HB6633 Would End Single-family Zoning - Hearing Tuesday, 28Feb

 

Have your voice heard on Tuesday, Feb. 28 Please Testify Against HB6633, a bill that would end single-family zoning in Connecticut. Dear Friends, If you would like to submit testimony to the Housing Committee on the "Fair Share" bill (HB6633) which would essentially get rid of single-family zoning in CT in the next decade, you are welcome to use the testimony below or some variation of it. The public hearing in the Housing Committee is taking place on Tuesday, 2/28 and we recommend that you send it in soon as possible. You may submit testimony here or sign up to speak via Zoom or in-person here (the deadline to sign-up to speak is 2/27 at 3 p.m.) HB6633 mandates every municipality (except the seven with over 20% poverty - Hartford, Bridgeport, New Britain, New Haven, New London, Waterbury, Windham) to create a “Fair Share” number of affordable units. These can be built 1) all by the municipality or 2) by a developer that the town allows to build 80% high density market value multifamily units with remaining 20% of the project being the town’s “Fair Share” affordable units. With massive overdevelopment of 80% market value multifamily apartments, very few affordable units (20%) get built - scheme #2 would DOUBLE the town’s entire housing stock in 10 years​. Here's our Fair Share spreadsheet which shows how many units your town will need to build and the cost associated with Fair Share for your town: Fair Share Calculation by Town - Google Sheets Sample Testimony to Use: Dear Esteemed Members of the Housing Committee: I write today to ask you to vote NO to HB6633. This “Fair Share” bill would impose extreme density on our local communities without regard to existing capacity. It would be catastrophic for most of Connecticut. The bill would result in municipalities being sued and forced to build at public expense housing when the private sector does not do so, when a municipality does not meet its Fair Share allocation, which is not based on market demand or the wishes of state residents, but rather the determination of the executive branch, as informed by housing advocates and organizations.  Open Communities Alliance says there is demand for 140,000 affordable, but only 2,500 are homeless in Connecticut.  Who are we building for? New Jersey is the only state that has had a fair share plan for decades and it has not improved diversity in communities, and it has not created affordability.  Why would Connecticut now want to follow with a fair share plan when the model in New Jersey has not been successful and has spurred litigation. Let’s not make decisions where the very communities that you represent will suffer. We don’t negotiate against ourselves. Fair Share provides for a ten-year timetable for municipalities to meet their "Fair Share" allocations; in prior years, the bill’s advocates have indicated that they intend for up to 300,000 units to be constructed within this period (enough to house approximately 700,000 persons). In addition to lawsuits forcing public construction, municipalities that do not comply may be subject to “default zoning” overriding all local land use regulation, permitting up to 20 units per acre in much of the state. Note that “fair share” does not replace 8-30g but is in addition to it which needs to be badly reformed. You can’t just say housing is needed everywhere, unilaterally, and double down on more one-size-fits-all mandates to build, build, build.  We need proper metrics for demand for housing, such as where jobs are in the state, what is the access to transportation, what are the limits of infrastructure, water tables, sewage capacity, and the environment, and cost of living in each area.  This bill only looks at regional income, declares a formula, and mandates housing. Let’s be clear – this bill would get rid of single-family zoning in Connecticut. Creating affordable housing with all stakeholders involved is a laudable goal but getting rid of zoning and established neighborhoods is not. We know there is a better way such as towns getting seed money from the State to build 100 percent affordable units and fixing our voucher system. Land is finite and unique, and land use decisions permanently affect a Town’s economic, ecological and community health. We can and must find a better way. This bill does not make Connecticut more affordable. Sincerely,   Tips to Testifying

CCDL Member Update - Meeting Tuesday, 13Dec

 

This month's meeting is Tuesday December 13th at 7:00 p.m. - In Person at the V.F.W Post 511 in New Britain. Meeting Agenda:  President's Report Vice President's Report Treasurer's Report Secretary's Report  Event Coordinator Report Permit Issues Report Urban Engagement Report Legislative Coordinator Report Membership Coordinator Report Outreach Committee Report Election Result Review Legislative Coordinator Ray Bevis will breakdown the election results during the meeting. Legislative Workshop Planning It's time to start planning the Legislative Workshops for 2023.  If your club or organization is interested in hosting a workshop between January 7th and March 8th, please reach out to our Legislative Coordinator for more details, Ray Bevis at legislative@ccdl.us. Next Month - Impact of new ATF regulations Attorney Greg Miller will be our guest at our January Membership Meeting to discuss the impact of the new ATF regulations.  If you cannot attend in person, tiered members can log into the live stream. Anniversary Dinner - Save the date On Saturday February 18th 2023 CCDL will be having it's annual anniversary from 5:00 PM - 9:00 PM.  Details will soon be on our website.   Bring your appetite to the meeting! Long time CCDL Member Mona Starczewski is making her now famous kielbasa sandwiches where she has donated all profit to CCDL! She will start serving at 6pm.  Thank you, Mona! CCDL Gives Back! Please consider bringing canned goods and non-perishable items to our meeting; CCDL will donate them to a local food panty or shelter. In addition, CCDL has donated unneeded building materials from our HQ renovation. U.S. Law Shield CCDL is pleased that US Law Shield offers an exclusive offer for our members. CCDL members receive 2 free months of membership with an annual US Law Shield membership. Learn more about US Law Shield benefits at the following  link. January meeting on the 10th, 7:00 PM in New Britain Come join us at the January meeting!  As of now there are no restrictions on the number of participates due to the pandemic.  If something changes, we will let you know. The Connecticut Citizens Defense League strives for hands on activism from our members. We want an organization for us all to be proud of as we put forth effort to fight for our 2nd Amendment rights in our beautiful State.  Please Support Our Sponsor

Copyright © 2022 Connecticut Citizens Defense League, Inc., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you joined as a member of the CCDL at our website www.ccdl.us. Replies to this message are routed to an unmonitored mailbox. If you have questions please contact someone through our contact page: http://www.ccdl.us/aboutmenu/contacts Our mailing address is: Connecticut Citizens Defense League, Inc. P.O. Box 120 Southbury, CT 06488

Thank You from State Senator Rob Sampson!

Dear Friends, Thank you to the voters of Connecticut’s 16th senate district for trusting me to represent them in the State Senate for another two-year term. I am humbled by the tremendous amount of support I received in this election. You can count on me to keep my promises and my commitment to honor and defend this great country and to work every day to rebuild our beloved State of Connecticut.

I am at your service.  Please reach out to me anytime. My personal cell phone is 860-508-1969. Finally, if you hosted a lawn sign for my campaign, thank you sincerely for doing so.  I appreciate the visible show of support! My volunteers will be out collecting lawn signs over the next week.  Please bear with us.  There are over 700 signs across the five towns of the district.  It may take a while to retrieve them all.   Of course, you are welcome to keep your sign if you choose to. I recommend picking it up soon though!   Sincerely,   State Senator Rob Sampson

 

Senator Rob Sampson Sets the Record Straight After Opponent's False Claims

 

Many of you have probably received the above campaign flyer from my opponent or seen a letter to the editor making false claims about my voting record. While I appreciate the Star Wars theme, he has it backwards. I am not Senator "Vader."  I am on the rebel side fighting the Evil empire. I have never told a lie about my votes, my record, or my positions since first being elected in 2010.  My opponent has not even been elected yet.  It appears to me that he has no problem stretching the truth to tarnish my reputation.  I put this together to set the record straight.  I have itemized ALL his statements and shared documentation and facts for each.  Please review and judge for yourself. CLAIM #1:  The only no vote for healthcare for children and infants SB1004 – passed in 2021.  This bill allows children and stepchildren to stay on parents dental and vision insurance until AGE 26.  I was not the only no vote. There were also 16 no votes in the House.  This is another costly mandate that drives up premiums. SB377 – did not pass.  This bill would have increased the time a policyholder has to report to their insurance company that they have a newborn from 60 to 120 days.  This bill would have allowed those who fail to report to avoid premium payments that would fall to every other policyholder to pay. Mr. Robertson may not agree with me on these two bills but to claim that I voted against healthcare for children and infants is patently false.  I have supported countless policies to benefit the health of children. (2 Pinocchio’s) CLAIM #2:  The only no vote for mental and behavioral health services for children SB2 – passed in 2022.  This was one of several bills on mental health.  This bill was not the primary one.  This is kind of where all the ideas that were scrapped but still the pet projects of individual legislators ended up. I was not the only no vote.  There were also 17 no votes in the House. I voted FOR HB5001 – PA 22-47  AN ACT CONCERNING CHILDREN'S MENTAL HEALTH which included: 988 suicide prevention License reciprocity Telehealth services Truancy intervention Youth service bureaus Mental health wellness exams I also voted FOR HB5500 – PA 22-58 omnibus public health bill Senate Bill 2 deserved a no vote because it is: Duplicative – The good policies were already passed in HB5001 Huge bill with 46 sections on task forces, and new spending including loan forgiveness for mental health professional students It is a “Gotcha Bill” made for campaign mailers. Lots of mandates on local school districts restricts school districts on recess requires local boards to hire a family care coordinator More “in loco parentis” – parents restricted from KNOWING what is going on with their own kids. Interferes with parental rights, Is mental health and education issue? Mr. Robertson is attempting to paint a picture that I am against children’s mental health by using this isolated vote.  There are countless other votes that prove otherwise. (1 Pants on Fire) CLAIM #3: No for access to absentee voting HB5262 Passed in 2022. This bill redefined the term “illness” as an acceptable reason to vote by absentee so it could be exploited by Democrats, one of many bills that will contribute to less election integrity.   I support our current absentee system and want to improve it with signature verification and VOTER ID.  The Democrats refuse both.  There were many NO votes in both chambers.  I am well known to support policy that balances access and integrity in voting.

New Documentary Featuring Operation Underground Railroad's Fight Against Human Trafficking

 

FOLLOW O.U.R. ON TIKTOK

Nine Posts Unpublished in Four Days!

Between 26Aug. and 30Aug., The Middletown Insider had 9 posts unpublished!  All but one was unpublished for "violating our guidelines" concerning the "Malware and Viruses policy".  The other was twice unpublished for violating the child safety policy and later, (twice) reinstated.

What the hell is going on?  Two of the unpublished posts were from 2013 and the most recent from 2018!  This blog has been around for well over a decade and there has never been such a problem, before.

I posted most of the unpublished items and I can assure you that there was NEVER any malware or viruses included in them.

The messages I received say, "Your post titled . . . . . . was flagged to us for review."  How does a post get flagged?  By readers?  Were all these posts flagged by the same person?

The messages also say, "If you are interested in republishing the post, please update the content to adhere to Blogger's Community Guidelines. Once the content is updated, you may republish it . . . . . .  This will trigger a review of the post."  There is no way these posts can be updated, since they are no longer available, even to me.  They were unpublished.

There were NO specifics in the email notices regarding the nature of the malware or what exactly violated the child protection policy.  How would one know what to look for without that information?

The "review", I have to assume from the result, is not conducted by a human.  Thinking that it might be, I sent a message to Blogger through the update link, asking the same questions I'm now asking here.  My questions were answered as follows:

"We have re-evaluated the post titled "Guest Blog:  Greetings Patriots by Palin Smith Conservative Roundup " against Community Guidelines content policy. Upon review, the post has been reinstated . . . at http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/05/guest-blog-greetings-patriots-by-palin.html."

Check it out.  They "reinstated" my questions, not the post.

The post that was actually reinstated is titled, "Child Sex Tourism".  It is an FBI story about a man convicted and sentenced to 330 yrs. in prison for engaging in the same.

It seems to me that someone flagging such an article for review, one that is clearly NOT improper, would be suspicious.

So, again I ask, were these posts flagged by the same person?  I'll bet they were, and I have an idea as to who it was.

It is also suspicious that, never having a problem in the past, that nine posts were flagged in a four-day period.

Blogger has yet to answer my questions, submitted via "feedback".  They never will; they are lazy and don't give a damn.

Re-Elect Senator Rob Sampson Yard Signs Available!

 

Dear Friends, Election day will be here before you know it. If you live in the 16th district - Southington, Wolcott, Prospect, Cheshire, or the East End of Waterbury, please show your support for my re-election campaign by hosting a yard sign. Let me know you would like one by: Option 1 - Click the Big Blue Take Action Button below.   Or, responding to this email or info@sampsonforct.com. Be sure to include your name, street address, contact info (email/phone), and any special instructions (place near mailbox, etc,)   If you have a good spot for a larger sign, let me know that too! Thank you! State Senator Rob Sampson   #proudamerican

2013 Guest Blog by Palin Smith Unpublished for "Violating" Community Guidelines

The following is my response to Google after they informed me the above post had been removed for violating "community standards".  More than nine years after it was originally posted on May 15th, 2013.

The only way to contact Google was to edit the post and submit it for review.  Google approved and re-published the following, which only goes to show that the "review" was conducted by an algorithm.

SMH

Dear Google,

What on earth are you talking about? Specifically, how does this post violate any guidelines? 

I no longer have access to the post since it was unpublished. How could I possibly edit the post if I don't have access to it or know what part of it violated guidelines and how so?

This post is over nine years old. What prompted the review? How was it "flagged"?  Why, after nine years, is there suddenly a problem?

Your email mentions my "content has violated our Malware and Viruses policy".  The idea that malware or a virus was deliberately put in the blog post is absurd!  Specifically, what was the nature of the malware/virus and why did it take nine years for it to manifest?

Maybe there was a hacker. Maybe Blogger should transition blog addresses to an https prefix.

Below is Google's notice of cancelation (sic):

   Hello,

          As you may know, our Community Guidelines 

(https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy) describe the boundaries for what we 

allow-- and don't allow-- on Blogger. Your post titled "Guest Blog: Greetings Patriots by Palin Smith Conservative Roundup " was flagged to us 

for review. We have determined that it violates our guidelines and have 

unpublished the URL 

http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/05/guest-blog-greetings-patriots-by-palin.html,

making it unavailable to blog readers.

    Why was your blog post unpublished?

    Your content has violated our Malware and Viruses policy. Please visit 

our Community Guidelines page linked in this email to learn more.

    If you are interested in republishing the post, please update the 

content to adhere to Blogger's Community Guidelines. Once the content is 

updated, you may republish it at 

https://www.blogger.com/go/appeal-post?blogId=239070883775529047&postId=651828247894563872.

This will trigger a review of the post.

    For more information, please review the following resources:

    Terms of Service: https://www.blogger.com/go/terms

    Blogger Community Guidelines: https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy

    Sincerely,

    The Blogger Team

What a bunch of BS!

Mike Lindell's Moment of Truth Summit This Weekend!

Fellow Patriots, This weekend is crucial.  Make sure you tune in to Mike Lindell's Moment of Truth Summit Saturday, August 20 and Sunday, August 21. We must make war on the machines and get rid of them.  Tell everyone you know, and also every elected official in your County, including GOP Central Committee Members and Officers and Board of Elections Members. Moment of Truth Summit - Aug 20 & 21 | Frank Speech the Home of Free Speech Home - Moment of Truth Summit Home | Selection Code Movie Selection Code, the movie by Lara Logan, premiers Saturday night. Don't miss it! Save America! Joe Healy  Ohio Patriots Alliance - Home

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Rally for an Affordable Connecticut Join me in Niantic on June 24th Connecticut is unaffordable and growing more unaffordable by the day. As inflation surges, I'm advocating for relief.  The cost of living continues to increase; the cost of oil, the cost of groceries. The cost of just trying to balance our family budgets is becoming more and more difficult. That's why I'm calling for a special session to adopt nearly $750 million in relief for CT residents, including tax cuts and energy assistance to make our state more affordable for working- and middle-class families.  You can join me in advocating for this relief.   1) Join me in demanding a Special Session on tax relief and energy assistance. SIGN THE PETITION   2)  Rally with me for a more affordable Connecticut. I'll be rallying with residents in Niantic on Friday, June 15 at 5:00 pm at Guy's Oil, 87 West Main Street. Please join me and stop by to say hi, learn more, and make your voice heard! You can also find more upcoming rallies across the state at AffordableConnecticut.com.

Copyright © 2022 Connecticut Senate Republicans, All rights reserved. This newsletter is a public service offering from a state lawmaker and The Middletown Insider. Our mailing address is: Connecticut Senate Republicans 300 Capitol Ave. Room 3400 Legislative Office Building Hartford, CT 06106-1553