Musings from a former elected official!

Okay it’s Sunday again and I’ve finally got time to think about the past week. 

First off, I’ve just finished reading Anne Perry’s 5 book series on WWI.  I have to admit that I am somewhat ashamed that I really haven’t thought about what a horrible war that was.  My grandfather was in Europe during that war and I regret that I never talked to him about it.  The books were very moving, disturbing and extremely thought provoking.  One of the points that I brought away from the reading was that power is dangerous but you cannot force people to submit to what is against their nature; you may be able to “rule” them but there will also be some who rebel.

The Middletown Press has an article about the start of the job search for a new Fire Chief.

http://www.middletownpress.com/general-news/20140328/search-begins-for-new-middletown-fire-chief

Problem is I think that’s a bit wrong.   According to the article, the list of candidates has been reduced to three or four and an interview committee has been formed.  That surely doesn’t sound like a start to me; I wonder how they got the list??  I checked the City’s website for open positions and Fire Chief is not listed??  The new additional position of Deputy City Counsel / Attorney is listed though.

http://www.cityofmiddletown.com/filestorage/117/121/161/436/Assistant_General_Counsel_~_Public_Posting.pdf

Although I would have liked the Press to give more information about the search process for these positions such as where did they advertise, how many responded, what are the job descriptions and have there been any changes recently.  More information is always appreciated but the main question that I’ve is regarding the issue of residency.

From what I am aware of, all non-union directors must reside in Middletown.  The retiring Fire Chief moved to Middletown just prior to his appointment to the position.  Do all of the candidates under consideration currently live in Middletown or have concrete plans to move here? Same question for the Deputy Assistant Counsel position.

Although I do have to say that it’s refreshing to think that in Middletown, we’ve got such a deep pool of qualified candidates.

Rumblings from Middletown

Rumbling, Rumors and other cool stuff you won’t find out… yet!

1)   GOP v GOP- Want to know the definition of bad? Want to know the definition of really bad?  Take a look at the facial expression of the male Common Council GOPers who constantly vote along with the Dems and against that of their female counterparts. Can't we all just get along folks?  Remember that amazing fight sequence in Lincoln between Sally Field and Daniel Day Lewis? It has nothing on the battle that is going on. Imagine spending the time to prep an alternate budget and then pull a Benedict Arnold once it’s time to vote on the Mayor’s budget. 

2)   New Show on NBC- Get your TIVOS and DVR ready, after a long hiatus, the new political feel good drama, Little Blue House on the Prairie will finally make it’s premiere on the peacock network next week.  The amazing premise follows a band of activists who secretly hoard money and build houses for the needy with the claim “we don’t make any money off this.”  Plots revolve around the family using federal money to start non-profit organizations and give themselves fat six-figure bonus and a Robert Ludow-esque episode where the gang tries taking down an evil developer, but refuses to disclose that they too have a financial interest in the neighborhood.

3)   BOE budget- Kudos to Teddy “Bear” Raczka and Ryan “No relation to JFK” Kennedy for voting NO for the budget increases that will add even higher taxes for citizens.   Transparency? As of yet we, the people have not seen a real itemized budget anywhere on the web or in print.  Perhaps the village district should take a bus up to the state capitol and march against the awful state statute 10-220, which allows superintendents the right to be less than transparent with a town’s money?  Speaking of the missing Million $$ Dollars, new Superintendent, Pat “The Price is Right” Charles, claimed recently that the figure of missing money is only $180,00 and not a cool million.  Get Blum/Shapiro on  the phone!

4)   Two buyers scared away from High Street:  Sources close to the City have revealed that two potential land developers pre-Bob Landino were quite interested in the Wesleyan property.  After doing some research and meeting with some prominent (village) people, they decided to pull out to avoid a hassle.

5)   Connect the Dots—Why did Blue House LLC really want to outbid The Connection on the so-called controversial purchase? Was it to keep certain folks out of the neighborhood? Folks that say would occupy the property as a half way or group home? NIMBY, my rear end. How about, WAABOH or we are a bunch of hypocrites?

6)   Medal- Lee Osborne should be given a medal for telling the truth about everything he wants and standing up for his rights. 

7)   Earl Roberts for the town’s Executive Chair? -  According to sources, (the A.M. staff at Dunkin Donuts and the Beller Boys), Roberts a former GOP councilman has expressed interested in running for the city’s top position.  When told he would have to spend some of his ‘own’ money, EVR jr, just brought up bees and stared into space. 

8)   New Evil Dead Film- According to horror director, Sam Raimi in a recent TMZ interview: “I have always wanted to write a horror/zombie film about the people in Middletown’s village area.  It was quite easy to film, they are predictable and say one thing, but mean another especially when it’s to pad their pockets with the benjamins.”
9) Middletown High Blue Prints Student Newspaper wins awards. Yet, taxpayers still pay a former teacher to write press releases and feel-good articles for local news media.
10)   Irony- despite what The Press said, the Insider was never pro-Landino and Mx Zone change. We never actually took a stance either way.  We just asked a few questions about Blue House LLC and why certain people didn't show at the meeting. Mayor Drew for starters after Ed McKeon's article in which he provided photos of everyone opposing his views.  Spin it Middletown Mess!

11)                  IP Address Trace- Did Ed McKeon really trace the IP address to Salafia's house or was he attempting to scare her?  He told The Middletown Press he traced it, so wouldn’t that be a crime ?  Is he tracing every comment on the Eye? Creepy.