As I write this week’s missive honey bunch, it seems the sweltering heat we’ve had hearabouts is jest about over for a little while, anyway. This ole gal decided to hunker down in her domicile for a couple days, whilst the heat outside got worse. There was nary a breath of air around here, even when the tide came in, witch is normally the time it gets breezy.
Tennyrate, the heat in the burg was of a different sort. The GOP had its caucus last week, and there are some who’re gonna be happy and some who’re not. Y’see, despite tryin’ to present a unified front, the 60-member Town Committee voted 22-20 – witch means that 18 people didn’t show – to nominate Michelle Gregorio as the endorsed candidate.
Why are some people gonna be happy and t’others not? Well, the vote perty much cinches it. It was a very split ballot, and Steven Mullins, who is perty much a face of the party, was on the short end. Steve has already let it be known he will primary for the nod.
That’s where the not-so-happy people will reside. Y’see, whilst most of the time a primary is considered a good thing, the GOP – or some o’ them – think it’s not setch a good thing. Yew remember I mentioned that a few weeks ago, and got a missive from an interested Republican saying, no, that wasn’t the case.
The GOP don’t wanna hafta spend its rather limited “war chest” on a primary. So much for that. Mullins thinks he deserves the nomination, and Gregorio does too. Whilst Cobina understands the dollars and cents of the matter, the exposure the two candidates will get will be a good thing.
The GOP is gonna hafta work to get outta this rut it’s been in in the last 30 years, and this might be the way to at least come part way.
Now what has to happen is two things: the candidates hafta separate themselves from each other, and offer a viable alternative to the Demmie machine that has run the city into the ground the last little while. With the ratio of Democrats to Republicans runnin’ about 6:1, that’s gonna be a tall order, no matter effen there’s a primary or not.
Still to be determined at this writing is the Demmie nominee, expected to be Nancy Rossi in a runaway – her people control the Democratic Town Committee. But, that don’t mean things are over. Petition drives are already being prepped as we speak with both Deb Collins, the candidate backed by the “out” factions of the party, and Ed O’Brien, the former mayor and one who’s being backed by more than a few, though across faction lines, trying to get on the ballot.
As we’ve said before a three-way race will be a crap shoot when it comes to who’ll win. Normally about 6000-8000 voters come out for primaries, and the numbers – and margins of victory – are small. With a three-way race, more voters are gonna hafta be attracted to come out in September, or the numbers and margins will be really small and really upsetting to the losers.
We remember the 1981 primary that only had Don Wrinn and George Dunleavy. That was as factionalized as this go-round. It could put a rupture in the party that might do the impossible – elect a Republican. It’s too early to make those predictions, but we know one thing, it’s gonna be a dirty, dirty race.
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Cobina got this note this past week, and thought yew’d be interested. It seems it’s gonna create a bit of confusion effen what it sez is true. It comes from a pal, and we thought yew’d be interested. The boys and girls in the Actors Colony certainly might:
“Friday, I was having dinner at a friend’s home in Milford and the talk got around to tax bills. This family owns income property in West Haven and insisted that they didn’t pay a “Sewer Use Fee”. They pulled up their West Haven taxbill on their laptop, and, sure enough, there was no indication of a Sewer Use Fee on the on-line version of their tax bill. When they pulled up their mailed hard copy from the Tax Collector out of their files, the Sewer Use fee was properly there.
“For the heck of it, they looked up my (address deleted) tax bill on their laptop and the same missing reference to a ‘Sewer Use Fee’ was present there, too. I would think that it should be on both the online and mailed versions of the bill.”
Yes, one would think so, wouldn’t one? I wonder if the people in the Actors Colony are aware of the SNAFU. I bet they aren’t. Effen that’s the case, they better do a look-see to figger out how to git the word out to people.
I can jest see it now, people not having their registrations or home sales not go through for lack of payment thata they didn’t even know about.
Of course, like tax bills, not getting one is no defense as far as the city – and state – are concerned. It’s the responsibility of the taxpayer to get his bill, not t’other way around. Funny how that works, huh?
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Sammy Bluejay reports that the City Council is gonna have two public sessions next week, July 31 and Aug. 1 at 6:30 in the Council Chambers or Harriett North Room, depending on attendance. The hearings are gonna be about the Charter Revision Commishes report. To say that the report has sent a cold shiver up some politicos’ spines is to understate it.
There are some on the commish who are fully expecting that the political establishment will try to deep six the biggest reforms of the report. Changing the status quo is always a tetchy thing, especially when politics is playing like it is around here. People like the rules, they’re comfortable.
The fack that the city needs some change, and more than cosmetic, hasn’t really dawned on some in the establishment. Changing the city council and some of the boards, and putting up responsible and qualified people in offices should be the coin of the realm, but it hasn’t been around here.
There is a belief that the report will be picked apart and much of what the commish did lopped off before it goes to the voters. We hope not.
Whilst there might be things that are difficult or down-right scary, the commishes work should be allowed to stand on its own and let the voters decide. We hope the council doesn’t decide to cherry-pick some parts of it, and then discard other parts. We especially like the reworking of the City Council. Bigger districts and more minority representation is a good thing. It’s been a problem ever since the current charter was put together. There are other things too, but that’s the one that Cobina really likes.
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With the Haven getting the go-ahead from the DOT with its traffic plan, we have voiced our concerns regarding the traffic that’s gonna come into town once the shopping center is built. We understand that a new lane will be added, but with the Kimberly Avenue Bridge – properly called the Fummiatti Bridge – as aged as it is, will we have traffic jams from the highway to the center? One would think so.
But, that is a few weeks away. What has to be determined is when the demolition of the property is gonna start. Neighbors are hoping it’s sooner rather than later. The area is still becoming more of a nuisance, and there was yet another fire there a few weeks back. The faster they get those buildings down, the better.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this week till next, mitt luff und kizzez,