Spring has sprung, the grass is riz, I wonder where the birdies is?
That little bit o’ tortured rhyme was somethin’ we used to cant when we were kiddies effen yew remember sweetie. And, Cobina doesn’t wanna be countin’ her chickens, but she has to pose the query: are we really gonna have a spring this year? From all indications, jest maybe!
Usually around this time o’ year, we get weather like we saw two weeks ago, wet, cold, windy and like something outta a Hitchcock movie. “Cooler at the shore” is the mantra we hear. But this year we seem to be having a gradual rise in temps and it’s nice. Being the cynic that Iyam, Cobina is waiting for the other shoe to drop and things to get back to the cold, dank we are used to, but she’ll accept what we have. The 50s ain’t so bad after the teens and 20s of jest a month ago.
Meanwhile here in the Asylum by the Sea, Sammy Bluejay mentioned that people in the Actors Colony are still scratchin’ their noggins over the $31 million the city has siphoned from school funds that should’ve gone to the Board of Education. Talk about waitin’ for a shoe to drop, word was that people at 355 Main were jest wondering how long it would take the MARB to rear its financial head.
But Sammy posed two queries that everyone seems to be askin’ but no one wants to say out loud: 1) Who came up with the idea to give jest enuff kopecks so the city could be compliant with Minimum Education funding rules? and 2) We can’t be the only burg that has tried this kind of skimmin’ off the top.
I don’t wish to be disparaging our leadership over the last several years, but it takes a special kind of person to come up with this kind of sleight of hand. The gen’ral consensus seems to be that whilst it was done for several years, the local yokels didn’t come up with the scheme. It has to be something that is more common than we think.
And the fack the state Department of Ed kind of turned away from the issue gives one pause. Could it be this was an infraction that would be so enmeshed in too many municipal entities it would open up a can of worms one could only buy at a big box store?
Granted, some will say this is all speculation, but it’s speculation based on years of practice. People were doin’ these things and not thinking twice about it. I suspeck we’ll get answers in the next little while – whether we want them or not.
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Effen yew haven’t noticed over the last few weeks, there were mounds of sand two stories high over at Prospect Beach on Captain Kangaroo Boulevard. Those mounds have now been spread out and it made ready for the new beach season. Nelly Nuthatch gave yores truly a heads up on the sand, and Cobina was amazed by the amount.
It was put there about four or five weeks ago and sat during those snow “events” and the rains we had – not to mention the wind. Luckily, the win around here usually comes from the Nawth and so any blowing of the stuff would have helped put it in place.
Cobina went there t’other day, and saw that it’s all smoothed out and ready to go. Only thing that even shows it happened are the two big earth movers still parked there.
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Meanwhile, I may have missed the announcement, but it seems Charlie Ferraro is gonna try to spend his time in the capitol again. The retired martial arts master sold his business recently and went into retirement. He seems to have moved over to the Eastern Shore, around Old Lyme or Essex, and is running for the 33rd Senatorial seat.
I dunno effen Charlie is bored, or has the taste of politics that jest won’t go away, but Cobina happened to git a fund-raising notification from him. Didn’t know he moved out that way, and had to look to see where the districk is located. We live in the 10th and 14th.
Sooooo, he may jest make it over there. One would think those small towns along the coast and up the Connecticut River would be the type of voters that would go GOP. So much for a quiet retirement for ole Charlie. Hope he does well!
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Speaking of the GOP, the city’s minority party has new leadership. David Riccio (no relation to our esteemed editor) has stepped down after quite a run, and is now chaired by Jeff Christman and Vice-chaired by Kim Petrucci. Don’t know much about either, but let’s hope they can revitalize a party that seems to be only on paper. To say the GOP Town Committee is moribund would be understating it.
The party seems to become active only a few months before an election, and puts out a partial slate of candidates. The best candidate they had, Barry Cohen, almost won the mayoralty four-plus years ago, and had to fight off not only the Demmies, but people in his own party.
Then they have a three-way primary two years later that only made the whole operation look silly, endorsing a candidate that no one knew.
Like I said, we hope the new leadership is poised to do something, and if so, they should start last week. Sometimes the only people who know what’s going on in the GOP are the 60 members of the town committee. No one else. The ninth districk chairman tried to drum up some interest about a year ago with monthly confabs, but got little or no support.
Let’s hope this new group understands the definition of insanity and tries something different.
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Iva Lootey came by t’other day and let me know that some big happenings are going on over at Beach Street. The pumping station/restroom building over there near East Avenue has been entirely razed and it looks like a new building is gonna be erected. Meanwhile, something is going on over on Ocean Avenue as well that seems to mirror the work on Beach Street.
Whilst that is going on, Riva has opened for the new season, and a few doors down the cleanup of what was the Debonair Motel is going on. Things seem to be running in the right direction.
The Kelsey over on Savin Rock proper has been razed excep’ for the façade. Fencing was put up about three or four weeks ago, and the building behind the façade was taken down to the floor. It’ll be interesting to see what goes up, but talk about rehabbing the old building met with reality. It was well beyond any kind of rehab.
Interesting they kept the front of the building, though. Next thing to wonder about is who or what is contemplating the building next door. Jimmies closed after the foist of the year, and nothing has been announced – that we’ve seen – concerning its future.
Will a new restaurant or some other eatery go in there? One can only wonder until the powers that be let us know.
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The Wag came in t’other afternoon and is waiting to see what the major revisions will be once the Charter Revision Commission really gets underway. Cobina has repeated her favorites: ending a super-majority for changing the mayor’s proposed budget, and expanding the City Council to allow for more minority representation than the solitary one allowed now as the minimum. Four year terms are probably a slam dunk this time around. The idea has been bandied back and forth a few times, and was even included in the revisions for 2020 that went down to defeat.
Still, once the wish list comes up, people will be able to see where the entire process is headed, and it can be addressed more fully. Stay tuned.
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With the turn of spring, one wonders effen any headway will be made with the Allingtown Library question. As we reported to yew last time, the former Blake Building has been sold, and will be converted to residential use. So, that leaves the Village Improvement Association without a primary location – that was it.
Like I wrote last time, maybe it’s jest as well, and the idea to have a shared building with the WHFD-Allingtown should be given the go-ahead and plans drawn up. This issue is jest a summary of what goes on in this burg all the time. A need is determined, a plan set out to make the plan work, and then things sit, and sit, and sit, until other plans are made because no one wants to wait any longer.
Whether it is development or replacement of a facility. Things always seem to get bogged down after big announcements are made – like the announcement makes it reality. Those of us who’ve been around a while know better.
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With the bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this week till next time, mitt luff und kizzez,
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