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.