North Haven Meme . . .

Why Do Republicans Oppose Accountability and Transparency?

2010-09-18T20:23:00.002-04:00

Timothy Noah's Wonderful Series

2010-09-17T17:39:00.003-04:00

If you haven't been following it, Timothy Noah's recent and on-going series on Income Inequality in the United States is simply wonderful and likewise depressing.

I highly recommend it to everyone.

The President's 9/11 Memorial

2010-09-11T12:46:00.002-04:00

The President's Press Conference

2010-09-10T17:17:00.002-04:00

The President's Cleveland Speech

2010-09-09T11:04:00.002-04:00

The President's Labor Day Speech

2010-09-06T16:42:00.006-04:00

North Haven Posts Schools Chief Job

2010-09-06T10:42:00.003-04:00

The New Haven Register is reporting that the job posting for Superintendent has been made public and that the deadline for submission of resume and materials is October 8th. Whoever will follow Ms. Querfeld has some really big, compassionate, qualified shoes to fill.

Celebrating American Labor

2010-09-05T11:55:00.001-04:00

I do not understand why or how the White House is not doing a better job of getting this message across.

Labor Being CHEATED This Labor Day

2010-09-05T10:55:00.008-04:00

Can someone please tell me how current fiscal policy is working for the vast majority of working Americans, or how extending massive unpaid-for tax cuts for the wealthiest 2% stands to do any good for the rest of us?

Have we not earned a share of the prosperity?

This Labor Day . . .

2010-09-05T10:45:00.000-04:00

This Labor Day . . .

2010-09-05T10:43:00.001-04:00

President Obama Shows Authentic Class

2010-08-31T20:47:00.004-04:00

President Obama showed real class tonight, not taking the easy road of throwing the previous administration that falsely and blindly entrenched us in a costly war in Iraq under the proverbial bus.

I wonder, perhaps, if he was too gentle, but that's just me.

I thought the most impressive moment came at the end of the speech when, recounting soldiers who gave their lives in noble service, President Obama became (if just a bit) choked up. Sadly, people need to see him emote and act less stoic.

It will be interesting to see his opponents find reasons to find fault with the President's duty and mission to close out these wars and solve our economic woes.

Gay Marriage is Now a Conservative Cause

2010-08-31T20:02:00.002-04:00

Thus says Steve Schmidt, former campaign manager for Senator John McCain's 2008 Presidential campaign.

It would be wonderful and remarkable if Republicans showed the courage to back this basic issue of personal and legal freedom . . . a courage that Democrats have largely lacked, including this White House.

Former RNC Chair Comes Out

2010-08-25T19:56:00.006-04:00

Ken Mehlman, President George W. Bush's 2004 campaign manager and Chairman of the Republican National Committee from 2005 to 2007, has made it public that he, in fact, is gay and says that he looks forward to advocating for gay marriage rights.

TDS Asks if FOXNews is Evil or Stupid

2010-08-25T08:58:00.003-04:00

[click the image to see the clip]

Sorry, conservatives, but it's a powerful question. In this case, is FOXNews stupid or evil? If you have a third possibility, I'd love to hear about it in the comments.

CBO Comes Out for Stimulus

2010-08-25T08:42:00.005-04:00

Reuters is reporting that:

Stimulus added millions of jobs in Q2

Tue, Aug 24 2010
By Andy Sullivan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The massive U.S. stimulus package put millions of people to work and boosted national output by hundreds of billions of dollars in the second quarter, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Tuesday.
CBO's latest estimate indicates that the stimulus effort, which remains a political hot potato ahead of the November congressional elections, may have prevented the sluggish U.S. economy from contracting between April and June.
CBO said President Barack Obama's stimulus boosted real GDP in the quarter by between 1.7 percent and 4.5 percent, adding at least $200 billion in economic activity.
During that time the economy was growing at an anemic pace.
Gross domestic product rose just 0.6 percent during that period, according to preliminary Commerce Department data which economists expect will be revised sharply lower when new figures are released on Friday.
The massive package of tax cuts, construction spending and enhanced safety-net benefits was passed in February 2009 in the midst of the deepest recession since the 1930s.
It raised employment by between 1.4 million and 3.3 million jobs during the second quarter of this year, CBO estimated.
Measured another way, CBO said the stimulus increased the number of full-time equivalent jobs by up to 4.8 million, as part-time workers shifted to full-time work or employers offered more overtime work.
CBO said the package, officially known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, would cost $814 billion, down from its previous estimate of $862 billion. The lower figure was thanks largely to health-care subsidies that cost less than anticipated. CBO initially estimated the bill would worsen budget deficits by $787 billion.
Other than that, the estimate varies only slightly from the budget office's forecast released in May.
With both the House of Representatives and the Senate up for grabs in November, Democrats hope voters will give them credit for breathing some life into the economy, which had begun to weaken while Republican George W. Bush was still president.
"The Recovery Act is working to rescue the economy from eight years of failed economic policy and rebuild it even stronger than before," Vice President Joe Biden said in a prepared statement. "It's impossible for even the most cynical, bent-on-rooting-for-failure critics to deny."
Republicans, who almost universally opposed the stimulus, have criticized it as wasteful and ineffective.
Some 67 percent of those surveyed in a Reuters/Ipsos poll last month said Obama is not focusing enough on job creation. Voters in that survey said the economy and jobs are the most pressing issues facing the country.
CBO said it expects the effects of the stimulus to gradually diminish over the remainder of the year.

North Haven News Update!

2010-08-23T09:45:00.003-04:00

The North Haven News segment for August 18, 2010 is an informative piece about changes to curbside pick-up, the transfer station, and other recycling and waste removal issues. I found it very informative. Great job as always, Chris!

We've Got a Dog!

2010-08-23T09:31:00.005-04:00

The New Haven Register is reporting that North Haven is getting its first police dog! And his name is Zeus! I think it's good for us to be independent in this regard.

"Going Mad in Herds"

2010-08-22T15:24:00.006-04:00

Maureen Dowd's latest column, while a bit too clever in the beginning, is a pretty good indictment of where a portion of the national psyche seems to reside just now, focusing on a recent up-tick in the false and bigoted belief that our President is Muslim.

Definitely worth a read.

Summer Reading

2010-08-22T14:15:00.007-04:00

If you or your children have not completed your summer reading yet, now is the time!

I'm currently working on a thriller or two myself.

One way or another, please make sure that your children do their necessary reading, for school and for their intellectual development.

Even better, be sure to let your children catch you reading. Your literacy has a very big impact on theirs, which in turn has a big impact on their future success.

What are you reading?

How Much Coverage is Enough?

2010-08-20T12:49:00.002-04:00

Depending on what you watched Wednesday night, you got very different impressions of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq:

Nowhere was the difference between the cable news networks on starker display than in prime-time coverage on the night the last American combat brigade left Iraq following a war that started seven years and five months ago.

MSNBC devoted its entire prime-time footprint to the story, with Richard Engel riding with the troops in a specially equipped vehicle and host Rachel Maddow based in Baghdad. Keith Olbermann anchored the coverage from a New York studio.

Fox News Channel devoted just under 10 minutes to the story, much of it during Shepard Smith's 7 p.m. newscast. The network spent 45 minutes discussing the potential construction of an Islamic cultural center near ground zero, while that story wasn't mentioned on MSNBC at all. CNN, meanwhile, spent an hour on each story.

The news decisions led critics of Fox and MSNBC to suggest politics was at play in the coverage decisions.

Source

Jon Stewart's Bold Take

2010-08-20T10:52:00.009-04:00

I thought this fair-minded, bipartisan approach to the Ground Zero "mosque" issue was exactly what both sides need.

[click the image to see the clip]

While I'm on a Roll! TEACHERS...

2010-08-20T10:15:00.009-04:00

I saw a discussion about teachers on Chris's blog this past week that I found interesting, and the conversation seemed to stop at a really crucial point. I would have liked to have seen it go forward.

Are teachers, overall, liberal or conservative?

A link was posted by one of the commenters ("Fed Up" or is it just "Fed" now?) showing research to this effect, and I found it really captivating. This research, conducted by the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) over the last several decades here in America, had some really interesting perspectives on where teachers fall on the political spectrum - in both directions - being both more conservative and more liberal than the regular public, depending upon the issue and the relative level of education to which they are compared.

I would highly recommend the read if you are either concerned about the state of education (as a parent or educator yourself) or if you have reason to fear the politicizing of the classroom, which I think we can all agree is a terrible thing, barring intolerance, in either direction.

Here it is - http://educationnext.org/american-teachers/

Thanks to Kyle Swartz and the Citizen!

2010-08-20T10:08:00.006-04:00

http://northhaven.ctcitizens.com/story/north-haven%E2%80%99s-first-blog-news-junkie%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98must-read%E2%80%99

I am ashamed to admit that this blog has not received much of my attention in a consistent fashion. And quite honestly, no one has been clamoring at my inbox for my return, which is fine by me either way.

Anyways, I wanted to write because I was pleased to learn that I got a mention in today's article about Chris's blog, The North Haven Way. No doubt because either Chris mentioned it or Mr. Swartz was familiar with my small body of work. In any event, all notice is appreciated.

I have always applauded Chris on his dedication and persistence. We all owe him a debt of gratitude for his site and its forum, whether or not we all share common views.

If you have an interest in this blog's continuing, don't be shy. Let me know. :-)

Bravo to Chris Peterson

2010-05-23T10:33:00.003-04:00

I am very much in the shadow of Chris's blog and for good reason. We've had our debates and disagreements, but there is no doubt that he has shown a consistent dedication to the maintenance of a local forum that I am not likely to match.

My applause is for his recent post defending our local teachers. As a mother and a parent, I have had reason to meet and interact with many of our town's teachers. They are as professional and compassionate a group of people as I have ever met. I personally have never received the impression that any of our teachers care about anything less than the very best possibilities and potentials of our collective children.

Therefore, I thank and applaud Chris because I know that such a position may cause him grief in this political climate and from his side of the political aisle.

Bravo.

Talking Budget Cuts

2010-05-22T11:18:00.003-04:00

Short and sweet.

If the town side budget that failed was a recommended 6.3% increase, and the school side budget was a recommended 2.97% increase, why are so many people talking about cutting equally from both sides? If you cut 1.5% from both sides, then the education side would represent an increase of 1.47% and the town side would have an increase of 4.8%, which is still more than 50% more than the education side was asking in the first place.

Add to this consideration of the disproportionate insurance increases on both sides. The education side is seeing an insurance increase of 14.2%, and the teachers have a very high co-pay of 17%, up from 15%.

The town side is seeing an insurance increase of 43.8% and the town workers, though it varies have a significantly lower cost share in their benefits.

Most of the coverage has sloppily averaged the two and said that the town was seeing a 28% increase. That number protects the town side at the expense of the teachers.

How does this possibly makes sense?

McMahon v. Blumenthal

2010-05-22T10:49:00.007-04:00

And then there were two!

The Dems Choose Blumenthal

The GOP Chooses McMahon

Mind you, Simmons insists that he's not out of it and that he will move forward with the primary process, but he's already lost a lot of momentum. It will be interesting to see how this play out, but I don't hold out a lot of hope for the more reasonable and un-glamorous candidate on the conservative side.

I think Blumenthal has this, even though he has had a very bad week. Although I would love to have a woman senator from Connecticut, I will not vote for any woman to fill that spot. This particular woman has had a lurid career in a part of our culture that does not improve the general discourse or its civility. I will be voting for Mr. Blumenthal, I believe, as of this moment, because even though he seems to have been somewhat disingenuous about his military service, he is a proven defender of the people in terms of environmental issues and consumer protection.

Where Do We Go From Here?

2010-05-19T06:02:00.002-04:00

Well, the budget failed, not surprisingly, by a 2-1 margin.

I say "not surprisingly" because saying no is always easy; and in a climate where many local towns are slashing budgets and even closing schools and our First Selectman made the careful choice to exert no political capital on behalf of his budget, and in a circumstance where people are upset about the building department and the Dems just want to hand Mr. Freda a defeat . . . well, you get the point.

Way to stem the tide of populist anger, Mr. Freda - both in your budget presentation and in your handling of the budget's promotion.

So, now, we're going to see the ugly game of limbo, and you all know the rules and expectations of limbo.

People can just keep turning out to vote no now. It's easy. It's easy to oppose. It's easy to say no.

Now, Mike, it's time to figure out how to produce a budget that retains as much town value as possible that the people can and will say YES to. You'd better get to work, sir.

Fascinated to See This Play Out

2010-05-15T15:22:00.004-04:00

Forgive the source here, but if this, in fact, stands up to scrutiny, this will prove fascinating.

If, in fact, rank and file NRA members disagree with their leadership, that is fascinating. If, in fact, a majority of NRA members believe that individuals on the Terror Watch List should NOT be able to buy guns, I have found an easy point of agreement with them.

As you can tell, I am no gun-lover and would not have one in my home with my children now or when they're grown and out. I'm sure that many people believe my fear is out of proportion. I welcome the debate.

Is ID, in fact, DOA . . . finally?

2010-05-12T18:41:00.003-04:00

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science."

Intelligent Design

Do You Know What This Is?

2010-05-12T18:19:00.005-04:00

North Haven Welcomes P.C. Richard & Son

2010-05-12T17:56:00.005-04:00

But I have to wonder who will be able to shop there, given our economic straits.

Strangely, we've had a vigorous debate about the ability of residents to afford their tax increase for next year's budget, but the shopping plazas on Universal Drive are always hopping, and all of the restaurants are packed on evenings and weekends, so far as I can tell.

Here is a short piece on the opening.

Arizona, Immigration, Backlash

2010-05-12T17:13:00.003-04:00

A majority of Americans may support the recent Arizona immigration law, but that's not making things easy on the state.

Apparently, tourism has been suffering significantly, and it is beyond telling that the RNC has opted NOT to hold its 2012 convention in Phoenix, but rather in Tampa.

Elena Kagan's Nomination

2010-05-12T15:41:00.005-04:00

I spent several weeks last summer watching every minute of the hearings for Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the Supreme Court. Looks like I'll pass my summer in a similar fashion this year.

It seems that I, like everyone else (her friends included), know very little about Ms. Kagan's temperament, legal philosophy, and Constitutional leanings. I'll admit that makes me very nervous.

One thing I do know is that the opposition is engaging in the kind of selective memory and judgment that is par for the course for all politicians, but especially for their side.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Is a Referendum a Poll?

2010-05-11T19:11:00.011-04:00

In today's North Haven Citizen* article Mike Freda's words speak for themselves . . . or rather they don't.

“I support this budget if people want to retain their services,” Freda said. “But if the budget is voted down, then I have no problem going back to the drawing board.”

“I want the people to tell me what they want,” Freda added.

Is that leadership?

I said it before, and here you have specific evidence. Mr. Freda is not standing behind his budget. He has made it clear that he will expend zero political capital on its behalf.

As a matter of fact, he talks about it as though it were a dip-stick, a test of the waters. Should we treat the vote on the budget as a weather vane, just to see which way the wind is blowing?

Does anyone think this approach improves the odds that his budget will pass?

I am stuck with my original position (which I've explained here and at North Haven Way): I will vote "yes." But it is disturbing in the least to see Mr. Freda and his team put forth a budget they don't feel passionately about.

I am highly disappointed and more than a little irked.

* The original post incorrectly cited the source as the New Haven Register.

North Haven News is Great

2010-05-11T08:35:00.004-04:00

I would just like to say that http://www.northhavennews.com/ is awesome.

Passing the Budget

2010-05-11T08:20:00.002-04:00

Passing this budget next week (05/18/2010) will maintain our current level of services, not least of which being all day kindergarten, high school electives, middle school teams, leaf collection, bulk pick-up, the pool, the library, et al.

I see no other option. A reduction in the tax increase means a reduction in town services means a reduction in town value so far as I can figure it. Saying "no" probably feels justified and satisfying, but it does not resolve any of this town's issues, or the state's, or the country's.

I urge all parents of school age children and all residents who enjoy the quality of our community to turn out and vote "yes" on this upcoming referendum. Voting "no" will only lead to chaos in terms of writing a budget somewhere between bad and worse.

Ann Rocco (I apologize for having misspelled her name during my blogging last night) made an excellent point from the other side of this argument last night. She said that if the mill rate goes up, it is not likely to come back down. I don't disagree with her and I don't enjoy having to concede that point. However, I would interject likewise that lost services that this town has historically enjoyed will also never return if cut. It's one thing to add paramedics. It's quite another to return to leaf pick up if we lose that town service and somehow contract out for it. I am of the unpopular opinion that we will then have less, not more, control over the cost of providing such a service. I don't want to be guilty of adopting a "wait and see" attitude, like our First Selectman.

A Tragic Turn of Events

2010-05-11T07:53:00.003-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2010/05/11/news/doc4be8e2d54f120318899233.txt

Certainly all heartfelt condolences and sympathies go to the Vanacore family, their friends and neighbors in this circumstance. I do not know the family, but this is a loss that all of us can feel.

Blogging the Town Meeting

2010-05-10T19:05:00.050-04:00

7:05 - Rough start. Right off the bat there is some awkwardness (Yarbrough - Town Clerk) with regard to the microphone and Robert's rules. Theresa Ranciato-Viele is chosen as the moderator.

7:08 - Looks like a nearly empty room again. Michael Freda is the first speaker. Another presentation.

7:12 - Is it responsible to set out "potential savings" on contracts out to bid as "cost savings"?

7:15 - 2.72 mills of the 3.0 mill increase is revenue shortfall. Ouch! Likewise, Mike is guessing that the CRRA revenue later this year will be 2 million dollars. Are we a little too comfortable guessing to the positive?

7:17 - A 3.42 mill increase, not 3.0. Mike seems to be having trouble with the microphone. Come on, NHTV!

7:20 - 73% of NH homes fall within values of 214K to 500K. Median home values seem to have dropped by 14K just this past year. Mike says the median increased monthly cost for the tax increase is less than $30 - less than a dollar a day. The average works out to be almost the same figure.

7:26 - Uh oh. Freda just said that we're at a crossroads. He is making my case now that we have a cost to maintain our services and quality of life in town. He's likewise encouraging turn-out. He must figure that high turn-out will mean a "yes." Freda concludes.

7:28 - Wow, the room really is empty! David Robinson is up first to the mic. He is arguing for town employees to cut pay by 1%. Mr. Robinson is informed that contract changes would need to go to arbitration and it would probably not go in the town's interest. Robinson is yelling saying that a tax increase is an additional 650 dollars for him. He must live in a really nice house. Robinson is arguing against facts. Nice.

7:30 - Thomas O'Connor is up next. He makes an argument about how the governor negotiates with unions for decreases in wages. He says town workers need to sacrifice and some people tell him that they are planning to move out of town given the taxes.

7:33 - Michael Mele is up next. He has a question for Mr. Freda: "Do you support the budget?" Mr. Freda says, "Yes, if . . . " He is going with whatever the people say. Rather wishy-washy. Mele is asking for debate without hostility and says that he thinks the budget lacks credibility. Mr. Mele says that the tax increase will in fact be 12%. By some other measure he says it's 5%. I don't pretend to understand. Some difference between the budgeting of the last administration and this one. He's questioning what numbers Freda is considering as lost - CRRA and fund balance. He's arguing that that the unappropriated surplus is still too high. Mr. Mele calls the referendum framing of tax increase or services cut is "hogwash."

7:48 - Here comes Veronica Kivela! She is interested in bulk pick-up. She wants to know if we can reduce bulk pick-up to once per month. How much of a cost savings would this represent? Last time she wanted to know about the expense of teacher salary increases which are close to nil in this budget. She also wants to take a good hard look at union negotiations. Mr. Freda responds with regard to negotiation costs. She came back to bulk pick-up and is trying really, really hard to come across as sensitive, compassionate, and reasonable.

7:54 - Mr. Freda says he has no problem going back to the drawing board and changing the budget if the referendum fails. Um, isn't that your job and obligation?

7:55 - John Opramolla. Compares NH budget to the state budget. And then to his home budget. His argument seems to be that you have to pay for what you want and need. He says he sees no waste in this budget. Supports the education side. Supports keeping the town services as they are. "Pony up and pay the freight." Defending the town unions, especially the teachers. Mr. Opramolla supports a YES vote.

8:02 - Bill Nadle (sp?). 3 questions. 28% health insurance increase - can we get insurance from out of state? Answer: no. Can town workers be switched to 401ks? That would have to be negotiated. Marlin Firearms - are we doing anything to keep them? Freda says Marlin was adamant that staying proves prohibitive. Marlin will not seem to say - we will lose their $246K in taxes each year. Finally he wants to address overlap of retired benefits for town workers and the salaries and benefits of their replacements. Tax increase scare tactics about health care and cap and trade.

8:09 - Name inaudible. Discusses fixed incomes in this environment. Vote no, he says.

8:10 - Sherman Katz. Asks about teacher pay increase. Answer 1%. Prepared remarks. Does not support the budget. Directs his remarks pretty exclusively at teachers as town union members. Wants to know what items will be reduced first if the budget goes down. Hard to transcribe some of the wandering remarks, but his main beef is with the education side. Asks about property taxes, not including real estate. Mr. Freda comes up to answer what if any controls or tallies have been kept on line item increases: Using new software to keep up with these increases in expenditures in a more immediate manner.

8:15 - just lost audio.

8:16 - Some guy got up and made a quick comment. No audio.

8:16 - Alan Sturtz is up now. Expensive status quo with no growth OR vote no and get worse - conflict and disagreements in town and in town government. Just lost picture. Mr. Sturtz defends the very hard work of town employees at current rates. At BOS, BOF, and town meetings - Sturtz says it is never said what we will do to increase revenue, i.e. new businesses. Cites Quinnipiac opening - how can we cater to those students coming in? Says pass the budget because otherwise "it's not going to be pretty." Bring in business.

8:23 - Dorothy Hoyt. Speaking on behalf of Creative Learning Program. Says the budget is responsible. Cites that we are in the lower half for money spent on students and teachers. Reductions will drastically affect education. Vote yes, she says.

8:24 - Gerry Feinberg. Questions credibility of numbers in budget and ability to pay for it. Says the increase is too much - not in our interest to maintain the town in the future to pass this budget. I'm not sure how that argument works. Questions the validity of just about everything, including insurance costs and union contracts. "Cost certainty." I have to ask if there is ever such a thing? Implement savings immediately on non-union employees, says Feinberg. re: folks earning six figures. Says it's not a good idea this year. Asks for reduction of salary increases for those people. Says the brunt of the tax increase will be felt by business interests which may push people out of NH. He says he will vote no.

8:32 - Peter Vorio (sp?). The guy who compared educating our kids to wanting to go to Aruba at the last meeting. Huzzah. Talks about projected future costs (cap and trade) "crushing" state and local economies in the near future. Spit-balling on this and that. Says his union is good but our town unions are bad. "To the needs of the business." Back to crushing costs on all levels. Says no tax increase. "You can't spend what you don't have." He's back to the DESIRE FOR A VACATION as though that is synonymous with contracted salary increases. Ramble, ramble.

8:37 - Ann Ruocco. April 15 was tax day. May 18 will be NH tax day. Be sure to vote; confident it will be no on referendum. Once it goes up, it will never come down, she says.

8:39 - Donna Spose. Cites cost of referendum. If you vote a budget down, it will cost the town at least another $10,000 for the next one. Says to pass this budget.

8:40 - John Harron (sp?). Takes exception to argument against the cost of referendum.

8:41 - Mr. Mele is back up in spite of promising NOT to come back up to the mic. Says there are more than two options, yes or no. Still arguing about the fund balance being too high. Calls it confiscated money. $3.5 million dollars that does not need to be there in unappropriated surplus. Says town is being taken advantage of. Says spend it. Says that BOE budget is the best it's been in years. Cites 14.4% increase in insurance on ed side. 42% increase on town side. Says last administration did better negotiation on these costs - how that serves us now I do not know. Cites praise for Sara Querfeld for her good work. Says that not getting other bids is in contravention of the town charter. Cites severe credibility problem again. No competitive bids. Money wasted and certain individuals are rewarded. GBA. Ovation. Charter Oak. I'm not familiar with any of this. Mele says reject the budget.

8:50 - Mr. Freda cites four rejection letters and claims history to combat Mr. Mele. Cites GBA as experts and effective. Welcomes everyone to his office. Come on down.

8:51 - Rambling Mr. Vorio is back. Question for Mr. Freda about pay out from Anthem. Against the budget. "Numbers are everything." Says it's good that Anthem paid out more than it took in in premiums. Finds it funny and is not surprised that other carriers are uninterested in covering NH. Says town employees need to take up slack on health care increases. Asks what it is. Co-pays differ based on union. They are trying to shoo him from the mic.

8:55 - David Robinson again. Wants to post employee wages on town website. Wants to decide if people are individuals are overpaid. Is told that those numbers are in the budget. Wants info on each employee. Yelling. Equates taxes with a cut in pay again. Wow. Angry. Not charming.

8:58 - Clerk reads second item. Starts by applauds the efforts and questions. Says 115 people are in the room. Wants neighbors to be encouraged to vote. Specific to schedule of payments. Motor vehicles, etc. July 1 and January 1. Question called. Motion passes. Other motion passes. Meeting adjourned at 9:00.

Town Meeting, the Next Installment

2010-05-10T18:48:00.003-04:00

Tonight is the next installment of our awesome town meetings, and alas, I cannot make it, though I will certainly be watching.

My first sincere hope is that a proper amount of professionalism and decorum can be kept. The last meeting saw no attempt to stick to the stated agenda - ensuring that both sides of the budget would get its proper time to be debated. One of the meetings last year featured the red hooded intimidation crew - definitely in bad taste.

I will be voting yes. I believe that every investment necessary to maintain our town is worthwhile, no matter how painful. Others will disagree. I certainly hope that plenty of yes votes make it out and speak carefully and profoundly on this view. At the meeting last month very few people came out and only a couple of people bothered to counter some of the rambling negativism.

So, Mr. Freda, people will be watching. Please keep it sharp and focused tonight - the way meetings have been run in the not too distant past.

Here I Am, Chris....

2010-05-09T20:28:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned only briefly, I was forced to step away from this blog by an all-encompassing personal responsibility which has recently come to a close. That's all that need be said.

Having said that, I set out to write without anything to say. I, personally, was pleased that the healthcare passed, but I am one of the people who felt that it did not go far enough. I'd very much have liked to believe that a public option would have created vigorous competition for the private insurance companies who have enjoyed monopoly for too long. I would not have opposed allowing private insurance to sell across state lines in addition to that, but not in exclusion.

I agree with some mostly conservative voices I've heard around and about town that have questioned the air quality issue at the high school. If there were an objective problem, would not more people be affected?

I am hoping that the budget passes and I am less than cautiously optimistic about that.

I, like many of you (my meager or non-existent audience), want North Haven to remain a great place to live, not merely an affordable one.

An Open Letter to CBIA.com

2009-05-03T20:35:00.001-04:00

The following is a letter that I wrote recently to CBIA.com over their new commercial ad-buy:

CBIA.com:

That's a cute commercial you folks are running, and a nice attempt to propagate collective amnesia, misdirected distrust, and general panic.

See, we citizens of Connecticut recognize that it was unchecked, unremitting, unbalanced "pro-business" government that got us to the sticky place we are in currently.

We are tired of scare tactics and top-down solutions. For all your lobbying and tax cuts of the last decade, the average worker hasn't profited much. But businesses and business owners have made a heap.

So you and your folks broke the system and laid people off, and then you tell us that we need YOU as the fix . . . ?! Please.

Your "scaaary" ad and its jobs figures won't make a dent. We know who the culprits are: the private and public companies with selfish tunnel-vision, their lobbyists, and the politicians who ask how high when told to jump.

You need to recognize that the times have changed. The same old tactics won't work. Have some healthy shame and decency. Save your money. Stop running this sorry excuse for an ad and use the money to hire somebody or a bunch of somebodies.

All your commercial is going to do is draw attention to which side you are on . . . the wrong side.

Round and Round We Go

2009-05-02T09:59:00.004-04:00

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/05/02/news/metro/c3-_nhbob.txt

Mr. Burns' position and its possible, though unlikely, reinstatement continue to be a matter of great passion and moment here in town, especially among those who simply oppose the current administration.

Sunset for Souter

2009-05-02T08:22:00.004-04:00

http://www.slate.com/id/2217434/pagenum/all/#p2

"Souter's current position on the left wing of the court owes much more to movement by the court and the country than to any lurch on his part. The current court, after all, has seven Republican appointees and has been on a steady rightward drift since the Reagan years. The Republican Party has, too. I think Souter is indeed in many ways a Republican; it's just that his sort of Republican no longer really exists."

This expresses precisely the reason I left the Republican Party after my full adult political lifetime (as well as much of my childhood and adolescence). Those of us in the Teddy Roosevelt or Eisenhower vein of the party have been more than marginalized. I suspect this played a huge role in Senator Specter's change of venue, especially following his vilification for his stimulus vote.

The reason I joined the Democratic Party was Mr. Obama, in the interests of full disclosure.

Justice Souter will be missed as a man whom nobody doubts to have done always what he thought was right on a case by case basis, rather than being overridden by his own sense of ideology. Farewell, sir. You've certainly earned your retirement.

CT Gay Marriage Codified

2009-05-01T13:32:00.005-04:00

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jzpRwGCQ-cTsE0JSAGf3COH_csWgD97NUA700

Connecticut finalizes and codifies gay marriage by healthy margins. I will argue that this is a healthy and appropriate turn of events. Gladly, compassion and justice have won out.

Irony of Ironies?

2009-05-01T13:20:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/30/religion.torture/

This is a survey America will have to contend with. How is it that certain religious factions are more accepting of torture than others, and especially more than the relatively non-religious?

Qualified Hopefulness?

2009-05-01T08:13:00.003-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/30/stocks-big-april-could-be_n_194237.html

Nobody wants to be unrealistically hopeful, but any good news is welcome. Perhaps, just perhaps, as unpopular as the TARP and its implementation have been . . . perhaps it is working.

Banks aren't lending enough, people are still hurting, and Elizabeth Warren has been warning about waste and corruption, but maybe . . . maybe we've been well shepherded after all.

Maybe.

Aches and Pains

2009-05-01T07:57:00.003-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/05/01/news/a1_--_arthritis.txt

As a non-baby-boomer who deals with this, I find this troubling and have to wonder what environmental factors might play a part in this seeming epidemic of Arthritis.

Is the GOP DOA?

2009-04-30T19:02:00.006-04:00

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/04/party-of-nobody.html

It's an interesting question regarding what is happening to the Republican Party and whether or not they will climb out of their current difficulties or be replaced with a different conservative political entity. [I was a Republican my entire life until a year or so ago. I decided to switch party affiliations to vote for Barack Obama in the '08 Connecticut primary.]

I ask this out of genuine curiosity - not in any way to celebrate or bemoan this turn of events. Just like Specter's party change, it would be a big turn of events in all things political.

For instance, is this the path to renewal or a death rattle?

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/29/gop-set-to-launch-rebranding-effort/

Early Childhood Education

2009-04-30T17:19:00.002-04:00

http://northhaven.ctcitizens.com/story/community-conversation-zooms-early-childhood-education

Maybe this means that cutting all day Kindergarten in this or any budget is off the table in North Haven . . . ?

Raise the Drop Out Age?!

2009-04-30T13:06:00.004-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/04/30/news/doc49f9da2e8648d307766500.txt

If you don't work in or around a high school, this might sound like a good idea. Keep the kids in school and they just might learn something.

This is, in fact, a TERRIBLE idea. There is a small number of students who are little other than distractions and even dangers in the halls of a high school. They are either completely disrespectful and consciously disruptive of the learning process or they engage in behavior that endangers other students either directly or through negative influence.

Oftentimes, the only way to get these students back into the learning process is to allow them to leave it, discover the difficulties that creates, and then come back.

Raising the age to 18 only forces schools to keep students longer who are likely only detrimental to what the school is achieving with the rest of the student population. Call your representatives. This might be good politics, but it is a lousy practical solution to the challenge of uncooperative students.

Two More Possible Infections

2009-04-30T13:04:00.003-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/04/30/news/doc49f9d76fc265b067049568.txt

Two more suspected cases of swine flu in CT brings the total possible cases here to five.

Gun Permit Applications Shoot Way Up

2009-04-29T19:50:00.010-04:00

http://northhaven.ctcitizens.com/story/police-see-tremendous-rise-gun-permits

Maybe I am missing something. I know that it is a right protected by the Constitution from a certain point of view, but why would law abiding citizens of North Haven need to carry guns? I know they can. Tell me why they should.

Every extra gun increases the likelihood of innocent victims. They also vastly increase the likelihood of suicide, homicide, and the violent escalation of domestic problems.

Budget Passage

2009-04-29T19:20:00.003-04:00

Okay, here it is.

I am asking that you vote to pass the budget coming up next month on referendum.

Here's why: it is my understanding that the next item on the educational chopping block is all-day kindergarten. I have a pre-school age child. I need to be able to send my child to school next year, all day. Early childhood education is critical both to brain and social development. It's also necessary to the schedules and professional needs of many parents.

Vote "yes" to save full day kindergarten. That's the crux of where I stand. Yes, it is selfish, but it is also practical on behalf of the town. Where will these children be in their skills and abilities if they are robbed of fully HALF of their instructional time at this crucial age?

My Deepest Condolences

2009-04-29T13:52:00.002-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/04/29/news/metro/a1_--_girlfollo_0429.txt

There is nothing that can be said except that this is a horror and that my prayers and heart go out to the family and friends who are more than stricken by this crime.

As the Budget Turns . . .

2009-04-29T13:46:00.001-04:00

http://zip06.theday.com/blogs/north_haven_courier/archive/2009/04/23/bof-approves-81-44-million-budget-referendum-set-for-may-19.aspx

As you already know, we are in the interregnum that occurs between the finalizes of the budget by the Board of Finance and the referendum.

Please take the time to inform your decision before you report to the polls.

Unknown Achievements in the 1st 100

2009-04-29T07:57:00.002-04:00

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/29/obamas-first-100-days-10_n_192603.html

Some of these are a bit controversial. I am guessing that the digital medical records, though likely inevitable, is the one most likely to stir up concern and conjecture. If it's easier to share good information, it will be easier to make and copy mistakes, breach privacy, and expose people to possible discrimination on the basis of their private health concerns.

One more hurdle for the 21st Century.

On other notes:

Most of the other provisions would seem to be positive and relatively non-partisan. Helping roads, schools, cities, and general government transparency are necessarily good ideas and long overdue.

Unless, of course, you feel differently, venerable early subscriber to my new blog.

Swine Flu Reaches CT

2009-04-29T07:01:00.004-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/04/29/news/metro/a1_--_swine.txt

Well, I suppose it's here. Let's all wash our hands, cover our mouths, dispose of our own germy trash, and stay home from school and work should we find ourselves infected.

New North Haven Author

2009-04-29T06:54:00.003-04:00

http://www.courant.com/community/hc-community-articleresults,0,5942637,results.formprofile?Query=12039HC

"North Haven resident Susan Fowler, adjunct philosophy professor at Quinnipiac University, has written a new book to make leadership contagious -- 'Leading with Spirit: Transforming Leadership for Social Change.'"

Not only should we applaud her success, we should embrace the tenor of her work, designed as it is to help us improve our institutions and societal expectations.

Bravo! Now get out there and buy a copy.

Tortured Discussion

2009-04-29T00:11:00.011-04:00

Jon Stewart just engaged in what was apparently a long and fascinating interview with Cliff May about America's use of torture. The Daily Show was only able to air 6 minutes of it, but the entire thing is going to be on Comedy Central's website. It is definitely something I will catch when it becomes available.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/

Paramedics Posturing

2009-04-28T23:29:00.007-04:00

http://nhregister.com/articles/2009/04/27/news/metro/b1-nhselectmen-mon.txt

The ballot wording for the proposed paramedic program has been called into question. I agree that it seems politically motivated, but I strongly encourage all town residents to vote in favor of the measure. (I'm still on the fence regarding the budget measure.)

Having a paramedic program of our own can only profit the health and well-being of town residents. This is another one of those things that people just need to find a way to invest in. Our taxes may go up, but if what we receive is in some cases invaluable, how do we say "no"?

Instead of simply seeing our taxes as a number that comes out of our collective wallets, we need to begin thinking more long term. How might such a service save lives and money? How does it improve the perceived quality of the town and, hence, property values? What price can we put on peace of mind?

Bulk Pickup

2009-04-28T23:15:00.007-04:00

I have nothing but the greatest respect for the men and women who serve the town side of the budget, but perhaps it is time we re-visited the necessity of bulk trash pick up occuring EVERY WEEK in North Haven.

Now, I don't want anyone to lose his/her job, and I have nothing but sympathy for the fact that town side sanitation workers have not received a raise since 2006, but for the entire time I've lived here I have felt that being able to have a refrigerator picked up from my front lawn each and every week was excessive. It should be more than possible that each of the four regions of the town (Green Acres, Montowese, Clintonville, Ridge Road) could be assigned a week in the month - first, second, third, fourth.

I have no idea how much money this would save the town, but it would be a start toward tightening our collective belts, maintaining great benefits of living here, and easing budget tensions.

Or am I entirely off track?

Paradigm Shift

2009-04-28T21:43:00.012-04:00

Without getting into the politics and personalities involved on the national stage, I think America is entering into a new phase of the Social Contract. For the last nearly 30 years we have been satisfied with the notions of unfettered private ambition and limited government regulation. Recent events are foring us as a society and as a nation to reconsider the social fabric and the fundamental responsibilities of citizens and institutions.

My great hope is that in the years ahead we will see:

- a return to fiscal sanity, achieved through corporate pay caps and regulation.

- a return to safe banking, wherein risky ventures are detached from institutional saving and lending.

- a true universal health care system for all Americans, in which we recognize that the ongoing health of the citizenry is at least as vital as the health of roads and other infrastructure.

- the de-politicizing of the Washington bureaucracy so that government can spend more time solving and debating problems and LESS time trying simply to win the next election cycle.

- a re-working of the electoral college and primary systems.

- a huge shift in favor or renewable energy and green technology.

- a full and fair accounting of torture, domestic wire tapping, and enemy detention - in such a manner that the guilty are prosecuted and these crimes are not repeated in a succeeding generation or administration.

- a vigorous effort to increase the quality and availability of broadband internet access.

- high speed rail and other 21st Century technologies to improve transit and trade.

Here's a Start of Something

2009-04-28T21:17:00.007-04:00

I am experimenting with being a blogger. Something I have never done before. I have been outspoken on other blogs, and I have often been an avid reader of blogs and news all my digital, adult life.

I hope this site will serve as a place for moderate voices in the community to discuss solutions and efforts in this community to make North Haven an even better place to live and raise a family. I love a good debate, but I am not as interested as other bloggers in choosing a political side and bludgeoning my neighbors.

Let me know what you think. I will be only too happy to get back to you!

Thank you in advance.