Dear Felicia

Well, hon, as we slip into April things around the burg are really starting to percolate. The trees are budding, the flowers are starting to come up, the showers are falling, and things in our corner of the universe are kicking into high gear.

As yew remember, Herronner issued her annual budget a couple o’ weeks back, and the annual public hearing took place t’other night. Once that happens, the springtime ritual of the City Council going into special session happens. Nelly Nuthatch sez that whilst the membership knows it has to do this exercise, there is a gnawing feeling that it’s all fer naught anyway.

Y’see no matter what they do, the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) has the final say. So, whilst there will be meetings and votes and debate and analysis, all of it still hinges on the words and whims of the MARB. Some members see the whole thing as a bit of a waste of time, especially effen the MARB decides to upend some or part o’ what the council determines during the discussions over the next few weeks.

Stay tuned, As I told yew, some of the membership is wondering whether to run again come November. There is talk that besides a long list of candidates for mayoralty as the months drag on, there might be bunch of people looking to sit in open seats that longtime council reps have decided to vacate.

And speaking of the mayoralty, since we last corresponded, there have been no new additions to the rolls of those who will run for mayor in either party…not yet. Still to be determined is whether Mrs. Rossi will seek a fourth term, or decide to leave the post. The word on the street is she ain’t gonna run, but yew and I know that we’ve seen this drama before. Nothin’ is done until it’s done. We will keep you posted, of course.

As of this writing we see two candidates on each side of the political ledger, Demmy and GOP. While we await the announcement of the current incumbent, there is also the decision of Barry Lee Cohen, who was the GOP standard-bearer in the last go-round. As he lost only be 30-plus votes, there is wonder whether he wants to go through the grind again.

No word yet, but yew cannot be faulted for thinking the race is gonna get more wide open than it already is. Cobina is hearing that others are interested in the spot. And then there is the decision of one Dorinda Borer, who might throw the whole shebang into a different game plan. T

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The Wag came in t’other day and reported the City Council approved the new plans for the new Washington School. The old relic on the corner of Brown and Washington is gonna be razed. Now, there are are some who think this is a great idea and are applauding it. I always feel a bit nostalgic about great buildings being torn down. As a piece of architecture, what is a grand building is gonna be replaced by something with straight lines and no beauty.

Cobina wouldn’t be opposed too much to all this tearing down and building up effen she thought something useful was going on inside these whited sepulchers, but new building or not, the kids still can’t read! New buildings don’t make better education, but they make honchos feel better. One wonders effen they’ll take the name away, too. Keep yore eyes on that.

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The exit door at the Actors Colony has been used an awful lot lately, and some are wondering if it is portend of things to come on the aforementioned mayoral race. The Grants Coordinator recently found the exit door to his liking, and with the recent resignation of the Finance Director, and the fack that positions aren’t being filled, leads to a very interesting situation at 355 Main St.

The managerial style of the thoid floor has been the topic of much discussion over the last years, and that discussion has taken a nasty turn more recently. Some see Herronner as not accessible and aloof at times, and those criticisms are becoming louder.

The MARB is frustrated that positions aren’t being filled cuz tit has those positions as part of the remapping of city government. That’s been one of the isshews that has miffed the MARB membership over the last little while.

The fact that people are leaving their jobs is fueling the speculation that the mayor will not seek a new term. That may or may not be, but longtime watchers of things political in this town – setch as yew and me – haft admit we ain’t seen this many people walking outta City Hall in quite some time. Keep yore eyes peeled, more may be happening.

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Iva Lootey noted that some of the principles in the fraudulent use of federal dollars by former officials is now in the sentencing phase, and more are due. The sentences are perty stringent as they should be. People used the public trust given them and tried to line their pockets. Some, like Mike DiMassa, were up and coming stars in the political sphere, and there is part of Cobina that still sees that bright, fresh face of years ago. How people get that devious still amazes.

Tennyrate, as I said more people are being sentences and as we get up the ladder, the time these ladeez and gents are guests of the fed’ral government at a secure facility will get longer and longer.

Still can’t get over the feeling it’s all a waste.

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Sammy Bluejay was here, and noted the speed with which the demolition at the former Haven site is moving along. It jest proves when you wanna git something done, one can find ways of doing it. Over the last two weeks or so, most of the stretch betwixt Elm Street and Main has been torn down, and what is really amazing is the speed the debris is getting cleared.

For years the Simon Group told the city things were gonna happen, and things were gonna git torn down Yet, fires erupted in vacant buildings and factories, squatters were evicted, vermin multiplied, and the neighborhood had to grin and bear it. Now that there is a potential buyer of the land, the work has proceeded double quick.

As I told yew the last time, there is woid that Simon Group has a potential buyer, though who or what hasn’t been leaked out. When they finally admitted the mall wasn’t gonna be built, there was a rumor that some movie group was interested. Don’t know effen that’s still going around. I guess we’ll know in the fullness of time, but who wants to wait that long. Effen I hear anything I’ll let you know.

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Cobina sees that a new park has been designated off o’ Platt Avenue. It’s called Narrow Point Park. That’s a good thing, cuz before you know it some developer will take the land that is perty marshy near the Cove River, and try to put houses on it.

Yeah, that still goes on around here. Yew should see some o’ the new houses going up in town on postage stamp lots and what were green plots along some thoroughfares, and in hilly terrain.

We went out in the gassamobuggy to do some errands and saw some o’ the construction. We can see water problems happening in some places cuz of the way these things are built on hills. I wouldn’t wanna be the owner o’ the house at th bottom, that’s for sure.

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Whilst out, we saw the construction of the new condos at Beach Street on the former Chick’s site. They are goin’ up perty quickly! Still, the raising o’ the roadbed is supposed to happen in the next little while, so maybe the builders are trying to git things erected before the dust and asphalt stars to fly.

The recent Nor’easters have given us more understanding o’ why the roads hafta be raised. Not that there was any big flooding, but the wind, rain and seas were heavy enuff to put things into perspective. We will keep our eyes on things over there.

By the way, I wonder what’s happening with the former Debonair??

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