Unacceptable behavior seen
Ed. Note the following was a statement read before the City Council at a recent meeting and was requested to be published as a letter to the editor.
I watched the Oct. 11 council meeting on YouTube and felt something was terribly wrong. I had to say something.
Imagine how difficult it is to speak before this city council. From the podium, A person faces 13 council members without knowing their positions, views, or alliances. Behind the speaker sits an audience that the speaker cannot see but can hear while delivering a message to the council.
The presentation is live streamed for all to witness the speaker’s every move.
Sometimes the message is to deliver information or request support for a task. Other times an idea is presented to the council, all to better the city.
The last thing a speaker before this council expects is to be yelled at, embarrassed, or humiliated by a council member.
But that is precisely how the finance chair Bridgette Hoskie operates.
It does not matter if the speaker is a City Employee, elected official, or volunteer. Everyone is subject to her tirade, lack of decorum, insults, exaggerations, and nasty remarks.
It is an embarrassment to this council and the entire city when the finance chair Bridgette Hoskie behaves badly.
As a result, no one wants to come before this council. Have you noticed the lack of presenters?
Imagine if your child or spouse stood up here and was treated badly. I do not think council members would stand for it.
A skilled leader would communicate their concerns before the meeting and conduct research. Instead, the finance chair Bridgette Hoskie attends the council meeting completely unprepared and uses the meeting as a sounding board while insulting everyone. That is why a 45 min council meeting goes on for 3 hours.
City Hall is short employees in almost every department. People searching for employment have many options. Why would they come to West Haven after watching a council meeting? No one wants to be subject to the Finance chair Bridgette Hoskie’s bad behavior.
My comments have a majority of support from the public and city employees.
Unless the Finance Chairman Bridgette Hoskie starts acting professionally, I will be back for each meeting with others to condemn her behavior.
Dwight Knowles
Supports Haley
I’m writing this letter in support of Aaron Haley. In the short time that I have known Aaron, I have found him to be an open, and honest person. He is an executive director of a homeless shelter, started the New Haven Pop Warner Baseball league, and he shows his compassion for others. He is a retired State Trooper, a West Haven Fire Commissioner and was also on the Board of the Allingtown Fire Department. West Haven needs leaders that have a longtime record of honesty, compassion and placing assisting and helping people as a priority. Aaron Haley is THAT Man.
Lori Jensen
Tax non-profits
While area politicians laud what “great work” each of their cronies did with increased PILOT funding and the one-time bailout of Covid-19 funds from the federal government, New Haven and West Haven are in still in financial distress.
The mayors, Sens. Looney and Winfield, and the rest cheer themselves and high-five one another as if they’ve won the Superbowl, when all they’ve done is fill a bucket-sized hole with two wine corks.
According to the City of New Haven in 2020, tax-exempt property represented $8.5 billion, or 59.57 percent, compared with taxable property of $6.7 billion. This means about 40% of the remaining property owners paid 100% of the tax bill. Any homeowner knows, even though the mayor and governor disagree, that their tax bill went up. My property taxes went up almost a $1,000 this year and with more increases coming next year it’ll be surely going up even more.
At the core, you pay more whether you own or rent because Yale and the University of New Haven pay less. The impact on renters cannot be overlooked as landlords simply pass the costs on in the form of increased rent to tenants. The huge cork needed to fill the bucket-sized hole is to amend the state constitution and TAX Yale and other large non-profits.
Critics will argue that Yale and the University of New Haven have huge economic impacts in the form of wages, scholarships, some tax payments, and the businesses they attract to the area, but the losses will be more than offset by increased revenue to each city. MATH says we close our deficits and get on the right path. THAT would be something to cheer about.
John Carlson
Oust Maroney
Last week a criminal shot a New Haven police officer and seriously injured the officer. This week, two officers were killed in the line of duty with another seriously wounded, after all three were shot by another criminal in Bristol. We’re far beyond the point in Connecticut where crime is restricted to “nonviolent” car thefts. Violent crime has reached a fever pitch in the state. Now, criminals have such little regard for the rule of law that law enforcement themselves have become a target. No reasonable person in Connecticut believes this happened overnight.
We’ve all seen the gradual descent into lawlessness that began with regularly occurring juvenile car thefts, escalated to car jackings and robberies at gunpoint, to now the killings of police officers. What’s worse? James Maroney’s misleading crime statistics, still want you to believe that Connecticut is safe. Families know better. They also know what’s behind the degradation of our public safety: Connecticut Democrat policies from 2020 that are weak on crime and make it virtually impossible for criminals to go to jail. If we don’t vote every politician that supports these reckless and irresponsible policies, what is next? Republicans did introduce a plan, contrary to any Democrat misinformation that is out there, to prevent crimes like this. James Maroney wanted nothing to do with it. To them, your safety does not matter. I hope that you support Kim Marie Mullin and Republican candidates, who will uphold the rule of law, on Nov. 8.
Robert Wittkofski
Sen Maroney aids state decline
How much was your last grocery bill? Have you been purchasing fewer necessities or simply not purchasing others at all? I can tell you that I’ve drastically cut back on what I buy at the grocery store. Simple items like maple syrup or even mangos are now a luxury. Enough is enough. This inflation at the hands of Connecticut Democrats has reduced our quality of life in the state. And, even though they have the power to bring relief to Connecticut families, they refuse.
Their answer is to pour more gasoline on the fire—they’re the only ones who can afford it, by the way! How will they do this? Within the past year, Democrats created a highway tax for commercial trucks that takes effect in January. Think that these companies will transfer this cost to us? You bet. Any item we buy in the grocery store or anywhere else—delivered on trucks—will likely become even more expensive.
Worse, James Maroney twice rejected Republican efforts to bring hundreds of millions in REAL, immediate tax relief to us—not rebates for a select few. Connecticut families cannot go any longer under Democrat control. Please join me in electing Kim Marie Mullin and new Republican leadership in November.
Deborah Esposito
Don’t feel safe
It’s a shame that we no longer feel safe in our community. I find myself looking over my shoulder at the gas station, or in the parking lots along the Boston Post Road. Public safety in this state is becoming a serious problem. The headlines speak for themselves. I now lock my car doors when buying gas as a precaution that someone will steal my pocketbook out of my car as has happened to other women.
Who would even think of leaving their front door open and unlocked with just a screen door today? That is how I grew up in Orange. Today cars are broken into and pocketbooks stolen while at the gym or taking a walk at the community center in our town.
Does anyone really believe that the rise in crime is a myth, or concocted by fearmongering Republicans that are lying to you? Crime is on the rise in every town in Connecticut, regardless of political affiliation. Career criminals who carjacked a mother in broad daylight (this happened in North Haven) or shot at a homeowner while stealing a catalytic converter (also true, in Wallingford) didn’t stop to consider their victim’s political affiliation.
I encourage you to please take this crime issue into consideration when voting to send candidates like Kim Marie Mullin to Hartford who support law and order. We must support our men and women in blue who put their lives on the line every day to protect all of us.
Karen Kerames
Dems need to go
Does your household budget allow you to simply ‘top off’ your home’s heating oil or fuel tank in a moment’s notice? Mine certainly does not. Apparently, though, Governor Lamont believes everyone has a silver-spoon background such as his. Recently, he urged families and businesses to ‘top off’ their heating tanks to forestall coming fuel shortages—again, a circumstance that he and his Democrat party’s standard-bearer Joe Biden own completely. I’ll remind Governor Lamont and Democrats that home heating oil is at an all-time high and very few people can simply fill their tank on a moment’s notice.
When the Democrat ‘truck tax’ comes into play in January, expect costs to soar further. I cannot afford to simply heat my home, one of the most basic needs heading into a cold New England winter. Beyond the complete tone-deafness of the Governor’s statement, let’s look at the last time families were forced to stockpile an essential item all at once. Does infant formula ring a bell? Mass stockpiling led to widespread shortages and price increases, where some of the most vulnerable families were unable to procure this necessity. Why was this necessary? Again, because of failed democrat policies at the federal level. If everyone ‘tops off’ their tank because of the Governor’s ignorant statement, expect prices to spike even further. By the way, this statement is not one of opinion. The president of the CT Energy Marketers Association noted the damage that Governor Lamont’s ill-advised call to action will bring, referring to it as ‘irresponsible.’ Families across Connecticut are badly hurting financially, and cannot take more punishment at the hands of Connecticut Democrats. I encourage everyone to reverse this course and vote for Republican candidates on Nov. 8.
Patrick Moore
Vote GOP Nov 8
How much has it cost you to fill your tank recently? Are you now putting this otherwise routine expense on your credit card because the cost is still roughly double, or maybe not even completely filling the tank? I will not be fooled when Connecticut Democrats and the media now brag about the ‘decrease’ in cost over the past year.
A decrease of 30 cents means nothing if the starting point was five dollars to begin with. We are being conditioned to accept three- and four-dollar per gallon gas as the new norm. Worse, Democrats are fooling us into being thankful for fees at the pump that are still higher than we’ve seen in years. Families in Orange certainly haven’t been fooled when we’re still forced to decide between fully filling our tanks and affording other necessities.
This situation is entirely at the hands of Democrats at the state and federal level—they control every branch of government. I hope that you will join me in voting out James Maroney and Mary Welander on Nov. 8.
Michelle Tenny
Vote Yes, Nov. 8
When you go to the polls on November 8th, look for the Early Voting Referendum question in the upper righthand corner of your West Haven ballot.
The ballot question will ask “Shall the Constitution of the State be amended to permit the General Assembly to provide for early voting?”
You may wonder why our Connecticut State Constitution needs to be amended?
Connecticut has not adapted to the times. We are one of only four states that does not permit any early in-person voting. (The others three states are Alabama, Mississippi, and New Hampshire.) Also, our state’s voting rules are set in our state constitution, unlike in most other states. This makes it hard to change voting rules when they are outdated or no longer serve us well. To change the time for voting requires an amendment, or a change, to the state constitution.
In 2021, the Connecticut legislature agreed, in a bi-partisan vote, to put the Early Voting Referendum on this November’s ballot. Both legislators in my West Haven District, Representative Charles Ferraro and Senator James Maroney, voted in support of this question because they understood that Connecticut voters wanted more than just 14 hours on one day to vote.
When this referendum passes, our legislators will then decide how many days of in-person voting, with consideration of the costs, and how early voting will take place. Making decisions for Connecticut is a legislator’s job. We send trusted legislators to Hartford to debate and to enact laws regarding finances, the law, education, public works and health, the environment, and other important needs of our state.
Please realize that this question is only about in-person early voting. This referendum does not encompass absentee ballots. Absentee ballots are available only to voters who meet specific requirements in our state constitution.
And of course, when Early Voting becomes available, Connecticut voters will still be able to wait to vote on Election Day if they need more time to decide.
Please vote YES on Nov. 8 for the freedom to vote early. We are stronger as a state when more of us can participate in the important civic responsibility of voting.
Merla Porter
Vote Yes on Nov. 8
At this point, everyone is aware of what’s going on in our neighborhoods. Take a look at the headlines,which you see almost daily. Shootings in broad daylight in Manchester, carjackings in Wallingford, assaults on senior citizens in Orange. Gunfire on I-95. These are all actual events that have happened this summer. Connecticut has turned into the ‘Wild West.’ Any politician or dishonest journalist that tries to tell you crime is actually not a problem is lying to you. They know the inconvenient truth. This month, a teenager was shot and killed on Broad Street in Hartford, steps from the state capitol.
I can tell you that I do not feel safe in my own community, and I am not alone. Public safety is a major problem in Connecticut. Two years ago, James Maroney voted for a police accountability law that was based on emotion and not common sense. Ask any law enforcement officer and they will all tell you the same thing: their hands are tied by this legislation and are forced into a reactive position to crime.
The daily headlines speak for themselves; they are facts. They also should be seen as alarm bells, alerting all politicians that the law is not working well. This November, I implore my fellow residents to support candidates like Kim Marie Mullin who will restore law and order in Connecticut.
Joe Viola