NEW BRITAIN -- You've heard of exchange students? How about exchange mayors?

Central Connecticut State University has set up an internship arrangement for a group of Chinese officials to work as interns with the city of New Britain in order to exchange ideas on the seemingly mundane tasks of trash removal, hazardous waste disposal, sewage treatment and water treatment for city drinking water. Mayor Timothy Stewart met with three of his Asian counterparts for about an hour last Monday, and said he was just as eager to learn about their methods of providing municipal services as they were to learn about America's methods.

They have to deal with the same issues, but on a much larger scale, and Stewart said what impressed him the most was that the Chinese "vice magistrates," which he said "are the same as mayors," were able to treat more water more efficiently and for less cost than in America.

"They obviously do things cheaper and more efficiently," he said, looking toward Vice Magistrate Liming Wu of Junan, in the wealthy coastal province of Shandong, which has 93 million people.

"Mayor Wu will begin working 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with the New Britain Police Department," Stewart said, adding that Wu is responsible for governing some 750,000 people in his community, which is more than 10 times as populous as New Britain.

The other Chinese officials - Wu Chuancheng and Liu Sheagqin - will be interning with either public works, the water department or another branch of New Britain's government, Stewart said.
Liu Sheagqin said her community has 9 million people.

In comparison, New Britain has a population of around 72,000, which flushes 10 million to 15 million gallons of raw sewage per day to the Mattabassett regional sewage treatment plant.

What if New Britain had 9 million people, instead of 72,000?

The daily sewage flow would be 125 times greater.

If New Britain used the same method of wastewater treatment system, that would come out to more than 1.25 billion gallons of sewage a day.

Obviously the Chinese have had to find more efficient ways of dealing with such problems, Stewart said. The same with trash.

"They are particularly interested in trash and water issues," Stewart said. "They want to see what we do with our waste. They will benefit by bringing back our best practices."

Up until now, the Chinese officials have been observing the way American cities like New Britain handle basic infrastructure maintenance and improvements.

Now, Stewart said, they are about to jump into the internship phase of their visit to America. That means they will roll up their sleeves and work for the city, according to the mayor.

Ed Rybczyk, managing director of CCSU's U.S.-China Business Center, explained that CCSU has partnered with Shandong Normal University for more than 20 years, allowing scores of students from both countries to interchange business, governmental, judicial and economical practices during the six-month foreign-exchange program.

"We've had 200 administrators in the past five years," Rybczyk said. "The greatest leaders in China will have trained in New Britain."

A sister-school relationship was forged under Gov. William O'Neal, he said. Now, CCSU enjoys a total of 70 sister-school relationships worldwide, Rybczyk said.

That relationship evolved to the point where the state Department of Economic and Community Development designated Central as the facilitator of the exchange program, which works in conjunction with its educational counterpart in China - Shandong Normal University.

SNU in China "started out much like the Connecticut State University System," Rybczyk said, pointing to Eastern, Western, Southern, and Central Connecticut state universities.

Rybczyk said that two of the major players in the exchange program were professors from the Political Science and Criminal Justice departments at Central. The municipal finance and infrastructure management side of the program is balanced by law enforcement and politics.

This year the 21 Chinese visitors from the U.S.-China Business program have been staying at Essex Place on East Street.

Wu, Sheagqin and Chuancheng said they are happy with the accommodations and are enjoying their stay in New Britain.

Shandong Province, which ranks as one of China's wealthiest, is noted for its quality cotton, jewelry production and precious metals. It is also the home of philosopher Confucius and 93 million people.

The students, who arrived in June, include not only mayors, but also provincial leaders from Shandong.
They came to study at CCSU to learn about governmental structure and business practices in the United States, Rybczyk said, adding that the purpose of the foreign-exchange program is to help improve public policy and administration in the Chinese province by teaching its leaders U.S. practices to administer in their municipalities and economy.

This is the fifth group of Chinese government officials/students to take notes on New Britain's municipal management through CCSU's program.

Their presence has helped CCSU students learn about Chinese cultures and practices, Rybczyk said in a previous interview with The Herald.

During the next two months, 18 other Chinese officials - in addition to the three with whom Stewart met last week - will be interning at various state businesses and governmental agencies in Hartford, New Haven and New Britain.

They are interning at the highest levels of local government, Stewart said, pointing to public works and other functions of government - upon which the city's infrastructure depends.

"They are studying the function of the mayor's office and above," Stewart said. "They also study high-level business."