Meriden: the eviction mandate: i.e., the state requires towns to store evicted tenants’ belongings for 15 days before auctioning them off. Everyone seems in favor of this, because there’s a cost. I don’t know where to begin on this! The poor individuals evicted – not all of whom are deadbeat apartment-destroyers – shouldn’t get the break of having their stuff cared for for a few days, but the landlord should be able to dump it immediately? If the mandate is repealed, it’s not likely anyone will make landlords do it, and a good many of them will simply appropriate the goods and junk what they don’t want. And junk or not, it still belongs to the tenants. If it’s too expensive, make it cheaper. Don’t ship it to Cheshire! Put it into a warehouse somewhere: there are empty buildings the city could actually use. Bad economic times shouldn’t mean that it becomes open season for repealing protections for the weakest citizens – precisely those who are evicted.
Meriden: Stimulus bill. Go get ‘em. Whatever we can get.
Meriden: council passes the plan unanimously, and we were late with the editorial. That doesn’t make the decision any less of a mistake.
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The Meriden City Council made a grave error in passing the Plan of Conservation and Development as it relates to Cathole Mountain and the city-owned public land there.
Short-sighted, illogical, and lacking vision, this effort to offer up half the public lands for development is an act of desperation and is typical Meriden-style planning. Posturing to appear pro-business and pro-taxpayer, the city council has squandered an opportunity to be truly innovative and visionary. By
preserving the city-owned acreage on one of Meriden's Hanging Hills as open space, the council could have done something wortrhy of future praise. Instead, they sold out Meriden's natural heritage to the highest bidder. Shame on them.
If the city council wanted to judge local residents acceptance of the Plan of Conservation and Development they would put it up for a public vote. George McGoldrick's defense of the plan as needed to bolster the tax base is nieve. Blueback Square in West Hartford was built on already developed parcels and Manhattan is testament to both reuse of existing sites and increased tax revenues possible. Frank Ridley suffers from the same lack of vision and imagination as McGoldrick and unfortunately for Meriden those who are paid to evolve such plans and oversee development wear the same blinders or even worse are incapable of doing the hard work required to revive a city like Meriden. Mr Buccilli's comment that the public had ample opportunity to comment on the plan is both self serving and wrong. The plan was done before comment was allowed. There were no advocates for the I 691 ramp change, NRG site development, or the Undercliff land grab for development at the public meetings but plenty of opposition. Those ideas were pre determined prior to the public hearings hence the need for a public vote/ referendum for real approval . The problem with do gooders who think they know whats best for the town like the advocates of this plan is that they are afraid to put thier solutions up for a true public scrutiny. A chance for a true public forum on Meriden's future with a 3rd party moderating (like the RJ) would allow for the 2 sides to debate the issues as it should have been rather than in Buccilli's sham public forums that were hosted by pitchmen from the design firm selling the misguided Carusio Brennan concept for the few in the know.
Dale Combelic is right on target.
The city council and city planners
lack vision and imagination. The POCD needs serious revision, but that's not going to happen. Not with McGoldrick and Caruso running the show. City council justs follows in lockstep as usual.
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