Cow farts

Here's a guest post from lifelong Cheshire resident, Tim Slocum:

My good friend Tim White has been doing this blog for sometime now. I have become a frequent visitor and have opined on a number of occasions using my name or my initials. I have been struck by the oft cold candor of the anonymous blogger. A few weeks back I noticed that Tim included a guest blog by Diane Visconti. I believe it garnered the appropriate enthusiasm her topic warranted. To her credit, Diane Visconti is a hardworking and caring town councilor. Diane cares about so much. I guess I‘m just not so caring. I commented to Tim that Diane had quite a few “hits” as they say in this business. He said that “liberals” love to blog. That dovetails with Rush Limbaugh’s claim that he has lots of Libs listening to him so it must be so.

Well I’m no Lib so I am using Tim’s forum to discuss something I feel passionate about; the war America is waging here and abroad on Islamic fascism and global terrorism. Most liberals loath this war along with an increasing number of so called moderate Republicans and independents. I look forward to the many “Anons” eager to confirm their temerity and my insanity as they read on.

Why have liberals loathed this war from day one? I believe I have the answer and as the cops often say, follow the money. Money and who has control of it is the presiding political value today. I say this with great caution because I am not suggesting that all Americans that now oppose the war are materialistic narcissistic self indulgers. I am suggesting they simply play in to the hands of the politically materialistic narcissistic self indulgers.

Most Americans express agreement on their sincere concern for our troops. I posit that more than half of Americans are shamelessly parading a lie when they make such a claim. I look to the Lieberman haters in the Democrat party for confirmation of my claim. How can liberals hate politically liberal Joe Lieberman and care about our military when the only common link is that Joe cares about victory in this war? It is simply dishonest to suggest it could be any other way. This brings me back to the money.

Most Democrats want to spend your money on their noble causes. My disagreement is with their definitions of noble. For most Democrats and many Republicans a noble cause is a popular cause driven by the press and polls. State legislatures across the country are contemplating such noble causes as universal healthcare plans, increased taxes for schools and other myriad government programs and services. The medical profession is rapidly expanding under the weight of an aging population that is living longer. I must ask why bother if the vast majority of Americans won’t support a war on terror? We’re going to be goners anyway.

History replays itself over and over. The victor always gets the spoils. The victor eventually gets fat, lazy and complacent and soon becomes a victim. And once again to the winner goes the spoils of the complacent. One of the first classes of people to go in revolutions throughout modern history is the liberals. Liberals see the best in people they usually know nothing about. They should look much harder and see these people at their worst. Fascist regimes like Iran, Korea, Saddam’s Iraq should shake liberals to their core but they would rather wage a misplaced war on our president. I scratch my head and ask why. It’s the money…all those billions they could spend on happier things.

Liberals breathe the same air, go to the same schools and churches and enjoy many of the same entertainments but they just don’t get it. That is why they will continue to let the fascists win and let our freedoms slip away. And when the enemy actually hits our homeland again they will be the first to blame a government agency, open hearings and be outraged by how this could happen here. Meanwhile they’re prepared to wage all out war on cow farts, incandescent light bulbs, global warming and your carbon footprint because some government agency says it must be so.

At the end of the day I fear liberals most.

Tim Slocum

Recalling local elected officials

The legislature's Government Administration and Elections Committee sent an interesting bill to the full House. 03741HB06242GAE is an act that would:

"An elected official of a municipality may be recalled by the electors of the municipality."

If we revise the Charter, I wonder if this would be included?

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

BOE poll

Board of Education
	Peter Massey
	Jim Sima
	Alan Sobol
	unnamed Democrat
	unnamed Republican
	none of the above
pollcode.com free polls

I did not include Ruth Podgwaite because I've been told that she does not intend to run again. I have no idea about the intentions of the other BOE members. And for the political junkies... whether or not Jimmy or Alan run, "minority representation" may be a factor for the BOE this year. Basically, "minority representation" means that no one party (in this case, the Dems) can have more than five seats on the Board. So presumably, at least two Republicans (or perhaps another party) will be assured of "winning" this fall.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

State Rep. Nardello's bills (part I)

Here are the bills introduced by Vickie Orsini Nardello via the Senate:

SB00226 AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE PREVENTION OF CHILDHOOD OBESITY.
SB00685 AN ACT CONCERNING COMPASSIONATE CARE FOR VICTIMS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT.
SB00941 AN ACT CONCERNING THE DOC GUNTHER BRIDGE.

Tim White

1/2 million dollars

At one of the budget workshops this week, Bob Korten brought this advertisement that ran in the Cheshire Herald last fall. Bob asked about the comment "Through Tom's efforts, Cheshire received in excess of one half million dollars in additional education grants."
Bob asked the Town Manager (and Superintendent??) to confirm the accuracy of that statement.

No one was able to confirm it. Can any of you speak to this? I know I can't.

Tim White

Budget workshop 3/28

We had the final scheduled budget workshop tonight (more are already scheduled for next Monday and Tuesday). We covered healthcare benefits and reviewed the "assumptions" in the budget, such as the tax collection rate (inevitably, some people won't pay their taxes) and projected conveyance taxes.

I think it was generally agreed that if we "maximized" these assumptions, the current projected tax increase (3.7%) would be cut in half to less than 2%. However, of more interest to me tonight were the changes in staffing positions that are being proposed. The Town Manager summarized his town side ("general government") proposals in this spreadsheet (click on it to be able to read it):
As for the two columns to the right, one column indicates "the total year on year increase in salary on the new number of hours" and one column indicates "the total year on year increase in salary on the new number of hours, less a 3% raise on the old number of hours."

I'm open-minded on this and am looking forward to the 2nd public hearing on the budget (Tuesday, April 4, 7:30pm). As well, I'm hoping that I can pop by tomorrow night's Personnel Committee meeting to learn more about some of these proposed positions. But as it stands right now, I'm shy about the whole lot... for a variety of reasons (that I've mentioned here already), including my concern that some of these requests seem more about benefits accruing to particular employees than they are about providing services to the voters/taxpayers. Again though... I still need to learn more of the specifics.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Prop 2 1/2 in CT

In 1980, Massachusetts introduced legislation that prohibited towns from increasing spending more than 3% per year.

In October 2006, I sent out the following mailer "Tim White wants to limit taxes by law, similar to Massachusetts' Proposition 2 1/2" and have been mentioning this proposal on this blog since. (click on the picture to enlarge.)
In January 2007, State Rep Art O'Neill introduced his own version of Prop 2 1/2.

On March 22, 2007, Rep. O'Neill had a conference promoting Prop 2 1/2.

And tonight, Gov. Rell issued a press release that read "Under the plan outlined by the Governor today, municipal property tax increases will be limited to no more than 3 percent a year."

Most voters don't read blogs. Most elected officials don't read blogs. However... policymakers do read them.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Pool consultant update

Word is that the pool consultant review may not be complete until after the budget is adopted.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Budget workshop 3/27

First up, the Library... the Director, Ramona Harten, made her case... noting that the lobby had recently been remodeled with a $20,000 grant. And similar to the Senior Center last night, she continued on with all of the money that has been raised independent of property taxes... $39,000 from the Friends of the Library and another $100,000 in other donations... all of which was music to my ears.

She further strengthened her case for the solid performance of the library by explaining that during the past year, while Barnes & Nobles' sales were dropping, the library's circulation has gone up several percentage points.

She then explained how the library is trying switch from a "bar code" system to a "radio frequency" system. The goal here would be similar to what you see in Stop n Shop... you'd no longer need people to check you out... you'd get checked out automatically.

And she wrapped up her presentation by requesting an increase in hours for a "Librarian II" position (from 25hrs/wk to 35hrs/wk). The story behind it is this... currently this position is vacant. It began getting funded in the current budget in February (last month). However, after interviewing candidates, the conclusion was reached that the best candidates would only accept a 35hrs/wk position. So rather than filling the position in February, the hope is that the Council will increase the budget to 35hrs/wk, then the position can be permanently filled with one of the best-qualified candidates. And this all sounds good, but...

I'm left wondering, how much do we need? And how much do we want? I certainly want to have the best-qualified staff... but at what cost? The cost for this increase would be $12,000/yr + incremental benefits (25% = $2,000-4,000/yr). Considering that we just added Sunday hours (I was glad to support that), I don't know that we need to increase the number of hours for this position from 25hrs to 35hrs. I think I'd prefer to leave it at 25hrs/wk.

Finally, with regard to staffing, it was mentioned that with the new computer system, we might be able to move someone out from "behind the counter" to the lobby... providing us with a "Walmart style greeter." Again, I think that would be very nice... but not necessary. Taxes are a burden and I don't know that such a position would be in the best overall interests of the town. This is yet another reason why I hesitate in increasing the Librarian II position's hours (although these are probably different positions... so feel free to tell me I'm comparing apples n oranges). Anyway, end of the Library and onto the...

Department of Education/Board of Ed... some random thoughts... I said that while it is a Board decision, I'm not particularly in favor of adding two new teachers at a time when school enrollment is projected to drop by 57 students. (granted, that's a projection, but... all of this is a projection.) I asked why we wouldn't simply transfer two teachers from Darcey to the 1st grade? I'd tell you the answer, but to be blunt... it wasn't straightforward. And again... the BOE will do whatever it wishes... which is fair... so anyway, I saw no point in pursuing my question. Although this reminds me why I believe the BOE should be its own taxing authority... I wish we could do that with a Charter Revision.

I repeated my question from last year about consolidating non-school activities into fewer schools. The answer was what I expected... the Scouts, the PTAs, the basketball leagues, etc. all use the gyms & cafeterias. So for the most part... if they are going to use the schools... then they are going to use all the schools because they can't easily use classrooms.

I got a status update on the Smartboards. I think he said they ordered 55 and they arrived 2-3 weeks ago.

Once again, I strongly encouraged the schools to begin using biodiesel... noting that it will (indirectly) create jobs in Cheshire... I did skip my whole middle east commentary though. I think most everyone there has heard it plenty.

Going back to the idea of school population projections, I asked the schools how they project upcoming kindergarten sizes... my thinking was... I have lots of friends (who grew up here) who buy houses here in Cheshire who don't have kids for years... then they start to have kids and after five years, the kids will be in school. So in some cases, the schools may know 8-10 years before kids start arriving in Kindergarten. And I wanted to know if the schools do anything in relation to house sales.... the Superintendent said no. They use a fairly simple approach... they speak with the nursery schools and daycare centers in town to get projections for the next few years.... that sounded like a reasonable method for projecting future student populations.

And, last but not least, David Schrumm asked about the increasing numbers of Instructional Aides/Assistants. Paul Calaluce explained by citing an example of one particular student who required not one, but two instructional aides due to the child's "aggressive" behavior. My ears lit up. Frankly, it scared me a bit to hear the Asst Superintendent talking about aggressive behavior in school. So I asked him to define "aggressive." He said it could be spitting, biting, kicking, etc., but that it was only in younger children and it becomes more of a police matter in the older kids... wow. That one really concerned me.

Anyway, I'm done for tonight. Tomorrow night is benefits and a recap. Feel free to stop by.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

p.s. I think the next P&Z public hearing on the northend is April 11.

Underage drinking efforts

The Human Services Committee recently announced the winners of their "Alcohol Awareness Week Logo and Slogan Contest." (To see the winners, look for the "Cheshire Cares" link to the left.)

And unrelated to Human Services, but something that may be of interest to those who are interested in underage drinking... the following is an email excerpt from a California Juvenile Court Judge who happened to stop by the blog recently. Her comments are about what California is doing to reduce underage drinking:

One effective tactic is making surrender of the juvenile's drivers license a condition of informal probation. This can be done if charges are filed, or informally on a local law enforcement diversion program. In California , our Vehicle code permits parents to withdraw permission for a minor to drive, effectively cancelling the minor's license. It's not a suspension or criminal action. The parent commits as part of an informal diversion agreement not to allow jr to have his license back for the agreed-upon period (usually 6 months to a year). The dept of Motor Vehicles is informed on a form given to the parent by the police, and filed by the police (parents can file it also, but having the police do it ensures timely filing.) If Jr. is caught driving without a license, he's not covered by his parent's insurance policy and out here it's a misdemeanor with a $606 fine. Breathalyzers are used out here frequently for minors, but usually with police or probation department involvement.

I found that interesting.

Tim White
Town Council, Human Services Committee liaison

No fuel cells

The Energy Commission got word tonight that Cheshire will not be getting funding for the fuel cells. Rich Ogurick (Energy Commission, Chairman) wrote in an email:

This was due in large part to the fact that Yankee Gas Services was looking for $4 million to upgrade their distribution system to bring enough gas to the southern part of town to support the fuel cells. Incorporating this expense into the overall project cost made the project uneconomical.

Remember those "capacity issues" that Yankee Gas had with sending more natural gas to the south side of town? Well, they've come home to roost.

Needless to say, I'm disappointed about the news. But perhaps even more disappointing is how I feel this highlights the energy issues we face as Nutmeggers. Heck, I only became aware of this "capacity issue" less than a year ago. I wonder if the people who are working so diligently on "electricity deregulation reform," are aware of other energy distribution factors such as this? I hope so.

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission liaison

Budget workshop 3/26

The workshop started with Youth & Social Services. Michelle Piccirello is asking for an increase in hours for her "middle school coordinator." I asked the difference between this position and a guidance counselor at Dodd. She said it related to "socialization after school and on weekends." Fair enough, I suppose. It includes stuff such as organizing dances and other activities. Also, I think she's considering charging for an "alcohol awareness" program. I think this is a program that is offered by the state to substitute for other harsher punishment doled out to kids caught drinking... I see no reason why the town shouldn't charge for something like that. Finally, I was rather disappointed when the town manager suggested that he will probably request funding for an expansion of The Yellow House. He said that activity is increasing so much there, they'll need to expand. The unfortunate thing here is... we have a "youth center"... the Harmon J. Leonard Youth Center. And while I'm too young to have been around when it was built, my parents and others were not. In fact, they and others donated to its construction. And considering its current use... it's really disappointing to me and (I'm sure) to others who know its sad history. But that's a story unto itself. I'll try to tell that story some other time.

Next up was Senior Services. Doreen Pulisciano requested increases for dispatcher (19hrs/wk to 25hrs/wk) and program coordinator (25hrs/wk to 35hrs/wk). She said the increases for both were because of increases in use. As well, they would provide greater "coverage" for our seniors. Both of those things make sense to me, but... one thing that is a concern for me is the benefits. And not that I refuse to offer someone benefits, but I have to wonder about the purpose of town government... is it to provide services to residents or benefits to employees? And if the answer is to provide services to residents, then I wonder why we wouldn't do something such as... take the 19hr/wk dispatcher and change that to say... two 15hr/wk dispatchers? Then we'd have increased to 30hrs/wk of coverage. AND i think the cost would be less than that of a 25hr/wk employee. Of course, that's assuming that these hours are increased. I don't know if they will be. But Doreen did make a strong case for her own department's willingness to look for revenue sources other than Cheshire taxpayers. In fact, with an 06/07 appropriation of $339,000, she's added $147,000 to her budget through

1) in kind donations,
2) volunteer hours (based on minimum wage),
3) grant money (sr bus) and
4) user fees ($5/house).

I thought it was worth pointing out that 30% of her (grossed up) budget is generated through her department's internal efforts. (That's not to say that other department's don't do similar things... but I haven't seen them on paper.)

Then came The Pool. And there were positive points here, such as the fact that we're no longer routinely replacing $50 lightbulbs because of better engineering knowledge. As well, in the recent snowstorm, three "bubbles" collapsed in CT, but thankfully, not ours. And that was due to our increased knowledge and vigilance in maintaining the bubble. (Literally, our P&R guys were there, heating the bubble and clearing the snow from the side of the bubble so that the snow moved away from the bubble and didn't accumulate.) As well, the pool has had several successful events, such as movie nights, Dodd nights and has created a successful diving program. And one upcoming event will be on April 28... they're going to sponsor a Relay for Life fundraiser. Bottom line though to me... a $412,000 subsidy was too high last year and is still too high this year.

Parks & Rec came next. Bob Ceccolini mentioned that the proposed 90' diamond at Bartlem Park would be ready in 2008. His goal is to remove "the mound" and use it as fill at Mixville. Then we can kill two birds with one stone... creating two ballfields at the same time. Nonetheless, I mentioned my disappointment that the Bartlem field wasn't done yet, even though Rep. Al Adinolfi had secured money for those ballfields, perhaps, two years ago... I mean, how long does it take to get this stuff done? Anyway... the main ideas Mr. Ceccolini had for saving money were to eliminate lifeguards at Mixville (I don't see that happening) and to eliminate the long-standing Camp Sassacus and role it into Camp Quinnetukit at Bartlem Park. And I tend to doubt that will happen. I doubt it would happen because while it would save $6000 for 214 kids... I figure, you could more easily raise the fee by $30 and generate the additional $6000... than it would be shutdown the program.

Economic Development Commission (Jerry Sitko) followed. There was some talk about the West Main Street project and a new program called "Adopt-a-spot."

I stepped out of the meeting to pop by the Energy Commission meeting. In the few minutes I was gone, I missed the CPFA budget. Sorry about that.

Finally came the Town Council / Town Manager / Town Attorney budget. The highlights for me here were the request for $14,000 for an update to the Strategic Plan. I voiced my reluctance in supporting this. I'd prefer to use our boards and commissions to update it, although we'd still need someone to coordinate it. Also, there was discussion about the cable access channel. I tried to make it clear that while I think the cable access channel is extremely useful, I think the best thing we could do is to move to the web. My thinking is that we should get our Council meetings on the internet and broken down by agenda item... so... if you want to see the discussion about only one particular item, you can skip the rest of the meeting. PLUS... we could all start ripping and burning our own "choice" clips from the meetings, then post them on YouTube. Wouldn't that be fun? Also the budget includes a new "parking ticket enforcement officer." If I got it right, it's a lawyer who (once a month) performs a review of parking tickets with people. And last, but not least, the Town Manager requested a position change for a staffperson in his office at a cost of about $5,000/yr.

Ok... it's late. I'm done with this post.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Cost of impact study

From today’s WRA (by Jonathan Shugarts):

Representatives of the Konover Corp. are balking at paying roughly $58,000 for two independent consultants to study the traffic and economic impact the corporation's planned $64 million complex would have on the town. Planning and Zoning Commission members voted to have the studies done at Konover's expense, but representatives for the company say they've provided data and are concerned that spending more money might be frivolous. Stanley C. Glantz, vice president for Konover, wrote to the commission's attorney, N. Warren Hess III, stating that, "we cannot agree to underwrite the costs outlined in these proposals at this time as they are significantly more costly and expensive than we had expected." Konover submitted an application for a zone change for a 415,000-square-foot mixed-use retail complex in an industrial zone near Route 262 and Echo Lake Road. Konover wants to wait until the commission makes a decision about the change before spending money on a more detailed impact study

I’ve never been through this process, but I’d be surprised if we don’t have a similar situation arise in Cheshire… I expect P&Z would want the impact study completed before making any zone text changes, while W/S would want to wait for the zone text change before spending money on an impact study.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Senator Gaffey's bills (part IV)

And here are the remainder of Senator Gaffey's bills:

SB00721 AN ACT CONCERNING A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY RESEARCH FUND.
SB00741 AN ACT CONCERNING UNPAID LEAVE FOR VETERANS ON VETERANS' DAY.
SB00780 AN ACT CONCERNING AN APPROPRIATION FOR MUNICIPAL ORGANIC PEST MANAGEMENT.
SB00844 AN ACT CONCERNING MISSING PERSONS.
SB00882 AN ACT CONCERNING THE EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR APPLYING TO TAKE THE CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT EXAM.
SB00911 AN ACT CONCERNING MEMBERS OF THE STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
SB00941 AN ACT CONCERNING THE DOC GUNTHER BRIDGE.
SB00961 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A SECURITY ASSISTANCE FOR EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM.
SB00978 AN ACT CONCERNING URBAN EDUCATION.
SB01038 AN ACT CONCERNING HANDICAPPED PARKING SPACES.

Tim White

Electric reform

"After months of work, the Legislature's Energy and Technology Committee couldn't figure out how to deal with rising electricity rates and opted Tuesday to send four bills to the floor for further crafting." That's how the CT Post (by Rob Varnon) described the "action" to be taken by the legislature on "electricity reform."

This is no real surprise to me. Despite unending calls for reform, there's a chasm of difference between the competing interests in the legislature... and no, not between Rs and Ds... but within the Democratic caucus... and it's very pronounced within Speaker Amann's own House caucus.

In December, Jim Amann wrote in his own press release "Neither the Governor nor Attorney General offered a long term solution. Their call to simply delay electric rate hikes scheduled for January would only cost ratepayers more in the long run while not addressing the underlying problem.

Our Attorney General’s answer is to impose a ‘windfall profits’ tax on energy producers. While sounding attractive in the short term, this approach could have a disastrous impact on our costs and energy supply in the future. Maybe that is why no other state has gone this route?

Trying to pass a law to lower energy costs is a very complex and potentially risky issue. It is critical that we get it right. This crisis didn’t emerge overnight, and we can’t get out of it overnight either.

It is going to take a thoughtful, deliberative approach to develop the sound energy policy that is needed. Knee jerk political posturing only gives residents unrealistic expectations of immediate relief."

Supporting AG Dick Blumenthal (and opposing Speaker Amann) is the Vice Chair of the Energy & Technology Committee, State Rep. Vickie Nardello. She believes that implementing an excess profits tax "is the only thing you could do immediately to help consumers." (WRA, Dec 7, 2006)

Personally, I don't think another tax is the way to address our skyhigh electric costs. (Besides, I think the electric generators who would pay the lion's share of this tax are the nuclear generators, as they're the most profitable because they don't have to pay fuel costs... often natural gas or oil. And I'm pretty sure that many of their costs (disposal of nuclear waste) are borne by the federal government.)

My strong hope is that everyone can come together and compromise on a comprehensive reform which will positively address the high cost of electricity, as well as address our addiction to oil. (Remember... as I just mentioned, a significant amount of America's electricity is produced using oil.)

Tim White

Monday meetings

If you've got any free time on Monday night, there's plenty going on around Cheshire:

6:15pm
Town Hall
Budget workshop

7:00pm
Town Hall
Energy Commission

Library
"Learn to blog" seminar

CHS
"Friends of Boulder Knoll" seminar

I'd like to attend each of them myself, but am planning on attending the budget workshop. If anyone attends any of the other meetings, please give us an update.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

School drug testing

"For middle and high school students in about 1,000 districts across the country, including about two dozen in New Jersey, random drug tests have become routine, like pop quizzes for a student’s body. The increase in screening began after the United States Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that schools could test students participating in extracurricular activities. Students are screened for marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines and an assortment of other narcotics, and a growing number of districts are now looking to use urine tests to determine whether students have drunk alcohol, including outside school. If they have, parents are notified and students are barred from school activities until they receive counseling. Test results are confidential and are not included on disciplinary records." (NY Times, by Dave Kocieniewski)

Does Cheshire do this? I haven't heard of any such testing. As well, I'm curious to know how you could test for illicit alcohol consumption. I think schools would be hardpressed to disprove a student had taken a cold medication with alcohol.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Clinton Crossing

Clinton Crossing is adding four stores (NHR, by Steve Higgins) I wonder if W/S is hoping to include stores similar to those of Clinton Crossing? Geographically, I think they would do well... drawing from a larger range of people. Although I've heard from some Cheshire residents that they would like to see less expensive stores... just not the big box stores.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Legislative payraise

The legislature is currently considering a bill that would turn them from a part-time to a full-time legislature.

Proponents argue legislating has evolved into a full-time occupation, but that's just the manifestation of hyperactive lawmaking that arises from the diffuse belief that no problem is too small for a new state law, program or grant. The solution is easy: legislate less. (WRA editorial)

I agree.

The editorial continues with a quote from proponent Rep. Christopher Caruso (D-Bridgeport) explaining that the benefit of a full-time legislature would be

"to cleanse the legislature of conflicts or perceived conflicts."

(However) His argument is refuted by Congress, which is full time and no less corrupt than the legislature. And by remaining at the seat of government for so long, members have acquired the habits of the place, which differ greatly from those of their constituents.

Even more agreement there. First, the prior Congress clearly proved that getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars doesn't stop corruption. And already you can look to our own part-time legislature which apparently is quite comfortable condoning State Rep. Pat Dillon's drunk driving.

The legislature is, IMO, a policy board. They should be less involved with the details of the legislation and provide more guidance and oversight. Wouldn't it be great if they'd been performing their oversight function with the DOT in recent years?

Tim White

CT Prop 2 1/2

Not raised by one of Cheshire's legislators (Art O'Neill, R-Southbury), but I couldn't resist mentioning this bill:

HB05227 AN ACT CONCERNING A CAP ON PROPERTY TAXES LEVIED BY MUNICIPALITIES

It reads... "the general statutes be amended to limit the amount of tax that a municipality can raise to no more than two and-one-half per cent of the total value of all taxable real and personal property located within the municipality."

Called "Prop 2 1/2," Massachusetts did something similar 25 years ago and I've heard that it's been beneficial. Regardless, as long as there is a voter override, I think something of this nature is a good idea.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Senator Gaffey (part III)

And some more of Senator Gaffey's bills introduced via the Senate:

SB00533 AN ACT CONCERNING GIFTS AND CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS MADE TO ELECTED MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS.
SB00562 AN ACT CONCERNING FREE TUITION AT PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION FOR CERTAIN STATE STUDENTS.
SB00588 AN ACT INCREASING THE CRIMINAL PENALTY FOR THE ILLEGAL SALE OR POSSESSION OF DRUGS IN CERTAIN LOCATIONS.
SB00598 AN ACT CONCERNING RETIREMENT BENEFITS OF STATE OR MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS OR EMPLOYEES CONVICTED OF CRIMES INVOLVING BREACH OF THE PUBLIC TRUST.
SB00604 AN ACT CONCERNING REVALUATION.
SB00605 AN ACT CONCERNING INCOME OF REVALUATION COMPANIES.
SB00670 AN ACT REQUIRING AIR CONDITIONING IN NURSING HOMES AND ADULT DAY CARE FACILITIES.
SB00682 AN ACT CONCERNING A CONTRIBUTION ON THE PERSONAL INCOME TAX RETURN FOR THE AUTISM RESEARCH COLLABORATIVE STUDY.
SB00692 AN ACT CONCERNING MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE STANDARDS IN NURSING AND CONVALESCENT HOMES.
SB00703 AN ACT MANDATING FIRE SAFE CIGARETTES.
SB00720 AN ACT CONCERNING THE SPEED LIMIT.

Tim White

The Medal of Honor

The following is a letter written by my dad and published in the March 17 edition of the Wall Street Journal:

Dear Editor

Thank you, Daniel Henning, for giving respectful attention to the Medal of Honor, America's highest military award for combat valor. It is given for "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States."

The Medal of Honor is worn around the neck on formal occasions, whether the recipient is in uniform or civilian clothes. The service ribbon is worn above the left breast pocket when otherwise in uniform. The rosette is worn in the lapel of a civilian jacket.

You showed the Army’s version of the Medal, but readers should know there are two others, one for the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, and one for the Air Force. The people to whom it is awarded are recipients, awardees or holders. The medal is never "won" so don’t call such people winners. Saying that cheapens the award because it is not an object of competition.

Of the tens of millions of Americans who have served in our armed forces, only 3,462 men and one woman have received the Medal of Honor since it was instituted by Congress in 1861 and signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. From the beginning of World War II until now, fewer than 900 men have received the medal and only 112 recipients are still alive. Most received their award posthumously. To indicate how the military respects recipients of the Medal, by tradition everyone in uniform is supposed to salute them first. Even if the recipient is of the lowest rank, a general or an admiral salutes first. But it is the Medal itself which is saluted, not the person wearing it.

Readers may also be interested to know that my home town of Cheshire, Connecticut, has a Medal of Honor Plaza in recognition of two residents who received the Medal. They are Col. Harvey C. Barnum, USMC (Ret.), who received his for a battle action in Vietnam in 1965, and Sgt. Eri Woodbury of the Vermont Cavalry, who received his in 1864. I know of only one other city Norwalk, Connecticut which can claim two residents who were awarded the Medal of Honor.

Sincerely,
John White

ESCO defined

Lately, I've been mentioning ESCOs (energy services companies) a bit. I'm doing this because the Town could potentially be looking at investing in millions of dollars over the next few years... in an effort to conserve energy and money. Anyway, I came across this "definition" of an ESCO, as well as a definition of "performance contracting." I think it's a pretty good explanation, so I wanted to share it with you:

Energy service companies provide a various array of solutions for end-user needs. These services encompass everything from energy audits to lighting retrofits. Due to rising and volatile energy prices, a push on energy conservation has increased significantly. End-users are looking more and more to demand/response and meter reading to help analyze, predict, and control energy usage.

ESCO products and services typically include the following:

• Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) upgrades
• Lighting retrofits
• Uninterrupted power supplies (UPS) and power storage technologies
• Back-up power
• Upgrades on industrial equipment, including motors and controls
• Facility management
• Renewable technology application including wind, solar, fuel cells, and biomass waste to energy
• On-site heat and power (co-generation) systems; combined heat and power (CHP)
• Commodity procurement consulting
• Demand and load management

Energy service companies that have experienced levels of success often share this success due to their ability to effectively blend a wide range of solutions for their clients, often times with the capability to guarantee performance. ESCOs also often use performance contracting – a contract in which the energy service company bears the cost of implementation of all services and products and then recovers these costs along with profits from the savings spawned by the applicable services.

ESCO products and services continue to accommodate lighting and comfort needs for end-users but there is a definite shift of focus toward reducing energy consumption and lowering energy costs. Government mandates relative to conservation, record high fuel prices, and aging infrastructures have spurred growth throughout what was a relatively mature market.

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission liaison

Senator Gaffey (part II)

Here are a few more of Senator Gaffey's bills. These were introduced via the Senate:

SB00001 AN ACT INCREASING ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE, QUALITY HEALTH CARE.
SB00002 AN ACT CONCERNING HEALTH CARE INSURANCE REFORM.
SB00003 AN ACT CONCERNING HUSKY HEALTH CARE FOR ALL.
SB00427 AN ACT CONCERNING BUS COMPANIES.
SB00431 AN ACT CONCERNING ELECTRONIC TOLLS ON CONNECTICUT BORDERS.
SB00456 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR A BOUNDLESS PLAYGROUND IN CHESHIRE.
SB00458 AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR NOAH'S ARK PLAYGROUND.
SB00463 AN ACT LIMITING STATE FINANCIAL AID TO A SINGLE BUSINESS OR PROJECT WITHOUT LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL.
SB00478 AN ACT CONCERNING THE EVEN START PROGRAM.
SB00479 AN ACT CONCERNING THE HOME READING SUPPORT PROGRAM.
SB00483 AN ACT CONCERNING APPROPRIATIONS TO THE EVEN START PROGRAM.

Tim White

Storm drains to nowhere

The State has gotten a guarantee of $17.5million (AP) to be reimbursed for the "storm drains to nowhere" on I-84. That's great. But it still doesn't address the fundamental problems that exist within the DOT... this reimbursement is akin to giving someone a bandaid for a cut when the person has a terminal disease. We still need serious reforms within the DOT.

(Also see this WRA article, by Michael Puffer)

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Budget mtg 3/22

First in line to present their budget this evening was the finance department, including the tax collector, tax assessor, IT dept and fees for both the auditors and insurance.

A couple of good things are happening here. First, our new software system should be coming online soon. And since I've worked in the IT Finance area before, I'm acutely aware of the benefits of a solid accounting/management information system. The downside to the new software is not entirely unexpected for me... higher maintenance fees, but also increased manhours for a p/t staff person... requested to go from 25hr/wk to 35hr/wk... and remember, this is not only an increase in wages, it's also an increase in benefit costs. It may be worth it. I'm not sure. See, one of the difficulties in managing our systems was mentioned tonight... but to understand it, you need to travel back a year it time... it was a year ago when we first created the aforementioned 25hr/wk position. And since creating that position, unbeknownst to me, we only now do routine backups of our systems... something that should be done every day or at least every week, I would think. But what we were doing before was ignoring routine backups and just "putting out fires" all the time. And that's not good. Not good at all. Anyway, the one other thing that concerns me with the request is a result of the police budget discussion tonight. What's that? Well, a year ago we hired a technology person for the PD. And as the Chief said tonight, the Town Hall IT staff no longer visit 500 Highland Ave... at least not as often. So I'm just wondering how much do we need to do in "IT?" All'n'all though, my guess is that in the IT field, the town could benefit from more hours... but the question is... what do we need in relation to the cost? I'm not sure yet, but I am hesitant on increasing these hours. And oh yeah... the IT group will also take over the new phone system which will obviously require some man hours.

I think the Building Dept was next. I don't think they had any significant changes.

Then the Police Dept was up. Chief Cruess got asked some tough questions and I think he handled himself well. Within his budget, what jumped out at me was the cost-savings / cost avoidance measures he was providing. In particular, as one contract for equipment ended, he found a new equipment/service provider who would help us save/avoid about $25k over the next three to four years. Besides that though, he was asking for more money... much of it for new cars, three new cruisers and one used detective vehicle. As with all town departments, the goal is not to necessarily extend the life of a vehicle indefinitely, but rather to:

1) replace existing vehicles before a vehicle dies and
2) get vehicles on a rotating schedule (for example, we have 7 fire trucks with an estimated useful life of 25 years, so we try to get a new firetruck every 3.5 years... and this same rule applies to the entire town fleet... in the case of a PD cruiser, the goal is to get new cruisers when an existing cruiser hits the 95,000-105,000 mile range. As well, the police must consider that a lot of time is spent idling. So the cruisers have more wear and tear than a regular car with 100,000 miles.)

Finally came the Fire Dept. I think the Fire Department does a great job. And as Chief Casner pointed out... because of the volunteer nature of the department, they do their job for a much lower cost than other departments. I think the most conversation for the FD centered around the proposed addition of a part-time staff person in the Fire Inspection Office. The idea would be to take a more deliberate approach to inspecting non-single home owner units... that is, spend more time inspecting apartment buildings and "mixed use" buildings, of which there are a few in town... apartments above retail stores... Town & Country Plaza comes to mind.

So that's it. I'm gonna hit the sack.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Chamber legislative breakfast

I attended the annual legislative breakfast, sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce. There were probably about 70-80 people there, including town officials. The keynote speakers of the legislative breakfast though were obviously our legislators, State Representatives Al Adinolfi, Mary Fritz and Vickie Nardello. (I know that Senator Sam Caligiuri was unable to attend due to a prior commitment. I gather the same was true of Senator Tom Gaffey.)

Unfortunately, I had to run off to work. But before I left, I did get to hear our three Representatives speak. And the one thing that jumped out at me was music to my ears... Mary and Al both strongly opposed the proposed income tax increase. Thank you both! As well, Rep. Adinolfi mentioned one of my growing concerns... the "brain drain." With my own age group (21-35) leaving CT in droves, I'm hoping something happens to stem the tide.

Any other bloggers happen to go and stay for the rest of the breakfast?

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

p.s. As usual, I really liked the food served at Elim Park. And on a food-related note... the RTC pasta supper fundraiser is Friday night, from 5:30pm to 7:30pm, at Cheshire Academy Commons.

Senator Gaffey's bills

Here are the bills introduced by State Sen. Tom Gaffey via the House:

HB05838 AN ACT REQUIRING EYE EXAMINATIONS PRIOR TO PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT.
HB06204 AN ACT CONCERNING TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY PROPERTY.
HB06304 AN ACT MAKING SESSIONAL AND INTERIM CLERKS OF GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES PERMANENT EMPLOYEES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
HB06714 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR A MILITARY MUSEUM IN THE CITY OF MIDDLETOWN.

Tim White

Budget mtg 3/21

I got caught in really bad traffic on the Merritt this morning. So I got to work late and, in turn, got to the budget meeting about 20 minutes late. Unfortunately, I missed both Elections and the Town Clerk. However, before she left, I got a chance to speak with the Town Clerk, Carolyn Soltis. Her budget is largely remaining the same.

Next up was the Planning Dept. They discussed the proposed plans for the West Main streetscape project, open space and Earth Day, among other projects.

Then came the Water Pollution Control Dept. As I mentioned recently, their budget is a doozy. With various accounting issues (related to the transition of the accumulated interest expense for denitrification project from "work in process" to operational), a proposal to move from a "flat fee" to a "user fee" for sewers, rising energy costs, the INI study, calls for competitive bidding on sewer engineering services (I'm a big fan of that) and potential new projects (even just maintaining pump stations), etc.... there is a LOT going on here. That's the reason that Michael Milone wants to hire some outside help... to sort out all the moving pieces and to provide different options.

I think the most interesting part of this whole discussion was what I felt was a philosophical debate on the possibility of:

1) switching from a "flat fee" to a "user fee" and
2) moving the $1,000,000 subsidy from the General Gov't budget (property taxes) to the WPCD budget (sewer assessment).

On the one hand was an argument that seemed to be espoused by Elizabeth Esty. She seemed to want to move away from a flat fee and to a user fee, as well as move the WPCD toward being "self-sustaining." The argument for this switch (either made by her or others) was a sense of "equity."

On the other side of the debate was David Schrumm. I believe he preferred staying with the flat fee and maintaining the sewer subsidy. His argument was that sewers protect the environment (aquifer, etc.) and therefore provide for the common good (or the "general welfare").

I haven't thought this whole thing through, but I basically agree with Elizabeth Esty on this. Regardless... I found the discussion to be quite a bit of fun and... well... it didn't seem to fit into the mold of what you might expect to come from these two Council members.

Public Works Dept came next. Their budget is fairly constant. They're asking for one new "maintainer" at $46k/yr + benefits. I'm kind of guessing that will not be approved. Anyway, there's lots of stuff going on here, but I asked a common question... "Why do the PW guys work on Saturdays getting paid time and a half?" The answer: Maintainers are prohibited from taking vacation during the winter months (because of snowplowing). That forces them to take a lot of vacation during the summer months... during the eight month "construction season." Furthermore, the overtime budget is $50,000. And most maintainers get paid $22/hr... so the Saturdays are a $33/hr rate. We were also told that it costs $60k to sweep the town streets every spring. And (I think) there's $40k in the budget for snowplowing overtime.

Which brings us to Public Properties. The big number here is probably utilities. But thanks to a number of different initiatives (most recently the Energy Commission-endorsed bulk electricity purchase), our costs are not crazy. The one thing here that caught my attention was $16,000 budget for an energy consultant at the police station. The meeting was running late and I had to leave (10pm), but I intend to learn more about this. See... this may very well conflict with my goal of getting the town to do a townwide energy project, financed through "performance-based contracting." PBC is basically a way for the town to avoid upfront consulting costs. Instead, you bury those costs in the cost-savings achieved from various energy-efficiency projects. That is, we never spend the $16k as proposed. Instead, we save $16k, then pay the consultant with the savings... after it is achieved... blah, blah, blah... I know it gets boring. But we may be talking about millions of dollars by the time we go through all 25 or so town buildings... so we should at least have a serious discussion before we continue down this road... at least that's what I think.

Finally, on a related topic to "energy consultants," the Public Building Commission met tonight. They were interviewing ESCOs (Energy Services Companies) for work to be done on the electric-heated portion of CHS (about 1/3 of the building). No word yet on how that meeting went, but I'm hoping to expand this project to cover the entire town.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Meetings

Happenings this week:

TODAY
Solar panel (photovoltaic) building review
As a result of the Town of Cheshire participating in the "20% by 2010" clean energy program AND because we've had 100 households participate in the program, the Town gets one free solar panel (photovoltaic/PV). This afternoon, the DPW will tour town facilities with the PV installer, looking for the best location to install the PV. I think the goal is to install it for Earth Day, April 22.

Free Iced Coffee
All day at Dunkin Donuts

Liberty Day
This morning at Dodd - Tom Ruocco is speaking to 8th grade history students.

Budget workshop
ROOM 207-209
6:15 p.m. Elections
6:30 p.m. Town Clerk
6:45 p.m. Planning
7:15 p.m. Recess
7:30 p.m. Public Works, Public Property, Water Pollution Control

TOMORROW
Chamber of Commerce Legislative Breakfast
7:30am, Elim Park, $15/p

Budget workshop
6:00 p.m., ROOM 207-209
6:15 p.m. Finance, General Services
7:00 p.m. Building Inspection
7:15 p.m. Recess
7:30 p.m. Police, Animal Control
8:15 p.m. Fire

Republican Town Committee (RTC) meeting
7:30pm, Town Hall

Spotlight on Cheshire (DTC sponsored)
8:30pm, Cox channel 15 (I think)

FRIDAY
RTC fundraiser Pasta Supper
5:30pm - 7:30pm

SATURDAY
Elim Park has a groundbreaking ceremony for its "Celebrate Life" campaign. If you're a supporter of the performing and fine arts in Cheshire, you may be particularly interested in this... Elim Park is planning to build a small indoor theater that would be available for use by the public. For more info (including donations), feel free to give me a call.

Any other events happening?

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

07/08 Budget PH 3/20

Tonight's public hearing on the budget was relatively quiet. The Town Manager, Michael Milone, and Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Greg Florio (yes, he's a PhD now), each presented their proposed budgets. Then, I believe, four people spoke on various parts of the budget (senior center, library & police).

Aside from that, I have some initial thoughts:

1) pool - another $400k+ subsidy is still too much
2) middle school coordinator - this is part of the town budget and the idea is to increase the number of hours... I'm looking forward to getting a better understanding of why the town seems to be serving a school function. Or perhaps the schools aren't serving this function... although I thought this was similar to the role of a guidance counselor.
3) school maintenance - Greg Florio wants increased funding for school maintenance. And while that sounds good, I really want to make sure we have a solid plan, rather than just going off and doing ad hoc projects that may not be adding the most value possible. So following the meeting, I spoke with both Mike Ecke and Michael Milone. My goal is to make sure that before we continue spending money on energy projects (worthwhile though they may be), we set up some sort of overall plan and prioritize the potential energy projects. This is precisely why I have been calling for the town to do an RFP for ESCOs (energy services companies).

No other thoughts right now... just going to bed.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Strathmore dam

Someone asked about Strathmore dam. And while it hasn't been mentioned much lately, I'm pretty sure that a number of people are curious to know the status of this particular item.

Anyway, while this sits in the Planning Committee (Diane Visconti, Chair), I figured that since it's in the 1st District, Elizabeth Esty may be more current on the status. So I emailed her today and she got right back to me with the following... Town Hall has heard back from the State, but the Council has not yet been brought up to speed. The proposed schedule to begin deliberations is April for both the Planning and Budget Committees. Stay tuned....

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Avoiding sewers

Here's a bill that may interest supporters of the northend development. It's called:

HB6768 AN ACT CONCERNING THE APPROVAL OF SUBSURFACE WASTEWATER DISPOSAL SYSTEMS.

One potential hangup for the northend could be sewers. However, HB6768 may help to avert those concerns. This bill is to get debated by the Environment Committee, Wednesday morning at 10:30am.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Biodiesel factory

"Two partners in a pair of home heating oil companies are hoping to open a facility on Sandbank Road that makes bio-fuel (NHR, by Luther Turmelle)... The facility would be on the grounds of Village Oil... (and) is expected to employ as many as two dozen people within two years after it begins operating."

Fantastic!

If this comes to fruition, this would help:

1) reduce our dependence on foreign oil,
2) protect the environment (drop emissions),
3) improve our health (via fewer emissions),
4) curb sprawl (somewhere in the US, if not in CT)
5) create jobs!

Cheshire and Connecticut could both win with something like this.

Tim White
Town Council, Energy Commission liaison

Video working?

When you play the video, does the audio work?
	yes
	no
	I don't know. Because I'm a caveman-that's the way I think.
pollcode.com free polls

ok, ok, OK... I know people are going to be upset with that comment, but you need to understand... that's the punchline from one of my alltime favorite pop culture icons... and I'd use that line regardless of the recent flurry of comments on the blog. See, I grew up on UNFROZEN CAVEMAN LAWYER (click for the wikipedia page).

"Invented" during my formative years (1988) by the late Phil Hartman, Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer was one of the funniest SNL characters ever.

And if I'm gonna put time into this blog, I insist on having some fun with it! And how could you not enjoy classics, such as

"It's just 'Cirroc', your Honor.. and, yes, I'm ready. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I'm just a caveman. I fell on some ice and later got thawed out by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! Sometimes the honking horns of your traffic make me want to get out of my BMW.. and run off into the hills, or wherever.. Sometimes when I get a message on my fax machine, I wonder: "Did little demons get inside and type it?" I don't know! My primitive mind can't grasp these concepts. But there is one thing I do know - when a man like my client slips and falls on a sidewalk in front of a public library, then he is entitled to no less than two million in compensatory damages, and two million in punitive damages. Thank you."

—Phil Hartman as "Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer", Saturday Night Live, November 23, 1991.

Tim White

Open forum 3/20

Lots of stuff going on this week...

The Council is having a public hearing on the operating budget tonight at 7:30pm in Town Hall. Please come and speak your mind. On Wednesday and Thursday, we'll be having budget workshops at 6pm. For more details on the budget workshop schedules, click here.

The Cheshire Chamber of Commerce will be holding their annual "legislative breakfast" this Thursday, March 22nd, at 7:30 am at Elim Park. The cost is $15.00. If you'd like to attend, please call the Chamber at 272-2345.

Republicans, and presumably Democrats, are looking for candidates to run for office in this November's elections... the process is already beginning as the official nominating caucuses will happen in July. If you're interested, call up any member of the Council. I'm sure we'd all be happy to steer you in the right direction.

The Cheshire GOP will be holding its annual Pasta Supper, this Friday from 5:30-7:30pm at the Cheshire Academy Commons. Tickets are $10/p. Feel free to call me, if you're interested (439-4394).

I finally got around to seeing "The Departed" this weekend. If you haven't seen it yet, but you are a Godfather/Sopranos/Goodfellas fan... go get it. The actors... even Leonardo Dicaprio... were fantastic. And the end... well... it's a surprise with a twist with a climax ending all wrapped up with a nasty, little rat that'll never, ever be taken outta Boston.

What else is happening?

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Council update

Ever wonder about what happens with stuff before it comes to the Council?

Just as the ETR went to the Ordinance Review Committee, most items that appear on the Council agenda have previously been discussed and "vetted" at the committee level. The Council has six committees. Click here to see the members of each committee.

Anyway, here's a current status report of what's on the plate of each committee (Chair included):

Audit Committee (me)
• nothing at this time

Budget Committee (Ecke)
• regular meeting budgetary items
• Strathmore Woods dam
• FY 07-08 budget
• Legislative Package

Ordinance Review Committee (Esty)
• police commission
• volunteer firefighters’ pension (waiting for response from volunteers)
• maintenance of Code of Ordinances and tracking of amendments
• ordinance book sale fee increase (awaiting info from Town Clerk)

Personnel Committee (Altieri)
• volunteer firefighters’ pension (waiting for response from volunteers)
• Town Manager’s goals & objectives and performance review (in May and June 07)
• Proposed personnel changes in 07-08 budget

Planning Committee (Visconti)
• Strathmore Woods dam
• Lassen property utilization and barn status
• Environment Commission recommendation on Giddings’ proposal for Boulder Knoll
• Environment Commission request to name open space “May Park”
• Public Safety Commission request for sign waiver
• land management plans (ongoing)
• request for easement over Town property at Richmond Glen (on hold until project proceeds)
• 07-08 Strategic Plan priorities

Solid Waste Committee (Visconti)
• bulky waste program review
• transfer station status
• barite mines

Anything of particular interest to anyone? I'm not averse to doing something on any of these items. Or perhaps you'd like to do something yourself? Maybe call up the committee Chair and write something up?

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Death of the spending cap

"Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants to shift $49.6 million in short-term purchases out of state agency budgets, proposing instead to make those purchases on credit... the governor is proposing to charge more than 60 percent of short-term purchases of office equipment, vehicles, machinery, tools and other capital items with a limited useful life... Today, nearly 12 percent of the state budget goes to pay the interest and principal due on state bonds. The state's outstanding debt equates to $6,542 for every man, woman and child in Connecticut... Shifting spending out of the general fund is one way of dealing with budget constraints... The Rell administration has repeatedly emphasized that the state spending cap is leaving little maneuvering room this budget cycle. The cap limits the annual growth in the budget based on increases in income tax collections or the inflation rate... Yet, capital equipment represents only 2 percent of the general obligation bonds that Rell proposed for 2008 and 2009. In comparison, school construction accounts for 50.1 percent of the two-year total. The governor proposed to authorize more than $1.3 billion in grants." (WRA, by Paul Hughes)

Lots of information here... I apologize for that. This article just had too many tasty tidbits for me to pass them by.

Couple of things...

First, isn't there a reason that 80% of the electorate voted in favor of the spending cap in the early 90s?

Second, CTs debt is out of control. If you multiply that $6,542 by 3million people, you get $20BILLION in debt! Then there's the teacher's $8billion underfunded pension and the postretirement benefits of other state employees... and I think we get to at least $36billion dollars in debt and other obligations. (btw, if my numbers are wrong, please correct me... but I think these numbers are fair.)

Third, we're talking about moving stuff that could be in the operating budget... into the capital budget? Don't get me wrong, I'm an accountant. I'm sure that I could defend almost any of these accounting decisions. But that doesn't mean I could defend the fact that CT is going deeper and deeper into debt... at a time when financial markets are (probably) taking a long, hard look at CT and considering whether we really should have the debt rating that we have. (And if that debt rating drops, our interest costs go up.)

Fourth (and not directly related, but if you're curious)... the town's rules for determining if something goes in the operating budget or the capital budget is simple. Items that cost more than $110,000 and have a life of more than five years are bonded. If the item is less than either one of those (such as a car that costs $20,000), then the item is paid for via the operating budget.

Fifth, one of the major problems with debt is that we're paying for stuff tomorrow. In turn, the taxes go up tomorrow. And this was one of the main reasons that I was so upset with the 109th (Republican) Congress. They were cutting taxes, but not spending. So basically they were just cutting taxes today... and forcing us to raise taxes tomorrow. Or at least that's how I saw it.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Sen. Caligiuri's bills (part II)

And here are the bills introduced by Sam Caligiuri via the Senate:

SB00105 AN ACT CONCERNING ENERGY RELIEF FOR CONNECTICUT RATEPAYERS.
SB00364 AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS OF THE STATE FOR THE PURCHASE OF OPEN SPACE AND FARM LAND.
SB00462 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR THE EXPANSION OF LAKE COMPOUNCE WATER PARK.
SB00489 AN ACT CONCERNING THE LOAN OF TEXTBOOKS TO NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS.
SB00492 AN ACT CONCERNING A TAX CREDIT FOR BUSINESS DONATIONS TO SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS.
SB00497 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR RENOVATION AND ENHANCEMENT TO THE SILAS BRONSON LIBRARY IN WATERBURY.
SB00550 AN ACT PROHIBITING THE USE OF AUTOMATED AND PRERECORDED TELEPHONE CALLS BY POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS.
SB00722 AN ACT INCREASING THE PENALTY FOR FAILING TO YIELD THE RIGHT-OF-WAY TO PEDESTRIANS IN CROSSWALKS.
SB00749 AN ACT CONCERNING PROTESTS AND HARASSMENT AT MILITARY FUNERALS OR BURIAL SERVICES.
SB00848 AN ACT CONCERNING LOANS TO MUNICIPALITIES TO FULLY FUND PENSION SYSTEMS.
SB00893 AN ACT CONCERNING THE SEXUAL ASSAULT, ABUSE OR EXPLOITATION OF A CHILD UNDER THIRTEEN YEARS OF AGE.
SB00905 AN ACT CONCERNING THE ELDERLY PROPERTY TAX FREEZE PROGRAM.
SB00923 AN ACT CONCERNING ALTERNATIVES TO OIL FILTRATION.
SB00941 AN ACT CONCERNING THE DOC GUNTHER BRIDGE.
SB00943 AN ACT REDUCING THE TAX RATE OF THE GROSS EARNINGS TAX AND DEDICATING REVENUES TO TRANSPORTATION PURPOSES.
SB00960 AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL BUILDING PROJECTS AT SOUTH END ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND THE PLANTSVILLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN SOUTHINGTON.

Tim White

Cuts to PILOT

"Trying to balance its budget in tough times, one of New Britain's major landowners says it may decide to save nearly $950,000 next year by simply writing a smaller check at property tax season.The landowner is the state of Connecticut. Gov. M. Jodi Rell wants to spend less next year on "payments in lieu of taxes" - PILOT grants - that the state is paying this year for colleges, hospitals, parks, office buildings, fleet garages, courthouses and other properties across Connecticut. New Britain, where Central Connecticut State University is located, and nine other communities are likely to take the biggest share of the hit." (Courant, by Don Stacom)

I'm not sure which nine communities may be caught in the crossfire. But if you're new to this stuff... then you should know that Cheshire receives a significant PILOT payment due to the state-owned prison property. So Cheshire may have a lot to lose if this proposal is adopted.

Tim White
Town Council, Budget Committee

Adding video

As you can see, I figured out how to get video from youtube to the blog. But I still need to figure out how to get video from a DVD to youtube. As well, youtube limits video to ten minutes.

And one other thought... if anyone wants to start a blog of their own, I'd be happy to link to it.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

UPDATE: I'm pretty sure the audio is not working. I'll try to figure that out, then take some time to figure out how to upload video to youtube... sorry for another delay... some of these things can take a while to understand.

Testing video

Just testing to see how to get video onto the blog.

Perks for legislators

Ever wonder about the “perks” of being a state legislator? The WRA has a nice spread today, detailing a lot of the perks (by Paul Hughes).

“It is the health benefits that are particularly advantageous for former legislators. The state pays 100 percent of the cost of certain medical plans; other choices require retirees to pay part of the premium cost.”

State legislators’ “Pension payments now total $506,380, whereas health care for retired legislators and qualified dependents costs more than $1 million.”

Legislators “who retired after (1997) can select from among several plans with varying restrictions and premium co-payments required. They pay approximately $11 to $32 a month for health insurance, depending on the plan and the number of people covered.”

The article also mentions the type of pension plans offered to all state employees, including legislators. “There are three different state retirement plans: Tier I, Tier II and Tier IIA. All are defined-benefit plans.” I’d very much like to change from defined benefit plans to defined contribution plans. The main reason I think we should do this is because it would take the uncertainty away from taxpayer. That’s the reason that I voted against the town union contracts last fall.

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Southington smartboards

Southington schools seem to like their smartboards (MRJ, by Jennifer Manes). Anyone know the status of Cheshire's smartboards?

Tim White
Town Council, 4th District

Sen. Sam Caligiuri

Here are the house bills introduced by state Senator Sam Caligiuri:

HB05121 AN ACT CREATING AN ACCOUNT WITHIN THE GENERAL FUND FOR REMEDIATION OF ABANDONED MINES.
HB05190 AN ACT CONCERNING HIGHWAY NOISE ABATEMENT.
HB05338 AN ACT CREATING A CONNECTICUT GOLD STAR FAMILY LICENSE PLATE.
HB05356 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR A BOUNDLESS PLAYGROUND IN THE TOWN OF CHESHIRE.
HB05559 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR INFRASTUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS AT THE INDUSTRIAL PARK NEAR TOWN LINE ROAD.
HB05626 AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR INCUMBENT WORKER TRAINING.
HB05678 AN ACT INCREASING FUNDING FOR COURTHOUSE SECURITY.
HB05828 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IMPACT PROGRAM IN WATERBURY.
HB05913 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR INSTALLATION OF A WATER LINE IN DANBURY.
HB06081 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS IN WATERBURY.
HB06164 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR MATTATUCK MUSEUM ARTS AND HISTORY CENTER IN WATERBURY.
HB06204 AN ACT CONCERNING TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPANY PROPERTY.
HB06499 AN ACT CONCERNING JOB GROWTH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
HB06505 AN ACT INCLUDING THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT IN WATERBURY'S ENTERPRISE ZONE.
HB06610 AN ACT CONCERNING THE SOUTH END ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN PLANTSVILLE.
HB06771 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR CONSTRUCTION AT THE FARMINGBURY HILLS GOLF COURSE IN THE TOWN OF WOLCOTT.
HB06773 AN ACT AUTHORIZING BONDS OF THE STATE FOR INSTALLATION OF A WATER LINE IN WOLCOTT.
HB06851 AN ACT APPROPRIATING FUNDS FOR THE CONNECTICUT HISTORY FILM PROJECT.
HB06883 AN ACT CONCERNING EXEMPTION OF CERTAIN RELIGIOUS COLLEGES OR BIBLE COLLEGES FROM THE HIGHER EDUCATION LICENSING PROCESS.
HB07014 AN ACT CONCERNING THE LEGION OF CHRIST COLLEGE OF HUMANITIES.

Tim White