Hard to believe, but we’ve skated our way from Election Day to Inauguration Weekend in whot feels like the proverbial “blink of an eye.” Of course, when yew git as old as we are, honey bunch, that “blink” gits shorter and shorter.
The West Haven High School Auditorium will be the venue for the festivities this time around after the last two have been on the steps of City Hall. That was a nice twist, but methinks the ladeez and gents who are being sworn in as well as the well-wishers that show up don’t wanna hafta worry about whether there will be snow or wind or anything else the elements might throw their way. I know I wouldn’t wanna sit or stand through the ceremony and those interminable speeches (especially Dick Blumenthal who is the keynote, he never shuts up) when the temps are below freezing.
There will be the usual fol-de-rol with various personages giving the oaths of office to the various and sundry. Mike Heffernan will be taken outta moth balls and give the bulk o’ them, whilst I see that Vin Amendola and Ed Dolan will be the remaining oath-givers. It is interesting to see how this is all playing out, there are subtle and not-so-subtle signs that the message being given is there is a new sheriff in town, and she has her own way of doing things.
I can’t git into details, but behind the scenes there are some waves that are happening, and it might be a few days before the entire thing is figgered out. Meanwhile, effen the high school football team gits by its Tuesday game – yew know I don’t worry about setch things, but others do – that might put the whole program into a tailspin. Yew know there are gonna be many on the stage who’d rather be at the game. Maybe they’ll do it by proxy.
It’s gonna be interesting to see what happens in the foist few days. Our new yore honor does have a rather interesting reputation, and it’ll be something to watch. Over the years she has built up a rep that sez effen yew cross her, she has a way to make yore life miserable. There are many who’re wondering effen that rep is gonna turn out true or false. We shall see.
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Sammy Bluejay made a very interesting pernt concerning the bond issue that was announced last week. Effen yew ain’t heard, the city sold about $25.77 million in bonds that are gonna pay off the cumulative deficit that has been hanging around for a dozen years, and the rest will be used to pay off the capital projecks from 2015, 2016, and this year…witch begs the query, “How in blazes did we get these things in motion with no money?” But, that is the query for another day.
So, the city is in hock for goodness knows how much at 4 percent for the next 20 years. Yew know that whilst the city is getting $25-plus million, it’s gonna be paying many, many more kopecks than that during the course of the bonds. Nope, that ain’t he interesting part – though it should be.
The interesting thing is the second bond that wasn’t sold – the high school bond. That was part of the same series of approvals the City Council gave more than a year ago, and it took this much time to get the smaller sold. One can only wonder what the status of the $130 million needed for the high school is? One can also wonder effen that bond is ever gonna git sold.
There are ever more and more rumors that the only thing that’s gonna happen over at McDonough Plaza is the G-wing, the building that has been the burr in the posterior of many administrators in the Bored of Ed, will be taken down around the Christmas break. But what happens after that is anyone’s guess. Some are saying the entire construction plan is gonna be ditched rather quietly. Once again, we shall see.
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Sammy also noted that Rossi complained that the city should have waited until she was in office before it sold the bonds. There could be reasons for the sale when it happened, but methinks it was probably to lock in the rate they got.
There are some O’Brien people who are criticizing the incoming herroner for saying they should have waited, but one would think her people would have been able to see what was going on in the interest of disclosure and transparency – two words that politicos seem to like nowadays. After all, there is truth to the statement the old administration is gonna be history in a few days and it’s the new administration that has to bear the burden.
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Meanwhile, it was noted by Iva Lootey that the Bored of Education, witch was supposed to have its own meeting on Monday night for organizational purposes will not meet. The notice of cancellation came from Neil Cavallaro himself. Iva seems to think that means that someone wasn’t able to make the confab, and every vote means something.
That might mean that the chairmanship is up for grabs and effen the mayor had the deciding vote on Monday night, it might not be the result that certain factions of the Democratic Party seem to think they want in place. A 4-4 tie means the mayor decides by charter. That has happened before, but now they just cancel meetings.
Who is gonna be chairman and vice-chairman? Something tells me not much is gonna change.
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Nelly Nuthatch is saying that it looks like Ron Quagliani has got the chairmanship locked up in the new council. That seems to be the story going around the Actors Colony, the factions have all rallied around Quagliani, who made it a pernt not to get involved in intramural squabbles during the last election.
One hopes that the former Chief of Police will bring his stun gun to meetings, especially as we get to the budget-making cycle after the first of the year. With the factions setch as they are and the fack that no one wants to play nice he might need it to keep order. To say that there is animus betwixt those who supported the former administration and those who support the new comer is like saying the Hatfields and the McCoys had a spat.
The next two years are promising to be quite something when it comes to how Demmies interact with Demmies. And, effen the new administration has to make those “serious decisions” its people keep talking about, that interaction might mean people going through metal detectors before entering the Council Chambers. I jest, of course, but there is more than a kernel of truth to the jest.
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Just a reminder: with the coming of December, our annual shutdown is scheduled in a few weeks. The crew around here is in need of a vacation, I can tell yew. They are getting ornery – more ornery than usual – and it’s like this every year about this time. The holly comes out and so do the bad moods.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,