The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Sept. 20, 2009

Southington: is the Water Department a town department or not? While the issue of
sharing rental revenue from leased cell phone/radio equipment on water department structures
isn’t really a big deal, it does raise the interesting issue.

The continued health of the 13 community neighborhood associations is good for the city of Meriden. Active residents, involved in what goes on in the streets surrounding their homes is a way to build strength and fight crime, all by itself. It would also appear that the presence of police officers gives a certain panache or blessing, perhaps, to help energize the groups.

Meriden: Democratic Town Chairman Mildred Torres-Ferguson has it right when she says that any “deal” which might have been made to avoid the Rohde/Zerio primary would have been worse than the primary. Primaries, given two determined candidates, are the only way to resolve a choice, and it’s a lot better than pistols at dawn . . . or roving gangs of political goons beating each other up. This is democracy, and the cost, $35,000 or so, is only a thousandth of the cost, roughly, of running the city for a year.

Wallingford: Town budgeting habits nettle both those who think taxes are too high and don’t want to spend, and those who think the town shouldn’t hold on to so much cash in reserves and should budget more accurately. But Wallingford is one of 8 towns with the Aa1 rating, and it saves money on borrowing. It works for us: we’d much rather operate our own budget from a position of fiscal strength than from a position of hanging on by our nails.

Wallingford is to receive a grant for an additional loop of the linear trail, which will be in addition to the phase, expected to get underway, of expansion on the west side of the Wilbur Cross.