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June 5, 2025 Rickford Kirton Letter to Bloomfield Town Officials
Dear Mr. Schwapp, Attorney Crumbie, Ms. Posniak, and Members of the Town Council:
I write to you in my capacity as Chair of the Citizens for a Responsible Bloomfield Budget to formally raise concern regarding the legality ... (read more)
Update Referendum Results
The official results from the May 28 budget referendum were amended by the Town Clerkโs Office to correct an error in the absentee ballot count.
Originally, the report showed 94 absentee votes for โYesโ and 41 for โNoโ โ but those numbers were reversed. The corrected totals now reflect:
Yes: 411
No: 1,987
Absentee Votes: 135 total (41 Yes | 94 No)
Voter Turnout: 2,400 out of 15,317 (15.7%)
While the amended results were uploaded to the town website, no explanation was provided about what was corrected or why. Iโm simply sharing this now to ensure the public is aware.
View the corrected results here:
https://www.bloomfieldct.gov/DocumentCenter/View/6487/Budget-Referendum-Results-05-28-2025?bidId=
Clear communication builds trust, and residents deserve clarity.
๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ
We live in a town full of different stories, backgrounds, and experiences. That diversity is one of our greatest strengths. But we have also seen how misinformation, manipulation, and personal attacks can sow distrust and division, often with no facts, no substance, and ... (read more)
Important Update
I believe the REFERENDUM PASSED. I believe the charter is being MISINTERPRETED to achieve a certain result. I began this conversation with the charter revision commission starting last March, 2024, because they too did not understand it. Below I have shown a couple of examples to clarify this for everyone, but especially ...(read more)
โ๐๐ญ ๐๐ข๐งโ๐ญ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ.โ โ ๐๐จ๐ ๐ข ๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐
That quote has never felt more real.
This morning, former Mayor and respected attorney David Baram sent a message to the Town Clerk raising serious legal concerns about how the referendum results are being interpreted.
He cited a federal ...(read more)
๐๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐: Thank you!
I want to start by thanking every single one of you who showed up to vote in todayโs budget referendum. We had ๐,๐๐๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ cast a ballotโ๐๐ฑ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐% ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐๐ฌ๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐ set by the Town Charter. This is a strong show of civic engagement and a sign that the people of Bloomfield are paying attention.
Unfortunately, due to ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง a in the Charter, the budget was not overturnedโeven though ๐๐% ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐.
Hereโs why:... (read more)
Why Vote No?
Finance Budget Increase - 78% Is Real: Finance/Administration jumped from $287,767 in FY2025 to $512,390 in FY2026-a 78%increase in one year.
Town Hall Spending Went Up Nearly $1 Million: Town Administration spending rose from $5.77Mย to $6.76M - aย $992,940 (17.2%) increase.
$3.75M in Reserves Could've Been Left Untouched: Instead of cutting waste, the Town Council voted to pull$3.75 million from reserves to balance the budget-money that could've been saved to prevent a tax hike.
Your Tax Bill Is Still Going Up: Despite a 30% increase in property values from revaluation, the mill rate still went up 3.989%-from 34.27 to 35.64. That's more money out of residents' pockets.
No One Proposed Cutting Education or Seniors:
Let's be clear: the focus is on excessive administrative costs like:ย
Town Manager's Office (+30.3%) and Strategic Communications (+15.5%)
This REFERENDUM is your opportunity
to demand accountability for your tax dollars
VOTE NO ON WEDNESDAY,ย MAY 28
Stay informed: Facebook, Bloomfield, CT Political Forum
Paid for by Citizens for A Responsible Bloomfield Budget, Wendy Williams, Treasure
๐๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ.
Too often, residents open their tax bills on July 1 of any given year, frustrated and confused about how it got that high. You get upset, you move on, and try to figure out how to pay it. But this time is different.
On May 28, every single person has a chance to shape what this budget looks like and how much comes out of their pocket.
No more excuses. No more surprises. This is your moment to speak up. This is what democracy looks like.
๐๐๐ญโ๐ฌ ๐ญ๐๐ค๐ ๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ญ๐ ๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐จ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ญ. ๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ก๐๐ซ, ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐ญ๐๐ซ.
***IMPORTANT UPDATE ABOUT ABSENTEE BALLOTS FOR THE BUDGET REFERENDUM*** ย
A flyer from Town Hall listing all 5 district polling places has a note attached stating that THE TOWN CLERK'S OFFICE WILL BE OPEN ON SATURDAY, MAY 24th, from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm for obtaining and submitting absentee ballots This is great news for the many people who are unable to get to Town Hall during normal business hours.ย Whoever arranged for this, and however it happened, I and all Bloomfield neighbors should acknowledge our appreciation for this consideration.ย Let everyone know about this, if they need an absentee ballot but thought there was no way to get to Town Hall during workweek hours.ย
๐๐๐ซ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎโ๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฒ, ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐, ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฅ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ฆ.
Take a moment to review it so you know exactly what to expect at the polls.
๐๐๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐จ๐ญ๐ฌ
In order to vote in the Budget Referendum, those wishing to vote absentee must do so by Tuesday, May 27, 2025 at 5:00 pm.
Polls are open from ๐ ๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐ ๐๐.
