The Power of Bauer: Candidate Declines Endorsement, Clarifies Position on Former Councilmens' Performance

Former Councilman David Bauer seeks re-election

In an article published yesterday in the Hartford Courant three term Councilman seeking re-election this November, David Bauer elaborated on his decision to decline the endorsement from the Realistic Party of Middletown. Bauer was nominated to the Middletown Republican slate as a Council candidate, and in the Courant article,  he discusses his wishes to focus on being part of the GOP slate.

The Courant quotes Bauer as follows: "I am pleased and confident that the Republican slate has such a commitment, and they are the team I wish to associate with."

Republican Town committee executive board members  party Chairman Ken McClellan and vice Chair William Wilson, have said in various public forums that they, and the nominating committee for 2013 GOP candidates, no longer agreed with views held by Pessina and Bibisi. 

Bauer gave a letter to decline the Realistic Balance nomination to the Town Clerk earlier this week to have his name removed from the RB line on the ballot, the letter reads: 

"I was pleased to run on the Realistic Balance Party ticket in 2011 when there was a bipartisan selection of candidates. Sadly, the character of this year's Realistic Balance candidates is dominated by the inclusion of candidates Joseph Bibisi and Philip Pessina.

I was part of the Middletown Republican Town Committee selection process that rejected both Phil and Joe's application to the GOP slate. My personal reason to reject their applications was my disappointment in their performance in the current term of the Common Council. 

Philip Pessina and Joseph Bibisi hold the minority leadership positions, so they must take responsibility that the council minority did not advance a single resolution to the council agenda in the entire term, and rarely, if ever, even met in caucus. They let the council majority do all the work of the council, and simply postured their opinions on the majority's legislative resolutions. 

An entire third of the council was rendered ineffective, and I consider that unacceptable. The council minority did show up at meetings, but they showed up empty-handed. 

If our local government is to work its best, all our elected officials have to work. I am pleased and confident that the Republican slate has made such a commitment, and they are the team I wish to associate with, and they are the team I hope the Middletown Voters will support on November 5th. 

We will reward your trust with hard work and innovative legislation to improve Middletown's services and financial stability in a sustainable manner, insuring that the 'checks and balances' that make our democracy so great, are consistently there the entire term."

An article in the Middletown Patch also elaborates on Bauer's position to run solely as part of the GOP team.

New Entry Way to Tunnel to Riverfront Closed Until Completion

Designed by local  Middletown  resident & Architect Lee Osborne, the new structure at the entry way of the tunnel located in Melilli Plaza that runs under  Route 9 going into interstate 91 to the river front was open for the Fourth of July celebrations, but,  now temporarily closed until all the finishing touches are complete. These include painting the railings and security cameras. The structure was paid for by grant money  at a cost of $675,000 in order to make the tunnel to the park handicap accessible. The City had applied for this grant about six years ago during the previous administration, and now the hard work has come to fruition. The slopes of the long ramps now comply with the American Disabilities Act meeting regulations that allow for safe use by persons in wheel chairs. Frequently the tunnel is subject to graffiti and because of the shelter it provides, the homeless use this as a place to sleep out of the elements. The drains in the tunnel which are in place to help floods reside, have become targets of people urinating in the tunnel. New security cameras and additional lighting seek to eliminate this problem. 

The tunnel, open over the weekend, has been locked from the gate at the park side entrance. The grant did not cover work inside the tunnel, however the tunnel has received a new coat of paint.Ironically, we started a draft of the same topic before we saw the article on Patch. Please find additional details about the security cameras is provided in a great article by Cassandra Day at Middletown Patch: http://middletown-ct.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/harbor-park-walkway-tunnel-closed-for-electrical-work

Please see our pictures below of views inside the new structure.

Walls with built in lighting inside new ramp structure at riverfront tunnel entry

Handicap Accessible ramp.

Clerestory looking up inside the new structure at Melilli Plaza leading to tunnel under the highway.

Letter to the Editor: Response to Mayor Drew's Stance on Gun Control

   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.

  Below is a letter to the editors of the Insider in response to Mayor Dan Drew's statements in the Middletown Patch regarding his feelings on gun control in regards to the Sandy Hook shooting tragedy. Read Drew's statements here: http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/mayor-drew-it-s-time-for-ban-on-semiautomatic-weapons 
All letters to the editor are published as a courtesy to readers, and opinions expressed/ claims made may or may not be shared by Middletown Insider editors.
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     This reply is written in response to Mayor Drew's position points in supporting a ban on semiautomatic weapons as a deterrent to future heinous crimes.I applaud his interest in joining other Mayor's,nationally,I believe the argument is best supported by using a multi-pronged approached,not just weapons restrictions.I am referring to the lack of institutions to care for the mentally disturbed,as well as a revision of senseless violent video and computer games coming from Hollywood,etc.This country has many gun restriction laws on the books, as evidenced by assault weapons legislation written by Vice President Biden that has gone unenforced as of 2004!

As to Newtown.......In my opinion what averted further bloodshed was the fact that armed law enforcement was closing in on Adam and that is when he took his own life,because they were armed!

The NRA can easily make the case for semiautomatic weapons as being mandatory for small business owners in high crime areas.

A Comprehensive Corrective Plan of action has to include:
1.better enforcement of existing gun laws,2.Mental Institutions have to be allowed to keep violent offenders,as well as those who "threaten society" longer than a three-week observation period!!,and 3.impose controls over violent video games,etc,and not only by adopting ratings.

Please do not fall into the trap of more gun control Laws that cannot be enforced.

Paul Dodge
Middletown

Middletown School Propoganda: For the Children or Waste of Money?

Existing App for News from MPS

Blue Prints is a student run newspaper at Middletown High School and has been for over a decade.Blue Prints is a Gold Medallist winner from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association. The newspaper, run entirely by students, is funded through local advertisers. According to the Middletown public schools website "it  is a traditional newspaper to inform, entertain, and serve as open forum for student/community opinion."

Are there still not enough ways to find out MPS news?

It was run for years by teacher Jim Bransfield during his tenure at Middletown High. Bransfield also was a featured sports writer for the Middletown Press and celebrated announcer at Palmer Field for many years. Bransfield, now retired from being a high school politics teacher, is  now a para-educator at the Board of Education. Patch a subsidiary of AOL-Time Warner run by editor and veteran journalist Cassandra Day. Patch features blog articles by guest writers and some paid staff bloggers. The Insider find the Patch of the most unbias media publications in Middletown, and a refreshing alternative to other blogs and papers.

Is there really anyone against education?

 In the past few weeks, various feel good articles touting Middletown Public Schools many activities and accomplishments have popped up on Patch written by Bransfield. See an example here: http://middletown-ct.patch.com/announcements/mhs-dance-team-wins-state-title-again The writing quality of Bransfield is unquestionably superb, we at the Insider recognize that, hear- but is this expense needed? The BOE is paying to toot it's own horn.

 However, the question is why are these not being written by students such as those writing for Blue Prints? The board of education is paying a professional writer, who happens to be Bransfield, to write these press releases and attend the events. Is this a  necessary communication tool to the community?

Each school principal produces a parent newsletter available on the Middletown Public Schools website of good things happening at each school on a monthly basis, so why not use this information? 

Is the BOE really spending taxpayer money wisely paying a professional writer to produce propoganda? If it is for the children, how does this help their education when it seems an opportunity to have students write being squandered?

Letter to the Editor: Senator Murphy Does Understand Rules of Public Forum

Letter to the Editor, send to us by William Boylan, Also published first on Patch:

http://middletown-ct.patch.com/blog_posts/roberts-rule-of-order-assassinated-by-senator-aa8a0d3cto

All letters to the editor do not necessarily reflect the views of the Middletown Insider staff and are published as a courtesy to readers.

Videos referenced by Palin Smith :

http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5wsVsNCEygpvYrZOsToQokY7jhvSi9ip

I saw a notice about Senator Murphy's “town hall” in the Manchester JI and noticed the quotation marks around "town hall".  (lot of noticing, here)  Well, the quotation marks are appropriate, because this was anything but a town hall meeting; it was more like a lecture. 

Questions had to be written down in ahead of time and were screened by an aid.  The aid read a question and Sen. Murphy followed by rambling on for several minutes, never directly answering the question, nor allowing any followup.  The name of the questioner was never given, so we don't even know for certain if the questions actually came from people at the meeting!

After about 45 min. of this, someone got up and objected to the format, pointing out that this wasmore like a lecture than a town hall meeting; that, there was no back and forth, no follow up, etc.

At this point, the audience became animated and vocal, joining in the objection.  At this point, Mayor Leo Diana got up and lectured those in attendance, shaking his finger and scolding them for having the audacity to speak their minds! 

This caused folks to become even more animated and vocal, (finally adding some interest to the dull, boring event), as the mayor was treating them like children!   He then threatened to have people removed by police, who, mysteriously showed up about ten minutes later. Talk about contempt for the People; how dare they have the audacity to speak out!

Murphy said, "I'm not trying to shut down debate, here, . . . the reasons why we had this forum . . . there are a lot of other things people want to talk about in an open forum like this . . ." THIS WAS NOT AN OPEN FORUM, AT ALL. IT WAS A LECTURE BASED ON SCREENED QUESTIONS SELECTED BY HIS AID.

My idea of a town hall meeting is people standing up, looking the senator in the eye, asking their questions and getting a straight answer back while being looked in the eye, along with input, interjection from others in attendance, and follow up.

If Mayor Diana can't take the political heat, he should stay out of the political kitchen.  And Senator Murphy should study history to learn what a town hall meeting is really all about or start billing these events more honestly.  A town hall meeting should be fluid, dynamic, animated and passionate, not canned, sterile and scripted.

William Boylan, Middletown CT

Middletown Digs Out: Blizzard 2013

Middletown received around 36" inches of snow Friday night into Saturday morning. Luckily, there have been no reported casualties in the area. Staff at the Insider would like to thank the Public Works Department, first responders, fire departments, police, dispatchers, and all others involved in the clean up that is taking place around the clock as we speak.



reader submitted photo of City plows.

reader submitted, high drifts

reader submitted photo, person is 6 ft- snow very high

Little information has come from the Mayor's office as what strategy was followed or what is going on. Nothing on the city website at this time gives any clue, until a post today at 3:30 today. It appears this storm is not as bad as far as power outages & ice as the 2011 snow storm which left many without power  for up to five days. Other towns have updates on local news networks and their city websites, but so far little communication other than a robo call late this afternoon has emerged. , Mayor Drew spoke with Patch editor Cassandra Day and says all roads should be cleared by the end of today. Many residents have reported that their streets have not been plowed at all- over 50 comments have been posted to that article & we have received dozens of emails.

  Downtown is plowed, with a snow pile down the center line of the street being over fifteen feet in height. Several payloaders are loading snow and digging out parking stalls & sidewalks along Main Street. Middletown Public Works have plowed the parking garage adjacent to the courthouse. Residents report that Carabetta's truck (owners of the apartment complexes) sent to plow out Woodbury Circle and Summer Hill  got stuck on the city road into the complex and is unable to be towed out. Several  neighborhoods such as Julia Terrace, Long Hill Estates, Milardo Lane, Lawn Ave., Bailey Road, Maromas, Smith Street, Windy Hill, Cranberry Lane,Brush Hill area, Coleman Rd., and dozens of others have not been plowed. Main arteries close to the city center such as High Street, South & East Main, Randolph Road, Saybrook Road, Russel Ave., Middle Street, Newfield, Washington, and Main were cleared first, with off-shoots remaining unplowed until today. Highways are cleared allowing those who commute outside of the city to go to work on Monday that is if they can get to the highways. Whether all local roads will be passable is still a concern for many at this time.



Blogger SteadyJohn, Washington Street view.

Needless to say, tensions among citizens are running high and reports from City Yard say snow plow drivers are exhausted, but managing and doing the best they can. We appreciate the effort from the plow drivers and encourage readers to be patient. Help your neighbors & stay safe. The Patch reported that the City has two snow plow trucks broken down. In the Patch articles,  In comments on the Patch, people are saying that the City declined to hire private contractors  in anticipation of the storm, that is why things are taking longer than they could have because of staffing levels, others say the delay is shear volume of snow and no amount of preparedness could have changed the outcome. Still others contend because central Connecticut typically does not get this much snow, unlike say Rochester NY or northern Massachusetts, and local equipment is unable to handle this volume of snow - more continuous efforts would have been futile.

readers submitted photo

reader submitted photo

reader submitted, Woodbury Circle unplowed.

reader submitted photo

A message from Councilwoman Kleckowski's (who sits on the Public Safety Committee) facebook page: Good Morning! I have received all your texts, emails and phone calls about your concerns that your roads are not plowed. I have contacted Mayor Drew. Please try to be a bit more patient. I will forward to you any information. Be safe!  Councilwoman Deborah Kleckowski

Many citizens have reported to us that they did not hear plows at all until Sunday or have still yet to see them in their neighborhood. Some criticize that if plows had run continuously throughout Friday night, instead of waiting til the end of the storm as it appears according to residents' accounts we received, they believe things could have gone smoother.  In a robo call at 3:35 pm Sunday, Mayor Drew told residents in the recording that plows have been running since Friday morning around the clock, 85% of streets are cleared, and  he asked everyone to stay off the streets until further notice.

Brush Hill neighborhood, reader submitted

 In Mayor Drew's latest statements on the City website and to Patch he blames pedestrians and  people not obeying the City parking ban as to why clean up has taken longer than expected.
 Bottom line: there is 36 inches of snow out there and no place to put it!  Certainly, a post analysis is called for.

Readers: Please send us your snow photos: middletowninsider@gmail.com.
What do you think of the clean up strategy? Post a comment here or on the Patch articles:
 http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/snow-4a1ad139

Thank you to Patch Editor Cassandra Day for the on-going coverage- 7 pm.UPDATE: Mayor Drew has stated to Patch 100% of streets are passable at this time. http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/s-ced44c1f#photo-13325207

The City of Middletown Office of Emergency Management's facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Middletown-CT-Office-of-Emergency-Management/456465817737649
Last message from OEM: "Attention: Middletown Residents please bear with the plowing, any further question or comment please contact 860-347-2848"

John Milardo: City Officials & Mayor Drew Rehearsed Statements

Also appearing on Middletown Patch  here: http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/milardo-letter & and as part of John Milardo's latest edition of his newsletter "And Justice for All." Milardo's previous edition touching on a variety of problematic topics is featured here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/guest-blog-his-town.html.  We previously covered the story of Mayor Drew loosing his cool at PRC here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/mayor-drew-losses-his-cool-at-prc.html
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"Which is it?"
by John Milardo

About three years ago, when I was the union president of the Middletown Managers & Professionals Association, someone called to inform me that the city of Middletown was getting ready to privatize the sanitation district trash and recycling collections performed by employees of the public works department.

This was the first time anyone I knew had heard this news. It would have affected MMPA members, so I began to investigate and ask some questions of the finance department.
The finance department informed me that the sanitation division was $250,000 in the red, and it was only going to get worse. When asked how long the deficit had been going on, the finance department could only say they were just made aware of the situation.

Upon further investigation, I was told that a local private trash collection company was ready to sign a contract with the city and take over the sanitation division's collection routes. Employees would then be either transferred or laid off from work. I set up a meeting with the finance director to look into the matter, to find out how this could have happened.

When the meeting took place, I was told it was a false alarm! Someone had made some accounting errors, and not only was there $500,000 in the fund balance, but the division also had plenty of funding in the capitol account for the purchase of new trash and recycling trucks for the next five years. That’s a $750,000 mistake. No contract to privatize was signed.

Why am I bringing this up now? I’ll tell you why. On Jan. 22, at the monthly Personnel Review Commission meeting, the public works director was requesting to have the Teamsters Local 671 manager position in the sanitation division changed to add truck driving route duties, and eliminate the AFSCME, Local 466, truck driver who now performs the work.

Tony Lepore, business agent for Teamsters, Local 671, objected to the change. When the assistant superintendent of sanitation job was created, the intent of the driving duties listed in the job description were strictly for supervisory purposes (a pickup truck), as had always been the case with all the past supervisors who held this position in one form or another. The position manages employees, complaints, problems, and the district.

The public works director stated he was performing his due diligence in looking to save money in the sanitation division, because the division is having financial problems, and it could not handle the increase in wages to fill a vacancy. At one point, the director stated if he knew the existing job description contained driving duties in it, he would have had the retiring assistant superintendent of sanitation drive a trash route all along.

Mayor Daniel Drew was in attendance at the meeting, and he concurred with the director. They needed to save money or pass the increase onto the sanitation district taxpayers. The director also stated if the Teamsters did not agree with the proposed language change in job duties, he would have to inform sanitation users that an increase was coming and it was due to the Teamsters. Mayor Drew nodded in agreement with the statement. Is that a responsible action by local leaders?

Teamsters Business Agent Lepore began to speak regarding the issue, when for no reason the mayor laughed at him. Lepore called the mayor on it, and didn’t let him get away with it. A lively one-way discussion ensued. The mayor's behavior only leads me to believe he probably did behave improperly at the last PRC meeting to Commissioner Deborah Kleckowski.

The mayor called for a recess to meet with his new city attorney and the deputy city attorney. They came back in the room and the mayor withdrew the assistant superintendent of sanitation job description change from the agenda.

He stated the existing language gives him the authority to order the employee to do the work, and he did not care about what the intent was regarding driving duties for the job when it was originally approved. Both the Teamsters and AFSCME labor organizations stated they will file charges.
You could tell the mayor and public works director had practiced their testimony together. Statements that stood out at the meeting to me; the director stating he did not know what duties were entailed within a job description in his own department. This is the most basic knowledge any supervisor/manager needs to know. The statement made by the director that the sanitation division could not absorb the increase in their salary account to hire a vacant driver position is not correct.

First of all, both the assistant superintendent of sanitation and the truck driver position are 100-percent funded with the existing budget. There was no additional cost to the sanitation district taxpayers, the money is already there.
Secondly, because of my past experience with the sanitation divisions accounting practices, I later checked with the finance department, and the sanitation division is in great financial shape, and has been for the past few years.

John Milardo
“And Justice For All” is a newsletter involving the opinions, views, and commentary as a lifelong Middletown resident. In my capacity as a former employee of Middletown (retired) for more than 41 years, I have a different perspective regarding how and why public figures do what they do.
https://docs.google.com/file/d/1RDeTx8hfRH2p18W7M9yN4wKJU0Byal-VkKJo1nfT5Yim1Orvk0kClxZx7YLq/edit?usp=sharing 

Kleckowski Has Independent Voter Support

To the Editor:
     I should point out that one of the reasons I am an Independent is that I agree with different points on both sides. As a member of Middletown’s Independent Party, I was in attendance at the meeting when my party voted in favor of endorsing Deborah Kleckowski for State Representative of the 100th District over the incumbent.
     In her acceptance, Deb said, “This nomination is important because I believe the issues are community-based and not party-based and we all need to work to ensure the problems that we face are reconciled through solutions and not party ideology.”
     These are my sentiments exactly. Deb is a Middletown taxpayer and homeowner. She is the mother of twin boys, and her husband, Tom, is a small business owner in Middletown, and a Navy veteran.
     Deb is in touch with the day-to-day issues that we all face each day. Deb is a two-term councilwoman and holds a job as an adjunct professor at Middlesex Community College. Deb volunteers her time as an advocate for Middletown residents like you and me.
     I’m voting for Deb Kleckowski because she actively supports suspension of the state’s early prison release program and she actively supports reduction of the state tax on gasoline.
     Deb was on the forefront, relentlessly pursuing the Middletown Board of Education in regards to the “scream rooms” as well as the debacle of the BOE's financial well-being.
     During Storm Alfred, Deb placed her political hat aside and did right by the citizens of Middletown by volunteering diligently at the shelter at Middletown High School. After spending hours at the shelter she still persevered in keeping up with her job at MXCC, her family needs and her duties as a councilwoman.
     Deb Kleckowski is a huge advocate for special needs students and their families.  It is one thing to “be on” and/or “support” an education committee. It is another to “act on” ones principles and get the job done like Deb does!

     Now I know that there are a few organizations within Middletown who have backed Deb’s opponent, even though it was Deb who was the one that went to bat for them. To this I simply say, when you vote, consider whether you want someone who will help you get things done or just support the effort?
     We need a representative for the 100th District who understands the issues Middletown residents are concerned with and who will go to bat for them regardless of party politics.
     If you want fiscal responsibility, vote for Deb Kleckowski. If you want a person who is a true advocate for her constituents, vote for Deb Kleckowski! As a resident of Middletown, I for one would be honored to be one of Deb’s constituents.
     Respectfully,
Christine Carta, Middletown, Independent Party member

Letter to the Editor: Endorsement Article Portrays Vets' Orgs Inaccurately

 Ken McClellan reacts to an article on the Middletown Patch Blog originally titled "Connecticut Senate Race: Middletown Vets Praise Chris Murphy's Record." The title was subsequently amended. McClellan himself is a veteran and also chairman of the Middletown Republican Town Committee

Some may read this article and get the impression that veterans' organizations have endorsed Chris Murphy. This is not accurate. While individual members of the Democratic Town Committee may have served in the Armed Forces, and they may support Chris Murphy, but you should not give the impression that veterans' organizations are endorsing or supporting any candidate. Veterans' organizations, such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Disabled American Veterans do not support or endorse any candidates for any elected office, and support by individuals who may belong to one of those organizations should not be attributed to 'Veterans'. In fact, the gentleman wearing the American Legion cap in the photo is violating Legion policy by doing so at a partisan political event.
I would appreciate it if you would change the headline, and not give the impression that military veterans as a group are supporting a candidate for elected office.

Ken McClellan
Commander
Council of Veterans of Middletown

It's ok to Hate & Persecute Conservatives

We can all agree racial and religious discrimination is wrong,
but how are we taught to treat others with differing political views?

A few months ago, the Insider published some right wing  and left wing propaganda that had been circulating around facebook to generate discussion. As a result- one of our anti-fans published a essay in the local Patch blog telling the world the Insider advocated hate  in an exaggerated essay titled "Local Blog Advocates Ignorance & Hate". At the Insider, we are in fact fans of the Middletown Patch and Editor Cassandra Day. Day does a fairly good job of covering both sides of the local political spectrum; a lesson the local print papers won't ever seem to learn. The fore mentioned piece pretty much didn't phase us one bit- after all its free speech (albeit nonsensical); in fact it helped spike our readership! The issue continues in the media. When right-leaning folks offer a critical view point of opposing views in a analytical comparison or comical way, as done on this blog for example, it's almost always considered mean spirited & mud slinging. On the contrary,  a piece slamming a GOP politician or believe system it is accepted as fact so much so that readers rarely raise an eye brow- a double standard clearly exists that most readers aren't even aware of.  Read the piece below. After you are done substitute in the names of President Obama and VP Biden. Now what is the tone and your general reaction? If doing this exercise you are disturbed you may be prejudice towards conservatives and not even be aware. 

http://middletown-ct.patch.com/blog_posts/how-empathic-is-your-psychiatrist-is-the-republican-party-the-anti-empathy-party

After the primary the Insider made a joke (ok, not a great joke) about losing Democratic candidate Susan Bysiewicz's platform  which was based on the "every woman" tactic to liken herself to the middle class. The reaction to this comment on our facebook page from friends was astounding.From the reaction one would think  we attacked a patron saint or tripped Mother Teresa, clubbed a baby seal or something. In actuality, a intelligent discussion thread resulted. The above article makes a MASS generalization about conservative citizens as inferior HUMAN beings. Most comments thus far listed below it condone this. Cue the crickets. In grade school, American students are all taught racial, religious, gender, cultural etc etc discrimination is wrong. But what about discrimination based on how one perceives authority and government - how one believes society should function- ie political beliefs. What does this say about what we are teaching our children about tolerance of others with different thought processes? Should we all behave and not be critical?  Or, should be all grow a thicker skin? Many conclusions can be drawn.

On August 17, 2012 cartoonist Bob Englehart of Middletown published a cartoon in the Hartford Courant calling  GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan "Mitt & Twitt." He also writes: "The great thing about moderates and liberals is that they can change their minds after learning new information, or understanding justice and fairness.Conservatives cannot, under any circumstance, change their minds. The old way is the best way, every man for himself, I got mine and nobody helped me, now you get yours the same way;  you failed, it's your own damn fault. What a wonderful world it would be."

Englehart  is a talented, clever guy and we would never deny him his right to free speech. Maybe he will do a guest cartoon for the Insider some day? Doubtful . But there is a point: Englehart basically eludes to, and says with out saying that the reader should conclude Conservative minded people are stupid and inferior-  conservatives  cannot process simple thoughts such as drawing different conclusions- ie changing of ones mind. If the Insider say, said this about liberals would there be no reaction? Would a cartoon of a parody of the Obama name with a certain like sounding middle-eastern name be as funny and acceptable?

Though D's and R's have different view points as far as government structure- and really when you get down to it the driving force behind this is how money should be spent-( it is what makes the world go round) are we that different to be so divided? The Insider concludes that both groups love their families, value community, and are charitable- just in different ways. We checked to find research done by a credible academic group on whether 'mud slinging' campaign tactics used by candidates has produced any relevant general conclusions  The only conclusion we could find was that  it is a case by case situation without any general rules being discovered. There is a phrase "mud slinging is as American as apple pie." There is also the phrase "two wrongs don't make a right." Most voters have said they do not like candidates who mud slinging, however, the average person, we think can't tell the difference when facts are skewed in subtle ways by the main stream media; especially when in local media a clear practice of prejudice against conservatives in Middletown has been a common practice for years.

The question is - should we all behave or is there room for the mud to fly?

As seen on Patch: Our Children Deserve more than a Food stamp Future

An essay reposted from Middletown Patch blog as seen here

Candidate Wayne Winsley will hold a meet and greet at  Saturday August 18^th10:00am till Noon At Michael’s Gourmet Deli 83 Broad Street Middletown, CT 06457 Meet the future Congressman for CT’s 3^rd District. 

In his own words Winsley writes:

Incumbent DeLauro often repeats the phrase, “One in seven families in the third district are food challenged, which means they are often unsure where their next meal is coming from.”

Her answer to this dilemma after having over two decades to work on it is to offer more food stamps.

My solution is to create an environment where small and medium-sized businesses can grow in Connecticut and where more large businesses want to move into and not out of Connecticut so that more citizens can get off the dole and onto a full-time payroll. Then they can buy their own food and everything else they need want and desire.  

As someone who has used the safety net personally, including food stamps, I can tell from first-hand knowledge that while the safety is good and necessary to help those in need of help, there is not a single government program that has ever made a single person financially independent or entirely self-sufficient.

Our children can see this and even they have figured out that, “while the government can help you get by, you have to do something else if you want to rise up.”

Our children deserve the opportunity to rise up and embrace the promise of America.

Our children deserve more than the dead-end career paths of the social welfare system of the criminal justice system.

I will work hard to change the current attitude in Washington and in Hartford that talks about loving jobs while showing hate for job creators. 

Incumbent DeLauro, after more than two decades of ineffective occupation of the people’s seat in the third district, continues to offer nothing but empty rhetoric about free diapers a promise of more food stamps.

My vision is to help more of our citizens from food stamps to full-time jobs.

My goal is a strong America rebuilt on independence and productivity.

I believe our children deserve more than a food stamp future.

As your next representative, I - Wayne Winsley - will work hard to serve the citizens of the Third Congressional with forthrightness, honor, and integrity.

Happy Mother's Day: Scroomin Student & Dan Drew Does Your Mother

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZZuy_mqIY4

The Insider couldn't resist, even though many have already seen this video. In 2002 while a student at Uconn, Mayor Dan Drew appeared on the O'Reilly Factor defending the use of student funds toward funding an student run tv show called "I Did Your Mother." Many say he holds himself quite well up against up tv heavy weight Bill O'Reilly, however, one cannot ignore the fact that Drew claims free speech and the first amendment should protect such as show, yet misses the point entirely - almost like that of the missing $1 Million of BOE money - that money from a public university is being used to pay for the sexist & foul humored broadcast which was protested by other students at Uconn at the time, as O'Reiley points out several times during the interview.  A week ago a Wesleyan student made the papers because he got high on scrooms and wandered naked into a Middletown resident's home, tried to open a door, and exposed themselves to the minor child inside, that it is things like this that & the support of such an incident by other students as a "learning experience" on local blogs doesn't help the situation. Various news sources dispute whether the student was nude on the porch or in the street, and degree of nudity. Bottom line is he was high and tried to enter a person's home &; was disruptive enough police needed to tase him. This student was not charged with risk of injury to a minor, indecent exposure, breaking and entering, under the influence of drugs in public, no- he was ONLY charged with trespassing. If the situation were somehow reversed- how do you think a townie would be treated if he or she wandered into a dorm nude and high and a Wesleyan student under 18 were present? You can bet University President Michael Roth would be on the phone with Middletown police to have this person prosecuted to the fullest extent after fielding calls from angry parents. 

The Insider's point is that it is situations like this when illogical conclusions are reached for seemingly straight forward events, which then fuel the stereotyping of townies by Wes students and vice versus. We say treat everyone the same period, and maybe we can all get along and share Middletown- 

Let's agree on one thing first: Legally, once you are over the age of 18 you can vote and fight in a war, so the adage of "he was just a kid" doesn't cut it in our book for scroom man or Dan Drew as depicted above. Ok, maybe the Insider could excuse Drew's behavior on this show if say college was 20 years ago for him, and he had grown up a lot since, however, college ended for Dan was only a handful of years ago!


So Happy Mother's Day from the Insider! Happy Mother's Day to Councilwoman Debra Kleckoski who was kicked out of the local Democratic party when she had her children, but has kicked-butt ever since as a Republican, to Councilwoman Hope Kasper, who got her son-in-law Josh Berger a cushy job at the BOE when she was on the hiring committee & keeps trying to get herself free parking, to Lisa Santangelo, Godmother of the local Democratic Town Committee ;  to Union Mama and former 466 vice president Councilwoman Linda Salafia who shakes her finger at Mayor Dan Drew and scolds him properly on the Council floor & continues to do so when needed (which is often), to Izzi Greenberg of NEAT for keeping the North end tidy, to new mom Councilwoman Mary Bartolotta, it's nice the Dem's didn't can you like they did Deb, to Hot Mama Christine"Tell It Like It Is" Bourne- girl has some spunk!, Deb Bagley of Catales, Kitty Mama,  to P&;Z Commissioner Beth Emery- Bicycle Mama, to BOE member Cheryl McClellan- Millitary Mama, to Cassandra Day,  Patch Blog Mama, Brenda Wilson, Child Advocate Mama of the local Ryan Woods Foundation, to Nancy Haynes, &; Barbara Senges  at the BOE you both worked with Michael Frechette, whom only a mother could love (yet we cannot find any students' mothers who do), and to all the Middletown Mom's-
 THE INSIDER SOLUTES YOU! Happy Mother's day and thanks for keepin' all of us Middletowners in check!