My Speech at the Joint BoF/BoR Budget Public Hearing - March 22, 2010

My name is Jeff Herz, I am a Stamford resident, a tax payer and a voter. I moved to Stamford in 1996. I am the proud parent of three children ages 8, 5 and 2. My wife Nancy, represents the 3rd generation of her family in Stamford, which makes my children 4th generation Stamford.

I moved here from Binghamton NY, where I was born and raised. It was a great community; a place where you can leave your doors unlocked, where kids can play outside with no worries even after dark, a place I would return to if it existed anywhere besides in my memory. In the 1980’s many of the larger companies left my town taking all the skilled jobs with them. There was no reason to stay in a place where there are no jobs, no chance of a future equal to my parents, and no reason for a young person to remain in the community where 50-70% of my high school graduating class had already decided moved away within 5 years.

Now let’s contrast that with Stamford, my hometown now. One of the things that has impressed me about Stamford, is the number of friends I have met, like my wife, who were raised here and have chosen to return to Stamford. This is a fact that continues to blow me away, because of where I came from. There is something positive about the culture, about the shared history that has brought so many of my wife’s peers back to the community. When we were looking to buy a house, we never considered any other town except Stamford. There is something here that has brought back an entire generation of people who have chosen to make this town their home and have chosen to raise their families here. And that fact continually amazes me since the idea of returning home is as completely foreign to me as I can imagine.

Now, let’s take a moment to consider the long term effect of any additional budget cuts beyond what has already been proposed. If additional cuts are made, teachers will lose their jobs, not expensive older teachers, but younger more energetic teachers. Schools could close, my school, your school, who knows which school the roulette wheel will ultimately stop on but someone’s schools will close. Class sizes will grow, making the chances of a student being pushed beyond their potential diminish exponentially. And this is not just about the schools, do we want to be known as the community that does not care about education, does not care about children, does not care about our cities future residents? How are we going to attract new residents, new tax payers, if we can’t support our schools, can’t keep libraries open, can’t protect our citizens? It just begs the question, if this trend of cutting core services continues, will my children want to move back to Stamford in 20 years, or will Stamford come to resemble Binghamton where the overwhelming majority of their youth have moved away? Will your children want to move back here? Would you want them to?

I am here to support the Mayor’s budget as it has been proposed to the Board of Finance and to the Board of Representatives, please vote to support the budget with no additional cuts.