Letter to the Editor: Nonsensical Logic Used to Justify Marijuana Factory in City Building

 Below is a letter to the editor regarding last night's approval of a lease space at the municipality owned Remington Rand Factory Building to Greenbelt Management to manufacture medical marijuana.The views expressed may or may not express those of the Insider Staff. 
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Once again, the Democrats on the council have used irrelevant or nonsense arguments to justify their decision. Why? Because it's a bad decision and there are no valid arguments. Councilman Berch says that this is the same as leasing to a poker chip manufacturer, because gambling is illegal in most states. Sorry. Incorrect. There's no federal law against manufacturing poker chips. After Councilmen Pessina and Bibisi stated that their principles would not allow them to approve the lease, Councilman Berch said that principles were fine, but he was voting in favor of economic development. What? Money trumps principles? 

 That sounds like the guiding light of the Democrats on the current council. Councilman Santangelo says that the difference between a medication and an drug is where it's sold. Sorry, but the difference is whether medical professionals agree that there is a therapeutic benefit to a substance and whether it is used as prescribed. 

When the Connecticut Legislature decided to allow marijuana for medical uses, I don't recall hearing from the American Medical Association, National Institute for Mental Health, Center for Disease Control, or any other competent, recognized medical organization or professional. I do recall hearing about testimony from users of marijuana. Not exactly a fair, unbiased hearing on which to make important decisions. I've also seen a number of studies on the deleterious effects of marijuana use. Haven't found any studies showing a positive benefit. At best, the studies show mixed results, with numerous side effects, including measurable impairment of mental function with short-term use and measurable, non-reversible impairment of mental function with long-term use. And, it's psychologically addictive. One study seemed to show that Tetrahydrocannibinol extracted from the plants can be provided in in measured dosages and produces positive benefits, with few or no side effects. 

Why would you want to smoke it? Doesn't sound like the proponents are after medical treatment. Anyone with information on other studies? Please, let me know and I'll revise my opinion.
Should I even start on the second-hand smoke issue?

The bottom line is that the cultivation of marijuana is illegal under federal law. There is nothing the state of Connecticut or city of Middletown can do to make it legal. As I said last night - If Greenbelt Management plants marijuana in a city-owned building, the common council and city are an accessory to a crime, since the council voted to approve the lease, knowing the purpose to which it will be put is illegal under federal law. Since they did know the ultimate purpose and are assisting by providing space for the illegal activity, wouldn't that also be conspiracy?

Any lawyers in the audience? You’re welcome to comment or correct my interpretation.
By the way - congratulations and thank you to Councilmen Pessina, Bibisi and Councilwoman Salafia. You did the right thing.

Ken McClellan
Middletown Republican Town Committee President

Full house for dedication of the Katchen Coley Mount Laurel Preserve

Last night at 7pm the Common Council held a special meeting to dedicate the recent open space purchase of 50 acres formally known as the Bellfant property to longtime social, conservation, environmental, and animal activist local Katchen Coley. Over fifteen people spoke in honor of Coley with tales of her dedication to Middletown. Community Health Center CEO Mark Masselli spoke of Coley's perseverance in the founding days of The Connection Inc. and listed numerous occasions were Coley told him "exactly how it is and how it should be."

Rep. Matt Lesser speaks about Katchen Coley

Planning and Zoning Commissioner Beth Emery read a letter on behalf of the other commission members. 

Members of the Wadsworth Mansion Committee, the Rockfall Foundation, the Conservation Commission, the board of The Connection Inc., and the Garden Club of Middletown - all of which Coley is a member of spoke gave accolades on her behalf. Councilmember Joe Bibisi spoke about the brokering of the purchase and his joy in participating to make the dedication happen for Coley. Rep. Matt Lesser, once a tenant of Coley, presented Katchen with the proclamation signed by the mayor and council. Many members of the public, and Councilmen Phil Pessina and Bob Santangelo remarked about the annual daffodil party held at the Coley residence and her own diligence in keeping her property as a natural habitat for wildlife and plants to thrive. A expressed love for Coley's dog Benson who often accompanied her to meetings. Mayor Drew closed the public comment portion of the meeting with remarks.

Katchen Coley spoke at the end of the remarks bringing brevity to the dedication. She jokedly remarked how proud that the GOP members of the council allowed $100k to be drawn from the general fund for a environmental project on her behalf, Coley herself is a republican. Coley chided Masselli about his wife Jennifer Alexander, Kidcity CEO, as being a huge driving force behind changes in Middletown, and that everyone, especially Mark should listen to Jen more often. Coley imbibed the crowd to stay active, speak up,  be good stewards to the earth, and foremost not be afraid of opponents of their views.

Live Long and Rumblings

Rumblings

Sent in by the beautiful readers of The Middletown Insider. Thanks to all- especially The Colonel for his resplendent insights about this pulchritudinous & effulgent town!  Read it three times to get all the MEANINGS!!

1)    According to officials at Middletown’s Godfrey Library, there is a boatload of evidence that State Representative Matthew Lesser (stop posting on Facebook every two seconds, we get it, you took a dump yesterday) and Emergency Operations Management Deputy Director Angel Fernandez are indeed related by blood.  This corroborates Lessor’s claim that he is indeed Latino/Hispanic, and also clarifies that his connection to the nation of Argentina is Latino and not Aryan.  Heil Malloy!

Matt's elation  the moment he found out
he is related to Angel. 

2)    Open message to John C. Hall (chairman of the Jonah Center for Earth Air & Money), and the city’s energy czar: (WTF? Energy Czar- please!).   Although we appreciate your efforts  to bring youth from less privileged families to participate in Jonah Center’s Annual River Paddle event, don’t you think your energies would be better placed in getting  killer David Messenger off the streets?  The Middletown Insider will donate a cool $1,000 to your cause next year if you have the guts to bring  wife killer David Messenger to your event.  Please re-evaluate your decision on this one, the liberals may you let you off the hook because they don’t have to deal with the situation but this publication will not.  Incidentally, what the hell is an energy czar anyhow?

Hall advocated Messenger's release from CVH to "worship."

3)    Rumor has it that Mayor Daniel Drew called a  city worker to his office to offer a verbal spanking  about his reputed online comments made on his personal time as a private citizen.  Dan have you ever heard of the 1^st Amendment? Right, it’s over in China with your report.
  

4)    It’s official: former councilman and beekeeper Earl V. Roberts is seeking the Republican nomination for Mayor. The problem, the GOP has nobody to run and want to keep it that way. Perhaps they can run John C. Hall or David Messenger- what a team that would be. 

5)    After the new re-organization, something that was supposed to decrease the size of government breaking news: many positions open, but there is a huge shortage of Serracrats to fill those spots. Go figure!! 

6)    Paging Danny Drew, paging Drew, Danny:  Last week the state had an emergency management drill for disaster training in M-town, and guess who was not involved in the festivities? (Cause you know damn well if he was, his face would be all over the Mess the way he likes it) Yep, his name rhymes with Lan Lew or Stan Screw. Dan Drew was not present for any of this crucial drill, but no worries folkies, Drew’s chief of staff Joseph “WTF” Samolis made hourly broadcasts to inform citizens about the percentage of streets cleared from snow. 
  The National Guard stopped by Middletown and was turned away by the king of Middletown because "he can handle it on his own."  (Okay we mixed two events on this one, but read between the lines people.) 

7)    What prominent member of the Democratic Town Committee is a big racist! Nuff said!

8)    Which is greater: how many paychecks  Middletown gives to city music man Marco Gaylord or the amount of licks it takes to get the bottom of a Tootsie Roll.  How many jobs can this one many do? He’s got w-2 fever!

9)    The Department of Transportation to have a meeting (breakfast) to discuss the fate of the Route 17 to Route 9 on-ramp (by Harbor Park) aka the deadliest exit in Connecticut or Rear Ender Central.  You know it’s funny; Democrat Representative Joseph Serra, head of the Committee on Highways and Transportation,  has been in office for a ¼ of a century and this issue if finally being discussed.  Hey voters, you keep voting him in- good for you. 

10) According to www.newsjunkie.com: Connecticut State Representative Matthew Lesser, new member of the Latino group Menuedo & Hispanic Latino Caucus, is attempting to propose a bill that would allow all illegal aliens in the state to have a card that ENTITLES them to free car insurance. The program is called Lessorcare and he has already printed out cards at he Wesleyan University computer lab in hopes that his bill becomes a law.  Speaking of Wesleyan University, why is Michael Roth and the gang so proud of a  DROP-OUT who complains about rising interest rates on student loans? Does he care about the janitors and cafeteria workers who went on strike? Come Mathew let’s step up to the plate and help the real workers!

11)   Rosa DeLauro has been cast as Spock’s mother in J.J. Abrahams next Star Trek film entitled Star Trek 3: You Dumb Voters keep putting me in and I take Commie Money.

12)  This week Dan Drew took time out from his busy day to flip flapjacks with CT Senator Christopher Murphy and to chat up Rosa DeLauro about rising student loan rates. (Dano attended both "non campaign/political" events on City time ) Drew vowed to get on a plane if he has to solve the tuition hike problem.

photo credit: Rep. Matt Lesser's twitter account.

13)  Thrice sold Remington Rand building to be leased to medical pot factory (HIGHER THAN A FRIGGIN, KITE) owners Thomas Chong and Cheech Marion who plan to film their next cannabis filled opus entitled: “Cheech and Chong Smoke Remington Rand”- the film will also star David Messenger, Mark Masselli and Hope Kasper. Note: Kasper has demanded that Chong hire son-in-law Joshua Burger to work on the set with the stipulations that he gets teacher benefits.

14) Netflix has announced that they will be filming a new dramaedy series entitled “The Mayor and his Mom” which will be available for streaming on June 30, 2013, unlike the the Common Council meetings which the City IT Department is STILL figuring out how to do!  The series revolves around an ex-mayor and his mom and the amazing adventures they endure and the conversations they have over pizza and donuts.

15) SCOOP: Most people in Connecticut are still waiting for the axe to fall on the CHC (Community Health Center) due to the Chris Donovan scandal.  Guess who has the blue form with all the evidence?  Shhhh, we’ll never tell. 

16)  PRISM, which is a program that the NSA uses to track internet usage, email, phones calls and other important private information of John Q. Public says it nearly impossible for a private citizen to track IP addresses. Translation ED4ED screwed up royally!

17)  What city employee looked like the late great Bob Crane from Hogan’s Heroes?

18) Middletown Public schools to now give all students free breakfast, lunch, diner, midnight snack, and movie passes.  North End students to get special midnight munchies and free lifetime usage of a bong. (Tie it in with the Remington Rand joke #13)

19) CHC guru and Buddhist (He went to the see the Dali Lama on _______’s dime) Mark Masselli, under the tutelage of Colorado Governor John HickendooperpooopperscooperchoperChipsahoyjurjuneilovemyself will be recording a new version of Don McLean’s American Pie. 

20)  @mattlesser : #Councilman Phil Pessina claims Dan Drew as new BFF # Matt Lesser jealous vows to deny Pessina free auto insurance. #uncool

21) Thelma and Louise: Part II- The GOP women are at odds after voting against one another after last council meeting..  Rumor has it that TNT will be airing their half nude Jell-O Wrestling Match to settle the score.  At least they had a budget!

22)  Castaway II: Starring Hope Kasper, Ronald Klatenberger, Todd Berch, and Ted “I used city money to send my son to Cape Cod” Razcka.

23)  Who will be the next Middletown city clerk, a former councilwoman or an inner circle relative?

24) A citizen punches a Wesleyan professor in the face over a Main Street parking space and it is not just assault but a "hate crime," a  high naked student walks into a home and exposes himself to a child and it is a "learning experience." Wait - racially driven hate crime? Didn't Wes ban the use of racial descriptions in APB's?

24.5) Mess quotes Sen. Chris Murphy: “It shouldn't take seven years to be a lawyer, eight to be a doctor.” Right on, it isn't like we want only the best and the brightest messing with people's lives. 

25)   那裡性交是中國報告， jive驢子雞

26) Did you ever wonder why Charlie ignored his mother in Ronald Dahl’s book, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” when he won the golden ticket? I mean, think about it, Grandpa Joe was in bed for 10 years and did nothing (Democrat) while the working mom (Republican) worked her ass off but received nothing from the Wonka regime ( or Charlie for that matter). The lesson: those that hustle and work are ignored and the lazy get ahead get more Welf…Chocolate.

Rumblings from Middletown

1. Big Lots is moving into old A&P space on Washington Street. Mayor Drew  will undoubtedly try to take credit for this which was just good old fashion CAPITALISM and brokering between two private companies! Drew’s trip to the far East had nothing to do with bringing this new business to Middletown no matter how it is spun. Big Lots is a US based company that buys surplus items from retail stores. Commenters online are already complaining that the store is low brow. You would think a company that buys and therefore keeps surplus goods out of landfills would be right up the granola folks' alley.

2. Months back Drew was quoted by the Mess in an article about ID Mail Systems, a company renting space in the Remington Rand building, as saying he played a key role in their new contract with new overseas clients. If you believe this tall tale about Pinnochio Boy, then you probably still believe he works a full day too.

3. Government surplus  property on Mile Lane was supposed to be transferred to the City by now since the process to do so was completed 6 years ago! Over a year ago Drew took the whole tax payer funded trip to visit congresswoman Red Rosa in DC. If this still is hanging out there taxpayers should ask for a refund.

4. Some Democrats are trying to say Lisa Santangelo was never a Registrar of Voters. She was never at City Hall. It was all a hologram by Republicans to make them look like they had an out of control she-dragon puppeting the mayor.

5. Got your water & sewer bill? Paying double but have not had an increase in usage? Hello anyone? W&S department is STILL FUBAR’d yet not even 1 of the 4 conscious councilmembers has brought up the report that was done a year ago stating the department was in shambles! Even Thelma & Louise have been quiet on the council floor lately (Kleckowski has offered to help those as part of WPCA, kudos for that). 

 You can crunch
 the numbers Salafia,
what happened to the 
finger shaking?
Come on!!

But ladies, we know you‘ve got your hands full babysitting the two boys, but come on- channel some Lisa & get all nasty up in there biatches!!!!

6. Councilman Pessina asked for a full report to see what could be done differently after the last freak snow storm that left many residents house bound while streets were left un plowed. Four months later, still no report! Must be filed with the Mayor's China report. Thanks buddy for following up on that!

7.  Republican Councilmen Pessina and Bibisi sold out their party by voting against the budget they helped write a year ago, and this year voted FOR a larger more costly government in merging legal & personnel. Pessina gave a speech ENDORSING the merger, & ANOTHER praising  Drew’s budget which includes HIGHER taxes! Pessina also wrote a letter basically endorsing the endorsement of  Rep. Lesser (D) by the teachers union. Phil, people are pretty sick of hearing “it’s is for the children.” If Pessina wanted to become waterboy for the other team he should have just said so.

8. How many tickets to the Mayor's ball will he need to comp (again) in order to make the post event photos look like enough people to fill the room actually showed up? Drew concocted some awards to give out so he is at least guaranteed 3 tables are filled by the recipients families. Do yourself a favor and just cut a check to St. Vincent DePaul Place & tailgate with us in the Elks parking lot, you'll have a better time. 

9. AGAIN! Residents are still receiving inaccurate water & sewer bills, which were all mailed late as well. The W&S audit over 18 months ago said we had a problem. How is this director still collecting a pay check? Oh wait Guy Russo is related to....

10. So the P&Z  Dept. "found" $30,000 extra bucks to reduce the cost of the Riverfront Study by consultants. Wesleyan is "giving" $10,000 to the study.  So the cost being asked for from the Common Council to pay for the study has gone from $75k to $35k. Did someone hire back Frechette to calculate this? What piece of the pie are we giving away to get this cash from WesU? 

11. Wesleyan has a boat launch. Xavier will have a boat launch. Fire and Police will now have an even bigger dock to launch boats. If a Middletown resident wants to put a dinghy in the water you will have to continue to drive to Portland or Haddam. Despite The PooPoo plant being decommissioned will citizens get river access? 

12. A year ago, didn't Mayor Drew whine to the Mess that he didn't know Acquitted By Reason of Insanity on Part of the Busted Judicial System David Messenger was up for his yearly appeal for early limited release from CVH? Didn't he & Councilman Zippy Santangelo, who works for CVH, concoct another lets scare-the-public-with-the-unlikely-release-of-another “psychotic violent criminal” Kenneth Ruggles? Last year Mayor Drew got all “tough” in a press release before the Ruggles hearing to distract from the fact he forgot ( was paling around with Dannel) to address the Messenger hearing.  Lisa you are slipping! Second year, second no action on Drew’s part.

13. Every year it seems Messenger gets an appeal hearing for early “supervised & limited release,” and the same players turn out.  A wise man once said if Messenger is released “I’ll staple a cop to his butt.” People forget the Rev. John Hall wanted Messenger to be able to attend First Church. Hall has since gotten a new gig as bike path czar at the non-profit Jonah Center for Earth, Art, Air, & Money. John so you abandoned your old pal? If Messenger gets out, we think he should live with you!

 14. Rumor had it everyone was laid off from NEAT. Now we hear there is a new acting director. Still no one can find a budget or list of board members on this non-profits website.  BTW, will the North End ever be saved from poverty making NEAT obsolete or is peace in the Middle East more likely? If I am a pent-house occupying - CEO of a non-profit making $600,000 you can guess my answer!

15. The definition of bi-partisanship is: 
“a political situation, usually in the context of a two-party system, in which opposing political parties find common ground through compromise, in theory. Realistically, each party advances their own political agenda at the expense of the other party because of the conflicting ideologies.” Councilmen Bibisi and Pessina take note: NOWHERE does it say ass-kiss, sell your soul to, get walked on by, compromise your morals for, abandon your constituents in favor of, or become the doormat of the other party.

16. When Drew can't bring himself to even FAKE being bipartisan & put Republicans on committees as he is by law supposed to do, he just has loyal D's change parties. Doesn't even matter they don't live in Middletown!

17. Rep. Matt Lesser is a member of the Connecticut Citizens Defense League a group that stands up for 2nd Amendment rights, yet he voted in favor for some of the strictest and most unconstitutional gun legislation in the country.

18.  Speaking of Matty and Danny, the Mayor's budget has cut out vaccines for Emergency Management crews, but put in a line item for bunk beds for the two bffs in the Mayor's office so they can chillax after late nights at Mezzo's.

19. Mayor Drew why are you chilling so much with Superintendent Charles? She's out giving speeches & scooping ice cream with you. First, Danno, get back in the office and do your job. Second, Charles has an honest soul from what we can tell, so stop trying to buy it cause we know how that goes with you guys the D's when it comes to superintendents...

Supreme Leaders Big Dannel & Lil Danny

20. Everyone wants to honor veterans, but the fact that Mayor Drew basically gave away Veteran’s Park to the Malloy backed Trees of Honor Memorial is a deal that people should find unsettling.  Why are veteran’s taking it laying down that Mayor Drew wants to shove the Vet’s Museum into a 2,100 sq. ft glorified shipping crate?? How come the idea of Trees of Honor Memorial was never before the Council? It’s a good one, so why not publicly vet it? Since when can the Mayor give land away all on his own?  

City Department Merger Passes 10-2 With Bi-Partisan Support

Tonight the Common Council held a special meeting to vote on the merging of a variety of City Departments as outlined in the report by the Mayor's Task Force on Government Efficiency. Part of the merger consolidates the Personnel and Legal departments. Previously this year, Drew proposed  a memorandum of understanding between the city and Board of Education to use city attorneys. The new merger also  calls for the hiring of a third City Attorney.

To change the make-up of City departments, the Middletown Charter calls for a 3/4 majority. To reverse the decision, a 3/4 majority would again be needed. The Council had the option of the adoption of a sunset clause to try the new organization out and have it automatically expire if it did not work and then re-adopt by re-vote should it be successful. The Council, however, did not choose to exercise this option.The Charter also says that the Personnel Director must preside over the meeting of the Personnel Review Committee, how this will be addressed with the supposed elimination of this position has yet to be determined. The former Personnel Director retired this past December, and in order for the newly appointed police chief to be implemented, the assistant Personnel Director was made active in order to hold the Personnel Committee to vet the candidate.

In an article in the Middletown Press by reporter Jim Salemi, Republican Town Committee chairman Ken McClellan was quoted in regards to the merger, he said
“This is not a merger you want to make. The legal and personnel departments should be independent so they can render independent opinions,” he said. “It puts personnel subject to legal department. They are two separate fields of responsibility, they should be independent.” 
The full article can be read here: 

McClellan also provided additional analysis we published here

The special meeting was not televised on cable access like more City Council meetings. Mayor Drew was quoted in the media stating that the merger will save the City money; the Insider has published a variety of opinion pieces and analysis detailing fallacies in this argument. Republican Councilmembers Deborah Kleckowski and Linda Salafia (Salafia wrote a previously published letter to the editor detailing her reasoning) were the two dissenting votes.  Democrat Majority Leader Tom Serra and Republican Minority Leader Phil Pessina each gave speeches endorsing the Mayor's planned merger. 

Earlier in the month, Republican Minority Leader endorsed the Mayor's budget which included a 3.3% increase in taxes when he introduced Mayor Drew at the March 28th press conference where he presented the 2013-2014  budget to the public.

During Mayor Drew's first term, taxes went up 3.8%. The 2012-2013 budget passed 10-2 also, with the two dissenting votes being Kleckowski and Salafia. Last year,the Republican Councilmembers drafted and proposed and alternative budget that would have not increased taxes to that degree, which when brought the floor, was voted against by Councilmembers Pessina and  Deputy Minority Leader Joe Bibisi.  The Common Council conducted a public meeting on Tuesday where citizens could comment on Drew's proposed budget.

The Council votes on the proposed budget on meeting May 15. 

The full budget as proposed by Mayor Drew is available for download on the City website in Revenue and Expenditure packages:
http://www.cityofmiddletown.com/filestorage/737/776/2014Budget_Revenue.pdf
http://www.cityofmiddletown.com/filestorage/737/776/2014Budget-Expenditure.pdf
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Editor's note:  Want to know more about the Government ReOrg?
Read the Insider Staff's analysis of the Government ReOrg here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/12/city-governmen-re-org-part-ii.html  
The misleading merge of City Legal & BOE Legal:http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/apple-oranges-boe-budget-hikes.html 
John Milardo spoke of the downsides of the Governmnet ReOrg in a previous Guest Blog piece here:://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/guest-blog-his-town.html
Councilmember Linda Salafia also comments on negative aspects here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/letter-editor-government-reorg-costly.html
Read the full report for yourself here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/12/mayors-task-force-on-efficiency-report.html

Is Council's Resolution Regarding 2nd Amendment & Sandy Hook Tragedy Political Puffery?

  

This was originally published in January and it being republished in light of the vote taking place today at the state capital to limit 2nd Amendment rights.

Mayor Drew and 5 of the 12 elected Common Councilmembers have drafted a resolution on behalf of the citizens and City of Middletown dedicated to Newtown in the wake of the shooting tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. In a previous post, reader Paul Dodge responded to Mayor Drew's statements regarding gun control. The letter is posted here:

Imagine you are in the receiving line at a funeral for one of the innocent children or adults who were murdered during the massacre and ask yourself if this is what you would say to their grieving parent or loved one? 

Is this the right message, with tinges of political puffery, or is it better to just say we are sorry for your unfathomable loss when there simply are no adequate words?

Resolution Dedicated to the Citizens of Newtown, CT.
Whereas, the CIty of Middletown joins with the families, friends, and loved ones and residents of Newtown, CT in their suffering and sorrow by the events at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012; and
Whereas, the City of Middletown wishes the residents of Newtown, CT to know that our hearts are broken by the senseless murder of innocent children, teachers and other adults due to a single disturbed individual; and
Whereas, the death of Twenty (20) children: Charlotte Bacon, 6; Daniel Barden,7; Olivia Engel, 6; Josephine Gay, 7; Ana M. Marquez-Greene,6; Dylan Hockley 6, 6; Madeliene F. Hsu, 6; Catherine V. Hubbard, 6; Chase Kowalski, 7; Jesse Lewis, 6; James Mattioloos, Avielle Richman, 6; Benjamin Wheeler, 6; Allison N. Wyatt, 6;and Six (6) adults: Ra, 30; Rachel Davino, 29; Dawn Hochsprung, 47, principal; Anne Marie Murphy, 52; Lauren Rousseau, 30; Mary Sherlach, 56; Victoria Soto, 27 were due to a combination of mental illness, ease of access to guns and ammunition, as well as the availability of high-capacity ammunition feeding devices and assault style weapons; and
Whereas, the statistics of violent and mass killing of children in the United States are staggering including 5,740 children from 2008-2009 or one child or teen every 3 hours or eight (8) per day, or fifty-five (55) per week for this two year period since 1982 there have been at least 62 mass murders with firearms across the United States (Assoc. Press; Canada.com; Mother Jones; Citizens Crime Commission of NYC): and
Whereas,  children ages 5-14 in the United States are 13 times more likely to be killed by guns as children in other industrialized countries (Harvard Injury Control Research Center); and
Whereas, the media, video game industry, gun industry and other corporations profit from a culture of violence in the United States of America and contribute to the desensitizing of our children  and society to violence and murder.
Now Therefore Be It Resolved By The Common Council of the City of Middletown: That we strongly urge our elected officials to change gun regulation laws to require background checks for all purchases of guns including at gun shows; ban on access to assault-style weapons, a ban on large capacity (10 or more) ammunition feeding devices; and
Be It Further Resolved: That we also urge the review of accessibility by minors to online and video games depicting violent and excessive fictional shooting of people and suggest that these types of games be treated in a similar manner as the selling of lottery tickets, alcohol, tobacco, and firearms; and
Be It Further Resolved: That during the deliberation and discussions of these important and contributing issues, that we, as Community Leaders, work in collaboration with our elected officials to take holistic and sensitive approach in addressing the issues centered around the protection, love, and support for all of our children and youth, who look to us for guidance, awareness and protection; and
Be It Further Resolved: That this resolution be sent to Senator Richard Blumenthal, Senator Christopher Murphy, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Congressman Joseph Courtney, Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty, COngressman John Larson, Middletown's state delegation and the First Selectwoman of Newtown, CT, and we urge other Connecticut citites , towns and municipalities to adopt similar Resolutions.

Submitted by Councilman Ronald P. Klattenberg, Deputy Majority Leader, (D)
Councilman Thomas J. Serra, Majority Leader (D)
Councilman Gerald E. Daley (D)
Councilwoman Hope P. Kasper (D)
Councilman Phillip J. Pessina, Minority Leader (R)