The battle on monetary policy never ends

Does this sound familiar to anyone?

"The paper-money system and its natural associations--monopoly and exclusive privileges--have already struck their roots too deep in the soil, and it will require all your efforts to check its further growth and to eradicate the evil. The men who profit by the abuses and desire to perpetuate them will continue to besiege the halls of legislation in the General Government as well as in the States, and will seek by every artifice to mislead and deceive the public servants. It is to yourselves that you must look for safety and the means of guarding and perpetuating your free institutions. In your hands is rightfully placed the sovereignty of the country, and to you everyone placed in authority is ultimately responsible."

- Andrew Jackson, 1837 (see Andrew Jackson and early Tennessee History by S.G. Heiskell, 1921)

He was the father of the Democratic Party, but I care that he was a populist.

As for the significance of Jackson's views on the same issue I keep bemoaning - monetary policy - Jackson was the only US President to kill a central bank:

After a titanic struggle, Jackson succeeded in destroying the Bank by vetoing its 1832 re-charter by Congress and by withdrawing U.S. funds in 1833. (Wikipedia.org)

Some of you may recall this tell-all picture from grade school:

Now I'm not sure that we need to kill the Central Bank, but we definitely need to end fiat money and end the policy of inflating the currency by printing the money.

Printing more money won't solve our problems.

Tim White

Candidates fail to address entitlement reform, fail to earn a vote

The President of the Peterson Foundation and former Chief Accountant for the United States, David Walker, has said that if a candidate refuses to address the fiscal tsunami America faces (if we fail to enact entitlement reform), then that candidate doesn't deserve your vote. Here is one example of his simple reasoning:

And the Courant editorializes that candidates for federal office are not addressing this issue in substantive terms:

But there has been little said about entitlement reform on the campaign trail this fall. Presidential and congressional candidates don't want to touch this hot topic with the proverbial 10-foot pole. They have approached it only in the most general terms.

Mr. Obama said he would cut a $15 billion subsidy to insurance companies and would go over the budget line by line and cut programs that don't work. Mr. McCain favors a spending freeze — but would exempt the military and veterans budgets. He said he'd veto all earmarks, which this year total about $18 billion. These are inadequate answers on the part of both presidential candidates.

What surprises me is that with McCain's prospects looking so bad... why doesn't he swing for the fences and deal with reality? America is facing the collapse of the dollar and financial ruin. Seems to me that now is as good a time as ever to dustoff the Straight Talk Express, stop talking lipstick and deal with reality.

I doubt this would resuscitate his campaign. But if he gave some truly honest answers on fiscal policy and simultaneously addressed monetary policy (calling for an end to fiat money)... then his party may have a fighting chance in 2010.

Without a setup man in 2008, I don't see how the GOP mounts a real comeback in 2010. Though they may win seats... the country will likely continue to have no leadership on fiscal or monetary policy and the steady decline of America (including the dollar), will continue... with Washington becoming more distant with each election.

Tim White

Norton boiler installation completed? (hWg 43)

Councilman and PBC liaison, Matt Altieri, sent the following email to the Council on Wed Oct 15:

Hello Fellow Council Members

As a follow up to my liaison report I have some word on Norton Boiler. All three boilers are up and running and providing heat for the school. At least one boiler has been operational since Sept. 26. Due to a minor wiring problem there was a delay in getting all boilers on line-they were all put on line on Oct. 6th There is one more subcommittee meeting of the PBC that will go over certifications and reports and that will take place on Oct 17th. There were no problems reported with the boilers since they were put on line-as far as I know.

Best regards
Matt Altieri

But if you look at the history of hotWatergate, you'll see a "substantial completion" date and a "final completion" date. So I've already asked staff about that.

Furthermore, Councilman Altieri's description of a "minor wiring problem" is a red flag to me. How does one define "minor?" Considering this project has faced allegations of corruption... I want to understand this project well. (Hopefully we can get some new Council leadership next year and finally get to the bottom of this... as this Council has been derelict in its duties and taken a pass on truly understanding what happened. It's really disgraceful in my opinion that we never learned why The Corruption Memo was withheld for ten days... or what happened to The Disappearing Memo.)

As a reminder though, I don't view this mess as a result of any unilateral action by the Council's PBC liaison. Rather, it's an incomprehensible mess because of the refusal of this Council to ask real questions and get the truth, the whole truth and nothing, but the truth about what happened.

Tim White

Chamber breakfast

As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, the Cheshire Chamber of Commerce held an Economic Forum this morning at Elim Park. I had to leave early to get to work, but heard from Peter Gioia, an economist.

Two of his comments really caught my attention:

1) expect the $300 billion projected state budget deficit to balloon to at least $1 billion for each of the next two years, and

2) expect (a conservative) 27,000 layoffs in CT in the near future.

Ouch.

Not to worry though. Amann / Rell / Williams will be able to save the day with their $36 million slush fund discretionary fund.

Seriously though... 27,000 layoffs in the next year or so would be pretty bad. And I could easily see a $1 billion state budget shortfall translating into a $1 million cut in local funding.

Election Day is Tuesday November 4. I'm sure Donovan (Amann's presumptive heir) and Williams are urgently scheduling budget cut meetings for November 5. That's what has happened in the past.

Tim White

Open forum 10/16

The fall foliage is gorgeous. And for the first time ever, while driving south on Route 10 and being around 7-11, looking at Sleeping Giant... I noticed that South Main is virtually covered with power lines... not very attractive.

The Herald has a writeup on 3 strikes. And the NHR has their own writeup on the recent 3 Strikes press conference at Town Hall.

The MRJ has posted the "confidential draft" of Covanta's proposal on the trash plant.

Senator Chris Dodd still isn't releasing his mortgage documents. According to the Courant: When asked after a speech in Hartford whether his mortgage documents ever will become public, Dodd replied, "Not right now. No." And the Courant editorial board tattoos him for it.

What else is happening?

Tim White

Open thread on Candidate's forum

Anybody watch the Cheshire debate?

I couldn't believe that Bob Moran didn't show up... I hope he's ok. Though if he is ok and he didn't show up... that'd be really unfair to the other Registrars after all the charges that have been lobbed.

I thought the state Rep forum was good. Too bad Peter Votto (Connecticut for Lieberman) didn't attend. I'd loved to have asked him and his opponent, Rep. Mary Fritz (Democrat), about what they will do to ensure the I-84 fiasco doesn't happen again. And perhaps they could also opine on the punishment that should be meted out to anyone who misrepresents their qualifications in an effort to win a state contract, such as what happened with I-84 Chief Inspector William Fritz and the stormdrains-to-nowhere.

But the big disappointment for me was not having my question asked:

Do you support giving state's attorneys the power of subpoena?

And why is that question so important?

As the NYTimes opined:

the federal government cannot keep galloping in like the cavalry to save the day. Connecticut has to change its culture of corruption in much the same way, says Andy Sauer of Connecticut Common Cause, as the South had to change its racist attitudes 50 years ago to make repeated federal intervention unnecessary. The analogy is apt.

And concluded:

Strengthen the chief state’s attorney’s office by giving the state’s top prosecutor the power to issue subpoenas during investigations. The Legislature stripped away that power several decades ago when the chief state’s attorney was deemed too aggressive in fighting in-state corruption. The office must have more authority...

Sooner or later, state legislators must set aside their ingrained desire to protect their friends and instead strengthen the rule of law for everyone. It is the only way to fix a state that, for good reason, has become known nationwide as Corrupticut.

But since it didn't get asked, I approached my Rep. Vickie Nardello after the forum and asked her myself.

To my disappointment, she wouldn't give me a yes or no answer. She explained that the issue is nuanced and must be handled delicately.

What a joke.

There's a reason why The Constitution State is now called Corrupticut. The fix is in. The body politik is corrupt.

And though I doubt many legislators are personally corrupt... it's those wishy-washy answers that enable Connecticut's Culture of Corruption to flourish.

I'm disgusted with Hartford and their preference to "just get along," rather than address the real ills facing our state. Of course their nonsense about "getting along" is really driven by their desire to maintain legislative support for when they get their own DWI (Rep. Pat Dillon) or tolerate a bribe (Rep. Don Clemons), etc. Any reasonable person can see it for what it is.

But on a happier note... anything else catch your attention tonight?

Tim White

Bailout fails; nationalization is even worse

From the NYTimes (By MARK LANDLER and ERIC DASH):

The chief executives of the nine largest banks in the United States trooped into a gilded conference room at the Treasury Department at 3 p.m. Monday. To their astonishment, they were each handed a one-page document that said they agreed to sell shares to the government, then Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said they must sign it before they left.

by 6:30, all nine chief executives had signed — setting in motion the largest government intervention in the American banking system since the Depression and retreating from the rescue plan Mr. Paulson had fought so hard to get through Congress only two weeks earlier.

So the bailout bombed. And now Print'em Paulson wants to nationalize the banking sector.

Anyone else hear echoes of a fellow native of the western hemisphere?

Aug 1, 2008 - President Hugo Chavez on Thursday ordered the nationalization of the Banco de Venezuela "to put it at the service of Venezuela" after denying approval for its sale.

Maybe we could nationalize our oil fields while we're at it?

Or maybe we could take over the telecom or cement industries?

Heck... let's nationalize Everybody's and Stop n Shop!

But on a serious note... where exactly does this slippery slope end? And I point out that neither McCain nor Obama did anything to stop the Bernanke / Paulson fearmongering that they spread like wildfire in September.

Bush's bailout is bad news. And neither McCain nor Obama appear to understand monetary policy... so despite some great rhetoric, don't expect either of the candidates from the two major parties to really effect "fundamental change." Whether Obama or McCain win, it's still gonna be more of the same failed Bush policies fiat monetary policies.

Tim White

Change that to "discussion stifled"

Yesterday I discussed the stifling of open discussion during Council meetings. But upon further reflection, I want to add to it.

Over the past year or so, there have been several times when I've been denied permission to speak.* However, I don't recall a time when I challenged a denial and was again rejected. So it's been my experience that discussion is allowed. And I needed to say that. Additionally, I do see a benefit in moving meetings along when the hour is late.

Nonetheless, it does seem to me that every time I challenge the denial of "the floor" that I end up getting publicly chastised for a comment... or my question goes unanswered... even though it often takes five minutes to explain why the hour is too late to answer a yes or no question.

Furthermore, as I mentioned yesterday, it'd be simple enough to split an agenda into two meetings.

Anyway, I decided my headline yesterday "Discussion prohibited - what's new?" was too strong. But the basic premise of the stifling of discussion remains. And I'm tired of it.

Tim White

* though they're not necessarily part of the public record

Senator Government

Anyone catch that comment by McCain? It sounded unintentional, but I'm not sure.

Tim White

Discussion prohibited - what's new?

Here's the resolution that seemed to stir up the most controversy tonight:
Two things that run through my mind:

1) Will we soon hear that we need to "repair" the natural turf?

2) If you saw the end of the meeting, you may have heard me voicing a concern about the stifling of open discussion.

But first some background... earlier in the meeting when we voted on the above agenda item, I quietly asked for the floor to speak. I was told "no." So I left the meeting rather disgusted, particularly since we could have done half of tonight's meeting at our usual second-meeting-of-the-month that we skipped in September.

Anyway, my point about this whole fund is simple... much of these infrastructure improvements could be funded through a performance contract. But we all know that the Council majority is effectively opposed to energy conservation... because they're so concerned about having campaigned on their vaunted bond rating... a rating which, as we heard tonight... doesn't mean squat because no bond market even exists today.

Any other comments / questions on tonight's meeting? I'll probably post a few more times on tonight's meeting.

Tim White

A stop at the Watch Factory

I stopped by the Watch Factory Shoppes today. Here are two of the shops I visited:
They were both very nice and offered an assortment of things that you might consider as holiday gifts. I really liked the environmentally-friendly Wild Green shop.

I also stopped in the Funky Monkey Cafe. They're having a comedy night on Thursday... and have a whole bunch of events planned there... in case you're ever looking for something to do.

Tim White

Three Strikes press conference

From the MRJs Jesse Buchanan:

The Three Strikes Now Coalition, state Senator Sam Caligiuri and state representative Al Adinolfi held a press conference in town hall in support of the coalition's efforts to pass tougher criminal penalties.

Dr. William Petit also spoke in support of the legislation, saying protecting citizens was a fundamental role of government.

Tim White

Candidates' Forum - Oct 15

The Cheshire / Wallingford League of Women Voters is sponsoring a Candidates' Forum night on Wednesday Oct 15 at 7pm.

I understand it will include the four candidates for Registrar of Voters (Betsy Adams, Paul Doherty, Aleta Looker and Bob Moran).

Then there will be a forum of candidates for state Rep and state Senator.

Tim White

CSpan on the bailout

The skinny on the bailout:

Tim White

Town Attorney fee increase proposal

This proposal raises the monthly retainer for the TA by about $4,000/mo.I have a few questions, but my main concern... where are we incurring all the fees?

One of my concerns is if the TA is answering questions posed by the TM... or more specifically... answering policy questions that should not be raised by the TM... but should only be addressed if the Council collectively wishes to get an answer to a question.

Tim White

Trash plant proposals

From the MRJs Dave Moran on the trash plant proposals:

WALLINGFORD - With a December 31st deadline steadily looming for some sort of decision on the future of the trash-to-energy plant on South Cherry Street, both parties involved have submitted proposals to the town....

both the Connecticut Resource Recovery Authority, the quasi-public agency that wants the town and the four other municipalities serviced by the plant - Meriden, Cheshire, North Haven and Hamden - to publically purchase the facility, and Covanta, the for-profit New Jersey-based trash-to-energy corporation that currently manages the plant and would be eligible to purchase it for $1 if CRRA declines, are faced with the prospect of going back to the drawing board and refining their proposals.

But the more important question...

I want my trash to be burned by:
	CRRA
	Covanta
	Wheelabrator
	do I care? Just get rid of it!
	Who's in charge anyway?
pollcode.com free polls

Tim White

Burbank challenges Murphy

The MRJs Amanda Falcone explains why Harold Burbank is challenging Chris Murphy for his Congressional seat:

In 2007, Harold H. Burbank II said he asked U.S. Rep. Christopher S. Murphy, D-5th, why he was not calling on Congress to impeach the president.

"He did not answer the question," Burbank said, adding that the lack of response has caused him to believe Murphy does not respect his constituents.

Tim White

CT-5 debate schedule - Cappiello / Murphy

I understand that the Green Party's Harold Burbank and the Independent Party's Tom Winn are still excluded from these major party only contests. I strongly disagree with the prohibition on minor party candidates, but it is what it is.

FIFTH DISTRICT DEBATE SCHEDULE:

October 15, 2008
Host: Waterbury Regional Chamber of Commerce
Time: NOON - 2:00PM
Location: Courtyard by Mariott, Grand St. Waterbury, CT
TICKETED EVENT: Contact Waterbury Chamber of Commerce at 203.757.0701

October 20, 2008
Host: AARP
Time: 10:30AM - NOON
Location: Four Points Sheraton Hotel, 275 Research Parkway, Meriden, CT
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

October 22, 2008
Host: Litchfield County League of Women Voters, Cablevision
Time: 7:00PM-8:00PM
Location: Litchfield Community Center, 421 Bantam Rd., Litchfield, CT
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

October 27, 2008
Host: Farmington Chamber of Commerce
Time: 6:00PM - 7:30PM
Location: Farmington High School, 10 Monteith Dr., Farmington
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

October 29, 2008
Host: Brookfield League of Women Voters, Danbury News-Times, Danbury
Portguese Cultural Center
Time: 7:30PM - 9:00PM
Location: Portuguese Cultural Center, 65 Sand Pit Rd., Danbury, CT
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Tim White

Jesse Hamilton's On Background - on CT

The Courant's On Background blog (by Jesse Hamilton) wrote this informative piece on the CT blogosphere.

Tim White

WRA on Cheshire sports

The WRA has a couple writeups on Cheshire High School sports today.

First is this piece that mentions my old cross country coach Rob Schaeffer. I started with Ron McReavy, but he retired from that coaching position while I was in high school. So I guess Coach Schaeffer has been at it for about 20 years now!

Then there's this piece on the culture of Cheshire sports. As for the competitiveness that's mentioned... I participated in sports, but I was never competitive. I never won any competitions... and I was perfectly happy. I participated to have fun... I don't recall winning ever being a goal of mine when I played sports. From football to foosball... I just enjoy myself and am perfectly happy if others win.

Tim White

Troubles for municipal bond market

The MRJs George Moore wrote this story on a multi-faceted financial problem facing Cheshire:

While bonded debt is the lifeblood of municipal construction projects, cities and towns are hesitant to issue new bonds these days because of volatile financial markets, experts said last week.

Some towns, like Cheshire, are in a state of uncertainty as bond sale dates approach. Cheshire had planned to borrow roughly $10 million this December to cover sewer and general government projects, said Deputy Finance Director James Jaskot.

If the market is still unfavorable at that time, the town might be better off selling a short-term borrowing note and bonding later, Spoerndle said.

And beyond the recent Wall Street meltdown, there have been other problems for new muni issuances that I've been following this whole year... though I think it's fair to say that all the problems are somewhat related.

Tim White

CRRA proposal

The MRJ has posted some documents described as a CRRA proposal here. I don't recall having seen these documents yet.

If it were up to me, I'd ensure there are also ongoing discussions with Covanta in Wallingford and Wheelabrator in Bridgeport. Or more precisely, I'd issue an RFP for trash disposal services.

Tim White

Cappiello / Murphy Litchfield debate - no Burbank or Winn

Some details on the CT-5 Cappiello / Murphy debate in Litchfield:

The Wednesday, October 22, debate will take place at the Litchfield Community Center. The event will be moderated by Ray Hardman of CPTV's Front and Center and WNPR's Morning Edition, presented live on CPTV and WNPR.

Between 7 and 8 p.m., the debate for Connecticut's Fifth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives will take place.

Harold Burbank and Tom Winn will also be on the ballot, but neither have been invited to the LOWV debates.

Click here for some details on their other debates. Anyone have additional details on the Meriden or Waterbury debates?

Tim White

Monday night - Oct 13 events

For lefties...
The Greater New Haven Young Democrats would like to invite you to Monday Night Football Guest Bartender Night at Diesel Lounge, 944 State Street, New Haven, at 8pm. Lou Mangini, Chuck Swirsky and Chris Galatioto will be on hand to serve you $3 Coors Light drafts and $3 well drinks. Food will also be served. There will be two tip jars... one for Obama and one for breast cancer research. Game starts at 8:30. For more details - ljmanginiathotmaildotcom

And for righties...

If you would like to volunteer to make phone calls, here are the details of a planned "Cheshire Night" at the CT GOP phone bank.

Date: October 13th
Time: 5:30 - 8:00pm
Place: 130 Scott Road, Waterbury
Pizza will be served!

Tim White

Caligiuri on budget deficit

State Senator Sam Caligiuri wants to cut spending, not increase taxes, to address the burgeoning state budget deficit.

Excerpted from a press release on Sam Caligiuri's state webpage:

I suspect that the debate about the state budget over the next several months will come down to whether people believe that we have too little revenue or too much spending. In my view, we have too much spending given what we can reasonably expect to be a reliable source of state revenue. Accordingly, the answer to our budget problems will be to cut spending not raise taxes. To raise taxes would ignore the fundamental cause of the problem and actually worsen the crisis.

I want to emphasize that most of the programs and services that state government provides are worthwhile and important. I do not want to focus on budget cuts rather than tax increases because I do not see the value in what state government does for people. But the problem is more basic than that. However noble these programs are, we are simply spending more than we can afford to as a state right now. If we raise taxes to pay for more spending, I believe that we will further weaken our economy, which in turn will lower the amount of revenue the state can expect to receive, and we will find ourselves in a vicious cycle of budget deficits that will be very difficult to pull out of.

Tim White

AIG continues sinking

You may recall when AIG started hitting the headlines. I believe it was the weekend we entered with discussions of a bailout for Lehman, but exited the weekend with a bankrupt Lehman and Merrill gobbled up by Bank of America.

During that weekend the published rumors started flying. By Monday, Paulson hadn't intervened so NYs Governor David Paterson enabled AIG to change some accounting rules and use $20 billion of its own money to save itself.

Then AIG needed $40 billion.

Then former Goldman CEO Hank Paulson directed Banker Ben to print $85 billion to save AIG.

But according to the AP (By STEPHEN BERNARD and IEVA M. AUGSTUMS), that's not enough:

Concerns about the health of American International Group Inc. were renewed Thursday, a day after the insurance giant said it would receive an additional $37.8 billion loan from the Federal Reserve.

"The bottom line is, they need more liquidity than they thought," said Mark Lane, an analyst for William Blair & Co. The new loan is on top of a two-year, $85 billion loan AIG received last month from the Fed in an effort to stay in business.

And didn't these guys just waste $440,000 on a "getaway" to improve the business? Ha! Who do these guys think they are? Town Hall with their conferences & seminars and take-home vehicles?

Ain't fiat money great? It really does grow on trees!

Tim White

New sewer consultant

I don't recall if I mentioned this before, but there was some really good news revisited in the MRJs weekly newspaper - The Cheshire Post.

After several years of efforts, largely driven by Councilwoman Esty and the Town Manager, the WPCA finally sent out a consulting project to bid.

My understanding is that while the Town had been issuing millions of dollars of consulting contracts to one particular vendor, they never bid on anything. The WPCA consistently issued contracts to that vendor without any real competition.

I can't fathom why projects weren't bid. It disgusted me, but I was always told that the WPCA is similar to the BOE... the Council should mind its own business.

Nonetheless, this week's Cheshire Post has an article about a WPCA contract being awarded to a new consultant.

But to be clear... I didn't hear of anything terribly wrong with the long-time vendor. I'm just a believer that, at minimum, you need to keep people / organizations on their toes. And the goal of getting the WPCA to issue an RFP was really my goal. It was something long overdue. And (aside from the seven members of the WPCA) much of the credit for getting the WPCA to issue an RFP goes to Elizabeth and the TM.

Tim White

Banks and fictitious capital

"The banks themselves were doing business on capitals, three-fourths of which were fictitious; and to extend their profit they furnished fictitious capital to every man"

- Thomas Jefferson, June 1819

"Some mechanism has got to be in place that restricts the amount of money which is produced - either a gold standard or currency board or something of that nature - because unless you do that all of history suggests that inflation will take hold with very deleterious effects on economic activity."

- Alan Greenspan, October 2007

The root cause of the economic mess is not a bunch of bad mortgages.
The root cause is an uncontrolled, inflationary monetary policy.

We need sound money.

Tim White

Council agenda 10/14

Tim White

Writeups on the pool bubble alternatives

The NHRs Luther Turmelle and the Herald's Josh Morgan both offer their take on Tuesday's pool bubble study meeting.

Tim White

No vote on Charter revision

The Cheshire Herald gives a recap on last week's Ordinance Review Committee rejection of a Charter revision (by Josh Morgan).

Read the article and you'll see why I'm opposed - I see it as a power grab by Big Government.

While I'm quoted mentioning the majority's desire to:

1) reduce accountability by increasing terms from two years to four years and

2) increase government power by changing the position of Town Clerk from an elected position to an appointed position*

I also noticed a comment in yesterday's MRJ on the race for the 103rd:

Esty opposes referendums and initiatives, saying they allow special-interest groups to force issues into the ballot."It sounds like public empowerment. In practice, it's quite the opposite," she said, adding that California, which has referendums, often has two or three-page ballots because of all the issues included. (by Jesse Buchanan)

And as Cindy intimates over at Underground Town Hall... the only reason the Senior Tax program was enacted was because of the power of initiative granted to the voters in the Town Charter. If it weren't for the Power of Initiative, the Council majority would've completely ignored their election year promises. And the last thing we need is a power hungry majority controlling a Charter revision with a possible goal of reducing voter power and increasing government power.

But here's a brief history of senior tax relief from my perspective:

1) In the election of 2005, candidates made promises about senior tax relief. Those candidates ran as the consummate outsiders.

2) Then after taking office, those same candidates became the consummate insiders.

3) They now "understood" the complexities of running government.

Ha!

The only thing they understood was that they no longer took direction from the voters, they took direction from staff.

And only after a huge public outcry (driven largely by voter initiative) did Cheshire's new insiders conclude they may have a problem getting reelected (ahhh... those pesky elections... four years is better than two years). Thus, after much anguish they realized that the power of initiative enabled the voters to direct the Council to direct staff to fulfill their promise of senior tax relief.

So there absolutely is a need for the power of initiative (and referendum) at the town level.

I don't want that power taken from the voters. And I do wonder about the true goals of the current majority.

But to further expand... my belief that the voters must be heard in between election cycles is my opinion. Alternatively, I can look at both parties in Cheshire and see Council members (from my five years as a member) who believe that as soon as the election is over, there is no need to listen to anyone. That's "why they were elected" - to know the right course forward. That's their governing philosophy.

I come from a different school of thought. I believe (even when I disagree) the views of the voters matter all the time, not just at election time.

Finally, as for the assertion I often hear that 2005 was filled with election year promises that were actually lies... I don't see it that way. I think the promises were made with good intentions. The problem was when the majority took office and immediately took the back seat. They allowed staff to follow their own agenda without input or oversight from anyone. It's just another example of an administration with its own agenda and no oversight, except for the Democratic Rubber Stamp Council.

Tim White

* I believe this is actually the desire of staff... endorsed by the majority with their big, heavy rubber stamp.

Introducing Marty Atkins of Prospect

If you haven't met him, Marty Atkins is running on the GOP ticket for the 89th state House district. Here's a clip of him from a Prospect ZBA election:
Tim White

CT-5 candidates' views on the bailout

According to the Litchfield County Times, Chris Murphy (D) and Dave Cappiello (R) have different views on the bailout.

Harold Burbank (G) is strongly opposed to the bailout. From his website:

The bailout tab so far is not less than $1.5 trillion. Many serious scholars warn that even a bailout cannot prevent even worse economic losses ahead; in the US auto industry for example. Contrary to what Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says, a bailout will be MUCH worse than letting these companies fail since there is NO guarantee that the bailout will succeed, and much evidence that it will only bankrupt the nation. I support a safety net plan to help distressed home owners and pension fund victims only, costing far less than $1.5 trillion (some say as little as $30 billion), but letting fail completely the corrupt Wall Street bankers, and AIG and other large corporations that knew what they were doing when they accumulated their reckless debts.

Tim White

MRJ on Al Adinolfi vs. Elizabeth Esty - 103rd

The MRJs Jesse Buchanan offers the first election season article (that I recall seeing) on the race for the 103rd.

There's a lot of stuff in here, including a number of things I believe I could parse and refute pretty easily. But one thing really irked me.

Esty wants to look into... increasing energy efficiency.

My advice - start with the town.

Step 1: end this approach to governing

Step 2: begin a new approach with the Council directing staff

Step 3: add an agenda item to the next Council meeting - "Setting priorities - energy conservation or debt rating?" and vote on it. (The majority will never allow this discussion to occur on camera because on this issue they know their silence speaks volumes and staff's words fall flat. Also, the majority is concerned that the Jedi Mind Trick may not work on the voters.)

Step 4: tell staff to draft an RFP for a comprehensive energy action plan... leaving it open-ended so companies may propose for one building or all the buildings.

Unfortunately, I'm of the opinion that no member of the Council majority is serious about increasing energy efficiency. If they were, they would have taken action a long time ago.

Tim White

W2E plant - when is the deadline?

Some of you may remember this handout from the July 8 Council meeting. The Council saw October 1 (a week ago) as the deadline to move forward with CRRA:
More recently, there's been talk of the deadline being in mid-October.

But now?

Word came today that the Council doesn't know when decisions must be made.

Tim White

Please welcome, Jim "Crusher" Amann!

Here's a great two minute clip of Connecticut's House Speaker, Jim Amann.

You know him... the guy who did "a favor" for Deputy House Speaker Mary Fritz.

And, of course, Mary Fritz is the state legislator who did "a favor" for Councilman Altieri by getting $525,000 of discretionary funding approved slush fund money rubber stamped by the State Bonding Commission.

Anyway, here's a little clip of our Speaker and possibly next Governor:

(video created by CTBob)

Tim White

Printing Press Pelosi says "Turn 'em on!"

While Nancy Pelosi demonstrates she has no idea what's happening with the market:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that a $150 billion economic stimulus plan is needed now because of the faltering economy and she may call the House into session after the election to pass it. (AP, By COLLEEN SLEVIN)

And Helicopter Ben proves he has nine lives since he keeps crashing and burning:

Wall Street bounced higher and lower Wednesday trying to make up its mind about an unprecedented coordinated interest rate cut by central banks around the world. In the end it settled on a familiar feeling - fear - and plunged again. (AP, By JEANNINE AVERSA)

Ron Paul isn't the only person who saw this mess coming:

"Some mechanism has got to be in place that restricts the amount of money which is produced - either a gold standard or currency board or something of that nature - because unless you do that all of history suggests that inflation will take hold with very deleterious effects on economic activity." - former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan, October 2007

And here's one more news flash:

Printing more money won't fix the problem.

Tim White

Atkins / Nardello debate for 89th

Apparently, Marty Atkins (R) and Vickie Nardello (D) squared off sometime today as the MRJ posted this debate-related article at 6:55pm:

With the state facing a deficit projected at $300,000 and almost zero job growth, Martin Atkins, a Republican, believes the economy is the biggest issue in the race for state rep in the 89th District. (by Jesse Buchanan)

Having faced her two years ago, I know Vickie's views on many issues. On the flipside, I don't really know Marty's views. But he offered up this idea that had never crossed my mind:

Tuition for public higher education should reflect the economic value of the chosen major, according to Atkins. While tuition for majors in technology or video production would be decreased, he said, tuition for literary majors would be increased. "We have to restructure the incentives in our schools," Atkins said.

Tim White

POTUS debate - Oct 7

Getting rid of cable TV has definitely changed my life a bit. I didn't even know there was a Presidential debate tonight. I did read the AP story though.

Not much of it resonated with me, except for one comment that jumped out at me:

McCain also said it was important to reform the giant benefit programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

"My friends, we are not going to be able to provide the same benefit for present-day workers that present-day retirees have today," he said, although he did not elaborate.

I didn't notice any comments in the story about Obama speaking on America's unfunded long-term liabilities.

For me though, monetary policy (i.e. - Helicopter Ben's ever-inflating money supply) is a bigger issue than fiscal policy. But they do go hand in hand. And both candidates need to address entitlement reform in a candid manner.

Tim White

CCSU CT-5 debate cancelled

Reported by the Courant's Daniela Altimari:

A scheduled debate Saturday between the 5th District congressional candidates at Central Connecticut State University has been scrapped. University officials said they could not host the League of Women Voters face-off unless two third-party candidates, Canton attorney Harold Burbank, a member of the Green Party, and Thomas Winn of the Independent Party, were invited.

This is a disappointment to me. According to Harold Burbank, in order to get his name on the ballot he spoke with 7,000 people to get 4,800 signatures. To me, that's proof enough that he's serious... even if an unlikely winner of our Congressional seat.

I strongly disagree with the LOWV and their blanket rule excluding all non-major party Congressional candidates this year.

Personally, I think the candidates ought to just contact CCSU and say they'll be there. Obviously, they need a nonpartisan moderator. But I'm sure they could find someone who would be willing to moderate in a nonpartisan fashion. Chris Murphy is the incumbent. He could easily ask someone from Cheshire to moderate. And IMO, given that responsibility... almost anyone would be respectful and nonpartisan. So I see no reason why the LOWV has a lock on moderating this debate.

Tim White

Gov. Rell's "OneThing campaign" expo

Governor Rell's OneThing campaign will be visible this weekend at the Connecticut Convention Center as more than 250 exhibitors will make presentations on:

agriculture, recreation, transportation, building technology, the arts and education, alternative energy, consumer products and much more.

Show Hours:
Friday - 10 am - 6 pm
Saturday - 10 am - 9 pm
Sunday - 10 am - 6 pm

Tickets:
Adults - $8
Seniors - $4
Children under 12 - Free

(click here for directions)

Tim White

Sox in the ALCS

The Sox are headed to the ALCS, but the Rays won the season series 10-8.

Go Sox!

Tim White

F&S Oil biodiesel plant sale - Oct 23

Reported by the MRJs Mary Ellen Godin:

Superior Court Judge Grant Miller approved the sale of a bio-diesel plant on Sandbank Road for Oct. 23.

The bio-diesel plant is the final assetfrom failed oil company F&S Oil Co. that court-appointed receiver Carlton Helming was ordered in April to liquidate.

Tim White

Altieri email requesting info on PC at pool - 5

The first four emails between Councilman Altieri and me were all on Sept 6 and 7. But since Councilman Altieri decided to punt (by refusing to think outside-the-box and consider the pool as part of a comprehensive energy action plan for the town)... my last email redirected my questions from Councilman Altieri to Council Chair Hall and Budget Chair Ecke.

Unfortunately, it seems the Council leadership may have either never received the email... or it may have slipped their minds before they had a chance to respond. So after several weeks of no response from either of them, I sent them this email on October 2:

Dear Council Chairman Hall and Budget Committee Chairman Ecke,

I sent the below email on Sept 7, but never got a response from either one of you. Regardless, I’m still hoping to get an answer to my question – Is performance contracting still on the Budget Committee agenda? If so, when will there be followup to the December 17, 2007 budget committee meeting when it was last discussed?

And so as to avoid any additional delays and as has been requested by several Council members, here are the contact details for several people who regularly engage in performance contracts and who contacted me following some of the recent press about performance contracting in Cheshire :

Nate Audette
Energy Solutions
TAC
300 Brickstone Sq, Suite 101
Andover
Direct: +1 (978) 424-3149
Fax: +1 (978) 933-5293
Office: +1 (978) 269-1000 X556
Email: nate.audette@tac.com
Web: www.tac.com

Christopher Bleuher
Public Sector Solutions
Building Efficiency
Johnson Controls
21 Griffin Road North, Suite 4
Windsor , CT 06095
Tel : 914.456.2968
Fax : 860.731.4834
Email : christopher.r.bleuher@jci.com
URL : http://www.johnsoncontrols.com/

Tim Nettleton
VP Sales & Marketing
Applied Energy Solutions
Waterbury , CT
203-267-6800
866-941-7100
nettco7@netzero.net

and of course, Ameresco spoke at the December 17 meeting.

By the way, I have no particular interest in performance contracting. My goal is a comprehensive energy action plan. I sense though that using a performance contract may expedite the process.

Also, I agree with Councilman Altieri’s suggestion that a comprehensive energy action plan may work best for a performance contract. And that would include the pool.

How shall we proceed?

Sincerely,
Tim

And that's where we stand. Again, no response. Unfortunate, but acceptable. Email is imperfect.

Regardless, I'll keep pressing. Governing by omission and inaction is unacceptable.

Tim White

p.s. Councilman Altieri deserves credit for at least responding. Others prefer to consistently remain silent and simply wait for their boss staff to respond.

Chamber Notes - Oct 6

The Cheshire Chamber of Commerce will host an economic forum breakfast - “Surviving the Present Connecticut Economy” on October 16th at Elim Park, 140 Cook Hill Road, Cheshire. Peter Gioia, vice president and economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA) will speak, as well as professionals in banking, investing and real estate. The event will run from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. There will be a question and answer segment. The public is welcome to attend. The cost of the breakfast is $10.00 for members and $15.00 for non-members. For reservations, please contact the Chamber at 203-272-2345, or email the chamber at infoatcheshirechamberdotcom.

On Friday, 10/17, at 7:30 p.m., the Chamber President, Sheldon Dill, will be recognized by Elim Park as Cheshire’s Citizen of the year. Sheldon is also serving as the Honorary Chair of Elim Park’s Grand Opening of their new Wellness Center and Nelson Hall (the auditorium for Performing Arts in Cheshire). There will be a classical concert performed by the Inman Trio in celebration of the event.

Save the Date for the following events: The Chamber of Commerce and League of Women Voters are co-hosting a Candidate's Forum on Wednesday, October 15, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at Town Hall. The Chamber's Oktoberfest will be held on Tuesday, October 21st at 5:30 p.m. at The Watch Factory Restaurant. $30 for members and $40 for non-members. Reply early as this is always a sellout! Be sure to reply early as this is always a sell-out! The "Cheshire Night" men's ice hockey game at Quinnipiac University on Saturday, November 1st at 7:00 p.m. v.s. UConn. Tickets are $10, call the Chamber to reserve your tickets. The Cheshire Community YMCA is holding its 2nd Annual Ladies Holiday Shopping Evening on Tuesday, December 2nd from 7:00-9:30 p.m. at The Farms Country Club. Enjoy hors d'oeuvres, cocktails, desserts and holiday shopping.

The Alphabet Garden, 132 Elm St. at The Watch Factory Shoppes, will hold a Teacher Night with guest speaker Nikki Mutch from Scholastic on Tuesday, October 21st from 6-8PM. The event is open to all teachers from early childhood through high school. They are also hosting a Trick or Treat on Friday, October 31st from 6-8PM which will include Halloween crafts and stories. Call Karlene Rearick at 439-7766 for more information.

The Cheshire Youth and Social Services Dept. and the Coalition to Stop Underage Drinking will present the results from the Youth Risky Behaviors Surveys at the Cheshire Town Council meeting on Tuesday, October 14th.

The Cheshire Education Association is looking for an administrative assistant/clerical worker to assist with the upcoming town wide appeal for the new Science Centers for the elementary schools. The position involves Excel experience and will be responsible for spreadsheet coordination for upcoming meetings and mailings, etc. This will be a part-time position. For further information, contact John Capone of Gibson Associates at 272-3781.

Tim White

Burbank at CHS tomorrow at 10:30am

Green Harold Burbank will be speaking in the CHS auditorium tomorrow from 10:30am to 11:30am. From his website:

Important Issues:

Preventing Bailouts of Greedy, Failed Corporations; Ending War and US Imperialism; Full US Employment & Job Protection, Fair Trade, & Economic Justice; International Human Rights; War Crimes Indictment & Prosecution; Impeachment; US Constitution Preservation; US Civil Rights Restoration; Climate Change and Environment; Universal Health Care; Universal Education through College; Universal Basic Needs (food, clothing, shelter).

Tim White

Vote Smart 2008 - State Senate

Political Courage Test

13th
Tim Lenox (R)
Tom Gaffey (D)

16th
Sam Caligiuri (R)
Mark Orsini (Independent)

Of these four candidates vying for the two Senate seats that represent Cheshire, only Tim Lenox has his form completed and online at this moment. Additionally though, Caligiuri and Gaffey are incumbents with a voting history on VoteSmart - if you want to learn more about them.

Tim White

A Conservative for Obama

A friend of mine who is supporting Obama asked me to front-page this article entitled:

A Conservative for Obama, by Wick Allison

THE MORE I LISTEN TO AND READ ABOUT “the most liberal member of the U.S. Senate,” the more I like him. Barack Obama strikes a chord with me like no political figure since Ronald Reagan. To explain why, I need to explain why I am a conservative and what it means to me.

In 1964, at the age of 16, I organized the Dallas County Youth for Goldwater. My senior thesis at the University of Texas was on the conservative intellectual revival in America. Twenty years later, I was invited by William F. Buckley Jr. to join the board of National Review. I later became its publisher.

It's an interesting read... though I haven't read Obama's book. So I have no opinion on this really.

Personally though, I don't feel as though I have yet heard an adequate answer from either candidate about the bailout. Nor do I expect one. But I am intending to watch the final two debates to listen for answers* on our unfunded long term liabilities:

Tim White

* including the conviction with which they speak their answers

Altieri email requesting info on PC at pool - 4

Following up to the three previous email exchanges between Councilman Altieri and me, I asked for clarification on the status of performance contracting before I go reinventing the wheel (blue text are excerpts from his prior email to me):

Comments from Matt Altieri to me:

I think at this point you should approach the Chair of the Council about heading up a study group...

the details and examples have only been examined once (December 07 Budget Meeting)

My response to Matt Altieri:

Before doing anything, I'm wondering... will the Budget Committee be further considering performance contracting? If so, when? Or is it off the agenda? (I guess that question is really directed to Council Chairman Hall and/or Budget Chairman Ecke.)

So as you can see, I concluded this discussion is "above his paygrade" and redirected my questions to the Council Chair and Budget Chair.

Emails to be continued...

Tim White

P.S. I know this is out of chronological order, but since the Pool Bubble Study Recommendations Meeting is on Tuesday... I want you to know that I spoke with Jimmy Sima tonight (the other person who Councilman Altieri requested to provide information on PC). I asked Jimmy for a progress report on his efforts. He said that he had asked the town engineering / energy staff for information several times back in May / June. (I recall at least one meeting in which the whole Pool Bubble Study Committee heard the request.) And while he didn't feel as though he got much information back then, he expects to get some information at Tuesday's Pool Recommendations meeting. So hopefully Councilman Altieri will have some useful info for his recommendations.

Ron Paul's House floor comments on the second bailout vote

Speaking in opposition to Friday's bailout vote, Ron Paul says "my sincere conviction is that by doing more mischief - and not allowing markets to adjust, debt to be liquidated - you're going to guarantee a depression. It's going to be prolonged. The agony's going to be there for a lot longer than if you allow markets to adjust."

Cappiello - Waterbury HQ grand opening

Dave Cappiello had the grand opening of his Waterbury HQ this afternoon. And I understand he'll be attending a Cheshire GOP fundraiser tomorrow night at the Bartolis house on Devonwood Drive.

Harold Burbank will be speaking to Cheshire High School students (and anyone else who is interested) on Tuesday Oct 7 at 10:30am in the auditorium.

Anybody know what's up with Chris Murphy? Congress was supposed to recess a week ago, but hung around an extra week for the bailout bill. So I'm guessing his schedule has changed a bit.

Tim White

Biden / Palin debate

Chamber Economic Forum - Oct 16 - 7:30am - Elim Park

In light of the current economic situation, the Cheshire Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring an Economic Forum to discuss local concerns.

The breakfast event is to include speakers on topics, such as finance and real estate. The keynote address will be given by Peter Gioia on economics.

The event will take place at Elim Park on Thursday October 16 from 7:30am to 9:00am.

Cost is $10 for members, $15 for non-members.

I'm planning to catch the beginning of the event.

Tim White

Ron Paul on the second House bailout vote

"They're not dealing with the fact that this country is bankrupt."

Tim White

Murphy / Cappiello / Burbank on bailout

.
Here's Chris Murphy's initial ad on the bailout:

Here's Republican Dave Cappiello's response to Chris Murphy's vote on the bailout:

And here's the "early-on" comments from Harold Burbank on the bailout:

I OPPOSE BAILOUTS OF FAILED GREEDY CORPORATIONS: The week of 9-15-08 saw the biggest Wall Street failures, and the biggest proposed federal bailout plan, since the Great Depression. The plan as stated today (9-24-08) puts our nation's treasury, including the fate of Social Security, directly in the hands of Henry Paulson, who knew this crisis existed for years and did NOTHING about it except let it get worse. The plan says Congress must give up its authority to regulate Paulson/Treasury Dept., and make him/Treasury free of court jurisdiction and oversight of any kind, no matter what mistakes Paulson and his cronies make. Not only is this unconstitutional (you cannot legislate away the powers of co-equal branches of government) but madness akin to monarchy; a blank check for Paulson to do what he wants. This kind of unitary economic control is what brought Adolf Hitler's German fascists to power in 1933 under a so called "temporary arrangement" due to Germany's 1930's depression.

Tim White

Altieri email requesting info on PC at pool - 3

On September 23, I posted about an email sent by Councilman Altieri to the Council about the bubble study and performance contracting. I then posted my immediate response to that email. And now I offer you Councilman Altieri's followup email from Sept 7.But for easier reading, here's a larger version of the text:

Councilman White

I would be looking for something more detailed and specific that our committee could use that would be related to pools. Your example encompassed many projects in one town. My conclusion at this time is that Performance Based Contracts will not be appropriate or effective for any one project but would be for an entire school system or municipal concern.

Using the Google search engine I have but it was been woefully inadequate for the purpose of finding details about the issue.

I think at this point you should approach the Chair of the Council about heading up a study group (similar to what Councilwomen Esty did for Senior Tax, Laura for Mixville and me for the pool) with members of the energy Commission or whoever you choose and make a presentation to the Council. I am confident that it would go a long way in providing the much need homework and research that has been lacking so far. As I have said before it is incumbent upon you to finally do the work that has yet to be done in this important area.

Please understand I am not against this idea; but I will not make decisions about a very important issue without the details. At this point it seems stalled not because of its feasibility but because the details and examples have only been examined once (December 07 Budget Meeting), you should think of that as step one in a process. Spending millions of tax dollars on this project may be prudent or not, it is now up to you to provide the details so we can render an educated opinion.

Best
Matt Altieri

You've really got to admire this "creative problem solving." So I guess Councilman Altieri supports a comprehensive energy action plan, but apparently opposes including the pool in such a plan.

To be continued...

Tim White

Pool recommendations - Tues Oct 7

The Bubble Study group is scheduled to give their recommendations on alternatives to the pool bubble this Tuesday, Oct 7 at 7:30pm in Town Hall.

Tim White

BOE ok's Teachers' Union contract

As reported by the NHRs Luther Turmelle:

The Board of Education unanimously approved a three-year contract agreement Thursday night with the district’s teachers union that will give educators an average salary increase of 4.4 percent per year, while increasing the amount they pay for their health insurance premiums.

Tim White

Charter revision nixed

Someone asked me today about my opposition to Charter revision.

So now I offer you an explanation on my opposition to Charter revision. It is fairly simple and philosophical.

The voters are the boss. The Council takes direction from the voters. And staff take direction from the Council.

But this Council does not work like that:And based on various conversations, I concluded that the intent of Charter revision at this moment was to:

1) further reduce accountability and

2) further increase power in government.

And to me, those actions are intolerable.

But for concrete examples I offered:

i) There was a desire to extend Council terms from two years to four years.

IMO, that is simply an attempt to reduce accountability.

ii) There was a desire to eliminate the elected position of Town Clerk.

IMO, that is simply a power grab. If people were really upset with the job being done by the Town Clerk, last year would've been the year for some changes. But that wasn't the case. And based on one particular conversation I had in December 2006... I know with absolute certainty that the goal of changing the Town Clerk's position from "elected" to "appointed" was nothing, but a simple power grab.

No way, no how.

I'm not particularly concerned if the Council majority is Democratic, Republican or some other party / coalition. But I strongly oppose any attempts to further erode the power of the people by shifting it to an ever-more powerful government... a government that can't even post minutes to the Town website without some truthiness to their complaints.

Tim White

Vote Smart 2008 - State House

This is interesting. Based on everything I've ever heard, VoteSmart is considered the preeminent website for learning about candidates for office. Interestingly though, only Al Adinolfi responded to the "Political Courage Test"*. I can speak with experience that not responding is a mistake. In 2006, I got a bunch of phone calls just before Election Day. Anyway, below are links to the answers for the Political Courage Test.

It's also worth noting that for Mary and Vickie, you can easily click through to their "voting record." So you can definitely get a sense of them.

89th
Marty Atkins (R)
Vickie Orsini Nardello (D)

90th
Mary Fritz (D)
Peter Votto (CFL)

103rd
Al Adinolfi (R)
Elizabeth Esty (D)

While I'm supporting Al, I also like Peter Votto. Though I don't know anything about his personal views... I agree with much of his party's platform.

I intend to do the same for the other offices here in town.

Tim White

* at least so far, and the deadline has passed... though not all answers are necessarily on the website yet

Sam Caligiuri helping those in need

Here's Sam (on March 8, 2008) advocating legislation that would enable towns to give a property tax exemption on new construction that's built explicitly to allow disabled people to stay in their homes with their family:
I think his idea has merit. Helping people stay at home, rather than going elsewhere, makes a lot of sense to me.

Tim White

Cost of minutes on website is nonsense

Anybody read today's Herald article about the Town having to post minutes to the Town website?

From the article:

There are also some unanswered questions that (staff) hopes to have resolved, such as how long minutes have to stay on the Web site. If the minutes have to stay online for an indefinite period of time, additional storage space on the town's servers might be required, which could be a costly endeavor. (by Josh Morgan)

Finding those comments implausible, I asked you about the costs related to these supposed space constraints yesterday and I got the answer I expected.

It's a bunch of hogwash... nothing more than the usual smoke'
n'mirrors intended to maintain control of the information, while being marginally defensible as a "best effort" at disseminating information... I love it when I hear the ol' "We won a freedom of information award this year!"

Really? And the criteria for that FOI award are based on what law from what year?

While I don't like unfunded state mandates... frankly, I don't have a major problem with this. After all, I tried to do this a year ago... only to have my efforts at enhancing transparency thwarted by the Council majority:

Tim White

"We will not Christmas-tree this" bailout

Senator Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said legislators would not imperil the proposal by adding too many extras. “We will not Christmas-tree this bill,” he said Sunday on Fox. “The times are too urgent.” - NYTimes, Sept 21 2008 (By BRIAN KNOWLTON and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN)

Emboldened by the feverish bidding for votes, other members of both parties were demanding substantial changes to the legislation before they would vote for it. A group of Republican opponents indicated they'd back it if the price tag were slashed to $250 billion and several special tax breaks added by the Senate - including for children's archery bow makers, imported rum producers and racetrack owners - were removed. - AP, Oct 2 2008 (By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS)

Tim White

Cheshire GOP proposes mid-year budget review

Council Budget Committee member Tom Ruocco sent out the following email last night to the full Council and Town Manager:

Mike, Elizabeth

I think it's time to set a meeting of the budget committee for the purpose of discussing a strategy and goals for the next budget season. The idea of a fall budget review was raised during our budget deliberations this past spring, and I think we should follow through on it.

All of us acknowledged this past year that there were recessionary conditions. We acknowledged that state funding was unreliable and could be reduced. We also recognized that energy costs were placing additional pressures on residents and businesses. I feel that although there was acknowledgement of these conditions, the Council did not take the necessary steps to deal with them, nor prepare for the day when our revenue is cut short; not only from the state, but also from a slow economy and slow growth in our grand list.

As we move forward, we are confronted with known challenges which will have compounding effects to conditions which already exists. For example, the state is now predicting a 300 million dollar deficit based in part on reduced capital gains taxes resulting from the declines in the stock market. We face a revaluation which may have the effect of raising taxes on residents based on higher property values compared to the last revaluation of 2003. Furthermore, there are layoffs at the Casino's and reduced slot revenue which we know is a revenue stream for cities and towns. All this spells a tough budget year, but more notably, a tough environment for residents and businesses. Recessionary conditions have forced consumers to cut back. The Governor is looking for ways to cut spending, and we consider doing the same.

During the past budget cycle, as it relates to both the operating and capital budget, I put forth alternatives which would have reduced government spending by over 1 million dollars. I believe, in this time of economic difficulty, that we should re-visit those proposals as a starting point. Lets try to create a government that can spend less, and return savings to taxpayers in the form of lower mill rates. Going forward we may not have the luxury of offsetting taxes with surplus money and state funding. Frankly, that has been the mantra of the Council which has only served to cover up the size of the recurring spending and fuel the demand for higher revenues each year.

Now is the time to focus on spending reduction as a means to reduce taxes and avoid a serious budget meltdown like the one we had in 2003. We need to be proactive, not reactive. If we prepare now and set the standards for a leaner government, we will be ok. If not, and if the pattern continues, unreasonable burdens of government spending will continue to be placed on the backs of taxpayers. That practice we must change.

I am ready to meet at any time, and I hope we can address this soon.

I fully support Tom in his call for action. With talk of growing state budget deficits... and well-known problems related to lower Fairfield County and the state income tax... Tom is right on the money. Now let's just hope the current majority recognizes their failure at curbing spending* and begins to take action.

Tim White

* I asked about the town vehicle policy in February. It is now October... and nothing has been done yet. And they've done nothing with the pool for years... then there's the money wasted on consultants and the list goes on and on.

Biden / Palin debate

I watched most of it from the central CT GOP Veep debate watch party organized by state Senate candidate Tim Lenox. There were also a few other candidates present, though not from Cheshire - incumbent Art O'Neil, Dave Aron, Scott Adamsons and Floresia Allen. And I bumped into several town committee members, including Tom Ruocco and Tali Maidelis.

Anyway, unlike the last debate where I thought Obama did marginally better overall (not on substance, but on style)... I'd call it a draw with Biden winning on substance and Palin winning on style. No offense to Senator Biden, but he just reminds me too much of the Senate... which IMO is a huge part of the problems facing America (though I actually really like Biden as the current Chair of Foreign Relations).

To contrast, I thought Sarah was less Senatorial and more human. Though I couldn't really understand what she said about gay marriage (or was it civil unions?? which btw, I support). And I was really turned off by her less-than-strict Constitutional interpretation of the role of the Vice President.

Bottom line was that it didn't mean much to me. And I doubt it'll mean too much to America since the POTUS is the person calling the shots.

Tim White

Ron Paul on CNN - Oct 1 2008

Ron Paul continues his presence on the national stage:

And from tonight's Senate debate:

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., a supporter of the bailout, said in remarks on the Senate floor that he was about to take "what is without question the most important vote and most challenging vote I've ever been asked to cast in 30 years as an elected official."

Not long later, Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C. said, "As the blood of our young men and women fall on foreign soil in the defense of freedom, our own government appears to be leading our country into the pit of socialism." (AP, by David Espo)

Tim White

PBC meeting 10/1 (hWg 42)

Anyone hear what happened at the PBC meeting when they discussed hotWatergate?

I understand they were to discuss a number of outstanding items.

Tim White

"Space" constraints may limit minutes on web

As I mentioned a few days ago, Council meeting minutes are up on the town website. Unfortunately, while voters may appreciate the long overdue transparency... there's already pushback from Town Hall staff:

“There is a distinct possibility that we could have a space problem in terms of archiving the information... It really depends on how long we have to archive it for.”

But I'm not an expert on technology. So while I've heard that the "space" issue is effectively irrelevant with current technology, I can't speak to this knowledgably.

I point out though that there's a heckuva lotta "data" stored on this blog. And I don't pay one penny for it. So that says to me that space is a non-issue, if it's available for free.

Does anyone know if space is a legitimate issue?

Tim White

Southington wants artificial turf

The MRJs Leslie Hutchison reports on the desire of some in Southington to get artificial turf for SHS:

"This can't be put back any further. This is so necessary for the community," said John J. Fontana, chairman of the Board of Park Commissioners...

"We are in an emergency mode," he said. "This needs to be done for the youth of this town."

The cost of an artificial turf field would be about $750,000, according to Courtney Reim, a turf saleswoman from ProGrass LLC of Pittsburgh.

Several speakers at the forum explained how the turf surface would allow more games, more often and for more teams.

(AD) Swallow said when he was hired six months ago, he was concerned about the condition of the field. "We're in a crisis mode with our facilities," he said.

Meriden's new turf field that opened in mid-September cost $4 million, with a state grant covering half the cost and the city paying the $2 million balance.

FWIW, the $4 million included stuff besides turf, such as bleachers.

Tim White

Bailout bill passes Senate, CT Senators in favor

CTLP's Genghis Conn says:

It passed 74-25, with Dodd and Lieberman both voting in favor.

Tim White

Giuliani helping Cappiello

From the MRJs Amanda Falcone:

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani headlined a fundraiser for state Sen. David Cappiello, R-Danbury, today at the Pontelandolfo Community Club in Waterbury.

And Joe & Marilyn Bartoli are having a fundraiser next Monday night (Oct 6) at their house for the Cheshire RTC. Both are deeply involved in the 3 Strikes Coalition led by state Senator Sam Caligiuri.

Then on Tuesday Oct 7, Harold Burbank will be speaking to students at CHS from 10:30am to 11:30am. All residents are welcome.

Finally, state Senate candidate Tim Lenox is organizing a central CT Veep debate watch party for 6pm Thursday night at the Meriden Sheraton.

Tim White

A reminder of the unnecessary spending

Google Alerts sent this to my inbox today...

From June 2006, by Luther Turmelle:

The Town Council has agreed to spend $9,000 to hire a consultant to address how to best convert land donated to the town by the state near the Cheshire Correctional Institution into athletic fields. The allocation to hire a consultant was approved 6-2, with Councilmen Tim White and Dave Schrumm, both Republicans, opposing the expenditure.

$9k for ballfields two years ago... and who knows if they'll ever happen. $20k for the pool consultant that did nothing. $50k for software to pave our roads, even though most people can see the cracks.

At least we didn't shell out $10k for the artificial study of turf.

Tim White

Turn on the printing presses!

From Reuters:

President George W. Bush on Tuesday signed into law a mammoth spending bill to keep the government running until early March 2009 that includes a $25 billion loan package for troubled automakers...

The $25 billion loan package, the biggest federal subsidy for the auto industry since the 1980 bailout of Chrysler, cleared Congress last weekend when the focus was on the debate over the $700 billion financial rescue package.

GM, Ford and Chrylser had said they could manage without the federal loans but also suggested that without the federal subsidy thousands more industry jobs could be at risk.

A few weeks ago $25 billion meant something.

Tim White