Hartford City Councilman Matt Ritter has a lot on his plate. The council members are grappling with a budget crisis as jury selection begins for Mayor Eddie Perez’s criminal trial. Last month, Ritter announced his candidacy for the 1st Assembly District House seat currently held by Kenneth Green. Ritter took some time out to talk with HIMC about the Perez trial, the city and state budget crisis, Ban the Box, job creation, and the public school / charter school debate.
Ritter made it clear that Perez’s trial is a sideshow that he would prefer to to avoid. “This has been a difficult time for the city,” Ritter said. “We have a budget to pass. We have to pass a balanced budget – that’s the priority. The trial is a distraction.” Ritter described the House passage of a deficit mitigation plan which maintains municipal aid as “positive”, but lamented the continued plight of cities such as Hartford that have to continuously look at tax increases as a means of maintaining vital services. “We have to focus on the effect on raising taxes on homeowners,” Ritter said. “I’ll be stunned if we don’t have to raise city taxes.”
Community residents, activists and legislators gathered at the State Capitol Wednesday to raise awareness about the Ban the Box bill, which would provide fair employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals by deferring the criminal background check until after a conditional job offer is made by the employer. BTB has encountered resistance from lawmakers, which Ritter chalks up to misconceptions about the legislation. “Ban the Box isn’t meant to dupe employers. It’s meant to give people a real opportunity,” Ritter said. “The bill hasn’t been accurately portrayed during the legislative session.”
While the Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol and in Washington D.C. have focused on job creation for the middle class, the poor in urban and rural communities have been overlooked. Hartford leads the nation with a 33.5% poverty rate. While the national unemployment rate for whites has decreased since December, it has increased for people of color. President Obama has resisted calls from the Congressional Black Caucus to initiate targeted job creation for communities with the highest unemployment rates as a means of addressing the racial disparities in joblessness, income and net wealth between whites and blacks / Latinos. Ritter believes that a two-fold strategy is needed to address the poverty issue, which cuts across racial lines. “There is a preparation gap in Connecticut. Kids in West Hartford and Greenwich are entering kindergarten with strong literacy skills. That’s not happening in Hartford. This will be a big focus for me,” Ritter said. “Also, towns should have been given more hiring flexibility with federal stimulus dollars. Here in Hartford we were unable to hire more city workers due to a technicality regarding the employees who took early retirement. The restraints on local and state government in terms of hiring must be removed.”
Ritter believes that the state must address the lack of revenue which has contributed to the budget crisis. The poor and working class in Connecticut pay more in taxes than the wealthiest 1% of state residents, while corporations ship hundreds of millions of dollars in profits to states such as Nevada which have no income tax. “Everyone should be a good corporate citizen,” Ritter said. “We could be more responsible as citizens, legislators and corporations. Everyone should be more honest in conversations about generating revenue for the state.” Ritter supports alternative measures such as consolidating school half days while extending random school days by a hour as a means of saving the state money. “We have to get creative in terms of cutting spending,” Ritter said.
The debate over the merits of public and charter schools has reached a fever pitch. Proponents of charter schools cite underperforming city schools as justification for an alternative, while supporters of public schools point to segregation and union busting as arguments against the charter school concept. Ritter echoed the opinion of those in the urban community who believe that socioeconomic status shouldn’t determine the quality of education that their children receive. “You have to give people options,” Ritter said. “Charter schools are working. There are public school teachers who are reaching kids. The focus must be on addressing the preparation gap. It should be a fundamental right for kids to attend school at 3-4 years of age.” Ritter cited a Courant op-ed by Weslyan University freshman Corey Guilmette, which calls for the state Department of Education to include funding for a more comprehensive pre-K system in Connecticut’s second round Race to the Top application for federal education dollars. According to Guilmette’s research, pre-K programs have produced a $7 return for every $1 invested, due to a reduction in learning or behavioral problems as children become older. “I’m all about options,” Ritter said. “The momentum for charter schools is there. Pre-K is key to wiping out the achievement gap.”
A press release from the Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Carmen Cotto, a worker and member of UNITE/HERE at the TJX Distribution Center in Bloomfield, CT, discusses the issues surrounding the March 10 rally – such issues as treatment of workers, wages, and health benefits.
A group of students from the Freshman Academy at Hartford Public High School created this video in response to the national call to defend education on March 4.
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