Well honeybunch, it seems we’ve hit somewhat of the halfway pernt for summer vacation by Cobina’s calculations. It’s hard to believe more than a month has gone by since the kiddies went off to vacation, and it’s been a perty good summer: nice and warm without being too oppressive. Of course, living here by the water does help. Tennyrate, yew can start seeing the days getting jest a tad shorter and shorter as we are about a month past the solstice. Before yew know it the snow will be flying and we’ll be complaining about how cold it is.
Things in the burg are gearing up as the two parties will be havin’ their caucuses over the next little while and then the fun can really begin. On the Demmie side, Sammy Bluejay has been flutterin’ about looking to see what’s what, and the odd are in the favor of the incumbent as we know. Way back in March of 2018, the Rossi supporters captured the majority of the Democratic Town Committee seats.
When the 60 members of the committee meet, the chances of Rossi not getting the nod are perty slim. That was admitted to by Deb Collins in her profile last week in the papyrus. She is fully expectin’ to get the petitions out the next day.
We figger Ed O’Brien is gonna do the same thing, and have his backers get out there with signatures so that he, too, can be on the ballot. The funny thing is, given the history of this community when it comes to primaries, the signature process can be a real humdinger.
Everyone has to make sure that their campaigns do everything according to Hoyle with I’s dotted and T’s crossed so that names aren’t voided. And, of course, they should get many more signatures than are actually needed. We’ve seen some petitions voided all together over the years, and that has created some angst along the way.
And, let us not forget absentee ballots. What is supposed to be a simple process somehow creates problems and rumors of problems almost every time we have a primary – and in this burg that’s quite a lot. Everyone remembers the debacle of 1981, when absentee ballots became setch a problem a judge threw out the primary and ordered a new one on Election Day. It was quite a circus and split the Demmies down the middle betwixt the late Don Wrinn and George Dunleavy. In some ways it seems like so long ago, and it others it seems like yesterday. Still, things haven’t changed all that much.
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Effen yew see our editor any time soon, yew’ll see a broad smile on his face. Y’see he don’t git the social media pages often and someone called his editorials – and him by implication – a fascist. That led to this week’s editorial and how people are quick to use words they don’t know the meaning of – like fascist. Or just use it to label someone with whom they disagree.
Tennyrate, he’s wearin’ it he label like a badge cuz he knows it means absolutely nothing, and person using it is either disingenuous or jest a yahoo.
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Meanwhile, Nelly Nuthatch is telling Cobina that the series on the candidates and the series on the charter revisions are having their desired effeck. When we started both, we wanted people to be talking and paying attention, and not just the political wonks that seem to inhabit this place.
In the case of the foist series, the candidates are getting on the record about city isshews and this will work as a springboard as we git further into the primary season. Excep’ for the fack that the party is segmented into three parts, the candidates really hafta pull away from their opponents to see what kind of traction they can make with the voters.
Meanwhile for the GOP, they might have the foist primary in that organization since Nixon was in the White House. Many in the party are hoping it don’t come to that. As we stated last week, the allocation of resources is a big hurdle, and many don’t wanna blow the bank account on a primary with little left for the general election.
We shall see what happens. There are two well-known candidates and both will have a follying in the Republican Town Committee when it caucuses. Stay tuned.
The other series about the Charter Revision Commish is getting the results, too. We wanted people to pay attention, and it seems there is some discussion on the aforementioned social media outlets. The fack that people are lookin’ at what the commish is proposing is important, maybe even more important that what is accepted or rejected. We don’t want people blindly going into the polling places in November not knowing what is going on.
That, we’re afraid has happened before, and it hasn’t been without its problems. Let’s hope we have better information out there this time.
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Of course, the Haven getting DOT approval for its traffic plan was big news last week. It was a decision that has been awaited since the snow was still on the ground. Needless to say the timing has more than one eyebrow raised. Yew knew that anything that happened as the election or primary got closer would be looked askance by the opposition
Word is that approval for demolition permits is only days away, and that the clearing of the area will begin asap. That doesn’t mean people will be satisfied.
Whilst that is going on, the approval does lend itself to other questions. The biggest one is the Kimberly Avenue Bridge, and that was posed by the Wag. Y’see, the bridge that is there now was put up in 1969 or so, and was considered a 20-year lifespan structure. It’s still there some 50 years after building.
We have been told that the undercarriage of the bridge is a bit aged, and that rust flakes off on occasion. Cobina ain’t an engineer, and we’re sure the DOT has its Eagle-Eye Fleagles out inspecting the spans. That said, let’s hope that a new bridge isn’t in consideration when the darned projeck is completed. City officials are saying that the thing is gonna be open for business in Christmas 2020. A new bridge project would really put things behind the eight-ball. Of course, we’re still wondering how the natural bottleneck of the area will be fixed. I guess we’ll find out when it’s done.
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Iva Lootey came in t’other afternoon and began askin’ about the Beach Street project – that’s the concept to raise the roadbed up about seven feet from the current level in order to aid in flooding and erosion. Yew remember the last two hurricanes caused a lot o’ damage, including exposing drain and sewer pipes.
Well, an announcement by the thoid floor about a month ago gave people the impression that something was afoot, but nobody is quite sure. The plan was announced more than two years ago, and supposedly kopecks have been allocated for it. When and if the thing is gonna be started, let alone completed it the big question before the house.
Of course, there is some prime land over there that is still unsold after years of closure, and we’ve rehearsed that problem more than a few times, and won’t do it here, but we wonder effen the sale of the closed properties on Beach Street is contingent upon the rebuilding of the roadbed? It is a pertinent question.
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,