City Council, mayor clash over purchases
Date: 12/19/2012
By G. Michael Dobbs
news@thereminder.comCHICOPEE — In the aftermath of a City Council decision that would delay the purchase of new city vehicles, Mayor Michael Bissonnette believes that members of the council are being "obstructionists."
Council President George Moreau countered by saying the council is simply being cautious about approving $2.2 million in allocations for public safety and trash pick-up equipment.
Citing a letter from Fire Chief Stephen Burkott, Bissonnette said the fire truck that needs replacing is from 1996, and there are three ambulances, including a 2004 model with 190,000 miles, that also need replacement. One of those three will not be able to meet recertification requirements.
The mayor said that ambulances take up to eight months to buy.
"There's significant lead time required. They don't make them and then sit them on a lot," he said.
Bissonnette noted that with the city's increasing senior population, 80 percent of the calls to the Fire Department are for ambulance service.
Eight police cruisers were also going to be ordered, as well as a trash truck.
Bissonnette called the reason behind the purchase was to maintain the "nuts and bolts of the delivery of services day to day — the essential core of municipal government."
The irony, Bissonnette charged, is that Chicopee has the money for the new equipment.
"Most communities have to borrow. We're in a position [where] we don't have to," he added. Chicopee, he said, has a record surplus at this time.
Bissonnette asserted the City Council should have listened to the public safety officials and, if they had questions, should have conducted a Finance Subcommittee meeting to obtain the information they needed.
Bissonnette said this decision follows ones involving a new police station and issues on the private landfill they city uses. The council expresses support then doesn't approve measures to move projects forward, he asserted.
Moreau defended the council's decision by saying the federal "fiscal cliff" crisis and how that will affect communities as well as cut-backs in local aid on the state level are factors that were taken into consideration.
"We think we ought to hold off to the first of the year to see what will be happening in Washington [D.C.] and the state," he told
Reminder Publications.
"They waited this long and they can wait longer," he added.
Moreau emphasized, "The door is not going to be shut" on considering the allocation in the future. He added that if there were an emergency, the council would spend the necessary funds.
The mayor's priorities are not necessarily the council's priorities, he said.
