I have been alerted to a new website about Cheshire’s growth. It is very informative and gives a lot of info about Cheshire, the Lifestyle Center and other things.

Here is the link:

www.cheshiresmartgrowth.org

I won’t be posting Wednesday because it is HALLOWEEN.

 Will I come to your home? I might. I think this year I will be going out as one of the Town Council Candidates. Can you guess which one? Find out when I come to your door!!

Seriously, I am running for the Council so I don’t know how appropriate it is for me to endorse people. As you know I have already had Lou Murray’s profile and Steve Carroll’s profile on my site. I like Tim White and I do endorse Tom Ruocco who along with Steve Carroll started the ball rolling for the Senior Tax Freeze. I did like Diane Visconti but she is not running. This is not official, just some ideas off the top of my head.

I like Tim Slocum and always will because he was kind to my son Ross a few years ago. We have a lot of good candidates on both sides, Dems and Repubs. I will think about it over the weekend.

• TRUMBULL BENEFITS AND STARTING POLICE OFFICER SALARY
• 
  
• Anthem Blue Cross/ Blue Shield medical coverage
• Prescription Drug Plan
• Dental Plan
• Optical Plan
• Life Insurance
• Retirement package after 25 years of service
• College stipend
• 12 paid holidays per year
• 12 paid vacation days after 1-7 completed years of service (pro-rated 1 day per month for year 1), 18 days after 7 years, 24 days after 15 years, and 30 days after 20 years
• Unlimited sick leave with full pay
• Shift differential pay
• Yearly clothing allowance, plus uniform trade-in
• Annual Salary: Per the current contract, an Officer’s starting salary is $42,314 which increases to $54,528 after 12 months and $59,305 after 24 months.

AVON POLICE DEPARTMENT

Starting salary with the Avon Police Department is $53,350 .00 and with a Bachelor’s Degree the salary increases to $55, 800.00 with full medical benefits. Individuals hired will be paid while completing police recruitment training. All uniforms and equipment will be provided by the department. Avon has 35 officers and a population of 17,000

BLOOMFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT

Entry-Level Starting Salary: $ 56,370 with an excellent benefit package. Unfortunately they did not specify what this excellent benefit package entails.

NEW HAVEN POLICE DEPARTMENT

• Comprehensive medical coverage for each officer and his or her family.
• Competitive starting salary of $38,394 while in the academy.
• Salary increases to $58,914 after successful completion of three years of employment.
• Generous twenty-year retirement plan.
• Paid life insurance policy.
• Twelve paid holidays.
• Paid vacation.
• Uniforms and equipment provided.
• University tuition reduction and competitive scholarships available.

NEW YORK CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT RECRUIT NUMBERS DOWN

Courtesy of The New York Post
Nearly 1,100 police recruits graduated from the Police Academy recently - a “cause for concern” because the NYPD is still below its authorized head count, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said.

“They’re an excellent class. They’re a very diverse class, very representative of this city. So we’re very proud of it,” Kelly said after the Madison Square Garden ceremony.

“But the class could have been at least a thousand more officers in terms of our ability to fund them, to pay for them,” he said. “So that’s a cause for concern.”

Kelly said the department now has about 35,700 cops, including yesterday’s 1,097 new officers.

Another 800 officers are expected to graduate this summer. Still, the department’s authorized head count is 37,838.

Kelly blamed the city’s low starting salary - $25,100 for new cops.

“Our numbers are clear: We had no issue recruiting when the salary was competitive, $40,000 in 2005,” he said.

“When the salary went down, that’s when our challenges set in.”

The Wall That Heals will arrive in Cheshire Tuesday. I know the town will roll out the red carpet as it should. This is an important part of our history.

The Vietnam conflict changed so many things in our country. It changed the way we live today, the way we talk, the way we live. I remember a few friends in high school going to Vietnam and never returning. I wonder what they would think about the way things are today.

It seems so many people do not care. They will not get involved. I sort of see the Wall That Heals as a turning point for the people who run this town. This Wall stands for freedom-of speech–of different ideas. Do you understand what this Wall means Cheshire Town Government? DO YOU!!

Don’t forget, all the censors in the Town Government, to go to the wall and PRETEND you stand for freedom, while a just a few months ago, you practically called my husband a criminal and had the police call me at home because he allegedly put up a sign that did not jibe with your beliefs.

I pray to God every night He can change some hearts in this town.

Please go to this Wall and see the names. See what they really died for–differences of opinions, different beliefs, different races, different religions, different levels of incomes, all living together.

I am not in this race to bust chops. I believe in what I am doing. I am a candidate because I believe Cheshire needs to see that if someone runs for an office that is not made out of their carefully constructed mold, that the town will not fall apart.

Our country was founded on different beliefs working together for the common good. Not, “Oh we don’t like her mouth or his sign, so we will quiet them down or we don’t want certain people coming to town,” etc. etc. This wall immortalizes people that died and continue to die to give people in a foreign land our type of freedoms. Sadly, some people that run this town have not gotten that message yet.

I know this wall is a positive sign for Cheshire. I hope all will get the message of this Wall and hear the voices of those who gave their lives for its meaning.

Now I always put two ideas in the same post, but I like to do that. I just got through watching the candidates debate and it was great.

Of course you all know who gave the right answers to every question!!! All I know is I bassed all of the other candidates with my answer to the pool problem and you know it!! It is too bad that when they went to a wide shot I was hardly in the picture but I don’t think that was by accident!!! “Careful Henry, don’t get HER in the shot, we had everything all planned out and SHE ruined it”!!

I did not have a chance at the debates but I wanted now to expand on the Police staffing issue.

No one, including myself, wants to see a short staffed overworked demoralized police department. We will be hiring more officers but it will take time for the candidates to go through the academy.

Now Cheshire had something like 200 applicants apply for the patrol officer position. I believe many people have the mistaken notion that if they start out in a town like Cheshire, it will be an easy ride. Some of these people do not realize that even in a small department, there are dangers. They think it is easy in Cheshire. Well, July should have ended that speculation.

When I was a reporter for the Bridgeport Post, I covered Easton and had the opportunity to ride with one of the police officers one night doing traffic enforcement.

All I can tell you is that every time the officer pulled over a car, (and this was Easton), my heart was in my throat. Every time the officer got out of the car I put my eyes on the radio and never took them off that radio until the officer got back in the car. I kept praying what happened to my friend Officer DeJoseph of Bridgeport who was shot in the back and killed in 1979 while on a “routine” traffic stop, would not happen that night. Luckily it did not. I am not even going to go into what happened the night I went on patrol with the Bridgeport Police Department, but to make a long story short, I spent the entire night hiding behind one of the officers as we patrolled through Marina Village.

So police work anywhere anytime is not routine and is dangerous.

As far as our officers leaving after only a few years, I know one of the police officers that left our department to go to Hamden wanted to go there because that is where his family was from. And I was told by a police commissioner in that town (you know who) that he was a fine officer and a compliment to their department. Apparently the other officer who left a short time ago wanted more “action,” for what that is worth.

That is why I keep bringing up the police commission or expansion of the public safety commission. I remember this police commissioner from unnamed town telling me ( and I was insulted believe it or not when he said it) that officers don’t want to stay in Cheshire because they don’t move up. I don’t know how valid that statement is. Take it with a grain of salt. But you must realize and it has nothing to do with whether you like me or not, one person cannot make personnel decisions in regards to this police department or any police department for that matter. It is unfair and biased.

It can’t be any other way when you leave it up to one person. I can assure you, if I were the Town Manager, you bet your a– I would not be making the decisions on who gets hired or fired on the police department. Believe me, the powers that be in this town would not allow it!!

The bottom line, if people feel they cannot move up or they are not getting competitive pay they will leave. I just did it. I severed a relationship with a client over pay. I have done it many times. It is demoralizing and disruptive to say the least. So I hope the police officers will take into consideration what I am saying.

Good night!!

At last Thursday nights Candidates Forum, a question came up about what is an appropriate fund balance. The town of Cheshire apparently has an 8 percent fund balance which is growing by each years’ surplus and in layman’s terms is equvalent to one months expenses for the town.

Is 8 percent too much/not enough. I consulted with a local tax expert, (not myself believe me), and this person believes that 8 percent is sufficient.

 Why, because the only jam the town might get in is if the state of Connecticut does not come through with what was promised, or the election results don’t turn out the way I WANT THEM TO!!

A few years ago, the town of Cheshire was short approximately a million and a half dollars. The town had to scramble to adjust its budget accordingly to be in balance.

Now, if our budget is approximately $90 million, then at 8 percent, the surplus is approximately $7.2 million, which is a far cry from $1.5 million.

Now a candidate for Town Council said at the debates that a large surplus and fund balances are a disadvantage to the town when union contract negotiations are taking place.

On the other hand, the larger the fund balance, the greater the credit rating resulting in a lower interest rate for the town. The town’s interest rate is approximately four percent which is at a much lower interest rate than any taxpayer would receive. Wouldn’t the taxpayer want to pay off his/her own debt which is at a higher interest rate than the town’s?

You pay off your credit card balance before you pay off your mortgage. It is the same deal. Example: I am not going to empty my bank account (because of higher taxes), so the town can have a lower interest rate than I do. The town’s money is our money and is part of our debt load.

I want to thank my tax expert for his/her advice.

P.S. When you keep the mill rate as low as possible you attract businesses which pay taxes and keep the mill rate even lower.

Now on to more interesting stuff: the election is coming up and I am getting into the final assault. I am putting up more signs and handing out as much literature as possible.

I must report that handing out my secret weapon (money) to people seems to be working. People are thanking me and telling me they will support me. Wow, this is easy. Paying people to vote for you–amazing. I don’t understand what all the hard work is about. You slip people a C note and watch their faces light up. Phew!!

No No No. I am NOT handing out money to people. I am handing out jar openers with a facsimile of my sign imprinted on the front. It seems to have a positive effect on most people, because the human race loves to get somthing for nothing. Just look at all those old riot/looting tapes. 

I hope you are getting a kick out of those old cigarette commercials. How times have changed. It seems people were more gullable then when it came to cigarettes. Well, to their defense, they did not know the harm, just as I am sure, people 50 to 70 years from now will wonder why we all walked around with cellular phones to our ears and attracted all those radio frequency waves near our bodies. We will have to wait and see.

All I can tell you is something is “brewing” in connection with this Lifestyle Center. I will keep you all posted.

And finally, I do want to thank Steve Carroll, Tim White and Lou Murray for supporting me in my successful quest to be a participant in the Candidates Debate last Thursday night. I was nervous at first, but I think I did OK. I wanted to say more, but of course, we all had the time limit of seven minutes for all the questions. I think the League of Women Voters should have had two questions and let all the candidates debate them for an hour. That would have been even more interesting.

I am taking a little break from all the happenings this week: the Candidate’s Night; the campaigning and my daughter with her “baby” from her health class to run this old cigarette commercial from the 1950’s.

 If you  are a baby boomer, the minute this commercial starts playing, you will be able to sing it, even after all these years. It’s amazing how commericals stay in your mind and how back then, cigarettes were treated like candy.

Some commercials even said they were healthy for God’s sake. I am trying to find that old cigarette commercial that by today’s standards was not only bias and dishonest but racist on top of it. I can’t remember the brand but hopefully it will come to me. I remember it used to air during Bonanza, my favorite western show on Sunday night on NBC.

Well here it is:

Old 1950's Winston Cigarette Commercial

After the main commercial plays, you can click on some other old cigarette commercials that will pop up on the bottom of the screen.