Dear Felicia

It’s been quite a couple o’ weeks, honeybunch. In fack, it’s been three weeks since we last corresponded. We pushed back the second isshew of the month to this week cuz herronner was putting together the Fiscal Year 2021 budget proposal. But like with most things over the last fortnight, this year’s announcement was anything but normal.

As yew know – how could you not – the nation is in the throes of something it hasn’t seen since after the Great War. This Wuhan Virus from mainland China has perty much stopped the nation in its tracks. In a matter of days the stock market crashed 10,000 points, and is still in free-fall, governors and mayors have shut down cities, and we’re all supposed to exercise “social distancing.” Now there’s a bit of jargon that’s gonna make it into the country’s lexicon.

Herronner, declared a State of Emergency jest like all the mayors around. Governor Ned Lamont got off his high horse about highway tolls, and had to show leadership in other ways. Right now, he’s got the state in a semi-lockdown. Non-essential businesses are supposed to stay closed, but several businesses are remaining open and being declared “essential:” Gas Stations, Liquor/Package Stores, Trash/Recycling Collection, Post Offices/Shipping Services, Legal and Accounting Services, Pest and Landscaping Services, Child Care, Auto repair shops, Hardware stores. The one that caught my peepers, and my thanks, was the fack that package stores are gonna be left open – at least in the short term. That means that we can stock up on things.

Of course, Cobina is a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to spirits, but she does like her glass of wine at dinner, dontcha know. At least we’ll be able to git our favorite vintage.

~~~

Schools have been closed for the better part of two weeks, and, although the hope was they could re-open by March 31, Sammy Bluejay and other of our feathered friends aren’t holdin’ out much hope for that. Y’see, the feds are saying the virus hasn’t “peaked” yet, and until it does we can’t even think about getting back to normal.

From what Sammy has told me some state officials and even officials in some area towns are wonderin’ whether schools will open for the rest of the year. Out in Ohio, the governor there, Michael DeWine, has said as much. Closer to home, methinks it is gonna be a slower process, with deadlines extended until they can’t be anymore.

Of course, the city has what they call “distance learning,” another phrase for the lexicon, that means that those with computers will be able to have classes on the Internet, whilst those without – and there can’t be very many of those these days – will get packets. The state has announced that effen the schools go into this “distance learning” they don’t hafta make up the days that were lost. So, the new electronic hook-ups are a way to keep things moving.

Don’t be surprised, though, effen the kiddies will hafta go to classes late into June. But, with the distance learning the whole thing might be as close to schedule as one could hope for.

Of course, people are always lookin’ for the bright side o’ things. A meme has been circulating the Internet that is perty funny: Parents are beginning to realize, the teachers aren’t the problem.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in the next lit’le while, m’dear. Like I said above, we ain’t seen this since the Spanish Influenza more than 100 years ago. But, what is happening is people are adapting better than some of our elites would like to admit. It might be a changing paradigm, too. As one columnist said, we are seeing that the repairman is more important than the college prof.

~~~

Of course, in the meantime, the city has been caught up in the virus. We had confirmation from the authorities last week that at least one person in town has the virus. Don’t be surprised effen that number goes up, and goes up considerably.

Foist off, it’s gonna happen cuz people are being tested and the thing seems to be omnipresent. But, we have another variable in this burg, the Veterans Hospital. Now, we don’t know effen the person who contracted the virus is from there, there are laws against knowin’ setch things, but the chances of the VA Hospital being a locus for the virus is perty good.

That news shouldn’t send anyone’s hair on fire, or get people riled up. Sakes alive, the press’ handling of this thing has been over the top in so many ways. The thing to know is that those who get it, for the most part will be treated and recover. Some may not, but that’s cuz they have compromised systems based on other things. We shall see.

Our Health Director as well as the CDC has given good tips on what to do, and we should take those into consideration.

~~~

Whilst all that is going on, Mikey Mercuriano has an idea that I will pose to you. Cobina has kep’ it under wraps for a couple o’ weeks, and there will be more on this. As yew know, Mikey is always lookin’ for the city to git its collective act together finance-wise, and is lookin’ for ways to help. Now, he can be a bit of a noodge when it comes to these things, and has rubbed more than one person the wrong way over the year, but his heart is in the right spot.

He found an old story wherein the city had legal gambling at Savin Rock for about four years with the blessing of the state assembly, of course. He believes the city should try to git back that status, and work to put a gambling establishment within the city limits. But, he also has a place he thinks it could work – the Haven.

Mercuriano, like many, are not convinced the high-end stores that are in the plans for the mercantile space are ever gonna appear. Whilst signs have been placed concerning the closure of Water Street (Cobina saw them herself whilst out shopping), there ain’t much to indicate anything more is being done.

Now, before anyone gets on the aforementioned high horse, the developers have been playing their cards close to the vest over the last few years, not letting people know what’s going on. In fack, some city officials have intimated that getting info sometimes is like pullin’ teeth. However, the plans are the plans, and until setch time as we know different, we hafta determine things accordingly.

Tennyrate, Mike’s idea is to push the concep’ of a casino, or casino-like expanse on the plates of the developers. He thinks the city, with its past of gambling, could make more kopecks in the city coffers. In theory he’s probably right, but, Cobina is like the others, she don’t see this group of conservative investors going that route. Foist off, with the state givin’ veto power over setch places by the Indian tribes already with casinos, and with a new one in New York and Massachusetts as well as Rhode Island, whatcha think the chances are this’ll git through? Me neither.

So, it is a good thought, but unless the develpers are gonna make that plunge, it’ll be a cold day in the Hot Place before I think we’ll see setch a thing. Then, there is the matter of the neighborhood. That’s a whole other kettle o’ fish.

~~~

Finally, someone made mention of the fack that the jobs boom – before the pandemic – never hit the Land of Steady Habits (that’s Connecticut). Well, with the tax-and-spend nature of our state government, not to mention the fack that we are a very business-unfriendly state, why would people put jobs here? Only 50 years ago people were making this a destination, now it’s a point of departure.

~~~

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,

Hard to believe, honeybunch, but the calendar toined on Sundee, and it’s March! March! And, it came in like the calmest lamb. As usual we are havin’ a few days of spring-like weather around the burg, but that usually portends a cold snap, the likes o’ which we ain’t seen yet this year. Cobina is still keeping the snow shovel and her galoshes in the mud room, we’ve been here before. We ain’t seen a snowstorm yet this winter that is worth the name, and in years like this winter makes sure it gives us a taste of what could’ve been before it exits for nine months. Anybody who thinks the woist might be past ain’t lived in this neck o’ the woods very long.

As far as the matters political, things in these parts have been – or I should say continue to be – quiet. The local boys and girls are all occupied with the frolics that is the state primary, scheduled for April 28. By that time the begonias will be up, and the leaves will be ready to or have burst on the trees. It seems like setch a long way from now, but ole gals like us know better. Heck, read my openin’ line!

Still that don’t mean there any some machinations goin’ on. The budget-making process is ready to ramp up. Herroner and the mavens of the thoid floor have been parsing and adding and subtracting. The abacus up there is getting quite a work out.

Herroner will present the budget, and then a public hearing is set on the matter wherein the locals can speak on it. Then it goes into a six-week conclave by the City Council, where they look at it line by line and see effen changes can be made.

Sammy Bluejay reminded me that this is probably gonna be the last budget passed under the current charter, and that the entire process will look all-together different should the charter revisions pass. Under the current charter, effen the council wants to make a change in the budget, it takes a super-majority o’ nine of the 13 members to pass it. That has been a hurdle that few proposals have cleared over the last decade or two, forcing budgets to either go into effect by default, or the council members passing the budget whilst holding their noses.

Making the budget-amending process easier was one of the reason charter revision was taken on, and making changes in the new charter will be easier, but not with the same structure.

Tennyrate, we hafta see where this all goes when Mayor Rossi determines what her final proposal will be, and how it is vetted by the council. It’s always an interesting time o’ year.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch pernted out tha the City Council, meanwhile has determined it will forestall the voting on the new charter revisions until the general election come November. That was perty much what the rumor mill had, but it was perty much confirmed by Council Chairman Ron Quagliani in a series of queries that were posed to him by this papyrus.

So, the public will be informed of the new revision proposals through public forums. Those will be run by members of the former Charter Revision Commish. The question will then go to the voters in November. Like I said the last time, that will be some 15 months after the commish handed in its final report to the council. That’s a long time.

One of the problems concerning havin’ a special election, according to Nelly, was the cost. The city is lookin’ to save money, and putting on a special election would have cost tens of thousands, it could use elsewhere. There was a notion to try to tag it onto the April primary, but there seems to be statutory prohibitions against that. So, the next logical date was in November.

It’ll be interesting to see how that plays out. It’ll be the Presidential elections as well as Congressional, and State. The voters are gonna have quite a bit to do once they hit the polls that day. That’s for sure.

~~~

We see that the city is moving ahead with a third year of sidewalk rehab. As an old-timer that hoofs it a lot, we’re glad to see that. When one determines to walk in neighborhoods around the town, it is important to keep one’s head looking straight. With frost-heaved sidewalks all over town, one false move and you’ll be on the business end of a concrete slab – face foist.

The city did some grinding of frost-heaves last year and that has helped quite a bit – at least in the areas that we’ve seen and walked. Still, people are wondering where their taxes are going for the betterment o’ the burg. This is one o’ them.

~~~

The Wag was in t’other afternoon and noticed that Gov. Ned Lamont put a temporary halt to his idea to put tolls on the highways. He is blaming the legislature for dawdling, but he knows better. While it might make his fragile ego feel better to say so, the fack is the General Assembly has a perty good idea that the tolls will cause an uprising the likes of which we ain’t seen around here in a long time.

The “truck tolls only” mantra is not being bought by anyone. They know it’ll be the foist step toward yet another tax in this state; and, like most blue states, we’re bleeding people, especially young well-to-do people who are heading elsewhere.

Lamont is still holding onto his idea. He thinks it’s gonna be the most recent gold mine that’s gonna put the state in the black: like the lottery, the income tax, the various “fees” that aren’t taxes, and the like. They ain’t ever gonna admit that they just can’t stop spending other people’s money. Well, like Maggy Thatcher indicated, eventually you run out. We’re almost there.

~~~

Iva Lootey, meanwhile, asked about our own member of Congress, the always lovely and vivacious Rosa DeLauro Greenberg. There was a time a couple years back that she was joined at the hip with the other chanteuse of the Capitol, Nancy Pelosi. It ain’t so anymore.

We did see Mrs. Greenberg recently catterwalling about something as she is wont to do, but it was something unusual. In the old days she was a go-to person. Maybe Adam Schiff took all the oxygen outta the room for the rest o’ the party.

We did notice that Rosa had a purple streak through her hair. Why? Only she knows, and she ain’t tellin’.

~~~

Here we are in another month, and the properties on Beach Street are still going to seed – those that are up for sale. We happened by there in the gassamobuggy, and noted that the former Chick’s, Debonair and Captain’s Galley properties are beginning to look a bit tired and overgrown. Maybe it’s time somebody put the finger on the owners to get things in order. It certainly would help.

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next , mitt luff und kizzez,

Well honeybunch, things in the Asylum by the Sea are a bit on the quiet side as one would expeck at this time o’ year. Even though we ain’t had much in the way of snow, we’ve had cold and rain and that leaves things indoors fer most, including the politicos around here. Things will start perkin’ up very soon.

This year is especially quiet since it seems the Jan. 29 deadline went the way of all flesh, and there seems to be no petitions for town committee primaries! Thin about that, m’girl. When was the last time we were able to say that there wasn’t gonna be a primary for town committee? Effen I was a bettin’ gal I’d say we were talkin’ about Clinton’s second term.

The Demmies, especially, are prone to having these intramural fights every two years as they, like all Gaul, are broken into three parts: the former Picard faction, now the Rossi faction, the Borer faction, and the Morrissey faction. Usually, there is something of a free-for-all at this time with people lookin’ for others to sign their petitions to get on the ballot, and we spend boo-coo bucks for an election that brings out about 500.

This time, it seems the Demmie factions are biding their time. There seems to be a cease-fire for the time being. That don’t mean they’re getting along any better, it jest means that the other factions know that the Rossi people are ridin’ a crest right now, and it’s not the time to play “king of the hill.” This is smart politics. Like I said, they ain’t likin’ each other any better, jest biding their time.

The big surprise was the GOP. Sammy Bluejay seemed to think that there was some angst amongst the faithful concerning the town committee and having new blood. Sammy sez that there was some movement on the town committee at the caucus last month, and it seemed that with the personae put on the panel, a donnybrook of a primary was somewhat forestalled. We shall see.

Sammy and I were tryin’ to remember the last time the GOP had a primary for town committee, and we think it was way back in the 1970s when Al Conte was the chairman. Those were the days when both parties were in play and both had great numbers on the rolls. Times have changed.

~~~

People are still getting used to the fack that we’ve gone to twice monthly. We got a call last week from a well-wisher, who hopes that things toin around. We hope so, too. Things are pickin’ up somewhat, and the response from the community has been nothing short of remarkable; but, we ain’t at the pernt yet where we can go back to every week, though, we, like the readers, are hoping.

Still, we’re able to give people the coverage they want and the stories they’ll read. So, I guess, in a way, it’s working. Again, we shall see.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch was here t’other afternoon and sez that things are moving to have public forums to teach the voting public about the new charter revisions that are gonna be up for vote. Before the end o’ the last term, and reiterated in the new term, the City Council wants the former Charter Revision panelists to give the public a series of public meetings concerning the proposals.

There will be a schedule in the near future, and when there is, we’ll let yew know about it, Felicia. The proposals made by the committee have been the topic of scrutiny by the council and the barristers representing the city. The concern was whether there could be only one question or several.

Luckily, the barristers agreed that the way the proposed changes are intertwined, it would be almost impossible to break things up into several questions.

Given that reality, one question will go before the voters. That necessitated the forums, and getting the public on board. We shall see how successful these are. Yew know as well as I do that they could have 20 of them, and there’d still be people who will cry ignorance.

Nelly did say that the council is now considering not having a vote until next Election Day in November. The thought is it’s a presidential election and there will be a better turnout than if they have a special vote; and, the vote won’t cost the city any extra kopecks cuz they hafta have the election anyway.

There is a down side to this. The vote will be 15 months after the commission issued its final report, and when and if it’s adopted, the city will have only one year to implement the changes cuz they would go into effect with the 2021 election. That would be interesting.

Needless to say there is some angst about things waiting this long. You don’t need me to tell yew why.

~~~

Iva Lootey fluttered by the new high school complex t’other day. I guess the new gymnasium is almost completed, and now will join the media center (it was a library in our day, hon), auditorium, and cafeteria. The story about the gym was a lesson in bureaucracy. Originally, the gym that is currently there was gonna be retained as part of the new school complex.

Then some pencil-pusher decided that current flood plain regulations would not be conformed and, even though the place precedes the regs, it had to go. Needless to say, that was an addition no one expected, and not exactly one that people wanted.

So, we had an example of our own as how the “deep state” gits involved in things that the government was never intended to be part of. It caused a little indigestion cuz new plans had to be made. But when yore sitting in a federal office somewhere, and can be a pooh-bah, what do you care?

~~~

The wag came in and was chuckling about the way politicos in the Peoples Republic of Connecticut, especially those in Hartford, seem to live in one o’ them bubbles we hear so much about. Of course, the assembly’s consideration of tolls for truck (yeah, right) was the opening salvo. But we were talking about the new “fee” that has been imposed on things like cars, and homes. Yew know, the “conveyance fee.” This is nothing more than another tax, but the yokels in Hartford think the rest of us rubes don’t understand that “fee is jest another word for “tax.”

The funny thing is that the wag had a discussion with a state persona about his and the discussion got heated when the Wag insisted it was a “tax,” and the state persona insisted a “fee” is different. Natchurly, when said persona was asked how in Goodness’ Name was it different, the explanation got a bit muddled.

There is not difference excep’ in the minds of the people who put these bills forward. Yew jest hafta use the “duck principle.” It smells, acts, and sounds like a tax, so it is nothing else but a tax. The politicos jest use these differences cuz they wanna say they didn’t raise taxes.

It’s all soooooo tiring.

~~~

With tthat bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next mitt luff und kizzez,

Well now that we’re in a two-week rotation, sweetie pie, there is plenty to tell yew. Of course, though we mentioned it in the papyrus and in our online edition, people sometimes don’t git the message, or missed the edition. Soooo, we did hafta field phone calls from some of our more frantic fans looking for the paper.

Of course, there was the brigade that can always be counted on to make snide comments, and one o’ those is a guy who is only happy when he’s miserable, and he tries to make everyone as happy as he is. He some cherce words over Mr. Bell’s invention, and thinks himself quite the pundit.

Natchurly, he didn’t ID himself, but it didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figger it out. Heck, Dr. Watson would’ve had this one in a trice. Elementary, dontcha know. Tennyrate, he had his rant, but it wasn’t anything we ain’t heard before. He thinks himself quite the problem-solver, yet he’s never really accomplished anything, anywhere, anytime.

Cobina didn’t go to the social media sites either. As I’ve said before that is the world of the Perpetually Enraged. Most people like to spout their opinions, whatever they are, and usually negative. Not very many happy people work the social sites, just angry ones in our reckoning.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch brought over the notice that the city is gonna have a seminar/info session on Allingtown under the aegis of the Planning and Zoning Commish. This is the latest in what is to be a serious of sessions about what the city has planned. I gotta tell you, foist off, that anyone who has been traversing that part o’ town after not seeing it for a while should be very impressed.

The new buildings, the one under construction and just the whole clean-up of the area has made the place something it hasn’t been in decades. Residents of the borough should be very happy with what they’re seeing. Traffic is better with the new pattern, and once they git something built where the Forest Theatre used to be, the place will have a facelift that is complete.

Nelly also had a few discussions and heard that the University of New Haven is huntin’ for property in the area. Needless to say that rumor has been going around for ages. The university is gonna need room to expand as they’ve jest about build every nook and crany of the old campus. The only place they have left is the North Campus where the athletic facilities are.

Nelly seems to think that a sale or two might be in the offing that will change the landscape of the college – and its footprint. We ain’t sure of the details yet, but even people in the Actors Colony are chirping about something getting ready to happen over there. Stay tuned.

I guess the fly in the ointment might be the fack that a storm was expected overnight that might put the meeting at risk. Cobina don’t believe it. We ain’t had any real snow this year, and it don’t look like it’s gonna happen at all – at least not in the near future.

Cobina ain’t a bettin’ woman, but there’s something in me that thinks we’re gonna git snow in March or even April. It’s happened before, and usually when we don’t have snow to speak of from October to March.

~~~

Over the hiatus, the venerable Dr. Dino Ciaburri, resident musician extraordinaire, happened to be talking to people in the office, our editor in particular, and sez that his Community Orchestra is going to be making some very interesting moves in the future.

Dino likes to play things close to the vest, and we don’t wanna let the cat outta the bag, but we seem to think that what we’re hearin’ ain’t gonna be bad for the orchestra. It will certainly give it a foundation that will make it last well into the future effen things go right.

Sooooo, music will be much in the news in 2020 methinks, and it will be a good thing for the city – which needs some good news. That’s for sure.

~~~

As I told yew a couple weeks back, keep yore eyes on Mikey Mercuriano. He found an old exemption from the General Assembly, and is wonderin’ effen something can happen down at the Haven property that will not be in the mercantile sphere.

He’s gathering things right now, and Sammy Bluejay seems to think that he will put forth his proposal to city leaders sometime soon. Cobina has an inkling of what it is, but she ain’t gonna be the one to let this one out. Let Mikey do it.

It’s a bit “outside the box” as people like to say. In fack, it’s so outside the box right now that it’ll be hard to fit it into one, effen yew git m’drift. Stay tuned. Cobina will make mention of it when it finally gets out. All yew hafta know is that Mikey has a one-track mind: making the city better. His approach may be a bit…off-putting….to some of the members of our ruling establishment, but he’s fought those people before.

Remember, after the city declared it wasn’t interested in a train station, it was he that waged a long battle, getting a petition that forced the state Dept. of Transportation and the city to take a new gander at things. It took years and a lot o’ work, but he did it. He’s like a dog with a bone effen yew give him half a chance.

~~~

Iva Lootey is interested in the fack that the city is now trying to put together its budget for the new fiscal year that will begin on July 1. This is a five-month process perty much, starting after the foist of the year, and running through these weeks of prep, and a final proposal in March. Then the City Council gits the thing, and it mulls it over for six weeks. Final vote is in May: the foist Thursday.

Effen yew think that’s a long time, yore wrong. It goes by perty quickly. It seems every time yew blink this process begins anew.

Herronner has some interesting things to say in our story this week on the process thus far. But as we know, the one thing that is certain is there will be a mill increase. The Municipal Accountability Review Board, affectionately known as MARB, has mandated via the five-year plan that city raise its mill rate up to 40 by the term’s end. Sooo, being we are in the third year, I think, we will see an increase.

The MARB held up last year’s budget cuz it didn’t have a mill increase in it. Herroner tried to do the equivalent via cuts in spending, but the pencil-pushers on the panel were having none of it. We’ll see how it goes this year.

~~~

Hmmm. Trundle on over to Eleanore Turkington’s colyume. It’s that time o’ year. People are complaining in bulk about potholes throughout the city. Even though we haven’t had a lotta snow, the salt and the rain have resulted in the same thing. When one is in the gassamobuggy traversing the streets and avenues, one must keep his eyes peeled for craters in the pavement.

~~~

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,

Well honeybunch, it is probably best to git the elephant in the room outta the way. As yew can see on our front page, the papyrus is gonna go to an every-the-week publication in the next little while. Whether it stays that way is, quite frankly, up to the advertisers – both current and possible – and the readership.

This decision was sprung on all o’ us last week, and ain’t something that any of us want, but effen the papyrus is to survive, it seems it’s a route we hafta take. There have been many town papers that have gone this route or started out this way. We hope it’ll be temporary.

Newspapers are havin’ a tough time of it, but ours ain’t the fack that people aren’t readin’ us, ours is a problem of revenue – we ain’t ever been able to run excep’ on low overhead. Cobina’s hope is that the readership and the town will do what it usually does, and helps out. Otherwise, the city will be without a newspaper in short order, and it’ll have very few means to git information out. Whilst social media might be a useful tool, it’s not the way things are accurately put forward, and usually has an agenda attached.

Our agenda has always been the people o’ the city. We’ve made lotsa friends, a few enemies, but always tried to do what was good for the city as we envisioned it. Former political enemies have become friends, some former friends have become enemies. The pernt is we’ve done what we saw was right, and we aim to continue to do so.

That said, we help that things will see an upturn, but we are in a part of the state that is not seeing the effecks of the good economy in a state that is surely not seeing the effecks of the good economy. Of course, with the leadership in our state, we don’t expeck that things are gonna change. They see the world a whole lot differently than most of us, and won’t be told otherwise.

~~~

We’ve been telling yew for a long time that the city’s minority party has been going through some type of metamorphosis. That’s a nice way o’ sayin’ that things are changing. We had a story of the two town chairman, Democrat and Republican, and got expanded answers from Mike Last, the Democrat, whilst we got very brief answers from Pat Libero, the GOP honcho.

Well, the splintering in the party brought an interesting note from a body in the party, and Cobina thought she’d share the note with yew and see where it takes us.

Evidently, the town committee caucus of a few weeks ago was a bit more of a purge than was given at first glance, prompting the following. The note refers to an answer given by Libero as to what happened at the caucus and whether it was of interest. Libero said “several” longtime members of the RTC were replaced or, to use her term “voted off.” That prompted this.

“One of the ‘Several long-time Republicans were voted off the RTC,’ included Pat Libero. It’s funny how this little detail got overlooked. It will be interesting if the current chairwoman of the Grand Old Party decides to primary as those chirping to Sammy Bluejay, have noted that one of the “egos” Libero notes is clearly her own.

The chairman publically prattles on about ‘party unity.’ If she decides to primary, then her words ring hollow. And if she wins the primary, she will most certainly further divide the party. It’s anyone’s guess as to Libero’s next steps.”

What are we to learn from this: 1) there is a bigger split in the party ranks than foist thought, and that Libero is in the eyes of some the center of the difficulty; 2) Everyone is waiting until the deadline later this month to see effen there will be a party primary for the town committee, that ain’t been decided yet; 3) We think this is a good sign for the party. It’s been moribund fer years, and maybe this little kerfuffle will git people interested again.

We ain’t seen any movement in the party for years, and, certainly, it really is not the party it was decades ago under Al Conte. We shall see what transpires.

~~~

Sammy Bluejay fluttered by t’other afternoon after our two stories about the chairmen and the fack the mayor had a story about what she wants to accomplish. Sammy, always perched in the right place, has made it a pernt to be where people are talking.

He told Cobina that whilst herrroner was extolling the hopes and desires for the Haven in 2020, there are fewer and fewer people who actually believe it’s gonna happen as planned. Word has come that the outlet stores in Westbrook are mostly closed. That is a high-end enclave as the Haven is supposed to be. Those who have ventured out there say the number of stores actually open are in single digits.

Sammy and others are wonderin’ effen 2020 is gonna see something at the Haven location, but not necessarily what is advertised. And, the talk is made worse by the fack that the development company is playing everything so close to the vest that it almost invites people to speculate.

Effen things don’t start happening by the time the beach season comes to this burg, Cobina is of the opinion that it ain’t gonna happen in 2020. We can be wrong, and we hope we are, but the economics of it, and the new mall in Norwalk kind of work against us.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch, meanwhile, sez that Mikey Mercuriano, our own outta-the-box thinker, has another idea that is outta the box. He’s mullin’ over how he can bring up the isshew and when it’s finally brought up, it’s gonna be interestin’ – in many ways – how the whole idea is discussed.

Yew can say what yew want about Mercuriano. He has the city’s best interests at heart, and, at least, has come up with some ideas to put forth for discussion. Not too many of our fellows can say that.

Jest one more thing: one o’ his projecks is the carousel at Savin Rock. Are we ever gonna get there?

~~~

The wag was in t’other afternoon and is convinced that Gov. Lamont’s idea for tolling trucks on the state’s highways is jest the camel’s nose in the tent. And, methinks that is what everyone thinks that’s why there is so much opposition to it.

Lamont is trying to get the idea of tolls in concrete form in the least objectionable way possible. But, let’s face it, this is jest another way to gain revenue. We don’t have a tax problem in this state, we have a spending problem. Any attempt to curb spending – even controlling the increases – is seen as a catastrophe by some interest group or t’other.

Meanwhile, the number o’ people leaving what used to be a destination state is staggering, not to mention the businesses we’ve lost cuz of our addiction to taxes and spending. Maybe the whole house of cards has to come crashing down.

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,

Well honeybunch, it’s been quite the week — back in the saddle as they say, with the memories of the holidays and the vacation fading. Of course, for Cobina, things were not quite so pleasant over the vacation as she came down with a bug and was laid up for most of it. Got sickt he day after Christmas and am still feelin’ a bit under the weather.

Speakin’ o’ weather, it hit 70 here cuz of the nutty pattern we’re in in these parts. We’ve had January thaws every year, but usually there is something to thaw. Excep’ for a couple o’ flurries, we ain’t seen any snow to speak of – yet. November was cold, December warmer than usual, and January is follying the pattern – something about the Jet Stream, I guess.

Tennyrate, here in the Asylum by the Sea things are getting into the normal winter flow. The Town Committees are havin’ their biennial caucuses to see who will fill the seats on the 60-member town committees. So far, we ain’t heard about any primaries, but that don’t mean they won’t happen.

The majority party is still segmented into three major factions and the big win by herronner in November doesn’t seem to have made a dent in the enmity that the factions have for one another. The Rossi faction is in control of things for the present, but we’ve seen that change in a hurry. For now, Rossi is in charge and can do perty much what she wants. Let’s hope that somehow or t’other people can be brought on board to do what is right for the city – but we ain’t holdin’ out much hope.

I never understood the whole power politics thing here. I guess it was once about controlling jobs and who got ‘em. But, let’s face it, there ain’t any to pass around much anymore. We can’t afford it.

Over on the Republican side it’s gonna be very interesting over the next little while to see what happens. I don’t have to tell you about the split in the ranks the RTC had during the last election. It’ll be interestin’ to see just how things play out with the new town committee being seated, and whether there will be a showdown. It can’t hurt the party, it might even create some interest. I know effen I was a young person trying to git into politics, I’d choose the Republicans cuz they have a place to move and grow. The Demmies seem to be set in who they have and who they support.

~~~

We got the follyin’ letter, and we disagree with our writer’s premise. We don’t think that historians are as relative about decades as he seems to indicate. Tennyrate, I thought’ yew’d by interested:

With all due respect to Cobina, I must provide a correction.  ‘A new decade or century starts with “1.”‘  While it’s true that we call our current century The 21st Century, and it began on 1 Jan 2001, and will end on 31 Dec 2100, we just don’t number our decades in the that way.  If we actually called it The 202nd Decade, then yes we could claim that it ran from [1 Jan] 2011 thru [31 Dec] 2020, and in that sense Cobina would be right.  I’m sorry, but I’ve never heard anyone call it that.

A century is any period of 100 years, however you happen to define its starting point.  Likewise, a decade is any period of 10 years, however you happen to define it.  While the 20th Century ran from 1901 thru 2000, the [century of the] 1900’s did run from 1900 thru 1999.  Likewise, the 21st century runs from 2001 thru 2100, but the 2000’s will be from 2000 through 2099.  In the same way, the decade of the “Roaring Twenties” ran from 1920 thru 1929, ending with the beginning of The Depression.  (I’m not commenting as to whether or not Cobina is as “old as dirt” and actually remembers the roaring twenties.)  Therefore, in this current century of the two thousands, the first decade may still be the “aughties”, running from 2000-2009, the “teens” from 2010-2019, and this decade will be the “twenties” from 2020-2029.  It is up to history (starting sometime after 2030) to decide whether our decade of the twenties will be roaring or some other moniker.  

— Scott Tietjen

The only thing I hafta say is thanks for writing. Methinks yore wrong cuz a set of 10 is complete at “10.” But we appreciate that someone actually thinks about this stuff. Thanks, Scott.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch tells me that the City Council is gearin’ up for the “forums” that it’s gonna support in order to tell people about the Charter Revision isshews and how the question is gonna be presented when it is voted upon at a date still to be determined.

Before the council broke for the holidays it decided that the residents would be given an opportunity to review the changes. It’s perty much the same presentation that was put forth before the council voted, and is probably tweaked a bit now that things are lookin’ a bit more promising, but it’s still a question as to when or how many will show up to learn about this.

Cobina has visions of the same activists and gadflies that appeared at the previous presentations will be at the new ones. They might even have the same questions. We hope that John and Jane Q. decide to go to the events, cuz as we have noted in the past, these changes are the largest structure changes we’ve had since this community went from Selectmen to Mayor-Council.

Yew know as well as I do that once the changes are voted on there is gonna be a certain segment of the community that is gonna be perplexed that something happened and they weren’t informed. Then they’ll take umbrage that someone tried to pull the wool over their eyes – even though there were several attempts to tell them what was going on.

~~~

As I mentioned to yew last week, it’s the beginning of the budget-making process. And we’re gonna start hearing about the wish lists that the department heads and the Bored of Ed will present. Of course, these things will be pared down and the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) will be the elephant in the room whilst all this is contemplated.

The mayor has to send her proposed budget to the council in March, and then the council gets its turn to look it over after the annual public hearing. Like I said last week, the only given on the budget this year is that there will be a tax increase. The MARB has dictated that we should have an increase in the mill rate up to 40 mills during the term of the five-year plan. We are in year three, methinks.

So, don’t be surprised when the tax bills go out in late June and have an increase, it’s all planned. Of course, once the MARB leaves town – sooner rather than later, we hope – things will git back to normal and the city can chart its own course. Still, without any appreciable increase in the Grand List, we’re still in a fix.

~~~

Is it me, or do I think Gov. Ned Lamont is gonna push through his toll on truck regardless of what the public thinks? And make no mistake and this is the plan: they get the trucks to pay tolls, and then the rest of us will be brought into it. It’s a backdoor measure to get tolls into the state.

We have a spending problem in Connecticut, not a tax problem. They tax just about everything, but they spend it quicker than they get it. People are leaving the state in droves, and we might lose yet another Congressional seat when the census comes out. The only good thing about that will be one less tax-and-spend Democrat elected.

~~~

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next mitt luff und kizzez,

Well here we are honey bunch, a New Year, but not a new decade. We went through this with the year 2000. A new decade or century starts with “1.” We don’t have a year until it’s complete. The decade isn’t complete until we end 2020. It’s that simple. But the media seems to want to have decade stories and setch, so they tell the great unwashed that we’re in a new one. Sorry, not so. Never has been, never will be. Jest hype.

~~~

Before we start getting into the nitty gritty of our fair city, Cobina has to say goodbye to a new old friend. Over the Christmas shutdown we received news that our reporter, Josh LaBella, was able to secure a position with Hearst Newspapers. That means anything that appears in this edition is the last we’ll see from him.

Josh was with us about a year, beginning in January of 2019. It was his first gig as a reporter, and he had some growing and learning to do. He did. He became a good friend to Cobina, and a pleasant change around the office. We wish him well in his new position, and hope to see his by-line often in the publications that go under the Hearst banner – which are quite a few in the Nutmeg State.

Best wishes, Josh!

~~~

Tennyrate, here in the Asylum by the Sea, the New Year doesn’t mean things around here have suddenly changed and all is hunky-dory. Nope. It jest means we’ve turned the calendar to another page. What is on that page is yet to be writ, but given we’ve been doin’ this for almost half a century, methinks we both know the writing is the fun part.

The wag was here t’other afternoon and he had a great observation and thought. Y’see we found out a few weeks back that the Haven Group, the developers’ consortium that is supposed to erect the Haven Proejeck down there on Elem Street, was promised funding by the state from the former administration – at least that is what they say.

Of course, this all kind o’ puts into focus why things have been glacially slow down there to develop. Somebody was waiting for oodles of greenbacks from the state in order to get things underway. Methinks they call it “corporate welfare.”

What the wag wants to know is the details o’ the conversations betwixt the developers and the city in years past. That ain’t a bad idea. We got a smattering of some o’ the promises, but not much o’ the details. We would really, really like to hear, read or see the notes that were took durin’ the meetings with the developers. It could answer many, many questions.

Word is that something is gonna happen “by spring,” but we heard that in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019. The question before the house is: How seriously are we supposed to take these projections as opposed to the ones we’ve heard in the four years previous?

Whilst all that is going on, the houses that remain on the site – the many of them – are starting to fall apart. It’s been rat-infested, and drug-infested, and for a while fire infested. We jest wonder when it’s gonna be store-infested.

The Rossi administration has its work cut out for it. The foist term they could place all the blame on the last crew that was in the Actors Colony. Now that they have a “new set o’ downs” so to speak, they hafta come up with some answers, or, better yet, some solutions.

~~~

Sammy Bluejay is ready to perch his feather outside the Board o’ Education room at the Actors Colony Thursday night (tonight) to see what happens with the GOP Town Committee. The 60-member group is set to meet tonight to figger out weather the party will stay status quo or have a new set o’ members. Each districk of the current 10 will have a set of six reps. Effen the six are accepted, we are all done. Effen there is s challenge, there could be a town committee primary.

Cobina tried to think back to the last time that happened, and we think it might’ve been way back in the late 1970s. Al Conte was the chairman at the time, and the party was a force in city politics, even boasting a few mayoralties, like Al Zarnowski.

The party was strained during the last election cycle as they like to say today, and there is some talk that changes are on the way. But, we’ve hoid that before. We will wait to see what, if anything happens. There are sure to be a few new members of the RTC, but what happens after that is anyone’s guess.

If there does happen to be a primary, all bets are off, and it’ll be an interesting thing to watch. Effen the GOP wants to git back in the game here, it has to present itself as a viable alternative. It ain’t done that since Bill Clinton’s first term.

~~~

What we don’t expeck to see is a Demmie primary. Two years ago the Rossi people swamped would-be challengers, and swamped those same would-be challengers in the primary in September. Democratic voters have, at least for a time, said to party regulars we want stability.

Weather that translates to the sometimes tone-deaf minions that populate the party, Cobina ain’t sure. We’ll find out in the next few days when it has its own caucus. Effen a primary is called for, it’ll be the latest in a string of them that goes back to the mid-1990s. We shall see what happens.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch happened by the most recent City Council meeting, and sez that the new members o’ the council are showing that fresh off the rack exuberance that most of ‘em have in the foist few weeks. That is a good thing. We just wonder when the bloom is gonna come off the rose.

In the next few weeks we start the budget-making process. In fack, we are sure that the thoid floor of the Actors Colony is in the process of getting the annual wish list from the department heads from which they can pare down the frills and inject a bit o’ realism into the requests.

The Board o’ Finance does a lot o’ its work during the next five or six weeks, reviewing with the mayor – at least on paper – the requests made and makes its own recommendations before herronner begins the closed-door process of trying to put the budget package together. The focus of it all is the budget presentation in March.

Of course, all of this is under the watchful eye of the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB), who has the final say on all things budgetary.

The only thing we do know is that there will be a mill increase as the MARB has mandated that the mill rate be increased in each of the five years of the five-year plan. I think we are entering year three. So, we have a ways to go before we are done with the plan and the MARB.

It amazes me each time we get to this pernt in the year. It seems like we were jest here, and here we are again. Another year has passed and another year is upon us. Before we know it, the budget will be presented. It’ll be March, and we’ll be lookin’ forward to spring. Hard to believe.

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,

Before we git onto the pre-Christmas gift list to the politicos around town. Cobina has to correct something. Last week, yores truly said one Andrea Tallamelli was chairman o’ the Bored of Ed. It is, in fact, Cebi Waterfield. Cobina made a mistake in what she hoid when she was told that said Tallamelli was being considered one of the contenders. We got it wrong, and we’re correcting it.

Of course, the Society for the Perpetually Enraged, otherwise known as the social media crowd went bonkers, and had some cherce things to say. Hey, I got it wrong. The only thing Cobina took umbrage to was some yahoo calling and saying we were like CNN. Nope. The difference betwixt us and CNN? We correct our mistakes, they just do rewrites.

~~~

As is the custom in our last isshew of the year, Cobina makes a list of gifts she thinks should be under the trees of local politicos and celebs. She’s been makin’ a list, just like the Jolly Ole Elf, and makin’ sure things are right.

Mayor Nancy Rossi – Herronner has two things under the tree this year. The first is an abacus so she can bring it to the opening meetings of the Finance Commission and begin the budget process. With the computers going down on occasion in the Actors Colony, she’ll need it. Second under the tree will be an Erector set. She can build all the projecks that seem to be stalled around the berg.

City Council Chairman Ron Quagliani – We’re gonna give the council chief some coloring books and crayons with the hope that he clears out a space in the caucus room next to the council chambers and gives the members a “time out” effen they get outta hand.

New members of the Council in general, and Democratic new members in particular – A year’s supply of their favorite headache medicine. They will need it to survive the palaver and the late nights.

GOP Council members Colleen O’Connor and Barry Cohen – Matching “I’m with Her/Him” t-shirts. Just to remind the council a GOP motion can now be seconded and discussed.

Democratic Town Committee Chairman and City Treasurer Mike Last – A framed quotation: Sic transit Gloria mundi (Thus passes is the glory of the World). It is what they used to tell Roman emperors. Last ain’t an emperor, but he is on top o’ the party heap right now. The way things go around here, that could change on a dime.

Republican Town Committee Chairman Pat Libero – A sewing kit. She’s going to need one to close up the fissures in the party after the last election.

Chairman of the Charter Revision Committee Ed Granfield – Pruning shears to cut through the red tape that might come his way leading up to the charter vote.

Majority leader of the Charter Commission John Carrano – A glossary of legal terms so the barristers don’t try to dazzle with bovine fertilizer.

Ed O’Brien and Deborah Collins, losing Dems in the last election cycle – A list of all the people who said they voted for them. We’re sure it’s gonna come out larger than the actual number that did.

GOP mayoral candidate Michele Gregorio – More business success. The best revenge is living well.

The Municipal Accountability Review Board – Each member will get a vintage recording of ‘Yakkitty Yak, Don’t talk back.” That’s the way they conduct their business with our officials.

The WHHS Building Committee – A gold-framed copy of the American Federation of Teachers report on air quality in the new building. It was a stunner.

Superintendent of Schools Neil Cavallaro – An uptick in city reading and math scores.

BOE Chairman Cebi Waterfield – A copy of Roberts Rules of Order, also the whip and chair that we gave Ron Quagliani last year…just in case things get boisterous.

Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal – New running shoes so he can get in front of those cameras faster.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy – An original idea. I don’t think he’s ever had one.

Third District Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro Greenberg – A “Where’s Waldo” game. Rosa has been conspicuously absent from the cameras recently. One wonders if her time as a big voice in the fortunes of the majority party are gone now that the “Squad” has taken over.

General Assembly majority leader Martin Looney – A tax he doesn’t like. We haven’t found one yet, but we’re going to continue to try right up to the big day.

Reps. Dorina Borer (D-115) and Mike DiMassa – The chutzpah to vote against one o’ Martin Looney’s tax proposals…just once.

Rep. Charles Ferraro (R-117) – A resole of his best shoes. He will be targeted once again by the Dems, looking to flip that seat. He’s one by going door-to-door, and he’ll probably have to do that again.

Voice Publisher Ken Carney – A 1929 Underwood typewriter like our editor has. Nothing like getting your hands inky when you’re trying to type.

Voice Reporter Josh LaBella – A list of profiles for 2020. It’s not as easy as you think.

Voice Director of Advertising Alan Olenick – A big contract that will put the publication on the map.

Columnists Eleanore Turkington and Dan Shine – Those special things they told the Jolly Ole Elf they wanted this year.

Photog Russ McCreven – An album of some of his greatest shots.

Editor Bill Riccio, Jr. – Those Lionel engines he has his eye on.

To all our readers – The best of holiday seasons. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah!

It look as if we’re gonna have a bit o’ the white stuff on the ground by the time yew git this missive, honey bunch. Whilst we’ve had two big days o’ rain – someone said about two inches were expected – it looks like it’s gonna git cold quick and about 3 inches o’ snow are expected. That’s a good thing, Cobina likes snow at this time o’ the year.

Here in the berg, things are settling into the pre-Christmas lull. It’s always been my suspicion that the politicos try to get on the “good” list just before the holidays, whilst making the “naughty” list the rest o’ the year. I guess nobody wants the Jolly Ole Elf to put coal in their stocking. Soooo, each year things slow down jest a tad.

Last week the Bored of Ed and the City Council had their chairman elections, and it looks like a famous political name is back in the news. This time, the chairman of the BOE is a Tallamelli. Over the years, the name, going back to old Will Tallamelli, has been a political force in the area, mostly in the second districk from whence it hailed. They were part o’ the Johnson strain of the party in the old days – Freddie Johnson. Of course, Wayne was chairman of the party for a looooong stretch.

I guess, according to Sammy Bluejay, with the sweep o’ the Rossi wing o’ the party into party – like I said, we can’t call it the Picard faction anymore – they wanted one o’ the ir own in the chairmanship, and Rosemary Russo isn’t one o’ their team. Everyone knew going in what was gonna happen, and the usual posturing came about.

We’ve seen these things before. The people making the biggest bellyache about Russo losing the chairmanship and what a great job she did (which she did) would have thrown over a supporter of any other faction effen the show was on the other foot, make no mistake about it. So the feigned outrage was jest a bit hard to take.

Meanwhile, over in the City Council, Sammy sez that things went on perty much as expected. Ron Quagliani was re-elected chairman of the council. He attempts to stay outta the factionalism, and seems to keep things on the straight and narrow. The last council session, though it had one or two hiccups, was probably the least contentious two years we’ve seen in some time.

That ain’t to say the next two years are gonna be a piece of cake. This berg has a way of making simple things hard, and hard things unbearable, politically speaking. The Haven projeck is gonna be coming up for scrutiny in the next little while, and it should be interesting to see how that progresses through what legislative hurdles are left. Stay tuned.

~~~

Nelly Nuthatch was by t’other afternoon, and said that whilst Ed Granfield has been chomping at the bit waiting for something to happen with the Charter Revision and its going before the voters, something, in fact, did happen. Nelly sez that a question was put together by the barristers that work for the city, and that, though it is filled with the legal-ese that one would expeck in setch a thing, the thing feared most ain’t gonna transpire.

The chairman and John Carrano, his Democratic counterpart, were worried that the barristers were gonna do damage when the question came out, and maybe even succumb to the politicos attempts to make it a multiple-question ballot. Whilst the barrister were against that, yew know how politics plays around here.

Tennyrate, the question that will go to the voters will be single and it will be an up or down vote. That is a good thing. Just reminding yew, the big fear was that pulling it out and making three or four questions, could spell the end of it all. All the voters had to do was reject one of the questions and the entire thing would be deep-sixed. The committee wove together a charter that is so interdependent on itself that ripping out one section would do damage to the entire document.

Well, that seems to be something that is not going to happen.

~~~

Iva Lootey had another part o’ the charter revision story. It seems the City Council will cobble together a “charter revision education effort” it was called by Iva. This will be some type of town hall, q and a session that will give John and Jane Q. the updates they might want concerning the draft document. There have been some people on the council who’re somewhat concerned that the public don’t know enuff about the draft.

This effort will allay some o’ those fears, Iyam told, and it will give some of the members of the council the assurance that the due diligence was handled correckly.

When Iva told me this, I must say that Cobina was blunt. Effen I were the members of the revision panel, I would stay alert, this berg has a history of mucking things up, and this caper is primed to be mucked up by the politicos. We shall see.

~~~

Madame Olga rang up Cobina t’other day, and we got to talking about things that might happen after the foist of the year. With the election of candidates in the odd year, the new town committees are elected the next even year. Well, that’s what we talked about, and Olga said her crystal ball wasn’t givin’ any secrets thus far.

On the Demmie side, the election gave the Rossi faction full control of the wheel of state, if yew will, and it’s thought that it will perty much lock up the Democratic Town Committee when those selections are done in February. The caucus is held, and effen there are contested seats in the various districks they go to primary. Over the last few years, we’ve had a citywide primary virtually every two years since the 1990s. That’s how segmented the Demmies are.

Come that caucus, we wonder effen there will be a primary come March. Who knows? With things the way they are and people still not talking to each other, it’s always a possibility. However, this time it’s with Rossi and her people fully in control of the throttle.

~~~

Olga had some things to say about the Republican Town Committee, though. She’s fully seeing that there will be some intramural high jinx between those supporting Pat Libero, the current chairman, and those who were supportive of Michele Gregorio, the defeated GOP mayoral candidate.

As yew remember, there was a close vote in the July caucus betwixt Gregorio and Steven Mullins. It perty much split the 60-member panel, and led to the foist GOP primary for mayor in memory. Gregorio took the vote, but that didn’t mean that everyone made nice afterwards. There are still some perty ticked off individuals.

How this plays out after the New Year is anyone’s guess. Olga seems to think things ain’t gonna smooth over jest yet, and that, probably, there will be something that might lead to a primary in March. Won’t that be interesting? Our reporter Josh LaBella uncovered some real distrust betwixt the sides, so it’ll be interesting to see effen that distrust lasts. We shall see.

~~~

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,

Thanksgiving is over for another year, and now we move onto the Christmas season. No, not holiday season, Felicia Navalance: Christmas. Season. We don’t say Happy Holidays for any other season, and we shouldn’t do it here. If people feel like they’re being treated as “second-class citizens,” I’d say they have more problems than whether it’s Christmas or not. In fact, I’d say it’s their problem, not anyone else’s.

Tennyrate, here in the berg the fack that Thanksgiving was about the latest it could be, it butted up against the biennial rite of passage that this city has every odd year: inauguration of the new administration. The charter calls for the inaugural to be the foist Sunday in December. That happened to be Dec. 1. By the by, did you say “rabbit!” on Sunday. Nope? Neither did Cobina.

And the activities of the weekend were setch that not only was it Turkey Day, the tree-lighting took place on the Green on Saturday night as well.

That was a big success by the looks of it. Gabby Murrillo did the honors in lighting the tree, and there was an afternoon-long festival on the Green until the honors were done. Cobina happened by there Saturday night and there was quite a throng out there, with most of the Green cordoned off for the hayrides and other features. So, that was checked off the box of things to do.

Sunday, at the new WHHS auditorium, the new administration was sworn in during the only event that even comes close to pomp and circumstance around here, with the exception of graduation. With all the color and ceremony we could muster, the new administration was sworn in.

Sammy Bluejay was perched near the dais, and had a few pernted commints to make.

~~~

Sammy noted that this year’s crop o’ council people had that look of excitement that he sees all the time. That gleam will probably turn to glaze once the tedium of the job begins to set in on them. The City Council does some interesting things, but, really, most of what it does is perty humdrum. The job has its share of late nights and there’s always the fun of dealing with John and Jane Q. They can be nice neighbors or real terrors, depending on the issues.

Of course, the foist thing the council will set out to do is elect a chairman. Ron Quagliani is, at this writing, expected to be tabbed for the title. He had it last term, and as chairmen go, he was known for being rather fair and easy going. There was little of the in-fighting that one has seen over the years, where the chairmen hafta be boxing referees and gameshow emcees at the same time. Ask some former chairmen, they’ll tell you.

One of the biggest and most interesting thing that has happened is the fack that the GOP will have two, count ‘em, two, members of the council outta the 13 on the list. They elected Barry Lee Cohen in the Tenth Districk, and Colleen O’Connor – the former GOP Town Chairman – as the at-large. One at-large seat goes to the minority under the current charter, and Cohen was able to get by Louise Martone in that districk by sacrificing the soles of his shoes. He won the old-fashioned way, hard work.

In fack, Cohen is gonna be an interesting individual to watch on this panel. To say he doesn’t “suffer fools gladly” is an understatement. He’s smart, cagey and analytical. At least that is the impression Cobina has. And a bit of caginess is not a bad thing when working with the other members.

Sooooo, over the next two years it’s gonna be very interesting to see jest whot transpires on the council and how it reacts or interacts with the new GOP reality. In the past the GOP had one seat, and that perty much meant the member had to sit down and twiddle his or her thumbs whilst the Demmies fought. Sometimes it was comical. The minority member would be sitting all alone at the table whilst a caucus was called, and there was screaming in the back room.

Now the GOP can have its own caucus. It’ll be interesting effen they call a caucus and leave the Demmies out in the big room. We shall see. But keep yore eyes on Cohen. He could provide the grist for our ever-grinding mill.

~~~

Of course, the GOP is a bit of a topic of conversation, regardless. Iva Lootey sez that the wounds that occurred during the election betwixt those working for Steven Mullins and those working for Michele Gregorio have yet to be sutured. In fack, there is still a bit of suspicion betwixt the two factions…factions, would’ve thunk it.

Whatever happens, the GOP did some good work during the last election, and shouldn’t let what should be friendly opposition turn to difficulties. The story writ last week by our own Josh LaBella perty much pernted out the problems the party has to overcome before it could begin to get back into the city’s mainstream.

We’ve been sayin’ it for years. The party has to do an outreach, get rid of dead wood and then move toward being an opposition organization. Some of us are old enuff to remember that Larry Minichino, who eventually became a Repubican mayor, built an entire organization of young folks that led the party to victory.

There were some problems later on, but for the most part, the New Turks, as they were called, did a perty good job, and helped the city during some boom years. The only thing the party needs is a leader it can rally around. The old-timers had the late Ted Adams. They need another.

We’ll keep watchin’ to see what transpires. The ball is in the GOP’s court and what they do with it is important.

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Herrronner, meanwhile, will certainly have a more friendly City Council this go-round. Nelly Nuthatch pernted that out when she visited here the other day. Gone are the hold-overs from the Ed O’Brien ticket, and certainly, the Morrissey faction is only represented by one or two. This means that for the most part the mayor should be able to have more cooperation and less opposition – but we don’t wanna see the council become a rubber stamp.

That is one of the reasons it’s good to have to GOP-ers. With the GOP and the one or two opposition in the Demmie camp, there should be some very interesting debates about issues. The mayor will have the votes should she need them, of course, but the combination of Republican votes and a couple of opposition Demmies will help spur some real debate and real action, not just an easy vote. That’s a good thing, we think.

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Finally, ole Cobina wanted to note that the generosity of our fellow citizens is one o’ the things that makes this berg so special, despite its politics. Several churches, organizations and groups made the holiday special for many from turkey distributions, to the Community Thanksgiving Dinner, to what we know will be special toy collections toward Christmas. It’s a nice thing to see.

Finally, we forgot a bit name in last week’s list o’ turkeys: Patrick Morrissey. Pat has been named in that colyume just for fun for almost 20 years. We somehow forgot – old age, probably. Don’t worry, there’s still Christmas gifts to be given out.

With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this week till next, mitt luff und kizzez,