Board of Education asks for better communication

In an October 11th, 2005 letter to the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Education Chair Shannon Bourbeau inquired about creating a town committee comprised of representatives of the Boards of Selectmen, Finance and Education. The Board felt such a committe is pertinent because it would help facilitate communications between the members and to better serve the Town. I am pleasantly surprised by the letter but I don't know what the reception will be at the Board of Selectmen because we discussed this same issue about a year ago and the motion was talked down at a meeting. This is an excerpt from the August 16th, 2004 Selectmen's minutes.

"RE-ESTABLISHING CONSOLIDATION COMMITTEE

Selectman Patton commented that this can be a tool for the Town to have the Board of Finance, the Board of Education and the Board of Selectmen, along with staff, meet periodically to discuss different issues and problems. We can all offer solutions and ideas in terms of good relations, not us vs. them. We have different budgets but the money comes out of the same pocket. It worked well when we consolidated finances and went on to technology issues. It is a good planning tool. It is an avenue for all factions of the Town to talk, discuss problems, look at today and the future. Selectman Blessington asked what decision making power does it have? If you create a commission that does not have authority, people from the Board of Finance, Board of Education,Board of Selectmen and staff, they have to go back to their Board. It seems like creating a commission without real power is just for show.
Selectman Patton commented that if you have a formal committee it gives people an agenda, you can’t speak for a board as a whole but we never got into a real problem. Talk is not such a bad thing, it is a good thing. These people could come up with some recommendations, everyone thinks their problems are the most important; we need to deal with things collectively. We need to think and plan which way to go. First Selectman Eldredge commented that he understands his points but has a hard time supporting that idea. We can work back and forth; we solve problems by being asked. This is just another bureaucracy; he doesn’t feel like it is a plus. Selectman Patton asked what does it hurt? Many times when someone asks for help it is too late. First Selectman Eldredge commented that he agrees there needs to be interaction but in retrospect when he was a Board of Education member and financial consolidation took place, he felt that he lost the ability to act upon each financial detail. Selectman Blessington commented that we are creating bureaucracy that I do not see will really accomplish anything that can’t be accomplished at meetings; maybe we should have a meeting of the 3 organizations to see how they feel. They must have decision-making powers or it is not worth doing. Selectman Patton asked how do you think things get done? You have to look 10 years out; we should get together to plan things. First Selectman Eldredge commented that he
does not feel comfortable re-establishing this. Selectman Blessington commented me either.
SELECTMAN PATTON MOVED THAT WE APPROACH THE BOARD OF
EDUCATION AND THE BOARD OF FINANCE AND STAFF TO FORM A CONSOLIDATION COMMITTEE.There was no seconded. Motion fails."

Any thoughts on the Board of Education's request?

Town Finances

There were a couple of requests to discuss Town finances. One specific request was "How about taking on a 'rural legend' such as:-The town's 'rainy day' fund has been washing away over the past 2 years. True or False?" Good question. There were also questions about the long-term finances of the Town. I don't have the answers tonight but I will gather up the information and try to shed some light on the subject as best as possible. In the meantime, feel free to share any information you might have.

Willington Emergency Services

There seems to be some interest in the Emergency Services in Town. One anonymous blogger wrote "I would be interested in knowing opinions regarding Emergency Services in our town. Why the need for two Fire Deparmtents, one department paid, the other not etc..It seems to me that one unit would provide a better service, better budgeting etc. It is very rare to have two seperate departments in a town of 6,000." Any opinions out there.

Willington Flooding

Sorry, I have not added to the blog recently but I have been making up for a couple of lost workdays due to last weekend's flooding. Willington, along with the rest of the region, probably experienced a 25 year flood. It damaged many roads on the north end of Town especially Turnpike Road and Turnpike Road Extension, Potter School Road, Mihaliak Road Extension, Liska Road, Michalec Road and Lustig Road. The Public Works Department responded late Friday night and the full extent of the problems became evident by early Saturday morning. Roaring Brook, the Fenton River and the Willimantic River all overflowed their banks. The Willimantic River caused the most problems to our residents by flooding three homes on Route 74 and doing extensive damage to the homes and vehicles. Many thanks should go out to the three members of the road crew who worked all weekend, the responding members of the Fire Departments for helping to evacuate people and pumping out basements and to Knight Construction and Hipsky Construction for responding to the call for help.

Viewer Posts

If you would like to see an issue on this blog site that I haven't covered, please send me an email at johnwpatton@msn.com or post a comment on this issue and I will try to accomodate you as best as I am able. Thank you all for using this blog.

Stop Signs on Cisar Road

The Board of Selectmen voted to install stop signs on Cisar Road at the driveway of Wood Haven Apartments. Here is an excerpt from the Board of Selectmen meeting minutes from October 3rd.


Selectman Patton brought up the Stop signs for Cisar Road and asked First Selectman Eldredge if he talked to the Dept. of Transportation? First Selectman Eldredge commented no but he thinks this is worth trying, it is not the greatest thing but the State Police support it. We recognize it is a bad road and would like to try to do something. Selectman Patton commented that the Town Engineer was involved before with Town roads. This is a private drive. I think we should re-visit speed bumps. First Selectman Eldredge commented that he would like to try something to see if it will help. Lynn commented we are getting a lot of calls on speeding. Selectman Patton commented stop signs are not the way to go. Selectman Blessington commented that it is not the best solution. Selectman Patton commented that stop signs are for intersections to prevent accidents. If you want to slow people down you can narrow the road, you could put speed bumps on it but putting a stop sign does nothing for the underlining problem, which is inconsiderate drivers. Putting a stop sign there is going to waste gas and inconvince the people who live there hearing the cars starting and stopping. Lynn commented that the DOT said stop signs are not to be used for speed control. First Selectman Eldredge commented that he talked to the State Police and they think it is worth a try, it is not the best solution but I want to try something. Selectman Patton commented that he would like to see a recommendation from the Town Engineer that this is a good idea. First Selectman Eldredge commented that I recognize what you are saying but I still would like to do something.

What are your thoughts on whether we should be installing stop signs at that location?

Center School Name Change

A Town resident has submitted a proposal to change the name of Center School in Willington to the Jared Sparks School. Jared Sparks (1789-1866) was an early Willington resident who grew up to be President of Harvard College and a noted historian of the American Revolution. The Board of Education is currently looking for input on this proposal. Your thoughts?

What does cross-endorsement mean.

This year's local election features the Republican and Democratic leadership colluding to endorse the same person for an elected position. What is the benefit of cross-endorsement? In Connecticut, when a person appears on more than one party line, the votes are added together to achieve a total. Most often, a minor party will cross-endorse a candidate on a Democrat or Republican line to give that candidate an advantage and put them over the top and hopefully will give the minor party some leverage with their issues. The Working Families Party uses this tactic quite often.

It has never been used, until recently, by the two major parties to block the election of a minor party candidate. The first selectman's race in the last local election ended with Mike Eldredge receiving 601 votes as a Republican and 330 votes as a Democrat and John Patton receiving 762 votes as a Sentinel. Under the rules, Eldredge was declared the winner with 931 votes. The strategy seemed to work so well last election that this year the party leadership decided to cross-endorse sixteen candidates in order to wipe out the A Sentinel Party. In talking to some of the Democrat/Republican candidates, they do not realize that they are being used as pawns by their leadership to stifle political competition. However, if they desired, they could withdraw on their own from the party they are not affiliated with and run a fair election on one line.

I have often heard that the political leadership is doing this "for the good of the Town". Could somebody get past the euphamism and give me a specific reason this cross-endorsement is "good for the Town?"