The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Jan. 31, 2010

Meriden/Southington/Cheshire: This federal “Race to the Top” is being perceived as a takeover of local education program, which is not quite as clear as it seems to some. One needs convincing that any national standard of student measurement would lead to improvement of any student in Connecticut (see No Child Left Behind). On the other hand, not all local decisions have been the best in any community, and if that’s where the money is, there’s a point in going there to get it.

Meriden: Construction projects are always expensive, always burdensome. The technique is to stagger them and to finance them so they are done right the first time, and, of course, not to wait so long that repair becomes an emergency. Meriden has a tendency to postpone necessity until it becomes a burden.

Area: Does it make sense for young girls to wear heels? Does it make sense for adult women to wear high heels? Maybe, maybe not. There are so many things to worry about, though.

State: Governor Rell to ask for stricter laws prohibiting cell phone use while driving. No harm in trying. Certainly it is a law much breached.

Wallingford: School board members indicating inclinations on their realignment. It seems precipitate to try to accomplish this change as a “spending” measure in a single year. Perhaps if correctly presented, it might be sold as a welcome change according to some plan with a clearer rationale.

Southington: Okay, is it clear now? Spills of raw sewage, however small, must be reported.

Meriden: tenants at 32 Cook advised to continue keeping up on rent, which is generally good advice. But this process can be tricky for tenants. Courts have been known to terminate tenants’ rights of occupation after a foreclosure action’s “law day,” and it is well to get good legal advice when facing such a situation.

The Editor's Notepod, Sat., Jan. 31,, 2010

Meriden/Wallingford: Non-expanding grand list fills everyone with gloom, since it means no increase in revenue without an increase in tax rate. Perhaps, though, this is an assumption with which we should deal, since it requires a reallocation of assets and a chance to consider options.

Meriden: The forensic lab, the state’s testing ground for evidence, has an unacceptable delay in processing requests. Justice delayed is justice denied. Remedies are in the pipeline, if grants are properly applied.

Middlefield: A state grant to the town will help the process of marketing and re-opening Powder Ridge move along, surely a benefit all 'round.

Wallingford: the suspension/grievance process between two town employees is kind of competitive, an escalation of arguments. One can only wonder if there isn’t a less confrontative way of settling such matters.

The Editor's Notepod, Fri., Jan. 29, 2010

Southington: Well, no one can say that the VIP store was not given a thorough examination before being certified to open on Monday. We hope people will now be able to move on.

Meriden: who but veteran public watchdog Arline Dunlop would have shown up for the public hearing on the search for a new school superintendent. Good weather or ill, there’s a suggestion here that although everyone knows who the superintendent is and that every system has one, very few know what the superintendent actually does or have much of an opinion on how it should be done.

State: the $40 million to be received for the New Haven Springfield line should help solve the single rail situation which is a major issue caused by Amtrak itself and has put commuter service on a siding.

Southington: If breakfast is needed in the schools, it is good that the school system will soon be providing it. Good learning needs good nutrition.

The Editor's Notepod, Thur., Jan. 28, 2010

Meriden: foreclosure actions against delinquent taxpayers are proceeding, which is natural. Especially in the case of commercial buildings, which reach a point of arrears after which it can be assumed no one cares, it’s needful to keep the screws reasonably tightened.

Wallingford: it remains rather difficult to comprehend how a system reconfiguration which theoretically costs 59 teachers and 117 non-certified positions, including 39 paraprofessionals, winds up saving only about $400,000 compared to the non-reconfigured budget which costs 51 teachers and 59 non-certified staff (including only 3 paraprofessionals). Certainly it can’t be money which is driving the reconfiguration.

Meriden: while we’ve never particularly cared for the need to have “resource officers” – police officers – assigned to public schools, it will be difficult for Lincoln and Washington to make do without them following the February break.

Southington: residents, who have consistently resisted efforts to build a new town hall, now have the opportunity to see if the vacated North Center School could serve as an office building. An assessment is underway to detect costs of remodeling the building to office use and for any “hidden horribleness” as town manager John Weichsel put it.

Meriden: where else do you cut when 80 percent of the school budget is personnel and positions have been trimmed pretty steadily for the last 8 years? Extra-curricular activities, from sports to drama, are hardly a drop in the $100 million bucket, but are always the first on the list.

The Editor's Notepod, Wed., Jan. 27, 2010

Wallingford: teachers’ union doesn’t renegotiate. Now there’s an interesting facet to the business, exposed for the first time in or memory. Teachers are treated differently from other unions under state law, because of the arbitration and no strike rule. Suddenly, their attitude makes sense.

Southington: Redistricting is in the works for the elementary schools. In the past, this has been a highly fraught circumstance, but perhaps groundwork has been laid this time around.

Meriden: everything “on the table” in the school budget. As in Wallingford and elsewhere. What may need to happen is some adjustment in whatever the mechanism is which necessitates a 6 or 7 percent annual increase to remain on a level ground.

Southington: VIP store. Federal court decision delays Berlin store, but that is a different case, since Southington granted the permit perfectly legally under existing regulations. It’s fine to make new rules going forward, but it cannot change the rules which applied in the past.

The Editor's Notepod, Tues., Jan. 26, 2010

Wallingford: the variety of the fines received by the town from the state Occupational Safety and Health Division demonstrates the difficulty, sometimes, of keeping up with all the rules. “It wasn’t anything we haven’t seen before” is not exactly the highest compliment.

Wallingford: the idea of re-zoning the Interchange Area in town so that retailers can go in there seems guaranteed, now or later, to result in the sort of helter-skelter outlets which surround so many other interchanges. Is this something the town wants or needs? Once altered, it will never be undone.

Southington: worries about buying water to supply local needs seem a little premature, since the DEP stream flow regulations (which would impact the aquifer and the Quinnipiac River) haven’t been adopted yet. But it is surely a good idea for town water departments to have the capacity to interconnect at need.

Southington: a solution to the sewer line problem has been agreed to, which will cost more and avoid the property owner who so strongly objected. The manhole cover issue remains, evidently, and it’s hard to be enthusiastic about the new route or the need to spend extra money because of a route change.

The Editor's Notepod, Mon., Jan 25., 2010

Cheshire: for someone to consider how he or she would manage if selected as a juror in any case is a good exercise; the Petit murder cases offer several specific issues to contemplate: How impartial could one be? Is it good to have only unaware persons on a jury? Should one have an opinion on the death penalty? It's a very tough job.

Meriden: the break-in and theft at the Meriden Humane Society is deplorable. This sort of incident may be the downside of having a spot, like the hospital's medical center, so near the highway, but what sort of a person would steal from the charity box at a shelter? The same sort, probably, who would rob the poor box in a church.

The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Jan. 24, 2010

Wallingford: very interesting discussion of the K-2, 3-6, etc. alignment for public schools. It would seem not to cause a problem where there is no concept of neighborhood school . . . as in

Durham/Middlefield. If you have a school district with no need to divide into areas for different schools for the same grade level, the alignment would seem easy. The transportation cost isn’t all that significant, either. Where the system is larger, and the neighborhood school is firmly fixed in parents’ minds, there’s a challenge.

State: it probably doesn’t matter whether in-migration or out-migration is a good thing, but the state must deal with the possibility of losing representation in Washington. Either that matters, or it doesn’t.

Meriden: sounds as if the trend among councilors is toward the hybrid option to upgrade the two high schools. We suspect we can live with that if it turns out to be the choice.

The Editor's Notepod, Sat., Jan. 23, 2010

Meriden: School drop off policy. So pre-k goes back to school, while older kids are dropped off at the stop. What happens when parents become increasingly casual about pick-ups? What becomes of kids taken back school after hours? Who is in charge?

Wallingford: the library and the town Early Childhood Alliance Resources and Education (WECARE) are having a fair next Saturday to help parents discover and choose options on child care from among the many offerings in town. This should help sort folks out and is a fine resource.

The Editor's Notepod, Fri., Jan. 22, 2010

Wallingford: meeting was held about Route 68/Church Street and its various accident-prone intersections. Lots of ideas, but not too many cheap solutions.

Meriden: school budget comes down to cutting with a 3 percent increase or maintaining with a 6.5 percent increase. It isn’t a nice choice.

Area: The Quinnipiac. Today, is there a survey on how much water is regularly taken from the Q and how much that affects the flow? Before we begin talking about rules and fish, isn’t this a thing to know? How much is taken out, how much can be taken out?

Meriden: So there’s a state law which says that even if a town’s bill is wrong on the date, as Meriden’s is this quarter, citizens incur interest if they pay according to what’s on the bill instead of what the real due date is? That’s pretty medieval.

The Editor's Notepod, Thur., Jan. 21, 2010

Meriden: The discussions about high school renovation raise an interesting point about the two schools’ auditoriums and Maloney’s swimming pool. The state, in its wisdom, will only consider an auditorium for half the school’s students and reimburses less for pools. Here’s a good argument, given the numbers included in our story, for renovating instead of building new.

Wallingford: It is very difficult to discuss the K-2, 3-5 realignment – which is a rational idea on which one may have differing opinions – simultaneously with the deep school personnel cuts, about which it is virtually impossible to have rational discussion.

The state’s reimbursement rate for jury service is ridiculously low, as reported in discussions of the selection process for murder defendant, Steven Hayes. It all but guarantees that any serious trial will wind up with a jury of rich or retired people, which is hardly a reflection of our state as a whole.

The Editor's Notepod, Wed., Jan. 20, 2010

Meriden: an epic presentation on the high school situation. Take it slow, one step at a time: the need to do something, however unpopular, is strong.

Southington: the owner of VIP is playing by the rules. The towns, Southington as well as Berlin, are attempting, one way or another, to interpret the rules to keep an adult oriented business out.

Wallingford: the discussion about the realignment of grades in the schools seems reasonable enough, though as one parent said, the time to involve parents was before the system made its administrative decisions, not during the budget process, when it can easily be derailed by discussion of cuts and reductions.

Southington: slippery sidewalk issue. With a flat walk next to a hill, water pooling would be expected. An up-side drainage system might help, but would be expensive. Anyone have an idea?

Quinnipiac Watershed: the mere thought that drawdown from the Q. River might be limited seems to be worrying local water authorities. Fine. But water use formerly included major drawdowns for many industries which no longer exist, and that average daily water use is way less than it was decades ago. Southington, moreover, does have the Crescent Lake resource, which it purchased from Plainville years ago, as a resource.

Wallingford: the process of convincing the public that the school realignment is a good thing kicks off tonight and continues through Feb. 3, at least in this phase. It will be interesting to read the discussions.

Southington: It’s not quite clear from here what the parking issue is at St. Thomas Street. Is it that the street is too narrow? Clearly, no one should park where there are posted prohibitions, and not on cross walks or in front of driveways, but beyond that why shouldn’t people park in the streets? That’s what they’re for.

The Editor's Notepod, Mon., Jan. 18, 2010

The good fellowship, fine exercise, mild weather and busy registration for the 41st annual Bernie Jurale Tradition Run on Sunday morning in Hubbard Park, Meriden. The course goes from the bottom to the top of the mountain.

Wallingford: Jerry Farrell is part of the reshuffling among Connecticut Republicans as prominent public servants sort out which offices might suit which individuals.

The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Jan. 17, 2010

Wallingford: pay to play is discussed extensively – a third issue on the table for the town’s educational community. There are some quirky angles to all this and it could be eased if the discussion was begun with an undertaking that no one would be kept from participation for lack of funds.

Southington/Wallingford: the public health regionalization process. Basically, it makes sense, but in lean times, the available carrots to induce joint and combined action, are kind of small.

The Editor's Notepod, Sat., Jan. 16, 2010

Local residents are urged to open hearts and pocketbooks to help Haitians after the devastating earthquake. While one should of course and always watch out for scams, this is a good cause to assist.

Wallingford: the Municipal Animal Shelter has its hands full dealing with paws, something which should give us all pause for thought as we consider animals whose owners, for a variety of reasons, cannot keep them.

Southington: it does indeed seem to be the case that maintaining a school system, in a community with 12 separate schools is a continuous building and rebuilding process. This is just as true in Wallingford, Meriden and Cheshire.

Meriden: the parks committee committed to the next Phase of the Linear Trail, which is a good thing. Of course expenses must be controlled and managed, but it’s a valuable direction for the city to take.

Southington: well, the sewage has hit the fan, as it were, about that pipe over the Quinnipiac. It’s time to fix that situation.

The Editor's Notepod, Fri., Jan. 15, 2010

Area: the numbers on new housing starts are really down, though somehow Southington remains a leader with more than twice the starts. It is interesting to read, or to try to read the tealeaves.

Wallingford: Jerry Farrell Jr. is going to run for secretary of the state, apparently. How long has it been since we had a local candidate for statewide office?
Congratulations to Cheshire First Congregational Church’s choir director, Joe D’Eugenio, named director of the year by the state chapter of the American Choir Directors Association.

Southington: that sewer pipe over the Quinnipiac may never have caused a severe problem, but when it was built no one much cared what was dumped into that river. During the last decades, much has been done, and this water-level pipe needs to be replaced. It’s a public health issue ad could become a critical one.

Meriden: The compromise on Miles Place – which seems to be more precisely an ingenious strategy for solving a problem which is more technical and legal than real – should be promptly endorsed and executed by the City Council.

In Cheshire, the Webster prison was closed out with prisoners and guards transferred elsewhere. While this may indeed save some money even without layoffs or prisoner reductions, it is worth noting that the state’s prison population is down overall about 1,600. At $25,000 each per year, that’s a savings of $ 40 million, or should be.

The Editor's Notepod, Thur., Jan. 14, 2010

Wallingford: is it possible that the discussion over realigning the school grades will divert attention from the more serious issue: school as it is will require something like a 10% increase in the next fiscal year. How can this be?

The catastrophic earthquake which has struck Haiti, the poorest nation in the hemisphere, with an impact felt even here in the Meriden/Wallingford area. Haiti badly needs something good to happen, after so many difficult challenges.

The Editor's Notepod, Wed., Jan. 13, 2010

State, Southington, Cheshire, Meriden, Wallingford: after all the work which has been done in the last two decades or more, it is inconceivable that the state government should decide the Quinnipiac River is not worth protecting.

Wallingford: he council has rejected, in a bipartisan fashion, the idea of selling the American Legion Building, paving the way for a court trial. The idea was, apparently, that a sale would “complicate” parking for Town Hall.

State: Susan Bysiewicz’ expected decision to go for the attorney general’s job now that Richard Blumenthal has declared for Senator Dodd’s seat eases the path for Democrats wanting to be governor. It may also be the first time anyone has actually declared a candidacy for attorney general of Connecticut.

Meriden: city has received plans for its billboard sites from a couple of different firms. Negotiations, we guess, will show us the signs of the future.

Southington: considering the economy, word that the town is likely to run a modest surplus for fiscal 2008/09 is welcome, all things considered.

The Editor's Notepod, Tues., Jan. 12, 2010

Meriden: with all due respect to former board of education members, the only reasons offered for the single high school are economic and the educational results are all bad. Anything which depends on the disposition of Mills Apartments, moreover, is guaranteed to be a chimera for years to come. Maybe that’s the idea?

State: the school bus issue over seat belts. One poor kid was killed tragically. Is there evidence that a seat belt would have saved his life? And then, the legislator piously stated, “If it comes down to saving one life, it’s worth it.” Rather than ask us all to fork out millions and millions to strap all the kids in the buses, we might do better to consider how we transport kids in the first place, who we ask to drive them, how much they are paid, and a series of related questions. The legislative comment is a merely emotional argument and un-provable.

The Editor's Notepod, Mon., Jan. 11, 2010

Cold weather: without venturing any opinion on global warming – which is necessarily based on more than the anecdotal experience of a single area or a single year – it is great to have the lakes and ponds frozen. This gives full play for outdoor winter sports which depend on frozen water to occur.

Meriden: the experience, contrary to some expectations, has been that consolidation of class levels at Platt has not been a negative experience. Let’s continue to watch this process as it continues.

Connecticut highways will have improved rest stops. Existing service plazas are now more than 25 years old, and could use some new life.

The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Jan. 10, 2010

State/Cheshire: It should surprise no one that the much discussed “reforms” to address home invasions have really kind of stalled. The reason is that few of them will seriously address whatever it was that enabled two men to join forces to commit a series of horrible crimes but will be very expensive anyway.

Meriden, Wallingford, Southington, Cheshire: Fire department overtime. If the chief reason for overtime is the number of firefighters out on extended injury leave – which for various reasons including public safety requires replacement employees to staff trucks and shifts – it would seem that the answer would either be to prevent accidents, which is always the goal, or to have a couple more able bodies around to step in when someone is laid low. How about retirees? Volunteers who want to join the full-time force?

Wallingford: the opposition to the reorganization plan for the schools, which is really to have been expected, is now being expressed. Are we reading correctly that cutting 172.7 positions will result in a 4.16 percent increase in the $85 million budget of the present year?

Meriden: Deputy Mayor Dominello’s efforts to collect as many corrections as possible and make an additional plaque for the WWII monument is an excellent idea. Misspellings, even on monuments, are somewhat inevitable given the number of names and the variations in spelling which exist.

Wallingford: let’s hope that the collective wisdom of Wallingford’s new council will be successful in deciding what to do about the American Legion Building. Almost anything would be an improvement over the “Nothing” which has been done since 1994.

The Editor's Notepod, Sat., Jan. 9, 2010

Meriden: if the city, or the board of education really wants Mark Benigni for the next superintendent – and Meriden could certainly do a lot worse very easily, especially since it has been decided not to hire a screening firm – why not just say so? If a process is gone through which results in his selection, there will be a huge temptation on the part of some to say the process was rigged.

Wallingford: the school budget makes some large changes and some big cuts. The time frame to accept this plan is very brief, and it may not get the hearing it deserves.

Area: Saab owners, with an echo of the Saab distribution center on Murdock Avenue and the visit of the Swedish princess, consider the GM inability to sell the quondam Swedish carmaker to anyone at all and the consequent plan to close up shop. The whole sequence seems kind of pointless.

Southington: good work by police has resulted in arrests of persons in connection with the rash of thefts of items from unlocked cars. Among other things, here’s a good incentive to lock your car, even in your own driveway.

The Editor's Notepod, Fri., Jan. 8, 2010

Wallingford: the changes to the school system will now be argued out. Nothing wrong with good discussion, and the initial suggestion was received rather too calmly.

Southington: the Charter Revision Panel has shaped up its recommended changes, and so far none appears to be igniting a firestorm of opposition.

Local Taxes: quarterly payments now due. Get them in or face interest charges after the end of this month.

Wallingford: Route 68 does seem to be an accident-prone highway. It will be intriguing to see what small things are suggested to improve safety.

Cheshire: With $1,100 in parking tickets being scoffed at, the town can’t let people walk away from their just debt. At the same time, $1,100 does not seem to warrant a cull court press on offenders.

The Editor's Notepod, Thur., Jan. 7, 2010

State/National: Senator Dodd has dodged out, which removes a vulnerable candidate from the hustings and leaves the field open for very able candidates, esp. Blumenthal and, possibly, Bysiewicz, who could find it cheaper to run for Attorney General than Governor. Anyway, a canny move for Democrats if they can decide upon a candidate without too much bitterness.

Wallingford: the reconfiguration announced yesterday was supposed to save two to three million. 55.6 teachers and another 117.1 full and part-time positions will add up to a good sum, and yet they’re still talking about modest increases? That’s possibly because, under the new plan, which certainly has efficiencies of application of programs, insures that practically all elementary school children will ride a bus to school.

Southington: superfund site on Old Turnpike Road is still causing problems. While it appears that no state levels have been exceeded (so folks, we guess, don’t need to panic) there’s plenty of reason for venting and impermeable layers to be installed. Worth noting that EPA continues to monitor the site.

The Editor's Notepod, Wed., Jan. 6, 2010

Wallingford: Some might think that the superintendent of schools' plan to change schools by going K-2 and 3-5 is a little heavy to spring on a new school board with only three weeks to change it before finalization. One can only hope that Supt. Salvatore Menzo has done groundwork with board members.

Meriden: Unless the board of education already knows who it wants to hire to replace Supt. Mary Cortright, its decision to forego a professional search outfit just to save a few bucks seems kind of unfortunate.

Southington: PZC has approved the plan for the former Drive-In Theater. We are glad to see plans for the sports field and the old drive-in screen moving forward.

Meriden: King's Mark report on environmental concerns should be of great interest in planning what to do with the NRG Property. Like KM, many residents would rather see the HUB redeveloped first as well, but that's not really within their purview. It remains hard to see what sort of growth or development on Cat Hole would wind up being a net plus for the city in any way but tax dollars, and even that's not certain.

State: Susan Bysiewicz, as a potential gubernatorial candidate, is justified in urging the appeals court to consider all angles of the public financing law and to urge action to clarify what will happen in the upcoming campaign cycle.

The Editor's Notepod, Mon., Jan. 4 2010

Meriden: it’s a great idea for cops here and across state to be disguising themselves in unmarked cars, though we daresay it won’t take motorists long to figure out the cops. Cops just tend to stand out. The real deterrent would be automatic arrest for every infraction, rather than a system which encourages people to gamble on being stopped. But as a nation, we’re not ready for such surveillance.

New Year’s Resolutions. Where would we all be without them?

Wallingford: former hockey players at both high schools teamed up to replay old games and kindle support for a former hockey coach who is fighting cancer. The event took place at the Remsen Arena.

The Editor's Notepod, Sun., Jan. 3, 2010

Wallingford: In the Pelkey case, now that one convicted has been exonerated and another arrested on the basis of DNA evidence, it is probably important to remember that a DNA match is not the same thing as a conviction. The suspect is entitled to a fair and impartial trial, and to have the evidence, all the evidence, considered dispassionately.

Meriden: Increase in fire department medical calls, primarily attributed to the flu provides another illustration of how poisonous a medical system we have that leaves those without insurance to call the emergency services when they get sick.

Meriden: a piece on Walt Shamock, “Mr. No” as well as “Mr. Know,” is well worth reading to reach an understanding of this highly consistent politician.

Southington: police have received a T3, first discussed during the Apple Harvest Festival, hoped to be very helpful in crowd control and other situations where cars are impractical and foot work not fast enough.

Meriden: the city is working on its five-year block grant plan. The law suggests that proposals be somewhat indicative of an overall program, and that makes sense.

The Editor's Notepod, Sat., Jan. 2, 2010

Meriden: January 1 is a good day to be born at MidState or anywhere else, and a hearty welcome to the first (and subsequent) babies of the year. However, Blue Moon or not, we don’t much hold scientifically with the notion of the lunar influence on human activities.

Wallingford: Thanks to the charter as it is written, one town clerk will succeed another because of the change in the council majority. This remains a silly way to decide on an important town office.

State: new credit card rules at state colleges and universities limits pushing credit cards. Why not just raise the age of majority back to 21? A lot of difficulties would be remedied, and the drinking rules would once again make some sort of sense: if you can’t get a credit card, for instance, it’s easier to say you can’t drink. On the other hand, responsible education about credit card use, combined with experience, makes sense as does responsible education and experience of alcohol.

Meriden: Interesting that the poll in the RJ about the use of the Hall Farm came out in favor of non-development. That’s not legal, of course, or scientific, and the owners have a range of development possibilities to choose from, but interesting all the same.

The Editor's Notepod, Fri., Jan. 1, 2010

Happy New Year to all faithful readers. Well, to unfaithful readers also.

Meriden: plans to improve the corner of Lewis/Linsley and West Main have been in the planning for a number of years. It is necessary to have a corner that facilitates and does not delay traffic.