Well sweetie, here we are in March, but it feels more like January. I guess that’s OK cuz most o’ February felt like April. Ole Man Winter has made it known that he ain’t gonna leave for the southern tier anytime soon, and is still in residence. Jest this week we saw snow flurries and there was talk of some more snow by those whose job it is to guess at the weather.
Meanwhile, around these parts yew can tell it’s March cuz the annual March bulk trash pickup is underway, and the streets seem to be flooded with debris that has to be picked up. It’s amazing to this ole gal how much “stuff” people accumulate in these parts, and how much “stuff” they get rid of each and every quarter.
Of course, even though the city and its trash hauler haven’t taken televisions for years, yew can bet the mortgage on the fack that many residents are gonna put out their plasma TVs or some setch nonsense, including computers. Just get in yore gassamobuggy and take a look at whot’s on the street and yew’ll get a good guess.
Well, that ain’t why you read these weekly missives, so I guess I’d better git to what’s going on here in the Asylum by the Sea.
By the time yew git this, the Demmies bi-annual game of “king of the hill” will be over. Who wins this time ‘round is anyone’s guess. As yew know from past experience this has little to do with politics and more to do with popularity – and getting one’s friends out to vote.
As I’ve told yew, it’s the Morrissey people against the former Picard people, who have now become the Rossi people. It’s all for control of the party over the next two years on the 60-member Demmy Town Committee and who’ll be chairman of said committee.
Now, yew’d think there would be some power or at least some money involved in this but there ain’t. The Demmy Town Committee is as poor as a church mouse, not having any real funds to help candidates with. The only advantage D’s have over R’s is party recognition. Most people around here would vote for Jack Ketch if he had a D next to his name.
But there is another problem, which is gonna make difficulties somewhere down the line.
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Sammy Bluejay was in t’other afternoon, and brought up the very thing I discussed with you a couple weeks back. The names on both the Morrissey slate and the Rossi slate don’t leave much to the imagination. The faces are exactly the same as they were when Picard was in office more than four years ago, and the faces are exactly the same when O’Brien was in office up to two months ago.
Neither side is really bringing in any new blood, jest the same people who’ve been involved for more years than either one of us want to count. My belief – remember Iyam scribing this before the vote – is the turnout is just barely gonna be double digits.
There are more than 19,000 people in town who call themselves Democrats. Don’t be surprised if about 3,000 actually traverse to the polls to make a mark on a ballot.
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With the coming and going of March 1, herroner was to submit her budget proposal to the Municipal Accountability Review Board (MARB) for its perusal before it goes in front of the City Council at a special session next Thursday. I’d love to be a fly on that wall, but don’t know if m’wings would get me to Hartford.
Honeybunch, this is gonna be the most important budget this berg has seen in more than 20 years, and it might be the truest one we’ve seen since then, too. Yew know that every number will be run through by the state people, and effen a jot or tittle is wrong, they’ll let City Hall know.
The question before the house is what actual work the City Council has to do in its six-week review of the proposal once it passes muster in Hartford? The only thing that comes to mind is the shifting around of funds, whilst not touching the bottom line.
Touching the bottom line ain’t something that most council’s do historically, and I can only think of one time that has happened. Sooooo, it’ll be interesting to see how this review goes. My mem’ry seems to bring up a notion that the reviews of 1992, 1993 and 1994 were kind o’ pro forma cuz the state review board had all the power back then.
The fack is, the review board has all the power now, and whilst it might be said to be “advisory,” the truth is effen it don’t like whot’s going on, it can veto it. This shall be a very interesting review season.
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Nelly Nuthatch overheard the chairman of the City Council, Ron Quagliani, mention that about 40 people actually looked for spots on the Charter Revision Commission. That’s a wealth of riches we ain’t seen in these parts in a long time. People must be interested. The commish is supposed to be seven or nine in membership, so Quagliani is like the coach who has to see who makes the cut.
This ole gal has an idea. Even though the commish might be seven or nine, what about having sub-committees make up of some of the others, who can do research and be involved in the process whilst not having a vote. Let’s face it, most of these votes are after things have been decided.
Soooo, effen you need work done on four or five areas, see is you can utilize the people who expressed interest by giving them work to do for the commission itself. Some might not be interested in that, but some might. Effen yew’ve got people who wanna be involved, the trick is to find something for them to do. Just a thought – I have ‘em occasionally.
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Iva Lootey came in t’other afternoon and said some people have more questions about the Haven projeck now that we’ve writ about it, than they’ve had before. As yew know, there were a few building razed prior to the November election, and nothing much happened before the election and nothing since.
Herroner sez that she met with the Gordon Group principles, who’re still interested in the project. The problem is there are no hard and fast dates that anyone can point to. In fack, in answering our queries, we learned that the permits, which the former administration said were in the pipe line, still ain’t left the desk. We’re no closer to anything real happening over there now than we were a year ago.
That, along with a few other wrinkles, have more than a few concerned. Iva mentioned one wrinkle that Cobina had forgot about. The Kimberly Avenue Bridge was constructed about 1969 as a “temporary structure.” It was built to be replaced in about 20 years’ time. Well, here we are coming up on the fiftieth anniversary year of the bridge and no replacement has been mentioned by anyone.
I hear-tell that boaters who go under the bridge see rust shards come down off the structure as they pass under it. That doesn’t bode well for the bridge’s integrity, does it? It also doesn’t speak well of the construction of a large up-scale mall in a city that will be that much harder to navigate into, does it?
There are a lotta questions to be answered, and one hopes that before the snow falls yet again next fall, we’ll have an idea of what happens over there.
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With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,