Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Some initial thoughts on the Council at-large horse race

Justin Adinolfi is the top Dem vote-getter for Council at-large.

Tim Slocum has put in the most time in Cheshire for any GOPer and he gets the most votes for an R. And while any of the other Council at-large candidates can do well, their effort in the campaign will mean a lot.

I'm expecting Jimmy Sima to do well. He's the most conservative Council member with whom I've served and he's very consistent. I can't see any reason why the voters would fire him.

I don't care for his politics, but he'll put in his time campaigning. You don't win state championships - unless you're tireless in pursuit of your goal. For that reason, I'm guessing Councilman Turf will be back for a third term.

For any reporters looking for a human interest story during the dog days of summer, Anne Giddings is related to this guy. He's married to her twin sister. And since it must take some political know-how to be elected both a Governor and a US Senator, I'm guessing she may get some useful advice for her campaign. I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit to see her get elected.

Sylvia Nichols owned the Window Box for a few decades. I'm guessing there's at least a few people in town who will remember the designer of their wedding floral arrangements fondly.

Joe Bartoli has been a member of the ZBA for a couple terms now. He's also been involved with advocating the 3-strikes bill. He hasn't been in Cheshire as long as Tim Slocum, but I think Joe's also spent about 100% of his life here. So I'm sure he's got lots of friends who will support him.

Kerrie Dunne is a member of the Inland Wetlands Committee. Mike Evans is a Republican appointment Democratic member of the Retirement Board.

As for Councilman Truth and his long-held desire to hold the wholly unnecessary title of Honorary Mayor... I firmly hope that his wish does not come true. I don't see any need for the Town to have a chief elected official who routinely throws temper tantrums on TV. Don't get me wrong, he's a nice guy. But we've all seen the behavior for the past few years. And doesn't anyone else remember a year ago when he effectively said he didn't know why he was on the Council? (Hint: It was during the turf discussion.)

I truly believe that it's possible for any of these candidates to win. But at this point, I'd only put money on Adinolfi, Altieri and Slocum. I love serving with Jimmy Sima, but like the other six candidates... the hardest-working and smartest-working ones will win. I'm guessing Jimmy will be among the top five vote recipients.

Here is the Herald's take on the fall classic.

Tim White

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

The first time councilman Turf came by my house to campaing, he was sweaty, asked if there were any concerns we had, when I started to tell him he brushed me off and said he had a lot of homes to visit but would contact me at a later date and took my number.
Never called or contacted. Never got my vote. Never will get my vote.

Tim--was it Matt Bowmans idea to run or was he drafted to push the turf through by Ecke, Hall, and Altieri?

tim white said...

I have no idea, but I'd put money on Tom.

Anonymous said...

Ecke can always pretend to be Mayor and give himself the title, just like he pretended to be a CPA.

Wonder if Ecke will have the audacity to claim to be a CPA again this year on his campaign material?

Anonymous said...

Tom should win it on brains alone.
Can you imagine a council with Ecke and Bowman? There will be fist fights when a resident questions their tactics.
The last thing we need are 2 hot heads.

Anonymous said...

Bowman's candidacy is the majority's way of rubbing salt in the wounds of their incompetence and borderline corruption.

Anonymous said...

Why are you (Tim) so high on Adinolfi? He has a lot explaining to do for his North-end project push. He must have had a big stake in that project and someone should ask him a lot of questions. He will not get my vote.

Breachway said...

Adinolfi will not get my vote due to North End. I can't wait to see if Ecke puts that he is a CPA on his flyer this year...I think he will put something to the effect, but not a CPA....and i hope the other cnadidates call him on it.

Anonymous said...

Tim, no mention of Dave Schrumm. Do you have a problem with him?

Anonymous said...

This post is more about Tim's predictions of who will do well. I think we can assume he's supporting all the candidates of his own party.

Anonymous said...

It's bad enough that Matt Bowman is on the Inland Wetlands Commission, but being on the council is absurd. I suspect that his main motivation is self interest and to help the many Bowman family interests. He is the developers dream candidate.

As for Adinolfi, a council seat would really help his business. It seemed that was working full time for W/S doing everything he could to help them, including his phoney petitions. He's in it fro himself and no other reason.

The Democratic party should be ashamed of putting these kinds of candidates on their slate. They are there only to support the special interests of the developers and realtors.

Anonymous said...

I'm all for ousting the useless Democrat at-large incumbents, who have done nothing but pontificate and waste time and money.

But bringing back Dave Schrumm in the 1st District?.... sigh....Are the Libertarians or the Greens going to field a candidate?

Anonymous said...

Schrumm can get on your nerves but he knows what the hell is going on and he does care...it's not beyond comprehension that our property taxes could DOUBLE in 5 years....need people like him to hold taxes WAY down...

Anonymous said...

Schrumm was in favor of the "trail to nowhere" that helped cost the GOP control of the Council in 2005.

Then of course the Democrats had THEIR list of unnecessary pork barrel projects they've tried to foirst on the town.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather see money go towards the trail. Improvements to the trail benefit the whole community not just a small group of people.

Anonymous said...

I'll take Schrumm over the 3 Stooges
(Ecke, Altieri, Decaprio),
and the dangerous one (Bowman)
any day.