Candidate Bio: Linda Salafia (R) for Common Council & Board of Education

Linda Salafia (R) Common Council & Board of Edication

Candidate Bio: Linda Salafia (R) for Common Council & Board of Education

I am running for election to the Common Council and to the Board of Education.  I previously sat on the Common Council where I worked tirelessly to bring financial stability to our City.  I come from a public school background; both of my parents at one time or other taught school in Portland.  I attended public school in Portland and graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Elementary Education plus I have a certificate from Morse School of Business in accounting. I have spent most of my working career in downtown Middletown and have lived here for the last 35 plus years.  I started working in the Tax Collector’s Office in 1987 and retired as the Payroll Supervisor in 2012 after 25 years of service.

 During my employment with the City, I worked in various positions in the Finance office and took several courses relevant to those positions.  I was active in the employees’ union, AFSCME Local 466, and participating in several contract negotiations.  At my retirement, I was Vice President of the Local.  I am married to Tom and our daughter, Molly, who attended Middletown Public Schools, is running for re-election the Planning and Zoning Commission.

I look forward to serving the citizens of Middletown again.  I deeply care about the safety, wellbeing, education, economic vitality, and financial stability of the residents of our city.

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I was born in Biddeford, Maine, but grew up in Portland, CT in where my dad taught in the Portland Public School.

I am a graduate of Portland High School and of the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont where I earned a B.S. in education, elementary with a concentration in math.  I’ve also earned a Certificate in Accounting from the Morse School of Business

I’ve worked at local businesses since high school, including Wannerstrom’s in Portland, Mallove’s Jewelers in Middletown, the Institute of Living in Hartford as a Psychiatric Aide, as Bookkeeper for Insurance and Real Estate Center, Inc in Middletown.  I’ve worked for the City of Middletown in the Tax Collector’s and Purchasing Offices.  I’m retired from the City of Middletown, where I was the Payroll/Pension Supervisor in the Finance Office. In my retirement, I have become a small business owner; I started Traditions + Treasures Gift Shop a unique craft and gift line currently located at the Ivoryton Inn's Gift Shop in Essex.

Memberships:

AFSCME Local 466 member for over 25 years, 10 years as an officer, including Vice President

FCRV (Family Campers & RVer’s), since 1993 and past Secretary

Polish Falcons

Middletown Kiwanis current member
Learn more on facebook page: Vote Salafia Women

More info on Middletown Republican candidates can be found at www.middletownctgop.com 

(Accepting ALL Candidate Bios! See format info here!) 

Letter to the Editor: BOE Combined City Service Agreement Has Holes

Editorial submitted by Linda Salafia, former City Councilwoman.
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There is a workshop scheduled for Monday at 5:30 concerning the sharing of services between the City and the BOE. Seems to me that under Mayor Giuliano’s administration that this question was raised about combining services and was summarily dismissed. Part of the history of the famous or infamous lawsuit brought by the BOE against the City (yes, the BOE filed the lawsuit) was a direct result of the BOE wanting to maintain complete autonomy from the City. Now it seems like it’s a good idea. In all honesty, I don’t know if it’s going to be a cost saving measure any more or not.


Background: I worked for the City for 25 years in various positions; I held various union positions over those years; and I sat on the CC for one term. In my work capacity, I handled the payroll for the City side. Way back, the City and BOE financial activities used the same program purchased as a package but then modified over the years by in-house programmers to meet the needs of each office. However, the problem lies in that only the programmers who wrote the programs can really fix or handle any issues that may arise; not a good situation to be in. Several years ago the City purchased a new financial software program and went through the painful process of switching over. This means that the City Finance is no longer tied to it’s own programmers but is now tied to the company’s programmers. It seems to have worked although there are limitations as with any program; you get what you pay for but as they get requests for new things, new things get developed. This was very expensive undertaking and requires a continued relationship with the software developers.

The BOE continued with their “old” program but remember that the BOE is only one line in the City’s budget. Also, the payroll process was not switched over. Background: The City pays it’s employees (everyone including the Police and Fire) while the BOE pays those that work on that side including the certified and classified employees. Without going into a long dissertation, the financial program that the City had choosen for it’s new financial package could not handle the City’s payroll. It was actually designed for board of educations that pay people on a different schedule and on a set scale (overtime and the FLSA rules wrecked havoc with it). Also, the City maintains and administers it’s own pension system and therefore needs to have access to complete payroll histories which is not the same process as when pensions are handled by other entities (there you send off the info each month and are done with it, not so for the City where you actually print checks to your retirees).

Now I am thinking that the workshop scheduled for Monday is going to be used to present the benefits of again changing the financial accounting program to again another program. This is probably going to sound wonderful; however, I have reservations. First it’s going to be a very tedious and frustrating to do: every number is going to have to be examined and switched over to the new system, costly and time consuming. Secondly, have the users really been given a chance to weigh in on the new program; unless you are doing the work, you really don’t understand what it involved. Third, is it really worth spending the money now? Would it be better to change the BOE over to the system that the City is using instead? Why must the City change again? What exactly are we trying to accomplish with this change? What are the options?

The City’s budget has to be approved by May 15th. To be frank, I have a ton of questions about it and especially the BOE’s budget. I know from past experience that the BOE had it’s own way of doing things (hence the infamous/famous lawsuit) and now is trying (I think / hope) to change it’s methods but it’s going to take time. However, my gut reaction is to correct past mistakes first before venturing into new territory such as shared services and changing the financial programming.

Of course, since I’m out of the loop these days (ie not on the Common Council or in the union anymore) maybe shared services means canceling the Sodecxo contract and merging with Public Works to maintain the BOE schools and facilities. Considering that technically the City owns the buildings and is responsible for capital projects (BOE is responsible for education and operating expenses), that might be a great idea.

Dan Drew most likely will not give away his 88K war chest despite not having a GOP opponent.

Dan Drew most likely  not give his 88K War Chest away despite not having a powerful Mayoral challenger in 2013 (no offense to John Kilian)

Helping the cause: His Cause for advancement and so forth.  Mr. Mayor, take the Middletown Insider challenge and donate your money to one of the charities or
 projects below. 

MIDDLETOWN- Democrat Incumbent Dan Drew, the surprise dark horse 2011 Chinese (not really Asian, but he went to China on our dime) candidate has raised approximately (Source: Oct 10, 2013 Patch) 88 thousand dollars in order to defeat the Republican challenger.  The only problem with the scenario is that the town’s other major party the Republican Party did not nominate anybody to run against the young Drew who wishes to spend large chunks of city money (approximately $85,000) on cosmetic lights for the Arrigoni Bridge and give ION Restaurant a solid $100,000 because they decided to leave the Clock Tower Mall and move next to NORA cupcakes.   Gee, I wish I had the ability to go to the mayor and say:

“Excuse me sir, can you give me a cool $100,000 because I feel like moving.”   What a wonderful liberal world that would be, but in Middletown that vision is a reality because Drew has been down this road before with the ION Supermarket who felt that they were losing business due to the traffic issues plaguing the bridge.  In the council’s ultimate wisdom, 10 members of the council voted to give ION- the store free money, while the fiscal conservative members of the common council  ( (R)Debbie Kleckowski and Linda Salafia) elected (properly) to stand their ground and vote to keep the money in Middletown for the people. 

 What type of form does one have to do in order to obtain free money from the Mayor and the Democratic controlled Common Council?  Is there a packet, does a person have to give a blood or DNA sample? In order to be involved on the Democratic Town Committee, a person has to take pledge to the devil and promise the soul of the first born to the MDTC. (I will not make any predictions about Stephen H. Devoto at this time, but Hades is definitely carving out a space for him after his mortal adventure is complete).

Assignment: If you are a Republican, Unaffiliated or non-inside Democrat (i.e. Non CASHO member), ask yourself if our wonderful city’s Mayor will use his monies to further the cause for the following charities.  Unfortunately Mayor Drew will most likely take the extra money and form a PAC and give it away to the head master Dannel Malloy, but one can only hope.

  Hey, the liberals like Mark Masselli preach left and right how they help the poor people, but in reality Mark is making $600,000 a year and cancels Midnight on Main because Drew won’t budget on some minutia issues that Mark feels he is entitled to. (Truth, Masselli got a $10.00 parking ticket and Roger downtown refused to fix it for him).  (Truth 2: Masselli used and continues to use CHC money for his legal fees)

Will Mayor Dan Drew give his money away to any of the following causes?

     A)   MHS goes to the Symphony- An amazing cause, music and youth in Middletown. Can you imagine how many instruments 88k can buy? There needs to be a clause in there that says Marco Gaylord cannot get any MORE city money.

      B)   Midnight on Main Street-  Two years ago Ed McKeon and a bunch of others donated quality time and energy to bring forth a hip and an amazing event full or art and spunk on Newe Year’s Eve.  The 2^nd year,  was equally successfully, but this year CHC President and ethical dilemma poster child Mark Masselli decided to pull the plug on the event.   This is the time for Mayor Drew to step up and show the people what he is made of!  No more strange trips to China, no more lights on the bridge. Give the people what the want- free entertainment!

     C)   Elevator at McDonough School- Rumor has it that the elevator at McDonough School is out of order. (Is that legal?)  Well, Dan I bet if you take out $2,000 from your 88k you can get it fixed.

     D)   Senior Center- Mayor, you were against the Senior Center and then gave the big speech for it taking credit for the whole thing.  Stand up and step out and give the entire 88K to the seniors.  Remember they vote!

     E)   Fix the Parking Meters- Fix the machines! 

     F)    Dog Park- Here is what you do, find a nice piece of land in town and have it fixed up.  (Rule: It can’t be a Vet’s Park unless the dog go poo-poo in the pool) With your money you can create the (drumroll): “Daniel T. Drew Poo-Poo Dog Park.” That would great.

     G)   Sewers in Maromas- Pump the sh*t right out of Maromas! (History of the World Part 1 reference)

      H)   Use the funds to help the fund balance-  This one is easy: take the monies and add it to the town’s fund balance in order to balance the books for once. 

      I)     Send more students to Magnet school- Help education and the kids find great schools. 88k can send a lot of kids to special technological schools and you could get credit for it.

       J)    Give Community Health Center Exec. Mark Masselli more money- This one is  easy too.  If MM makes $600,000 give him your money too, why not makes sense.(Then he can donate it back wink wink)

      K)   Continue the holiday lighting on main street- Every year in Middletown the lights during the holiday seasons get smaller and smaller and dimer and dimer.  Buy new LED special lights from CL&P that could save the town money.  I would use your Dem party line about lights, but I’ve heard so many times it makes want to reach for the Mylanta.

      L)    Buy bulletproof vests for Emergency Management- Be a man and buy these hard working guys bulletproof vests! Just do it! 

M)   Get the Emergency Management volunteers (ya know the people who bailed our butts out when you turned away the National Guard during a big snow storm that shut down streets for days)  the proper vaccines against communicable diseases - what is that like $300 for 15 people anyway? Masselli probably keeps some in his glove compartment.

      N)    Purchase two police cruisers- $88,000 can buy two brand new police cars for the town’s fleet. 13 are needed so knocking off two is a huge help.This would be an amazing gift from you to the people.

     O)    Once and for all get the City IT Dept., or better a savvy group of middle school students to set up broad casting the Council & BOE meetings live online! Digital archiving yea! Oh snap! Then people will REALLY be informed!  We bet you will have about $80,000 or more left over too. We hear this interweb thing is gonna be big someday! 

P)   A Tennis court for the high school. The courts were left out of the MHS Taj Mahal plan despite the addition of the sports facility and track. 

Q)   Improved animal control facilities for both dogs and cats. Middletown only now has facilities for dogs and, for years has had to send felines elsewhere. Why the not end the species discrimination?

What would you like to see $88k spent on in Middletown? 
You can bet your a** this money will be funneled into a PAC and go straight to the Malloy campaign coffers after this election; after all Big Dan pulled out all the stopped to get DD elected!

Before it does, tell us (or really Mayor Dannel Drew) 
in comments so he can pretend he really thought of it first!

Candidate Bio: Linda Salafia (R) Common Council

Middletown Insider blog is accepting bios from all  municipal candidates. 
See criteria: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/08/request-for-candidate-bios-for-all.html
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Republican Incumbent Candidate for Common Council
Linda Salafia

For the past two years, I have worked tirelessly to try and bring financial stability to our City. I have endorsed efforts to lower taxes and balance the budget. Last fiscal year, I co-drafted a budget that if adopted would have saved the city money and still provided the vital services our citizens rely on. I have voted twice against budgets that would that significantly raised our taxes. I deeply care about the safety, well being, education, economic vitality, and financial stability of the residents of our city; that is why I am running for re-election to the Common Council.

I ask voters to choose candidates that can provide checks and balances between our legislative and executive branches of our government. Please Vote for the WHOLE Republican ticket. VOTE ROW A! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was born in Biddeford, Maine, but grew up in Portland, CT in where my dad taught in the Portland Public School.

I am a graduate of Portland High School and of the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont where I earned a B.S. in education, elementary with a concentration in math.  I’ve also earned a Certificate in Accounting from the Morse School of Business

I’ve worked at local businesses since high school, including Wannerstrom’s in Portland, Mallove’s Jewelers in Middletown, the Institute of Living in Hartford as a Psychiatric Aide, as Bookkeeper for Insurance and Real Estate Center, Inc in Middletown.  I’ve worked for the City of Middletown in the Tax Collector’s and Purchasing Offices.  I’m retired from the City of Middletown, where I was the Payroll/Pension Supervisor in the Finance Office. In my retirement, I have become a small business owner; I started Traditions + Treasures Gift Shop a unique craft and gift line currently located at the Ivoryton Inn's Gift Shop in Essex.

Memberships:

AFSCME Local 466 member for over 25 years, 10 years as an officer, including Vice President

FCRV (Family Campers & RVer’s), since 1993 and past Secretary

Polish Falcons

Middletown Kiwanis current member

I have been married for 33 years to my husband Tom, and have one daughter Molly Salafia.

I have been endorsed by local Union 466 Council 4 AFSCME

www.middletownctgop.com

Letter to the Editor: GOP Councilwomen Kleckowski & Salafia: Minority Leader Neglected Obligations

The letter below from Councilwomen Deborah Kleckowski and Linda Salafia reflects views and opinions not necessarily shared by the Insider staff, and is published as a courtesy to readers.
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Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski

To the Editor:

This letter is in response to Councilman Phil Pessina's letter regarding his "removal" from the Republican ticket.
For the past two years, Councilman Pessina has served as minority leader, representing the four minority council members, including Councilwomen Deborah Kleckowki and Linda Salafia. It was Councilman Pessina's responsibility to hold caucuses and to keep us informed of issues and matters affecting the city and most importantly information that directly affects how we vote.

Councilwoman Linda Salafia

Unfortunately, Councilman Pessina did not fulfill his obligations as minority leader. His self-induced separation from the Republican Party began in 2012 when the Republicans submitted a Republican budget. Seconds before the vote, Councilman Pessina informed Councilwoman Kleckowski that he would be voting with the Democrats, which in fact he did. Upon being "called out" on this matter Pessina just responded "it was for the children." 
Thereafter, Pessina was absent from town committee meetings.
Although not specifically named in his letter, he clearly was referring to Councilwoman Kleckowski and Councilwoman Salafia, inferring we did not work in the best interest of the citizens of Middletown. During council meetings, he often would make disparaging statements toward us. 
We take exception to his comments and find them insulting. Additionally, he called no caucus the first year (2012) and rarely thereafter. He also did not share with us committees in which he was asked to participate and shared no information of which he was privy with us. 

There is a laundry list of his lack of leadership and participation in the party. And, for the record, Pessina was going to abstain from voting on the teamsters contract because he is a recipient of the health care benefits then without notice he voted for the contract; yet, another example of Phil thinking about Phil.
We are proud to have been endorsed to be candidates for the Common Council.  We, in fact, do care about Middletown and its residents and vote accordingly. We respectfully ask for your vote on Nov. 5, and ask for your vote for the entire slate, ROW A. 

In service to the residents of OUR community,

Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski
Councilwoman Linda Salafia
Candidates for Middletown Council 2013

Come to A Party to Celebrate Powerful Women!

Come To A Party To Celebrate Powerful Women!

Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013  3:00 pm. to 5:00 pm, 42 High Street, Middletown CT

Hosted by: Molly Salafia, Candidate for City Treasurer 2013
Linda Salafia, Candidate for Re Election to the Common Council 2013, part of Team Checks & Balances Middletown 2013.

 $5-$10 non-obligatory donations to our campaigns are suggested.Ages 5 to 95! Please bring a friend! Boys welcome too! ALL WELCOME

Special guest and Damsel in Defense Pro Diane Shonebarger will be demonstrating & selling Damsel In Defense LLC products. Damsel in Defense features non-lethal self - defense products designed for women!

Honored Guest Retired Middletown Police Officer Tom Sebold will be holding a discussion on personal safety. 

Featuring prizes from Sandra James Boutique of Middletown and Treasures + Traditions Gifts.

Featuring Gourmet Cupcakes by Middletown Resident Chef  Melissa Melissa Please RSVP to molly.salafia@gmail.com or call/text (860) 575 9864 or on facebook.

Mayor Drew Delivers Budget. Tax Hike. Serious. WTF

Serious. WTF!?

Letter the Editor: Government ReOrg Costly In Many Ways

Letter to the Editor from Councilwoman Linda Salafia

Letters to the editor are published as courtesy and not necessarily reflect the opinions of Insider Staff.  Government ReOrg report his here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/12/mayors-task-force-on-efficiency-report.html

I voted against the incentive plan offered to the Teamsters and the non-bargaining directors because I feel that it's not a good move for the City.  However, I also believe that  the employees that opted to retire should not be blamed or faulted in any way for making their decision to retire.  I'm actually surprised that more didn't take the offer!!  Even though there is an MOU between the City and the union, retirement incentives are not generally negotiated; it's usually offered to the union by the administration as a take it or leave it situation; and since unions are in the business of looking out for their members' best interests, they agree.

Now, I feel that the incentive was not a good move because for the City to save money, they need to not replace the retiring employees at the same level that they were at.  Mayor Drew has said that he's only replacing those employees that are required by law and those in key positions.  Also, he promised that for the January Common Council meeting he would bring forward his plans for the reorganization that he has in mind.  However, so far, most of those positions vacated have been replaced by employees appointed in the acting capacity including the Deputy Personnel Director being appointed as Acting Personnel Director.  I realize that employees were promoted so that down the chain of command there are vacancies; however, this was not what was presented as the reason for the incentive:  the incentive was presented to allow for reorganization.  So tell me:  if you put people into the vacant positions with the exact same job descriptions and duties as the retiring employee had, how are you going to change those positions or eliminate those positions through a reorganization without affecting the employee in the position.  Seems to me that you're back to the same status that you were at before the incentive: an active employee in the position that you wanted to modify????  Seems to me that prior to the incentive, if you'd modified the job and the active employee didn't want to do the modified job, they could have retired; now you've got employees in the position that you want to modify that it's eligible to retire and will have to take a new job, reduced pay or something - I just don't see that happening.  That's why I think that the reorganization should have come before any retirement incentive.

By the way, we were promised that the plans would be presented at the January meeting but nothing.  I'll add it to the list of things I'm waiting for:  the report on the outcome of the China trip; the actions taken after the report on the Water and Sewer Department issues.  Although I have read the report by the committee on government efficiency, it has not been actually presented to the Common Council for approval and implementation.  Simply the administration could share with the whole council a flow chart of proposed hierarchy of departments and reorganization.  Hopefully, one has been done by now.

Another, reason that I've problems with the incentive that was offered:  it's huge brain drain on the City.  There were quite a few 466 employees who retired over the last few years and now with these retirements, the City is losing much of it's historical knowledge.  Seems to me that you're going to be repeating mistakes already made; these are the people who know what's been tried before and worked and what didn't.  Not to say that things can't necessarily be done differently, but you just extended the learning curve significantly and can we as a City afford that???

I certainly do not in any way shape or form, blame those employees who accept this incentive and wish them all well!!!  They all serve the City well and the City is in debt to their years of service.  I for one am sorry that they retired.

Linda Salafia

Common Council Member (R)

City Governmen Re-Org: Part II

 A follow up to our first post :City Government Re-Org - Part I

The Insider staff has been reading over Mayor Drew’s Report on Government Re-Organization put together by his Task Force on Government Efficiency aka a bunch of buddies he meets with at night at city hall. 

The City Re-Org report has never been officially distributed to members of the Council, and therefore is not available to the public in an attempt to get it passed without full transparency!!

Yet again, only 2 of the 4 Republican Councilmembers - Deborah Kleckowski and Linda Salafia kept fiscal responsibility in mind when voting against the retirement package recently passed by the Council. This set of golden handshakes, although Councilmen Tom Serra refuses to call it that, are a precursor to the adoption of the re-organization plan. As quoted in an article about the vote published by the Middletown Eye blog, Salafia expresses her concern for taxpayer's wallets:

“We haven’t seen a list from the task force of those who are leaving or a cost analysis of leaving these positions. The city is doing this process backward.”
“I have a problem with how they did the math. The city will have to fill these positions eventually. We are not going to save money. My constituents will be outraged by this program. Many of them already have a negative view of the pensions our city employees have.”Read full article here.

 

The objective of the task force appears to contain a predetermined remedy for what were yet-to-be discovered problems. Salafia points out that many of the positions will still have to be filled and thereofore the cost savings is a false assumption. Kleckowski cited departments becoming dysfunctional as a concern. In a previously published letter from the actuaries hired by the City to City Finance Director Carl Erlacher, the actuaries expressed concerns that the pension fund be in trouble as early as 2014. Apparently, Mayor Drew knows better than the professionals.

The package is available to read here: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1OYjxtLEgUwUm9EZ1gzYUdsODQ

The smoking gun letter from the actuary is here:   https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1OYjxtLEgUwUm9EZ1gzYUdsODQ

C. Merging Legal, Personnel and Human Resources. About the stupidest idea in this report. The creation of conflicts of interest alone should be reason enough to reject such a proposal. As with IT, every city function has a legal component attached to it. Why is Personnel different?

The City Attorney is the City's lawyer. Its duty is to represent and advise ALL departments. All of the functions listed by the task force, which are not already within the legal department (i.e., risk management, claims) are substantive city services or administrative/management activities that are not particularly suited to the legal profession. If it can be said that personnel management is an appropriate function for a lawyer, then why not city planning? Or snow removal? Or sidewalks and streets?

Also, the claim that a labor relations division will better handle labor negotiations, day-to-day employee matters and disciplinary actions is one that doesn't hold water. More seriously, however, it contains legal and ethical dilemmas. First, the Municipal Employee Relations Act (MERA) makes the chief elected official - the Mayor - the recognized negotiator for the City. The mayor can designate whoever he chooses to do the actual negotiating, but he is the one responsible for the finished product. The mayor is free to name the City Attorney to a negotiating team or as the sole negotiator. He has always had that authority and this proposed merger doesn't add anything!

The city deals with four unions. Mayor Giuliano’s negotiating teams were different, depending on which union was involved, but they always included a lawyer.

A very sticky problem with the merger is the idea that the City Attorney will "assist the Mayor and other City managers and supervisors in day to day employee relations, including disciplinary actions." When the City Attorney is engaged in such functions, how will the Mayor and the "managers and supervisors" know which hat he is wearing - his lawyer hat or his manager hat? Again, the Mayor, the directors and superintendents have always had the ability to seek the assistance of the City Attorney in resolving legal issues arising from the exercise of their official duties. This proposal doesn't enhance that role. To the contrary, it impedes it. What "manager" will be confident in seeking legal advice from an office that has the power and duty to discipline him or her?

If this is such a wonderful concept, what other Connecticut towns are doing it? Has the task force made this inquiry?

D. Public Works Department merging with Park & Recreation:. the idea of reassigning parks maintenance duties to the Public Works Dept. The prospect of significant upgrades of positions, however, nothing to suggest that the functions are incompatible.

E. Merging Senior Services and Recreation into one department is something that had been contemplated also by the previous Republican administration, but had not gotten much traction with the Council (it wasn't the Dems idea).

F. Merging Arts & Youth Services: Mayor Giuliano had also proposed the inclusion of Youth services and Arts within a new department. Names like "Community Affairs", "Arts and Leisure Services" or Arts, Culture and Community Services", but there was always one interest group that either didn't like the name or didn't want to be included with one or more of the other groups. The opposition always appeared more subjective than based on any real facts.

G. Vital Statistics remaining in Health Department. Vital Stats in Health seem weak. First, other than for keeping vital stats, the Health Department has no significant need for a large vault. Simply relocate the Health Director's office from its present location and turn that space over to the Town Clerk. It is already used for vitals, so very little would have to change.

The argument is made that we are a "hospital" town and the only other two Connecticut towns whose vital stats functions are not in their town clerks' offices are also "hospital" communities. There are certainly more than three cities in Connecticut that are host communities to hospitals. Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, New London, New Britain, Norwich, Danbury, Waterbury and Meriden are examples of cities which host hospitals; many host more than one. Yet, no more than two in the whole state, in addition to Middletown, follow this pattern. All of the others don't seem to be finding the presence of hospitals to be a significant problem for their town clerks.

Conclusion: Finally, the task force criticizes former Mayor Giuliano for filling positions occupied by those who had announced their retirements. They claim that this had violated the "spirit" of the Charter prohibition on making appointments between the election and the swearing-in. This makes no sense; some positions need filing as the job cannot go undone. Does Mayor Drew operate on the premise that he is going to lose the next election? Maybe he should and, likewise, the Common Council should reject this proposed "reorganization" because the "new administration" may not want it. Turn around is fair play.

Letter to the Editor: Councilwoman Salafia Talks Frechette & BOE

Letters to the Editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the Insider Staff, burden of proof is on the author.

Dear Middletown Insider,

     I attended a meeting of the Insurance and Claims Commission; the regular monthly meeting held at 7:00 p.m. On the agenda was an executive session:  discussion regarding settlement of claim City of Middletown - Board of Education former School Superintendent pursuant to sections 1-200 (6) (A) and 1-225 of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amended.

     This item was on the previous month's agenda although a different section of the CGS was cited and at that time I objected to the section cited as it indicated discussion of pending litigation and this was to be discussion of an already completed settlement agreement.  I abstained from the Executive Session at that time.  The result of last month's session was to postpone to this month's meeting.     
     This month the Executive Session was pursuant to personnel issues.  Again I abstained from the discussion and session - I actually left the room so do no know what was actually said in the executive session.

      After the executive session was closed, the regular meeting resumed and a motion was made and passed by Councilpersons Faulkner and Kasper to approve what was discussed during the executive session.

     Although I did not participate in the discussion and the resultant motion, what happened tonight was that the Insurance and Claims Commission agreed to make a payment to the former Superintendent of Schools per his severance agreement with the Board of Education from the Insurance and Claims fund  or at least to reimbursement the BOE for the payment (same thing).  Apparently there is a non-disclosure clause (although I have to take the word of those in the know) in the severance agreement with the BOE and Dr. Frechette that prohibits the release of the details of his "package" for leaving his position as Superintendent of Schools.  But whatever payments were agreed to by the Board of Education are now being paid for from the Insurance and Claims fund of the City of Middletown.  At least it's not the General Fund.

     I am and was opposed to this - should not have been done in executive session and should not have been charged to the insurance and claims fund either.  Also, I am hearing rumors that Dr. Frechette is still receiving payments for consulting on issues at the BOE at the rate of $300.00 per hour with a two hour minimum.  I plan to request the details and history of any of such payments made as i  was under the belief that his exit agreement that I saw indicated that he would be available for consultation for the court case between the City and BOE which has/ was settled awhile ago now. (Therefore no more payments since the settlement {and appropJust riation by the CC to pay the BOE for said settlement}).

Just an FYI to the Middletown Insider after our meeting tonight. 

Sincerely,

Linda Salafia

Councilperson - R

Charity News: Amazing Grace Food Challenge Thursday,Thanksgiving Collection Update

The public is invited 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Fox Parish Center of St. Francis of Assisi Church, 10 Elm St., to join in on a celebration and kick-off for the 2012 Amazing Grace Food Pantry challenge according to Ron Krom, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Middletown, the agency that oversees the food pantry on Stack Street. Soups will be made and donations of food and money to stock that pantry are being taken.
The food pantry has seen a dramatic increase in clientele with the recent recession.

photo from Middletowneye 11/2011 link here

Every year during the Thanksgiving Seasons the Middletown Kiwanis organizes a Thanksgiving basket drivewhere with The Salvation Army, where they collected baskets that contain enough food for a meal for a needy family of four complete with 10lb turkey. In the past Kiwanis has pledged over 50 baskets it collects from area organizations.
Middletown Republican Town Committee will be pledging a basket (or more) and are collecting donations and items at the next town Committee meeting, member are encouraged to bring contributions then.