OPM has been particularly smarted ever since Mayor Picard refused to accept its recommendation the city raise taxes to immediately pay off the $14.3 million deficit the city accrued in the previous administration. Picard knew that would be devastating to city taxpayers and a sure way to make West Haven a ghost town. He opted instead to develop a plan that would have the city pay off the obligations over time. He knew he could not – and should not -- attempt to bond for the indebtedness. It was bonding that had put the city behind the financial eight ball at the outset, and was not an option.

Since making that decision, Picard has picked up the approval of legislators and state officials. OPM has increased the shrillness of its public relations war as well. It threatened the city with take over earlier this year, and is now clamoring about possible collapse. It did not like the fact Picard went over its head. There are several high-ranking state officials that know and have given their imprimatur on the Picard mode of operation.

City residents, also, should understand the history the agency has with West Haven. Seven years ago, a former councilman named John Picard asked the office to review the city’s bonding mechanisms and the fact that it seemed bonding funds were being siphoned into city line-item accounts. OPM passed on the request. It refused to get involved in the dispute that was developing.

Within three years of that request, the bonding frenzy the city went through was revealed, and it was found to be true that city bills were paid with bonded funds – a clear violation of the law. It was also discovered the city used near-fraudulent means to prop up its bonding requests, cooking books to make things sound better than they were.

OPM lost its credibility seven years ago in the mayor’s eyes and we don’t blame him. They stood by and watched a financial disaster happen in an economy that was booming. Now they want to step in when their help is not wanted nor needed. The city is paying off its debts. More than $3 million has been paid in the last year. Meanwhile, millions in bonds have been retired.

Where Picard can be faulted, however, is his lack of communication with the City Council. He must make the extra effort to let each and every council member know what is going on and what correspondence is coming through the office. Better they should hear it from the chief executive of the city or his surrogate than from the agency itself.

Picard has an uneasy relationship with the council due to the political splintering that is West Haven politics. That is all the more reason to keep the lines of communication wide open. There are some on the council who are not his friends, and will take any opportunity to discredit him and his policies.

While we are not happy with the OPM evaluation of the city’ s financial health, we are not alarmed. Nor should anyone else be alarmed. OPM is trying to take control of a situation in which it has been told its unwelcome.