Open forum 8/19

This Courant editorial discusses the $60,000,000 that the state recently announced would be spent on farm subsidies. My question remains... is this $60,000,000 linked to energy independence in anyway? If we had leadership that was serious about energy, this farm bill would be linked to energy.

According to this article (Waterbury Rep-Am, by Nancy Bompey), a recent nationwide survey concluded that most parents are unaware of the alcohol & drug use that occurs at teen parties... even when a parent is home. (For more info, go to CheshireCares).

Cheshire's proposed softball fields will be discussed in the capital budget meetings (Waterbury Rep-Am, by Lauresha Xhihani) next week. Capital budget meetings are scheduled for Monday & Wednesday at 6pm each night in the town hall, if you're interested. Then there will be a public hearing on Monday Aug 28 at 7pm in town hall. I still have my doubts that the ballfields can pass at referendum. $1,600,000 for two 60 foot diamonds won't go over well with the taxpayers. And much of the money is supposed to be used for excavation of the 10-12 acre lot.

In comparison, the town is doing three ballfields at Bartlem Park (on flat land) for about $250-300k... about $100k per diamond. So the cost is very much the land. And now as I'm sitting here thinking about this... if I recall correctly, land in the interchange zone sells for about $25k per acre. And if that's the case, then we may be able to buy twelve acres of relatively flat land for $300k and possibly save a whole bunch of money. But I'm not sure about that. I'll need to look into it.

Here's an interesting article (Courant, by David Lightman) on Chris Shays and Diane Farrell and their matchup in Fairfield County. I wish Shays all the best. I really do respect him and his long record of outspoken public service. That means a lot to me.

Bus routes for Cheshire and Region 16 (Prospect/Beacon Falls) have been announced.

Tim White
State Representative nominee (R-89)
Bethany, Cheshire & Prospect
TimWhite98@yahoo.com