Monthly archives: March 2009

 

 

Into The Fire

  • By: Cindy

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS TOWN OF CHESHIRE!!

click here to find out why

Also: Charges Against Cheshire Police Officer DROPPED

I still do not have my computer, so it will be difficult to post on a consistent basis. I was able to do it last week because I borrowed a friends computer, but I had to give it back to her over the weekend so we will have to see how it goes.

I happened to read a story in the Manhattan, KS Mercury, which is actually WORSE than the Herald, as far as whitewashing the news, which talked about their community pool and doing a bid waiver. In all fairness-this pool is 70 YEARS OLD!! Maybe Cheshire should get this construction firm-DAMN that pool really lasted!!

CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS? WHAT IS GOING ON?? Am I going from the frying pan INTO THE FIRE?? MIght be.

The way this works is the City of Manhattan (KS), actually passed what they call a “design build” ordinance, which allows them to WAIVE ALL CONSTRUCTION BIDS, to save time and money.

Here is the link to this story

It’s like well, let’s not bother wasting time bidding for construction projects, let’s just pick a firm and go with them. MAYBE CHESHIRE CONNECTICUT SHOULD RELOCATE TO MANHATTAN, KANSAS!!

And if that were not bad enough the city is going to purchase 10 new municipal vehicles. OH NO!! This town looks like it is getting worse than Cheshire blowing money on garbage. I am trying to see how much it is going to cost for their community pool-which IS one season-at least they were smart about that. I mean they do have a few other pools and have the use of K-State’s pools.

There is one thing Cheshire has to understand-you DO NOT consider reducing Town Hall hours or cutting out the extended hours at the Town Hall and Police Department UNLESS IT IS A DIRE EMERGENCY.

And no, CIA Director, that is not a matter for Executive Session. The idea can be discussed in public, but DETAILS  where it impacts CERTAIN EMPLOYEES belong in Executive Session!!

My spouse goes to these meetings, asks questions regarding the defined benefits and pensions and gets told “oh we don’t wing anything-go to the pension board meetings to find out more details” (sic)

Believe me, If I were at that meeting, those words would not have gone unanswered. Of COURSE Cheshire doesn’t WING anything, my spouse, who lets everyone take advantage of him, should understand that!!

They script everything out in this town-that is why you get a sideways glance when you ask a probing question. Yeah, I am going to start finding out what REALLY happened July 2007-I can tell you one thing right now, if that WERE IN ANY OTHER TOWN, HEADS WOULD HAVE ROLLED!!

This town better have eight million in the bank they will need it for the LAWSUIT!!!

This is why people don’t bother showing up to these phony go through the motion budget hearings. Why bother, they don’t listen.

If this town is worried about the defined benefits and peoples pensions, which have taken a hit from the stock market-do one of two things-WAIT IT OUT-the stock market will recover-OR RAISE TAXES-RAISE THE MILL RATE!!

But you see, that won’t happen this year because it is an ‘election year” The phonies won’t DARE RAISE anything but the public safety budget, because they want to get re-elected. They are addicted to this ZERO budget increase FOR SOME DEPARTMENTS. Now they are trying to stick with this option even though it is not feasible it is not fair.

Nothing has to be cut short or furloughed in this town-start spending money wisely-make the pool one season, get rid of take home cars, TAX ELIM PARK:

Stop letting the State of Connecticut SHIT all over Cheshire literally and make them construct their own sewage treatment plant since they refuse to pay their fair share of the cost, if they don’t SHUT THEM OFF!!  AND finally –raise the mill rate to 50!!

Get some balls Cheshire-WILL YOU!!

END OF STORY.

 

New Developments

  • By: Cindy

In the last post, I told you about some news I had heard regarding W/S Development. Actually, it involves the Shoppes at Farmington Valley in Canton.

NO IT IS NOT CLOSING!! But I received information from whom I consider to be  a reliable source who frequents this establishment quite often because she is a young lady who LOVES to shop and she also lives in Canton.

A few days ago I ran into this young woman and she told me that she and my daughter had gone to Canton to the Shoppes to eat at Panera.  I asked her how everything was going over there because I had not visited the Shoppes for quite some time.

She told me that over a year to year and a half time period, approximately 10 stores had closed-BUT for the most part had been replaced. She told me she saw three vacant storefronts and that was approximately two weeks ago. She also said the restaurant “Terra” had closed.

Now to be fair, I called the Shoppes at Farmington Valley management office in Canton and they directed me to their Boston office where I spoke with David Fleming.

In fact, I spoke with Mr. Fleming for nearly 30 minutes. We had a nice conversation-I told him what I had been told and asked him for a comment-he did respond on Friday so I will run his response in a few minutes.

I will tell you that one of the first things out of Mr. Flemings mouth was the concern W/S seems to have with the site in Cheshire-the historical and environmental part. He indicated that W/S will go to extreme lengths to preserve the integrity of the historic arch and the Ten Mile River.

I told him that I will hold W/S to that high standard-and so will MANY MANY people in Cheshire if and when this Lifestyle Center is constructed. There was no mention of a timeline.

So here is the response from David Fleming of W/S Development:

Cynthia, nice to speak with you yesterday. As you mentioned, your daughter and her friend noticed new stores at The Shoppes at Farmington Valley. Here’s some background on recent changes at the centers.
Terra is closed and is being replaced by Feng Asian Bistro, which is currently under construction and scheduled to open August 1. Feng is a run by a local operator called Ginza Restaurant Group with two existing locations in the Greater Hartford area. We’re pleased to have them joining the center. Other store closings included Simmer (restaurant), Everything But Water (swimwear), Blue Tulip (paper products such as invitations, etc.), and Ann Taylor. While the Canton Ann Taylor store was performing, the closing was part of a larger corporate initiative that included 117 store closings nationwide. Ann Taylor LOFT remains open.
New store openings at the center include three of the top retailers in the country: J. Crew, American Eagle Outfitters, and Sephora. Sephora, as you may know, is a cosmetics store. From its website: “Sephora’s unique, open-sell environment features over 250 classic and emerging brands across a broad range of product categories including skincare, color, fragrance, makeup, and bath & body, in addition to Sephora’s own private label.” Other new stores include AT&T, Emily Clares Boutique, and Pia Sjolin Designs. Pia Sjolin Designs offers glassware and textile design. Interestingly, Pia Sjolin Designs will host artisans in residence and offer art classes inside its store. This is similar to other stores in the center such as Sur La Table, which offers cooking classes. Pia Sjolin Designs opened temporarily prior to the holidays, and is having a grand re-opening on April 4th.
Currently, while there are five vacancies, we‘re pleased to report that based on total gross leasable area (GLA), The Shoppes at Farmington Valley is 96% leased.
In Dedham, MA some of the sustainability initiatives we’re undertaking at Legacy Place (under construction and opening August 2009) include: state-of-the-art storm water control, white roofs to combat the heat island effect, light pollution reduction, shared parking, water efficient landscaping, construction waste management, use of regional and recycled content materials, tenant trash recycling areas, use of low-emitting construction materials in (i.e., paint, coatings, adhesives, sealants, carpet systems, composite wood), bike racks, and more. This does not include sustainability initiatives being undertaken by tenants such as Whole Foods Market and L.L.Bean. I can share some of those initiatives if you’re interested.
I hope this is helpful information.
Regards,
David
In other news: I had mentioned that I had read the “Murder in Connecticut” book that I had borrowed from a friend. This book can be checked out at the Cheshire Public Library. I recommend reading it. Most of it is rehashed information , and some of it, as Mr. DeVylder commented, may be inaccurate, but there is one chapter in that book-the chapter that details the events of that July 2007 evening that really affected me.
I mean look, I know some of the details, but for some reason, maybe it was the way the author worded it-that really has gotten to me-I really understand the magnitude of this event now. I understand something else too-but I don’t want to publically air my feelings on this subject-because they are very deep feelings-
That is why I will never ever ever go to any  town sponsored events in Cheshire AGAIN!! I will never go to any town meetings again.
I can’t look some people in the eye anymore after what I read and what I was recently told.
You know SOMETIMES you have to make unpopular decisions-SOMETIMES YOU HAVE to act on something even though it may COST YOU YOUR JOB.
I remember when I was the editor of a weekly paper approximately 12 years ago. I knew my job was to REPORT ALL SIDES OF THE NEWS, even though my boss thought otherwise, especially when it came to a certain subject.
I defied this person and would literally put back information she edited out. I knew I was going to be fired for doing this and I WAS!! Sure, I felt bad real bad about it.
But to this day, I KNOW I DID THE RIGHT THING.
I hope you are watching the “Obama Deception” This mini documentary is from Alex Jones-here is a link to his website. Take it for what it is worth.
Also, here is the link to W/S Developments latest lifestyle center (still under construction) Legacy Place in Dedham, Mass.

 

My Viewpoint

  • By: Cindy

I have been getting feedback about the 2009-2010 Town of Cheshire operating budget. Most of the comments are skeptical. It really looks like this town has robbed Peter  at  South Main Street to pay Paul at Highland Avenue.

The Town Manager in the local paper said the mill rate is going down but not our tax rate. I don’t know how all of this is getting figured. All I know is, that it seems like homeowners in this town paid the price-our house re-vals went up probably to balance out the budget.

We are getting money from CRRA-oh we haven’t gotten it yet!!  That is like myself “planning” on winning the Powerball on Friday and acting like I already have 10 million in the bank.

That’s sort of like that couple that had several thousand dollars accidentally deposited in their bank account-so they drew it all out and moved to Florida!!

Hello!! Like take a little bit out at a time A***h***e!! No, only kidding. They DID get caught and they acted like they were surprised. No, that is NOT YOUR MONEY!!

Speaking of banks, I am going to link you to an article on our Boing Boing blog on how hackers have been able to steal information from any credit card that has an RFID encoded chip. If you have one of these cards-I suggest you wrap it in aluminum foil or buy a stainless steel wallet.

Click here to find out why

Some other people who are getting robbed so to speak, are the people in the Town Clerk’s office-WHY?? Oh I know why!! I should not even ask that SILLY QUESTION!!

The Town Clerk may be cut down to 30 hours a week!!  In the meantime, Public Safety’s budget is going up over 6 percent!!

WHY!!

If the Board of Ed said teachers were getting that sort of raise-we actually would have riots here!!

I did want to say one thing before I continue-THANK YOU MR. SQUIRE!! Yes, I absolutely agree with you on this municipal vehicle account. Get rid of half the cars-NO get rid of ALL THE TAKE HOME CARS NOW!! NOT NEEDED. UNNECESSARY PERK.

As I have stated time and time again, my spouse drives his OWN vehicle all day for the Ct. Dept of Labor Field Audit department. ALL DAY LONG!! His car has at LEAST 280,000 miles on it!! And I don’t want to hear we are purchasing any new patrol cars-NO not at all.

We don’t take money off of one persons table and give it to another-there had better be a good explanation, out side of political get even, for this reduction in the Town Clerk’s operating hours.

Now many of you are wondering about overtime-ever since that “anonymous” letter surfaced from “Concerned Tax Payers of Cheshire. Can an employee that is hourly be switched to salary to save in overtime expenses? The Ct Department of Labor has extensive rules and regulations on this issue.

And while I am on the subject-yep it looks like yet another unemployment extension for Connecticut, according to Gov. Jodi Rell.

Click here

OK, let’s see what the rules are for salary vs hourly employees and who is exempt for overtime.

click here

Salaried employees-are they exempt from overtime?

So I don’t know if some of these people could be switched from hourly to salary to save money-it is a good idea but not as easy as one thinks. The rules are convoluted as they exist now. They are open to interpretation which is not a good thing.

Finally, I will have some information hopefully on Friday regarding W/S Development-stay tuned.

And I don’t know if I will be going to the Republican Spag supper on Friday with my spouse. I am not in the mood to hear them bitching about Obama and how the country is going down the tubes.!!

I am going to run a small miniseries starting tonight entitled: The Obama Deception. It is in 12 parts-but if I begin barfing uncontrollably and start wasting away to nothing from watching this video series, then I probably won’t run more than one or two parts.

 

Capitalism vs Socialism

  • By: Cindy

Did you see it? You know, when the Town of Cheshire tries to “smooth over” problems-you “see it”

It’s called “Channel 14-the Town Government Channel and the show is called “Your Town Government”

Now mind you, SOME of the shows are informative-but this last one on the snow plows-come on! I am going to re run those “Broken Mailbox photos again and you decide-do you think this damage was caused by a plow going 18 t0 20 mph??

What should be taking place is an outright in your face discussion-”look people of Cheshire, I the Town Manager have received complaints and have seen the “Broken Mailbox” photos on UTH and I am getting to the bottom of it NOW!!

All this reminds me of that famous speech I have highlighted on Youtube by President Kennedy-called the “Secret Society” speech.

“Their mistakes are buried-NOT HEADLINED-their dissenters are SILENCED not PRAISED”!!

That is why Mr. Ruocco, Town Councilor, the letter you received from the “Concerned Tax Payers of Cheshire” the same letter I ran on this blog that was sent to me, WAS ANONYMOUS!!

Go read why people are afraid to put their names on things in this town. Your own party member had a comment on  HIS BLOG when I ran for the Town Council.

(sic) “I am not going to get in trouble or lose my job having to deal with Ms. Kleist”

CASE CLOSED.

This is the most pathetic statement I have ever read-and my spouse HAS BEEN TOLD THIS ALSO!! THIS TOWN IS NOT A DICTATORSHIP-PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE AFRAID TO SPEAK-EVEN TOWN EMPLOYEES!!

I am really surprised I didn’t get blamed for writing this “anonymous letter” as I have been in the past:

Just ask the cops.. they’ll tell you about Cindy’s community spirit when it come to anonymous letters.

That was a comment-AN ANONYMOUS COMMENT to boot-from the 2007 elections on TWL.

This is what I mean.

Is THIS what they spent their time doing a year ago? Must be nice.

This is one reason I have a link to “Only in Bridgeport” by my former colleague and friend Lenny Grimaldi.

Do you see all the comments he has-OVER 10,000!! People from the City speak out, employees speak out-this is what we are used to in Bridgeport and many other communities-you have something on your mind-you say it!!

I fear not in this town. TOO BAD!!

And in the spirit of “Criswell” remember him? I predict a whole slew of  municipal retirements before 2010 when something goes to court.

I can see that it won’t be long
You grow cold when you keep holding on
You know you’ve changed
And your words they lie
That’s something you can’t deny

From: There’s Something Going On-by Frida

Now onto the featured subject:

Socialism vs Capitalism.

Is it time for the U.S. to restructure. Has healthy competition from small businesses and mom and pop stores mushroomed out of control and turned into a feeding frenzy for CORPORATE AMERICA.

I mean look, a company making billions upon billions profit, while the rest of the population fall by the wayside is NOT I believe the American way.

I believe our government NEEDS to get involved in certain areas-like funding education as they do in Canada. In Quebec, as I have stated before on this blog, ALL University tuition is approximately $1,836 PER YEAR!!

In fact, a few years ago, when Quebec raised the credit hour from $10 to $12-there were RIOTS!!

BUT their educational system is a lot stricter than ours-FIVE years of high school and University is very competitive. BTW-college is FREE!!

Free health care-sounds great-BUT  you wait sometimes months or years to have an operation. That is why nearly 90 percent of all Canadians live within 110 miles of the U.S. border!!

Also do you want to pay 16 percent SALES TAX on everything??

That is the price because the money has to come from somewhere doesn’t it. Maybe it is worth it-as far as education  and health care go. Why is our government letting people go without decent health care-we can WELL afford to pay for it. Look what we spend each month in Iraq and Afghanistan!! Why do people have to mortgage their homes and put themselves and their children into debt to get an education!! WHY!!

So let us discuss CAPITALISM vs SOCIALISM. Remember, Bridgeport had a Socialist mayor, Jasper McLevy from 1933 to 1957!! VERY POPULAR MAYOR!! So this idea is worth discussing.

Click here for Capitalism vs Socialism

 

WHAT??

  • By: Cindy

I watched some of the town budget presentation  by the Cheshire Town Manager. As I said last night, I don’t get it!! All this gloom and doom talk, cutbacks, reduced hours, now the town is ending up with a surplus??

“Oh we have hard choices to make” WHERE?? Oh, you notice WHAT DEPARTMENT WENT UP!!

Because we can’t compromise public safety. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!! What COMPROMISES would have to be made to affect public safety??

I remember a few years ago, more like several years ago, under the Ganim administration, the city of Bridgeport was short 50 police officers. They could not afford to hire and be at full strength. Crime WENT DOWN!! It is not the quantity it is concentrating on areas that are causing the crime in the first place.

Bridgeport has had to lay off police, and so have many towns. I really don’t get how this town is doing it, I don’t.

Case in point-the following story-and this is REAL.

Pontiac Mich to LAY OFF ALL SCHOOL EMPLOYEES (not FIVE) ALL!!

Oh and I really loved the comment by Chairman of the Town Council “just email the town managers office with questions on the budget”

Oh YEAH!! I called up the TM’s office to ask questions about the $18,000 in overtime in the Town Managers office. I got told the day I called, that they were in the “Eleventh Hour” of the budget process. Well, it is now March 10 going in the 11th, what is the problem now??

You can’t ask some departments to cut back and give up things, while others are untouched. Spread the bad news around equally will you??

And as most of you know, I guess an about face is in order on this Trash pickup situation. NOW the town will bid on a one three or five year contract. I don’t know what they decided because my phone rang and I had to get up from the TV. That’s OK my friend or ex-friend will watch the video on Tims blog and tell me about it.

This is why I won’t go to any more of these meetings It is just a waste of time. The Town Government acts like it cares, but it doesn’t. WHY? Because the majority of people in this town DON’T CARE. They came here for the schools and when their time is up-they will leave. Sad.

Now the next topic: PREVAILING WAGE

Well it seems some people of a certain party persuasion do not like the prevailing wage-they feel it stifles competition. NO-umm like not going out for bid STIFLES COMPETITION!!

Click here to see what Prevailing Wage is

Prevailing Wage background

The state of Connecticut as is the case with other states, have to use prevailing wage on all Federally funded projects. I guess some people think this is unfair-well I can see their point, these are the same people that think bid waivers are OK!!

Whether we like it or not, whether we feel the laws may be stretched or going overboard, the original intent was to protect workers rights-to ensure they made a fair wage ALL WORKERS. This does not stifle competition, it encourages it and assures workers are treated as fairly as possible. Are there flaws? Sure there are? Is this law sometimes taken advantage of-probably-but the person doing the commenting on a certain show needs to realize that she is where she is because of certain “laws” protecting women that many MEN thought were ridiculous at that time and unnecessary.

“Why should women vote”?? “Why do we need women in the workplace”? That stifles competition-yeah, it takes away from men!!

I guess these people don’t like affirmative action or Title VII of the Civil Rights act. The men lawmakers that wanted this “ridiculous” act defeated put in women as one of the “protected classes” figuring it would cause such an outrage in the Congress that the law would be defeated. WELL, IT BACKFIRED!!

I guess these people don’t like the FDA because since the early 1900′s there has had to be regulations on the food and drug industry. People can’t just sell “quack” products and make money or sell diseased meat. Doesn’t that stifle competition?

They probably don’t like the Securities and Exchange Commission because now you can’t engage in “insider trading” (doesn’t that stifle competition)?

And speaking of prevailing wage as it relates to labor-they probably don’t like the child labor laws either-just think of how “competitive” this country could be if little kids were put back into the workforce!!

The other comment I loved was:”Cheshire pays more than their fair share to the state and gets hardly anything in return”

WHAT?? You can afford to pay-then-PAY!! You begrude helping out less fortunate-too bad!! So next time you split your head open, umm, I wonder WHAT CITY you will be going to for treatment!!

When you turn on your lights, I WONDER what CITY it is coming from?