Blankley Outlines Plans on Utilities, Education

In the last week of the campaign, Greenwich Democratic First Selectman candidate John Blankley has issued a series of proposals he says will improve the town in terms of education and response to storms.

In the wake of the , he toured areas of town damaged and left powerless by the storm. After touring Old Greenwich with former Connecticut Secretary of State Susan Bysiewicz, Blankley issued what he said is a plan to "move Greenwich forward."

His 4-point action plan includes:

1. Get a whole lot tougher with CL &P. They have one of the highest
ROE’s, at 10%, of utilities, thanks to their rate structure and yet
have not invested in new equipment and have cut back on their work
force.

2. We need to get proactive in terms of starting the discussion with
C L & P, and regulators to develop a long term plan to bury the
lines. It will start with arterial roads and hotspots. Other
communities have started this, we should begin the process of looking
into this issue.

3. Communication: The website says crews are working diligently and
I’m sure they are. This is not a criticism of them. But how many crews
do we have? How many crews does CL &P have? The robocall yesterday
said power would be restored as soon as possible but made no estimate.
What areas first etc. The town’s emergency call number says “no
emergency messages” at this time. It would help to know what streets
are blocked because of trees or downed power lines.

4. We need to look into the way pruning trees are handled and be more
proactive about it. We are very reactive when it comes to preparing
for storms as seen in this time and also in March 2010 and for
Hurricane Irene.

Regarding education, Blankley writes, "Here is my “Five Point Plan” for getting our public schools back on track. I am going to be proactive as First Selectman and that means bringing ideas to the table for action. My real objective however is for the BOE to come up with their ideas that then get presented to me and the BET, rather than the current procedure whereby the BET tells the BOE that it will be “same as last year and level services” – i.e. no new initiatives. How not to run our public schools! If any of my ideas or none are presented by the BOE is not the point: it is that the BOE should  be encouraged to be proactive and to tell us how they are going to get the schools back on track. My list is intended to get the ball rolling. I have no pride of authorship."

The plan includes:

1. Restore funding for the ALP program

2. Expand the pre-K program beyond the 150 seats currently available

3. Reinstate funding for AP and PSAT exams

4. Explore class size reductions in the early school grades

5. Address the chronic shortage of math and science teachers at GHS.