Tests that West Hartford Police may use to find the cartoon drawing maniac!

I wrote in one of my most recent posts that whoever drew up and mailed the cartoon that depicted (and I haven't seen it, so I'm going on the Courant's description) a student or teaching at a chalkboard with the Diary of Anne Frank stuffed in their mouth or something to that effect - to the opponents of the recent referendum (or in other words - folks who were on the side of raising taxes to support their agenda) who spoke at a recent West Hartford open session - was just plain dumb.

On the West Hartford Blog, a comment was made that the writers/contributors to the blog may need to be subpoenaed by police. First, I don't believe that anyone on the blog is guilty of sending the cartoon out. Most of the folks on the blog care about the town, and would rather argue the issues to death, and take cheap shots at each other through electronic medium instead of doing something as lowdown and childish as mailing a cartoon out to the speakers supporting taxes.

Second, there is no indication that anyone, by their words, is guilty of any crime whatsoever. And if Whdad is doing his job as "Blog Moderator", he's verifying who is who, since real emails are required before anyone can post. I can happily say that I reached out to Whdad months ago with my real name and information, just as sort of - courtesy. I also offered on three occasions to chat on the phone and provided him my name and number, etc. But he's probably too busy to take me up on the offer. I know he's seen the emails because on at least one occasion he responded with a promise to reach out. Sadly, I haven't heard from him. I can understand his hesitation, I'm sure he doesn't want wackjobs calling his home, or stopping by, so he keeps a low profile.

Third, let's use a little logic here. It would no further make sense to have a writer on West Hartford Blog investigated by police than it would to have:

1. The West Hartford Taxpayers Association crew
2. All members of the West Hartford Teacher's Union (perhaps they sent it to deflect from the debate)
3. Anyone who went to the Public Forum
4. Anyone in town with access to Channel 5 local television (which repeats the broadcast over and over).
5. Anyone who has friends or relatives with access to Channel 5. After all, they might have watched the broadcast on their friend's/relatives' television and scribbled down everyone's name and address.

Ok, so you get my point. Eventually, the guilty party will be located by WHPD and fined or arrested, or both. And that's the way it should be. And you know, that person will brag to the wrong person or group and they will be ratted out to the police. It never fails that someone "that clever" usually gets found.

Personally, I hope that this doesn't undermine public debate in this town. I honestly like to hear and see proponents of increasing taxes talk at the podium on Channel 5 - because their very presence galvanizes the fiscal responsibility folks and gets them to participate and vote where it counts.

In the meantime, if West Hartford Police decides to go the route of investigating all those above they may want to use one of the following tests to find the guilty party:

Four second drawing test
Clock drawing test
Pig drawing test
Personality Test
Crime Test

General thoughts on Blogs, Upcoming Posts & Stuff

It's a beautiful Saturday here in West Hartford. Moderate temperatures of about 83 degrees and sunny which is just the way we like it. So I'm sitting here on the sun porch while one daughter naps in her pack n play to the sound of Mozart, and the other plays in front of me with her "kitchen". I think she makes better coffee with her play set than I do.

Last night, after putting the youngsters down, I opted to have a few Weissbiers and thought about some of the posts I'd like to put together on a variety of topics. As you've seen, I either post on something current, or some news items that warrants opinion, or just some random thoughts that come to mind. After surveying a number of blogs, I find that its pretty much the same story everywhere - although I think the blogs that do best do so because they are narrowly focused on a single topic - like fishing reports, raising a young child, or cooking. Chances are that these sites are going to attract all kinds of traffic based on a Google search on a certain topic or comfortable and consistent constituency.

For my part, I've toyed with creating a few other blogs on specific areas of interest, but I really think that these blogs would require far greater attention, more maintenance, and the call for regular content is more demanding by readers. Given the amount of time and energy that I lack by the time I get around to this blog, I think I will stick with the blog style I currently have.

I appreciate the loyal readership by close friends, and the occasional repeat visitors. I'm surprised at how often I get requests for counter-discussion and posts. Sadly, many are poorly written and often serve as an attempt to publish their own agenda - these posts are often rejected. This blog is about my views on things, and is not a public forum to exchange thoughts and debate. West Hartford Blog, where I often post, is loosely moderated and the forum often turns into a bloody mess. But it would be a full time job to try and moderate that much traffic, particularly when the topics tend to be political hot-button issues. So for my sanity, I am better off not getting involved in setting up that type of site - too much work, and what is done is under-appreciated.

While, I plan to continue my posting here on public issues here and there. I will be dedicating some time in between ramblings on things - blog filler - such as UFOs, monsters in the sea, ghosts, etc that have people scratching their heads, to more sutle discussions on Beer, Family Life, Culture, Fishing, and other matters of interest.

For now, this serves its purpose. I practice my writing skills (which have diminished since the advent of email which requires short, half-baked, poorly spelled thoughts), a retreat and hobby, and a chance to tell the world what I think.

One other thing that is worth mentioning.... is to respond to the question of why I don't include my real name on the posts. I can tell you that I would if I could. And I think that "I" as a person deserve credit for my thoughts and writings, original or not. But, unfortunately, we live in a world where people do not respect the opinion of others. And some take their dissension too far - as in the case recently where brave citizens (who I disagree with) exercising their public right and duty, took to the podium at a West Hartford Town forum on the budget, and for their efforts, received nasty cartoons in their home mailboxes.

So this is what its come to. I don't know who created these cartoons. It very well could have been someone on the pro-tax increase side trying to make some hay by taking the spotlight off the Council's inability to manage the budget and stirring things up by making it look like it was someone on the tax reduction side.

But notwithstanding, its these kinds of sick people, who make us all use screennames, and pseudonyms to vet our opinions. Some call us cowards. But I call us bright folks protecting our families and homes. It's the sickos you have to be worried about, not the average tax paying, normal working folk.

West Hartford News: Reduced Budget finalized by Council; BOE must make cuts.

West Hartford News is reporting that the West Hartford Budget has been finalized. But there is still a long way to go to reduce Board of Education spending. The recent story about the Superintendent of Schools, David Sklarz, receiving an increase and earning a whopping 188K per year salary - doesn't give us pause for hope.

The most interesting comment in this story comes from Art Spada (a Rocky Hill transplant), who is quoted as saying, "Quality of life is a grey area. How do you tighten your belt without gutting the town?"

Gutting the town? Art, do you really think this budget "guts" the town? Look around you. That kind of rhetoric completely discredits you, and cheapens the debate.

Fellow West Hartfordites should join the debate at the West Hartford Blog site.

West Hartford

Fuzzy Math: West Hartford families to see 4.54% tax increase

As I predicted months ago, during the 2007 West Hartford budget and taxation debate, those seeking fiscal restraint, lower taxes, and spending reductions by West Hartford town officials have been left in the dark. Despite the overwhelming margin of victory and the clear cut message sent by West Hartford taxpayers by referendum two weeks ago that the tax increases proposed are too high, and the spending is clearly unacceptable - we seem to be back in the same place as we were before the budget was rejected by residents - with another large tax increase headed our way.

Property taxes on residential properties are going to go up 4.54% this year which is not a small increase for your average West Hartford family getting by each month. Not everyone receives a yearly pay increase of 4.5% to offset the yearly West Hartford tax increase. And there are people in worse situations then we are in here who will struggle and really feel this as a burden.

Yet, there are still those out there in town and on the web engaged in this debate that attempt to distort away the tax increase as something less than it is - moving numbers around to try to imply that the town is spending less and people will pay less - yes, perhaps on car taxes - despite that the mill rate is still higher than the average neighboring town and is the third highest millrate in the State of Connecticut.

Another ploy is to attempt to finagle the numbers so that there is an implication that the millrate will drop from 44.08 to 27. over five years - which Mayor Slivka has promised (or at least he did at one point). But all of these promises are nothing more than smoke and mirrors meant to deflect from the fact that West Hartford officials can't bring themselves to say "no". They can't bring themselves to do the mature and unpopular thing - cut out the fat. They refuse to say no to the special interest groups that infiltrate the Council's budget process. And quite frankly, by seeing what they offered up in terms of "cuts" this time around, it shows that they aren't willing to do the hard work and dig into the budget "line by line" and make the cuts needed to even start to make the budget reasonable.

Unfortunately, misinforming the public and pretending that we really aren't receiving a 4.54% residential property tax increase this is year is nothing short of -- deceitful. Even the Hartford Courant's numbers differ from that of the Town Manager - so it supposes that something is awry in the numbers process. And the factual reasons for not reducing spending lies in several areas - inability to cut wasteful programs, spending too much on things that aren't necessary (for example, hidden elements to beautify the town), high administrative costs, and the inability to negotiate with the teacher's union and all the other unions in town that seem to get a free pass when it comes to agreeing to their demands.

Harping on the union argument for a minute. Live and on television last week, we all witnessed confirmation that the nurses in West Hartford schools get paid - not just very well - but paid the highest in the region! How did the West Hartford Board of Education respond when it came to a request for pay increases? Well, they gave them a whopping 3.8% increase on the backs of the taxpayers without blinking an eye, despite that a week earlier, the referendum failed miserably.

The only way that you will get true tax and spend reform is to elect fiscally responsible people to the Council and the Board of Education. Anything short of that will only result in the continuation of imposing even higher taxes over an even longer period of time. There is no end in sight to the trend, and the people sitting on the Council and in the Town Manager's office know it!

And putting honest, loyal, and accountable Republicans in office in West Hartford is no easy task. In the end it will be interesting if the people in town can separate their hatred for George Bush, and the emptying of their wallets by the West Hartford Democratically-controlled Board of Education and Town Council.

For those of you who aren't believers... here is what West Hartford residents have seen in tax increases since 2001:

2001: 4.0%
2002: 5.6%
2003: 5.6%
2004: 6.3%
2005: 4.3%
2006: 5.7%
2007: 4.54% (proposed)

Does anyone else see both a "trend" and a "problem"? Makes you wonder what lies ahead in 2008? Don't residents see that they've been conditioned to accept increases of this magnitude year after year without showing REAL resistance. It's almost as if, a spending freeze is completely out of the question, never mind a tax cut.

So what is their yearly strategy? They recommend a much higher increase, we referendum and bark at them, they trim it (marginally), and in they end you still get what you see above.... a yearly high tax increase. It's like anything else - ask for more then you'll know you'll ever get and then negotiate it down to your minimum - still getting what you want from the start - more spending, higher taxes, and unions pay increases! The perfect cycle.

When will we take off the blinders and really make a stand?

So here we are, with the latest tax increase about to be imposed on the residents of West Hartford. And our town officials stand before you - long faced, solemn, and pretending to look exhausted over all the pretended effort and drain its taken on them to produce this "wonderfully balanced" budget.

Meanwhile, after the cameras are shut down, our elected town officials retire to the backroom, yucking it up with martinis in hand, celebrating their victory over the residents of West Hartford - who will see another rise in taxes for the "good of the people".

West Hartford

West Hartford Taxpayer Association (correctly) threatens second referendum!

The West Hartford Taxpayers Association has been keen to watch how the West Hartford Board of Education and Town Council has behaved this past week. My earlier post cites an example this week where highly paid nurses (highest paid in the entire region) were given a 3.8% pay increase without anyone batting an eye.

West Hartford News is reporting this story regarding another referendum in the works.

If the West Hartford Town Council and Board of Education are going to continue to ignore the will of the residents - which is "cut the budget" then we can have referendum after referendum until they get the darn message. For all the good our elected officials think they are doing, in reality they are pushing families out of West Hartford.

Link Source for the story: http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18504563&BRD=1646&PAG=461&dept_id=11035&rfi=6

West Hartford

West Hartford BOE: Are they capable of making decisions?

This entry is a modification of one that I placed on the West Hartford Blog this morning. Sometimes the WH Blog gets inundated with mindless dribble, sarcastic nonsense, or personal squabbling in between valued posts that either point out situations/facts or ask good questions.

And since I think my point is a valuable one, I wanted to call attention to it. Since my post on WH Blog, I did get confirmation that what I thought I saw and heard was absolutely accurate - from the perspective of someone who was actually in the room.

Yesterday, I watched some of the West Hartford Board of Education budget discussion on West Hartford Cable Access, in particular - I viewed the discussion regarding West Hartford School nurse's pay increases.

The dialogue seemed to imply that:

1) West Hartford nurses are the highest paid nurses in the district, and at one of the highest levels in the State of Connecticut.

2) Many of the nurses are in the 9th tier(?) or highest paid tier due to tenure (as it was explained)

3) Notwithstanding, their high wages, the nurses are seeking a 3.7% or 3.8% increase in their wages.

4) The increase was being justified as “cost of living” increase. The increase was NOT based on salary adjustment - meaning, the increase was not to adjust for wages found other towns or cities, etc.

5) Some interesting dialogue ensued between the participants; one concerned about what the Hartford Courant might print today, regarding increasing the nurses salaries even though they are paid the highest in the district, etc. (something to that effect).

6) Despite consensus that they are being “well paid” as stated by the BOE folks in the chamber, and without taking into account budget concerns, referendums, etc - they opted to “approve” the pay increase in a nonchalant voice vote.

When I see this behavior - particularly when we are trying to find ways to reduce the burden on taxpayers - where the evidence and discussion 1) err on the side of caution, and 2) point to the fact that this group is receiving well above-standard wages, and YET the increase simply passes, I begin to realize that those of us who feel that the West Hartford Board and West Hartford Town Council will never make tough choices to protect taxpayer's wallets are 100% correct in our thinking.

A lot of smoke and mirror dialogue comes out of the pro-budget gang. Save the children, save the elderly, and all of that nonsense - instead of facts and figures, and dollars and cents.

This was a case where the BOE could have legitimately said no or pushed back. I can see where the union or employee might fight back if they are clearly underpaid (based on experience, statistical analysis, competitive analysis, etc), but in this case - they are highly paid, in fact - the highest paid in the region, and the BOE didn’t see fit to draw a line in the sand or factor in the taxpayer’s needs.

Given this situation, isn’t it clear that the BOE has no intention in pushing back when it comes to public employee demands? No concessions seem possible, even in the most reasonable of circumstances. I find this hard to believe.

Without getting into a long diatribe about the differences between private and public sector jobs and pay scales, I have to say that there is a lack of balance in the BOE when it comes to serving the public need.

Surely, even those advocates of the budget should see that there is a problem here. And if this is the kind of shoulder shrugging - rubber stamp we can expect from the BOE and Council, then the budget battle will be worse the second time around.

If they can’t see fit to fight where ground SHOULD be held, then they will never budge on the incrementals.

West Hartford: We are in serious trouble with these folks at the helm. They obviously don't care.

West Hartford

West Hartford Budget Referendum "official" results

Here are the OFFICIAL results of the West Hartford Budget Referendum:

Yes: 2939

No: 7893

All I can say is WOW. That is a resounding rejection of the budget! I have to admit, I'm very surprised with the margin of victory for working families!

Thank you residents of West Hartford for making the West Hartford Town Council, Board of Education, and all town officials work a little harder when it comes to spending YOUR money. Perhaps now, they will buckle town and make some real cuts and concessions on the budget.

It's hard for some to understand, but this is a very good thing for all of us. Even those supporting the budget thought it was flawed and lousy. Now they have a directive from the people to go in there and make it right!

Way to go West Hartford! Way to Go!!

Official results will be certified tomorrow.