As I always tell yew, sweets, once yew git by May, the rest of the year jest flies. Here we are in July already, with lotsa things happening in our little corner of the universe known as the Asylum by the Sea. The turn o’ the calendar means that as of last Friday, Fiscal Year 2023 began, and that means new kopecks for the boys and girls who run this burg. It’s also about this time that murmurings about money that was misused began to circulate. Hard to believe, but that’s the case.
Tennyrate, with the July 4 holiday, the Mystick Maidens of the Marsh decided to hold this year’s festivities at the Sandy Pernt sandbar and beach. With the good work that group has done over there, cleaning up, and getting things nice and tidy, we thought we’d traverse there. It was a great time, with the Grand Maiden herself, Tina Peckingham, regaling us with many stories…and she’s got lots to tell.
With the Municipal Accountability Review Board giving the OK on the budget jest a couple o’ weeks back – finally understanding that there was some misinformation sent their way – the administration was able to take a deep breath and git into the new FY. Soooo, that means, ultimately, that things are perty much the way they hashed out during the budget-making that ended in May.
That was only one thing that happened in the run up to the new year. Buried under a lotta goings-on here and elsewhere, the City Council voted to investigate the forensic audit that caused a heap o’ consternation here weeks ago. The CohnReznick audit the state ordered on the city’s use of Covid funds had the Actors Colony in an uproar effen yew remember.
According to Sammy Bluejay that angst didn’t subside with the passage of time. The audit said the city misused thousands and didn’t have paperwork to back up things. Almost at the outset of its publication, people in City Hall were angry. They said paperwork given was cited, and paperwork that had wasn’t requested; hence, the damning report was flawed.
Effen yew think people were gonna let that go, think again. There was a lotta blame to go around concerning some expenses, but the hue and cry heard after that has really been a thorn in the side of many inside and outside City Hall.
The City Council is gonna be looking into the whole audit process and maybe the panel will be able to make heads or tails outta what transpired. In all our years of comminting on the shenanigans at the Colony, I kin tell yew that Cobina ain’t seen this kind of pushback in many a moon. It’ll be interesting to see what happens from here on in.
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Nutcherly, the lack of July 3 fireworks this year is still stuck in the craw of many. Almost immediately this papyrus got complaints from people. They pay a lotta taxes and want a few crumbs thrown their way on occasion. Well, the fack it’s gonna be on Labor Day weekend ain’t setting well with the natives, even now.
Of course, the bit reason was the overtime costs and other costs associated with the night, and the fack that usually more than 100,000 people find their way to the beach, with many thousands coming from nearby towns. Things might be getting better in town, but the uptick in incidents during the night gave a few people pause as well.
St. John Vianney/Our Lady of Victory canceled its annual carnival, ostensibly, said the Wag, cuz there might be outsiders causing trouble. Security is a big concern. Now with the city opting to move the fireworks, one wonders effen the organizers were even told about the possibility of the move, thus eliminating some of the security concerns. Probably not.
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After seven months plodding through the courts, a New Haven Superior Court judge did what many of us thought was gonna happen. Barry Lee Cohen, Republican candidate for mayor, sued the city, claiming – rightly in some cases – that the way ballots were handled, and other irregularities called into question his loss by 32 votes.
Iva Lootey, who has been follying the case perty closely, wasn’t surprised by the decision to drop the suit. The chances the court was gonna overturn an election seven months after the fack was perty slim – and the longer it dragged on the slimmer it would be.
Iva said something interesting, though. He believes that effen the court was really concerned, it would have checked even more closely the ballots, and maybe could have found the requisite 33 votes that were violations. That’s not generally what happens, though. Let’s face it, the court was very critical of the way the ballots were handled – something that has been a cause of uproar in the past. In fact, the judge was all but agreeing with Cohen, it seemed, up to the pernt that there may have been cause to think more votes could have been found. But, that ain’t what courts do. Unless it’s in open sight, the courts leave the results alone. Imagine the tumult a decision to overturn would have caused?
Meanwhile, Herroner may have her third term given an imprimatur, but one wonders effen the last few months have made her give thoughts about her future. Let’s face it, honeybunch, it’s been one set of headaches followed by another set almost continuously for quite a while.
The reason I ask the question is that names are popping up on the Demmie side as possible successors to Mayor Rossi. In the last week or so, we’ve heard one or two council members who have privately expressed interest in running for the third floor. Should Rossi determine she wants a fourth term, that might change the calculus a bit, but effen she says she’s had enuff of the cauldron that is city politics, it could throw the whole succession question wide open – and maybe even give the GOP a chance at a resurgence. Remember, Cohen lost by 32. People have already determined they’re not enamored by the way the city is run.
Keep yore eyes peeled, hon. The next little while is gonna be interesting. Starting in the fall the picture will be clearer as to who might look to run, who might decide to run, and whether Mrs. Rossi wants to give it another two years. The wild card might be who the GOP gets to be the standard-bearer. Effen they run another strong candidate, we might see an end to one-party rule after more than 30 years.
The fack that some demmies are looking at their prospects, though, is usually the foist sign that the political winds are starting to change for the incumbent…maybe not this next time, but certainly in the near future. We shall see.
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We see the city is looking to repurpose the Arts Center into some type of community center…ain’t that what an Arts Center is, or at least a component of it? The wheels of justice turn slowly, but things in this burg make justice look like an Indy driver. Over the years the city could have been looking at more grants and not just from the state to put that center together.
Cobina’s question is this: will making it a community center push the process along? After all it’s only been 14 years since it was announced, and we’re about 20 percent into the project. Second question: one of the reasons given for the Arts Center is the effort to bring people into the center of town, will this goal be met with a change of purpose?
We hope that effen a decision is made to go this route a space for the arts can be made. A performance space might is still needed, especially with some of the new efforts we’re seeing here at the papyrus in that vein.
One can only hope, but yew know what they say about “live in hope…”
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,