UConn Trustees vote to freeze pay

Citing the uncertain economy, University of Connecticut trustees are preparing to freeze pay for managerial personnel in the next budget.

The UConn Board of Trustees unanimously voted Tuesday [Aug. 10] to suspend its policy on the treatment of managerial personnel.

The policy, adopted by the board in 1977, calls for the “consistent and fair treatment of our managers and confidential staff,” a resolution from trustee Chairman Lawrence McHugh.

By voting to suspend the policy, it allows UConn trustees to freeze pay.

McHugh told trustees the state is facing a “major fiscal deficit” and urged the board to vote to suspend the policy next fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2011.

“Budget projections continue to indicate a substantial deficit for the fiscal year 2012 for the state of Connecticut and it is acknowledged that it will have a potential effect on the university’s operating budget,” the resolution states.

McHugh also said he is confident UConn will get through the “tough times,” but said the school needs to take this step to do so.

“I hope all of you understand the difficult times we are facing,” he said.

UConn spokesman Richard Veilleux said the decision affects 436 employees between the university’s Storrs-based programs and the UConn Health Center in Farmington.

The group includes high-ranking officials like the president, vice president and deans, as well as employees who handle “sensitive information,” he added.

Officials have not yet begun putting together a budget proposal for the next fiscal year and Veilleux said he does not know what kind of raise the employees would have received or how much money the school saved.

The move covers all of the universities’ non-union employees, but Veilleux said any talks of concessions from the unions would need to take place with the next governor.

Both union and non-union employees received raises in the current fiscal year as part of UConn’s $1.03-billion budget, but Veilleux said employees have seen pay freezes in recent years.

“There’s been a handful of years [with pay freezes] since 2000 reared its ugly head,” he said, referring to both the current recession and the struggling economy during the last decade.

The move is intended to help the school save money during the “rocky ride” so it can maintain funding levels for education programs and other services offered to students, he said.

Veilleux said the goal is to “give the students who come here the academic experience they expect.”

Posted Aug. 11, 2010

State Rep. Denise Merrill wins Democratic primary for Secretary of the State

State Rep. Denise Merrill at a press conference concerning school bus emissions. Courtesy photo

With a landslide victory Tuesday [Aug. 10], state House Majority Leader Rep. Denise Merrill, D-Mansfield, secured the Democratic nomination for Secretary of the State.

Merrill easily defeated former New Haven alderman Gerry Garcia for the party’s nomination, with unofficial results showing she received 64 percent of the vote, compared to 36 percent for Garcia.

She will now face Republican candidate Jerry Farrell Jr. in the November election for the seat, which will be vacated by Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz, a Democrat.

The office entails overseeing all elections in the state, as well as registering the roughly 322,000 businesses in the state.

Reached this morning, Merrill said it was “wonderful” to learn she had won Tuesday’s primary, adding she was nervous until she learned the results. “You never really know until it’s over,” she said.

In May, she needed a second round of voting to edge out state Sen. Jonathan Harris, D- West Hartford, for the party’s endorsement.

Merrill won the first round of voting against Harris and Garcia at the Democratic Convention, but received only 44.5 percent of the votes, which required a revote.

Garcia then dropped out of the second ballot and endorsed Harris, and Merrill received 53.9 percent of the votes to defeat Harris to win the endorsement.

Garcia, who received 24.5 percent of the votes in the first ballot, still qualified for the primary, while Harris, who received 30.4 percent in the first ballot, did not seek a primary.

Merrill said she spent the last eight months trying to earn support beyond her district of Mansfield and Chaplin, which she has represented for 17 years, including three as House majority leader.

“I think the only way to win a race like this is to reach out to everyone,” she said.

Merrill said the task was a “huge, huge job,” but she credited a “deep base” from her time in the legislature and from support from students and staff associated with the University of Connecticut.

Farrell, meanwhile, is commissioner for the state’s Department of Consumer Protection, a position he has held since being appointed by Gov. M. Jodi Rell in 2006.

Farrell was a deputy commissioner in 2004 and had previously spent 11 years as a lawyer, during which he focused on helping seniors with legal troubles, according to the DCP’s web site.

He has also served on the Wallingford Town Council, as Wallingford’s first selectman and as a justice of the peace, according to the web site.

As Secretary of State, Merrill said she wants to increase the opportunities to vote for people who may not be able to get to the polls on Election Day.

She said municipalities in the state use a process called “early voting” that opens select polling places prior to Election Day.

Merrill also said she wants to see the state do more to encourage citizens, especially 17-year-old high school students, to register to vote.

“We still have a lot of work to do,” she said about high schools, adding she would like to see mandatory civics classes that involve community projects and promote civic engagement.

Posted Aug. 11, 2010