13th Senate district's special election taking shape

Now that the criminal Tom Gaffey is gone from office, the February 22 special election is taking shape. Based on the MRJs reporting by Dan Ivers and Lisa Backus, Meriden has more than 50% of the votes at the Dem nominating convention. In fact, of the district's four towns -- Cheshire, Meriden, Middlefield and Middletown -- Meriden Dem convention delegates comprise:

five more than the three other towns combined

and Meriden Dems intend to vote as a block, supporting Thomas E. Bruenn:

a retired Platt High School teacher who also has served as the president of the Meriden Federation of Teachers. He has been on the Board of Education for the past three-and-a-half years.

And since there are no primaries in a special election, it appears that Elizabeth Esty won't be a candidate. That could be bad news for the Cheshire GOP in 2011. If she's not running for Congress, she may have some time on her hands this year. I'm sure Ernie Dipietro would love to have her as the campaign manager for the local campaign.

As for the GOP, we still don't appear to have coalesced around a particular candidate. While I'm figuring Len Suzio will be the choice, the MRJ indicates that Middletown's Republican Mayor lives within the 13th district. So he'd have to be considered. And there are some other Meriden Rs considering a run.

Looking forward, the Dems are set to nominate their candidate on Thursday. And the MRJ says that the GOP will nominate someone on Monday, though it's unclear if it's tomorrow or eight days from today.

The important thing for both sides to remember is that special elections tend to have low turnout. So while the 13th district is a Dem district by most measures, a high turnout among Republicans could swing the district to the GOP column. But that requires boots-on-the-ground, trudging through snow in the cold February winds of the central Connecticut valley.

Who's up for a victory party?

Tim White

Tom Gaffey resigning in disgrace

I guess I was right. According to the CT Mirror... Cheshire's senior state Senator, Tom Gaffey, is resigning! Yippee!

But he's history. Looking forward, who's gonna throw their hat in the ring for the special election?

My guess is that GOPs 2010 13th senate district candidate, Len Suzio, will run. I'm not sure he'll get the GOP nod, but he seems like the logical choice. The Dem side is more interesting though. I doubt there's any immediate frontrunner.

While the demographics suggest the Dem nomination would go to a Meriden Dem -- I think Meriden has four state reps who are Dems -- I've got to think Elizabeth Esty is already looking at her viability in this race. How many delegates are there to the special election's nominating convention? How many Cheshire delegates will be at the convention? How many anti-death penalty delegates will be there? Etc. It may be possible for her to get the nomination.

As for the district population numbers. Off the top of my head, I think a state Senate district represents about 100,000 people. That 100,000 includes about 2/3 of Cheshire... or 17,000 to 18,000 people. It also includes all of Meriden... about 50,000 to 60,000 people. And the balance of the 100,000 covers part of Middletown and all of Middlefield. And the convention will probably have delegates in proportion to either population or Dem registrations... not sure which.

This'll certainly make Cheshire's politics interesting for the next week or two as the parties move toward choosing candidates. And FWIW, I'm pretty sure that special elections do no allow for primaries. I think the nominees are determined by the party conventions... which are normally -- though not exclusively -- filled by Town Committee members. But for real go-getters, you should know that those conventions are filled with delegates who are probably elected at town-level party caucuses. And if you have the energy, you're free to invite hundreds of your friends and effectively "stack the deck" in favor of whoever you and your friends feel is the best nominee for your party.

Tim White

QU trend line on the legislature's approval rating

I gathered some polling data from the Quinnipiac website. QU has sporadically asked voters if they approve of the job being done by the state legislature. Here's the results that I could find:There doesn't seem to be any polling between June 2004 and February 2007. But it's pretty obvious that people aren't too happy with the legislature.

Tim White

Legislative Dems want $1B bonded for infrastructure

From the AP:

Legislative Democrats on Friday unveiled a plan to borrow $1 billion to pay for construction projects across Connecticut that they say will create more than 16,000 jobs.

The 12-month initiative calls for funding previously authorized transportation, housing, energy conservation, clean water and higher education capital improvement projects that can be started within 90 to 120 days.

The article continued by describing Governor Rell's office as "unenthusiastic."

Her office maintains that the governor will continue to use bonding as an economic development tool, but "will not do so irresponsibly and she will not do it for pork barrel projects."

This may prove interesting. Though my guess is that this, like so many other Hartford Headlines, will simply disappear without much more discussion.

Regardless, I thought the $787 billion stimulus plan was supposed to address infrastructure needs and create jobs? Why does the state need to do this?

Tim White

Dem suggests new legislative leaders needed

From the Courant's Rick Green reporting on the ongoing budget debacle in Hartford:

"It is depressing," said state Sen. Ed Meyer, a Democrat from Guilford. "We badly need a new governor. We probably need new legislative leaders."

While some legislators want to behave as adults, the legislative leaders (such as Senate President Don Williams) seem to prefer spending their time demanding compliance from all rank'n'file members on every-which-issue by threatening to eliminate their reserved parking space.

CTs legislature would be greatly improved if both Don Williams and his number three, Tom Gaffey, left Hartford next year.

Tim White

Some background on the proposed prison closing

Reporting by Brian Lockhart for The Stamford Advocate:

Lawmakers, desperate to save money in the budget crisis, have quietly reversed a significant reform to the criminal justice system made after a 2007 home invasion and triple homicide in Cheshire.

Hoping to reduce the prison population and save an estimated $4 million annually, Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the Democratic-majority Legislature agreed to lift nearly two-year-old restrictions on supervised re-entry furloughs to release prisoners early.

As I've said before, I don't want to see people imprisoned for using marijuana. And if there are people behind bars for that (and only that), then I think they should be released. But I don't have a great deal of faith in our prison system "getting it right." So I'm not comfortable with this cost-saving measure.

I wonder how Cheshire's five state legislators view this. I'm curious to see the alternative cost reduction they suggest. For me, I'd probably start with the DOT. With debacles like I-84s storm-drains-to-nowhere, I'm confident there are plenty of changes that could and should be happening there.

Tim White

Council meeting - December 8, 2009

Here's the new business part of the agenda for the December 8 Council meeting:As you can see, I may request adding "subpoena power" for State's Attorneys.

Tim White

Likely prison closing

Cheshire has several prisons in the overall complex at the corner of Highland and Jarvis. Governor Rell has announced her plan to close one of the prisons. Here's Town Hall's take on it:

We were informed late this afternoon that Governor Rell has recommended closing the Level Two minimum security Webster Correctional Institution in Cheshire. The closure would take eight to 10 weeks to complete. The 220 inmates would be transferred, and the closure could be reversed should the need arise.

Since the PILOT payment is based on the assessed value of the real property, PILOT revenue should not be impacted by this closing. However, it could slightly reduce sewer user fee revenue, but it could also decrease the inflow to the Waste Water Treatment Plant as well, which would free up capacity.

For reference, PILOT stands for Payment In Lieu Of Taxes. The Town gets PILOT money for a variety of reasons, property taxes on the prison complex is one of them. Also, the total prison population has hovered around 2700 for the past few years.

Tim White

The Day on Hartford's December 15 special session

The Day editorializes on Christmas presents for state legislators when they meet on December 15 for a special session:

Many members of the General Assembly deserve lumps of coal in their holiday stockings, nothing more...

Rather than close the budget gap left over from last year, they agreed to borrow nearly $1 billion, precluding more borrowing now...

The budget approved by the General Assembly and signed by the governor this past summer was a farce. Now it's time to deal with reality.

Tim White

CBS' Dennis House is blogging

I just stumbled across a blog written by CBS' Dennis House. I'm not sure when he started it, but it seems interesting. His current headline story is about the likely 2010 candidates for Governor. And speaking of CT-based TV anchors, I can't forget to mention my fave and her blog - Sarah French.

Tim White

Rep. Fritz: "They are not slush funds!"

On Tuesday, the Council was discussing the turf. During the discussion I had an opportunity to ask State Representative Mary Fritz to help us understand the grant allocation process in Hartford. It was a question I began asking more than a year ago.

I started by offering some background:

In the news media there have been reports that there are these “discretionary funds” that actually total about $36,000,000 which are dedicated or allocated at the discretion of the Governor, the Speaker of the House and the Senate President on an annual basis. So they each have $12,000,000 discretionary funds.

In January or February of ’08, you were quoted – if I recall correctly – in the (Cheshire) Herald that the money for this turf grant came from the Speaker of the House’s discretionary fund.

I finished by asking the question I had waited well more than a year to ask her on camera:

What are the criteria used to prioritize the allocation of these discretionary funds?

Representative Fritz answered:

They are not slush funds. It’s called negotiations.



Please note that I did not mention the phrase "slush fund" at Tuesday's meeting. It was Rep. Fritz who started talking about slush funds in Hartford.

Tim White

North block to be used only in emergencies

From the NHRs Luther Turmelle:

The acting head of the state Department of Correction has reaffirmed that the vacant North Block at the Cheshire Correctional Institution will be used only in emergencies, Town Manager Michael Milone says.

Tim White

Yankee Institute fighting for transparency in Hartford

CT's conservative think tank, Yankee Institute, is being showcased by the WRAs David Krechevsky:

If you've ever wondered how the state spends every last penny of your tax dollars, the Yankee Institute for Public Policy will soon show you.

Fergus Cullen, executive director of the conservative think tank based on the Trinity College campus in Hartford, said Tuesday his organization is developing ctsunlight.com, a Web site that will make "every line-item of state spending" available to the general public.

That's great. With increased transparency, maybe now we can learn where exactly the "amorphous" annual $36,000,000 slush fund annual $36,000,000 discretionary fund exists within the budget.

Tim White

Rell considers prison use, could impact Cheshire

The NHRs Luther Turmelle reports:

Cheshire officials are nervous that a request by Gov. M. Jodi Rell to have the state Department of Correction review the feasibility of consolidating some facilities could mean more prisoners in town.

Rell told DOC officials Friday that she wants acting Commissioner Brian K. Murphy to report back to her by Nov. 27 on whether a prison can be closed “with the safety of staff, the public and the inmates as a priority.”

Keep in mind that Cheshire's "north block" is vacant. So a shifting of prisoners could mean that Cheshire's 500 or so empty beds in the north block could become filled.

Tim White

Replacing the North Brooksvale Road bridge over Roaring Brook

The NHRs Luther Turmelle reports:

The replacement of the Route 42 bridge over Roaring Brook is scheduled to begin today, with work on the $650,000 project scheduled to last through the end of the year.

The state Department of Transportation decided to expedite replacement of the 47-year-old bridge after a routine inspection this spring found “a rapid deterioration of the bridge that was indicative of repeated usage by oversize, overweight trucks,” said Kevin Nursick, a DOT spokesman. The bridge is located between Whispering Hollow Court and Mountain Road.

Tim White

The Turf grant

There are a few more pages to the turf grant, but I think this is the most relevant part:I thank Anne Giddings (Council, at-large) for having gotten these grant details.

And here is the second part (of three parts) of the July 8, 2008 Council discussion on the turf:



Tim White

The state documents regarding the turf grant

As Anne Giddings (Council, at-large) mentioned elsewhere, she got the state documents regarding the turf grant. Here is the first page:I'll post the rest of the pages over the next few days.

And here's a repeat posting* of the July 8, 2008 Council acceptance of the turf money.



My comments start around the 20 minute mark. I knew I had tried (and failed) to redirect the money, but had forgotten that my motion was described as "preposterous" by the Council majority.

Tim White

* This is the first of three videos

GOP Senators want to further investigate Gaffey

Three GOP state Senators want to further investigate the two Democratic Senators - Gaffey and Crisco - who got in trouble with the State Elections Enforcement Commission.

If I recall correctly, Cheshire's Tom Gaffey had to pay a $6,000 fine for his double-billing of travel expenses... and Hamden's Joe Crisco had to pay a $4,000 fine for his forged signature on a campaign finance form.

Tim White

Dr. Petit on the death penalty

From the MRJs Amanda Falcone:

Dr. William A. Petit Jr. believes that in certain situations the death penalty is the only real punishment.

That's why the General Assembly's recent votes to abolish capital punishment prompted him to write an impassioned letter criticizing the move and to back Gov. M. Jodi Rell, a Republican, who has promised to veto the measure.

Tim White

Legislative response to my query about stimulus funding for a pool structure

Yesterday I mentioned that I emailed Cheshire's state Legislators. I've already gotten a response from Rep. Esty:

Tim,

Both Vickie and I have been in touch with the Gov’s office about the $38 million. Plans as yet unclear – DOE regs require the state to submit a plan by May 15, which will not be specific projects, I believe, but the contours of which categories the money will be used for. Focus is on energy efficiency, green jobs training, etc. Talk, too, about using the dollars for loans rather than grants, at least for larger projects.

Might be faster to talk on the phone in the next few days (but probably after the budget comes out on Thursday.)

Elizabeth*

So who knows? Maybe something could happen.

On a related note, the Energy Commission is involved in the planning of an Earth Day event at the Public Library on April 18. Elizabeth Esty will be offering comments.

Tim White

* Elizabeth "replied all." So I don't expect to hear from anyone else.