which duly adopted a FY 2021 spending plan for CSCU on June 18, 2020 based upon these budgets;

Whereas, The System Office and the Board of Regents miscalculated revenue in these budgets, in particular, that of the community colleges by grossly overestimating enrollment numbers which resulted in a reported budget shortfall of $69 million;

Whereas, The Board of Regents, at its September 17 and October 15, 2020 meetings, stated that “everything is on the table” and tasked the administration to consider alternatives, including measures that have not been taken in the past and measures that “require extensive analysis, negotiation, and restructuring within the organization” to reduce the budget shortfall;

Whereas, The Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” in order to justify ‘placing on the table’ the income of the most vulnerable and poorly-compensated employees, including Graduate and University Assistants and part-time faculty;

Whereas, The Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” in order to justify attempting to ‘place on the table’ the income of thousands of faculty and staff responsible for teaching and providing services to our students and to try to break the Collective Bargaining Agreement;

Whereas, the Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” but, has failed to ‘place on the table’ reducing the salaries of administrators in the System Office and throughout the system who are the most highly-compensated employees, an action that would not require “extensive analysis, negotiation, and restructuring within the organization;”

Whereas, The Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” however, has also stated that it will not ‘place on the table’ the exorbitant costs associated with One College and its top-heavy administrative structure, including the additional planned hiring of over $10 million worth of managers;

Whereas, The Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” and has implemented a hiring freeze and a comprehensive effort to “review and identify savings in areas including staffing, academic programming, shared administrative services and collective bargaining;” yet is proceeding with a search to hire a CSU President, an expensive position with largely figurehead responsibilities, and will not ‘place on the table’ the System Office’s bloated staffing and administrative costs, an action that would not require “extensive analysis, negotiation, and restructuring within the organization;”

Whereas, The Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” however, has failed to ‘place on the table’ the System Office reserves of $22.42 million that could be utilized to cover revenue shortfalls;

Whereas, The Board of Regents has stated that “everything is on the table,” but has stated that SCSU, CCSU, and ECSU should contribute $1.2 million each from their reserves to make up for WCSU’s shortfall, failing to ‘place on the table’ the System Office reserves of $22.42 million that could cover this shortfall;

Whereas, The described proposals by the Board of Regents are harmful to our students, who comprise the largest population of minority and underserved students in the state;

Whereas, The described proposals by the Board of Regents would result in a reduced number of academic programs and classes and larger class sizes, and would threaten the integrity of our educational institutions; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, That when the Board of Regents states that “everything is on the table,” it truly should consider all alternatives with open-mindedness in order to act in the best interests of the students and the institutions it is charged with protecting and nurturing; and be it further

Resolved, That the Board of Regents cease targeting the most vulnerable and underpaid university and college employees, while failing to take action in reducing the salaries of the most highly-compensated employees in the system; and be it further

Resolved, That the salaries of the highly-compensated, higher-level administrators in the System Office be reduced by 25%, as has been done at many other institutions of higher education in the country in order to deal with COVID-19 budgetary shortfalls; and be it further

Resolved, That the System Office be required to follow any cost-saving measures required of the colleges and universities, including the hiring freeze that would encompass the CSU President position and One College hires; and be it further

Resolved, That reserves from the System Office be utilized to cover revenue shortfalls of the individual universities and colleges and that the Board of 

Regents cease the practice of raiding one university’s reserves to pay off another university’s debt; and be it further

Resolved, That the Board of Regents consider alternatives to the System Office or at the very least, major restructuring of the organization, including measures that have not been taken in the past and measures that require extensive analysis; and be it further

Resolved, That any cost-cutting measures directed towards the colleges and universities not be circumscribed in a top-down manner, but rather demonstrate respect and invite the knowledge and experience of those who understand and work in higher education in our institutions; and be it further

Resolved, That the Board of Regents is called on to be advocates for and supporters of higher education and the CSCU campuses, rather than to act as agents of dismantlement.

Retiring House Minority Leader Themis Klarides’s unofficial gubernatorial exploratory committee, Fight for Connecticut, had trouble complying with federal campaign finance rules in its first quarter. The committee, formed during this campaign season, exceeded limitations on contributions to two Republican candidates.

The Klarides committee, which features photographs in its ads and on its website of the Derby Republican, sent contributions to the Margaret Streicker campaign in the 3rd Congressional District and David X. Sullivan in the Fifth. The committee’s low number of donors and short duration limited its contributions to $2,800 each.

The most recent federal campaign finance report shows Klarides’s committee making a $2,800 donation to Streicker on October 14th and contributions of $2,800 and 2,200 to Sullivan on the same day. It also reveals Sullivan returned $2,200 to Klarides on busy October 14th. A Fight for Connecticut spokesperson had indicated the committee would be making a $5,000 contribution to the Streicker and Sullivan campaigns.

The committee’s most significant expenditure was to a political analytics firm associated with Ted Cruz, the Texas senator and 2016 presidential hopeful turned ardent Donald Trump supporter.

Gospel’s greatest singer was born this day 109 years ago. Here’s Mahalia Jackson with her friend and admirer Dinah Shore.

There has never been anyone like Mahalia Jackson.

Tuesday, October 27th, is the last day to register to vote in Connecticut to cast a ballot in the November 3rd election. Here’s a link. Pass it on.

Connecticut added 17,000 jobs to the workforce in September, as the COVID-19 recovery continued to slow. The state’s labor department reports there were 1.58 million non-farm jobs when September ended. That’s 115,000 fewer than in February, the last full month before the global pandemic began to be felt in the state’s job market.

Here’s a rule for ballot integrity in Connecticut: Don’t take a selfie with an idiotic message that you can vote twice.   Sue Schroeder, Wethersfield’s attentive town clerk, made sure it doesn’t happen here.

The Facebook post is misinformation and it has caused considerable comment. Attorney General Tong, Secretary of the State Merrill and Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo have their first case. Updates as events require.

A busy year awaits the person who snags this at-the-sufferance of the mayor job.

As Republicans brace for a November 3rd deluge of disappointments, some are beginning to contemplate how to emerge from the wreckage. The maneuvering for advantage in what’s left of the party after Donald Trump’s unpopularity in Connecticut punishes candidates in down-ballot races.

Candidates eyeing the party’s 2022 nomination for governor may begin to reveal stalking horses in the early competition for advantage. Party leadership contests provide a narrow arena to test their support and fighting skills.

A contest may come in an early race for party chairman. Incumbent J.R. Romano could have trouble holding on until his term reaches its natural conclusion in June. Republicans will be looking for immediate change after November 3rd in the only political entity they control: their shambolic party organization. June will not be soon enough for those who want to try to begin the post-Trump era and begin a soft launch of the race for governor.

Lobbyist, Friend of Angelo and former Senator Christopher Dodd will join Governor Ned Lamont Wednesday morning on a virtual fundraiser for Connecticut Democrats. A donation of any amount will get a contributor into the breakfast without breakfast event.

Dodd, who served for 30 years in the Senate before becoming a lobbyist, is coming off a hard summer. The Harvey Weinstein favorite failed to torpedo the vice presidential prospects of Senator Kamala Harris from his perch on Joe Biden’s search committee. Harris and her allies made short work of Dodd’s attempt to boost the prospects of Representative Karen Bass. The California congresswoman’s affinity for late Cuban dictator Fidel Castro quickly deflated her Dodd-inspired boomlet.

The invitation:

Tomorrow, October 14th at 8:30 a.m. ET, you’re invited to join me and Governor Ned Lamont for coffee and conversation!

During this informal virtual event, we’ll talk about how important it is for the nation and the world that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are elected in November. Additionally, I will share some of my personal reflections and take your questions.

Register today by making a contribution of ANY amount to the Connecticut Democratic Party.

Morning Coffee and Conversation w/ Former Senator Chris Dodd
Hosted by Governor Ned Lamont
Wednesday, October 14th, 2020
8:30 a.m. ET
Zoom Invite Upon RSVP

RSVP Now

I’ll see you tomorrow!

— Chris Dodd