Ted Carroll, LGH President, wrote the following Letter to the Editor (Hartford Courant) concerning our work with the City of Hartford on their nerw budget.

"The way in which Hartford's mayor, city council, administration, school board and others worked together the past six months is encouraging. Faced with the daunting task of closing a projected deficit of more than $40 million, the mayor and council members agreed to do business differently this year. By choosing a collaborative planning process over an antagonistic one, priorities got identified early on, information and ideas flowed more freely, greater respect and trust was built, and public confidence in our elected leaders experienced a big boost.

No doubt some hard choices were needed and the no-mill-increase budget is far from being pain-free. Further, cooperation from unions at both city hall and the school board is required to make the numbers work. Still, by setting a high standard of civic dialogue, the mayor and council have made it more likely to win cooperative agreements with public employees.

This past week was a good one for civic capacity and good governance in Hartford. On Thursday, the Plan of Conservation and Development was scheduled to be adopted. This plan, developed over the last eight months with lots of public participation from hundreds of stakeholders, is a solid blueprint for the future that enjoys a tremendous level of public awareness and confidence."

Ted Carroll, Hartford

The writer is president of Leadership Greater Hartford, which helped the city with its recent planning processes.