High Notes

10Nov09

The Bravest and Finest

We return briefly for a cameo appearance. Not all news is bad in Stratford. After four long years, the work of Stratford’s Bravest and Finest has finally been recognized. And the selections couldn’t be better.

Police Officer of the Year:
Officer Rosenbaum is an example of what police officers aspire to be (are they all that young or is it me? Never mind…it was a rhetorical question.) He is an intelligent, bright, observant and polite officer. He’s cute too. By the way, his mother was just bursting with nachas and did not miss the opportunity to kvell. Note to women readers: I am told it is not allowed to call the PD and specifically request Officer Rosenbaum.

Firefighter of the Year
Asst Chief Murray was the first professional female firefighter in the State of Connecticut. We need not go into how difficult it was to break into that particular boy’s club. Not only did she succeed, she has done so on a continuing basis for 27 years. Soon to receive her Master’s degree. Note to male readers: Similarly, it is not allowed to call the FD and request assistance specifically from Asst Chief Murray.

Congratulations to both Officer Rosenbaum and Asst Chief Murray!

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Tags: Ellen Murray, Rosenbaum

Thank You!

05Nov09

Thank you to all the readers and posters on this blog. Your continuing support through these trials have meant a lot.

But we can see no further reason to continue. We are confident that Mayor Harkins quiet competence will move Stratford in the right direction. We look forward to an era of openness and the freedom to express opinions without retribution.

We wish him well in his search for competent and honest staff. We only ask that the RTC and DTC allow Mayor Harkins’ and the newly elected council to do their jobs for the residents, businesses and children of Stratford.

My Jezebel outfit is going to be hung in the closet. Let us all hope there is no need to take it out again. I will keep the blog up and running for those wishing to continue to post.

Thank you all.

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STRATFORD WINS!

03Nov09

Harkins Elected!

There is no doubt. This is a GOOD day for Stratford.

OFFICIAL Results:

Mayor John A. Harkins Republican 7,334
Mayor James R. Miron Democrat 3,912
Mayor Domenic R. Costello Petition Candidate 2,402
Mayor George E. Mulligan Petition Candidate 86

1st District – Town Council Christian M. Barnaby Republican 1,052
1st District – Town Council Richard J. Kennedy Democrat 586

2nd District – Town Council Stephanie D. Philips Democrat 566

3rd District – Town Council Matthew P. Catalano Republican 771
3rd District – Town Council John F. Fahan Democrat 442
3rd District – Town Council George E. Mulligan Petition Candidate 83

4th District – Town Council David A. LoConte, Jr Republican 196
4th District – Town Council Jason W. Santi Democrat 451
4th District – Town Council Russell S. Foley Petition Candidate 31
4th District – Town Council Michael H. Singh Petition Candidate 46

5th District – Town Council John M. Dempsey Republican 423
5th District – Town Council Olivia N. Gombar Democrat 352
5th District – Town Council Linda Palermo Petition Candidate 156

6th District – Town Council Edward Ward Republican 566
6th District – Town Council Scott R. Potter Democrat 640

7th District – Town Council William “JR” Stroomer Republican 702
7th District – Town Council Kimberly Meuse Democrat 766

8th District – Town Council James J. Connor, Jr Republican 898
8th District – Town Council Bonnie L. Reynolds Democrat 802

9th District – Town Council Thomas J. Malloy Republican 1,175
9th District – Town Council Anthony F. Ross Democrat 666

10th District – Town Council Paul Hoydick Republican 854
10th District – Town Council Vincent J. Faggella Democrat 585

Board of Education Joseph G. Crudo, Jr Republican 7,454
Board of Education Charles A. Lindberg Republican 7,264
Board of Education Gavin B. Forrester III Republican 7,006
Board of Education Jancee Pust-Marcone Democrat 5,662
Board of Education James E. Lazarro Democrat 5,615
Board of Education Janice O. Daponte Democrat 6,417

Constable Edward J. Scinto Republican 6,503
Constable William B. DiFederico Republican 6,088
Constable Paul R. Mathewson Republican 5,604
Constable Robert J. Connolly Republican 6,839
Constable Ronald R. Langdon Democrat 4,579
Constable Edward A. Monroe Democrat 4,736
Constable Anna Marie Buehler Democrat 5,733
Constable Richard P. Brown Democrat 4,649

Planning Commission – II Ronald L. Moreau Republican 797
Planning Commission – II Ann-Alice Baker Democrat 1,039

Planning Commission – III John G. Zbell Republican 898
Planning Commission – III Scott R. Potter Democrat 1,058

Planning Commission – IV Linda M. Pepin Republican 1,760
Planning Commission – IV Laura A. Dobosz Democrat 1,249

Planning Commission – V Christopher W. Walker Republican 1,886
Planning Commission – V Tara A. Wexler Democrat 1,182

Zoning Board Appeals – I Patrick T. Massey Republican 1,211
Zoning Board Appeals – I Mary K. Young Democrat 1,064

Zoning Board Appeals – II Joseph Dimenno Republican 918
Zoning Board Appeals – II Richard F. Fredette Democrat 955

Zoning Board Appeals – III Brian W. Dempsey Republican 1,079
Zoning Board Appeals – III Mary L. Ray Democrat 866

Zoning Commission III Casimir A. Mizera Republican 886
Zoning Commission III James M. Sheridan Democrat 1,043

Zoning Commission IV Christopher E. Silhavey Republican 1,862
Zoning Commission IV Robert P. Bradley Democrat 1,115

Zoning Commission V Michael F. Henrick Republican 1,904
Zoning Commission V Ronald J. Hojdich Democrat 1,249

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Bias? What Bias?

03Nov09

Official Endorsement

Now, GO VOTE!

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What’s a Democrat To Do?

02Nov09

Abandoned in Stratford

For months now, James R. Miron has been blaming the “Republican opposition” on the Council for every failure of his administration. This is hardly likely. The Charter that took effect on Dec 12th 2005 gave the mayor almost unlimited power. The Council is nearly powerless to stop any antic of the mayor. Witness the hiring of Justin Loschiavo and Christian Miron or the firing of 50+ qualified leaders or the squandering of $500,000 on his own office or the slashing of BOE budgets.

I have been a Democrat for 38 years and have never seen a politician act in such an unDemocratic way. OK…maybe Joe Lieberman. But Lieberman doesn’t go out of his way to “exterminate” opponents. (By the way, Miron supported Lieberman).

In all of Stratford history there has never been a more anti-union or anti-education executive. It is not only the Police and Firefighters union. Ask anyone that used to be a member of the Supervisor’s Union. Oh wait, you can’t. Miron fired them. Ask a teacher. Oh wait. You can’t. They are too afraid.

With the help of Richard Buturla, Kent Miller, Richard Miron (yes, he’s STILL a member) and Dave Mooney, Miron has turned the Democrat Town Committee into a Cult of Miron. Disagree with any Miron whim and you are pilloried.

So…what to do?

In this election, even holding your nose won’t be enough. The stench permeates everything. The only thing you can do as a Democrat is what Democrats always do. Vote for the right thing. That means voting for actual candidates that want to do positive things for the Town. The DTC and their candidates have all sworn an oath of allegiance to Miron. As their first decision, this is clearly unacceptable. For us Democrats, the best hope is to issue a resounding defeat to this cult and take our party back.

The other win we will get is “republican” John Harkins. After many discussions with Mr. Harkins and his staff, I can honestly say that they are more like Democrats than the “Democrats”. Mr. Harkins listens…then thinks…then looks for common ground. My discussions with members of the Democratic Town Committee have been, well, strange. If you don’t agree with Miron, the discussion comes to an abrupt halt and the threats begin.

So the answer for Democrats is to ignore the “D’s” and “R’s” and vote for the right people. Do what I will do: have a few drinks so your hand won’t shake so much and circle the “R” candidates.

Mayor: John A. Harkins

Councilman:
District 1: Chris Barnaby
District 2: Stephanie Philips
District 3: Matt Catalano
District 4: David LoConte, Jr.
District 5: John Dempsey
District 6: Ed Ward
District 7: William “JR” Stroomer
District 8: Jim Connor
District 9: Tom Malloy
District 10: Paul Hoydick

Board of Education:

Joe Crudo
Gavin Forrester
Chuck Lindberg

Constables

Bill DiFederico
Paul Mathewson
Ed Scinto

Planning Commission
Districts 3 & 4: Ron Moreau (a blog favorite)
Districts 5 & 6: John Zbell
Districts 7 & 8: Linda Pepin
Districts 9 & 10: Christopher Walker

Zoning Commission
Districts 5 & 6: Casimir Mizera
Districts 7 & 8: Christopher Silhavey
Districts 9 & 10: Mike Henrick

Zoning Board of Appeals
Districts 1 & 2: Patrick Massey
Districts 3 & 4: Joseph Dimenno
Districts 5 & 6: Brian Dempsey

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Vote? Who Me?

01Nov09

Do you really have to ask?

If you are reading this, you are already interested in the election and will probably vote. So no offense, but this isn’t directed to you. It is directed to your family, neighbors and friends.

Four years ago, through a split vote, James R. Miron became the first mayor of Stratford in 350 years. He won by the slimmest of pluralities with 66% of the voters voting for someone else.

And here we are again. You are probably thinking “See? My vote doesn’t matter.” Guess what? Four years ago, you were right. The choices were very poor. And most of us who voted for Miron (yes, I voted for Miron) believed the incredible lies he told. Not one lie, not two lies…but dozens of them

This time we have a choice and it’s a good one. We have the choice of steady, thoughtful, honest and responsible Town government or four more YEARS of…well…James R. Miron.

It will only take 15 minutes of your time to stop by your polling place and make that choice. So, to my readers (and there are hundreds of you) I am asking that you talk to your neighbors, friends and family and ask them to do something for themselves and go vote on Tuesday.

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Town Website or Campaign Brochure?

31Oct09

Not for Sale

We were wrong. There is always a new low Miron tries to reach. These are two of them:

Keep those anonymous emails coming:

Mayor James R. Miron was sighted again yesterday and today abusing taxpayer funds and property…….he was seen in many places around town putting out his own campaign signs and pestering residents as he begged for votes door to door using his taxpayer financed vehicle that burns taxpayer financed fuel.

Also, in a last great act of desperation his “pay to play” cronies were seen putting all of the extra (and there are many) “Miron for Mayor” signs that residents did not want littering their front yards; and instead vandalizing Town and State owned property with them in direct violation of the law!

This poses two questions-

#1 is he just trying to get rid of ALL his extra signs at his campaign headquarters to avoid the cost of a 20 yard dumpster on November 4th or is he so far behind that no law or shred of desency is worth consideration?
#2 is he in a panic and has to do the work himself because of dwindling volunteer support or does he just have nothing better to do than waste OUR gas and litter our property in retribution?

As readers drive around Stratford please remember your tax dollars will again pay to clean up another mess Jim made!

In yet another new low, Candidate Miron is using OUR Town Website to shamelessly promote his political agenda.

Let’s not be mistaken. Mayor Moron has his own website (look it up) and can promote himself to his heart’s delight. But the Town website is ours, we pay for everything on it and it should not be hijacked by a political campaign. It thoroughly insults residents and employees of the Town and diminishes the credibility of everything on it.

While you are mayor, Jimmy, you are mayor of all the people, not just your supporters. Take your garbage off our site!

List of political agenda items on the Town’s homepage:
*
10/29/2009:
Improvements made to the Police and Fire Departments during Mayor Miron’s Administration

*
10/29/2009:
Fire Chief’s Letter to the Editor in Response to Letter from Assistant Fire Chief Tom Murray

*
10/23/2009:
Mayor Jim Miron Response Opinion Editorial to Raymark Opinion Editorial by Tom Smith of “Save Stratford”

*
10/23/2009:
Mayor Jim Miron Response Opinion Editorial to Coucilman Mike Julian Regarding the Sikorsky Memorial Airport and Stratford Army Engine Plant

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Lies and Campaign Lies

30Oct09

Norko's promise

Recently, many local journalists (mostly The Star) have decried the tone of the debates. They claim (mostly the Star) that the three candidates that are not named “Miron” are constantly attacking the mayor. Coincidentally, that is the same thing James R. Miron whines about. OK, so maybe it’s not that big of a coincidence since the Star prints anything Miron tells them to.

In reality, fully half of any comment that Miron makes is an attack on John Harkins. For some reason, he doesn’t even respond to Costello or Mulligan. How many times did you hear, if you were there, Miron come to a screeching halt during his comment to say, “But let me go back to Harkins….”?

In this year’s campaign no lie has been small enough to exclude for James R. Miron. The most often repeated lies are dispelled here:
http://stratfordcharter.wordpress.com/2009/10/13/some-inconvenient-truths-for-miron/
Lesser lies, like those about Loschiavo, are posted throughout the site.

The question about the tone of the campaign is this: What did you expect?

There has been almost no limit to Miron’s pandering either. From $40,000 worth of flowers (in October alone), to road work in the second district, to trips to the Big E, to “finding funding” for senior transportation, to the last minute purchase of firefighting equipment and vehicles, to the claims of lowering taxes, to the use of appointed staff to receive “awards”. And that’s on the positive side.

On the Dark Side (Miron’s favorite) there are extermination (his word, not mine) threats to his own party’s Council candidate (which only hurts both candidates in the 3rd district), the use of town employees and resources for campaign purposes, dishonoring the police and firefighters unions (how dare they not support Miron for all he hasn’t done for them), and of course the never-ending negative fliers about Harkins.

No matter which candidate you support, your candidate cannot allow half truths, lies and…well…whoppers to stand unchallenged. In fact, there have been several jaw-dropping moments where the challengers seemed dazed by the blatancy of the lies.

The latest lie is posted below. But there are three days left until election. We assume there is plenty of time left for more.

(What to look for: we predict the CT Post will not endorse Miron. They will endorse Harkins (like everyone else). They will have good reasons too. The point to remember is that 4 years ago, they supported Miron. They changed their minds. Why?)

Tax reduction forecast after revaluation

Written by John Kovach
Friday, 30 October 2009 14:23

Finance Director John Norko and Mayor James R. Miron announced Friday that the residential tax burden would be relived once the current revaluation is completed.

Preliminary indications show that the average homeowner would see a reduction of 3.25%, or $185, in their property taxes.

Data released during a press conference in Miron’s office showed that slightly less than 4% of real property taxes would shift to industrial and commercial properties.

The breakdown for fiscal 2010 is 83.26% residential, 16.74% commercial. For fiscal 2011, the forecast is 80.57% residential, 19.43% commercial.

Motor vehicle and personal property taxes were not included in the calculations.

Norko stated at Monday’s (four whole days ago) Special Town Council Meeting that no data was received by the Town and that he did not anticipate any data until Middle of November. Was he lying to us then or now? The 2011 tax rates will be determined by the Mayor/Town Council next May so it’s impossible to determine what the tax burden will be. Did he account for the deferred raises Miron gave?

What could possibly be John Norko’s (Miron Campaign Donor) motivation for making this outlandish statement 3 days before the election?

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Can We Get An “Amen!”?

30Oct09

Not Mayor Unless You Vote

Harkins vows to make Stratford proud

Written by Rep. John Harkins
Friday, 30 October 2009 10:22

Government. Politics. Elected official.

Too often, these are words or titles that are met with a great deal of disdain and mistrust by the public. Instead of being viewed as the building blocks of our democracy, the very institution of government, and the people who make it work, are reviled as self-serving and broken.

That has been true of Stratford in the last four years, and I’m running for Mayor to change that. I want to restore the public’s trust in Town Hall.

As mayor, one of my first acts to restore that trust will be to make changes to the ethics policies to which elected officials and political appointees are subject.

First, we must end the appearance that Stratford Town Hall is an employment agency for friends and family of elected officials. Stratford needs an even tougher nepotism prohibition, as well as tighter conflict of interest restrictions governing town hiring practices. This is particularly true when it comes to our public safety agencies.

Mayoral staff (i.e. “cabinet officials”) who are not subject to council approval must play by the same rules as the rest of the town’s civil service system. Unlike in the current administration, I will not award bonuses or raises to mayoral staff when wage freezes are being negotiated with unionized employees, even if those wage freezes have not yet taken effect. My administration will not tolerate what happened earlier this year — a last-minute rush to give mayoral cabinet members 6 to 10% raises prior to the enactment of a wage freeze with town unions.

Nothing is more important than transparency and openness in how taxpayer dollars are spent, and to that end I will work to clarify when an expenditure must be approved by the Town Council, and when it need not be. We have seen headline after headline in the last four years of the mayor spending money without council approval or consultation, and the Town Council claiming that their authority was circumvented. Enough is enough. I will consult frequently and openly with the council when it comes to matters of finance.

Finally, while it has been the crux of my efforts to reduce waste in town hall and keep property taxes in check, conducting a line by line audit of every town department, including the mayor’s office will help improve transparency in government. Timely compliance with the auditing committee’s requests for information will be mandatory for everyone including myself. Unfortunately, despite the Town Council’s creation of a similar body over his veto, the mayor has been less than forthcoming and painfully slow in cooperating the current Financial Advisory Committee. That is unacceptable, and it will change if I am elected.

I want Stratford to have a government that is great as the town we live in. As your mayor, I’ll have the courage to make the reforms necessary to our ethics laws to restore your trust in government because it is time to restore the pride in our town.

Whew! Just a small break. I’ll bet you were tired of reading Miron’s lies too.

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How to Rip a Department Apart. Miron’s Way.

29Oct09

Step 1: Get rid of the existing Chief. Especially if he demonstrates a shred of integrity. It doesn’t matter how. Offer him a bag of cash or accuse him of something silly like following your instructions. As long as he’s gone. That’s all that matters. Don’t worry about the cost either. That’s what taxpayers are for, right?

Step 2: Replace him with someone you are sure will do anything you ask. If he’s a friend of someone you already know will do anything and comes from a Town with an even worse reputation (like the PW Director) you’ve done well. If he’s your Town Attorney’s brother; Bingo! But for God’s sake, don’t hire from within.

Step 3: Find him an assistant. A retiree would be great. If he’s from another State and nobody knows about his foreclosures and credit problems that’s something you can use later. If he can get you a NAACP award just before election day, you’ve made a great choice.

Step 4: Help the Chief destroy any resistance. This should be easy for you. Have them arrested or maybe question their honor in a newspaper or press conference.

Step 5: Congratulations! You’ve done it. Morale has been destroyed. Resistance has been eliminated. No one in the department cares about anything any more. You’re the f*****g mayor! You can do whatever the f***k you want!

Oops!

You missed one!

To the Editor:

I write this to shine a light through the political fog created concerning something I feel can be regarded as a fire and public safety message. That fog was created by the recent public comments by the incumbent Stratford mayoral candidate on why the Stratford Firefighters Union endorsed a different candidate for mayor.

The inspiration to express my opinion came by the way of another Stratford assistant fire chief who freely risked his own life to save a man from a certain death in a structure fire last Friday night.

This assistant fire chief was the first to arrive on scene, heard a man screaming then entered the burning building without the aid of his protective firefighting gear, because the situation was so dire he simply did not have the time to put it on. Less than a minute after he entered that superheated structure and pulled the victim outside to safety the room flashed over destroying everything inside.

How much money is risking your life worth? Ask yourself, would you really risk loosing everything you own, risk never seeing you family again, risk the rest of your life for a million dollars? For the men and women who enter and stay in this profession it is something they do many times in their career. They do it because it is a calling more than a job. Do we need money to take care of our family and ourselves, yes we do. But the most important thing to us about our “calling” has never been money. The most important thing to the Firefighters in this nation is public safety; a testament to this is when we put it all on the line for fellow man.

That being said, I believe the mayoral endorsement of the Stratford Firefighters (which stated that the endorsement was based entirely on reasons of public safety) speaks for itself.

I can not speak for the incumbent mayoral candidate, and he is certainly not qualified to speak for us. He has shown us through his past actions, lack of equipment support, deeds and campaign rhetoric that he knows very little about the firefighters in Stratford. I have no doubt that this endorsement may be an inconvenient truth for the incumbent, but the rare political endorsement of the Stratford Firefighters Union is never for sale. It is rarely used, but when it is, only for the direst and most honorable of reasons. That’s who Stratford firefighters are. In a year when Stratford leads Connecticut in fire deaths with a heartbreaking total of six, our primary concern is the safety of the citizens of Stratford, period.

Thomas S. Murray

Employed as assistant fire chief (for now)

Stratford Fire Department

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