Free Movie on Foss Hill! Frozen by Mayor's Youth Cabinet

Middletown Day at Wesleyan Football Game

Public Discussion on Middletown History Today at Wesleyan

Press Release: http://wesleying.org/2013/05/09/first-friday-middletown-history/#more-103018
The final First Friday program, sponsored by the Center for Community Partnerships, will feature the students in Ron Schatz’s Middletown History service-learning course. The event will take place on Friday, May 10th at 4:30 PM in Room 004 of Wesleyan’s Allbritton Center, located at 222 Church St. All Wesleyan and Middletown community members are welcome to attend.

The students presenting and their subjects are as follows:

• Ross Levin ’15: the 1912 strike at Russell Manufacturing Company
• Earl Lin ’15: Mayor Stephen Bailey’s urban renewal plan
• Adam Marcu ’13: the workmen in Portland’s brownstone quarries
• Kyle Roosa ’13: late 19th-century Middletown philanthropy
• Zachary Vinci ’15: Middletown’s patriots in the Revolutionary War
• Yanru Wang ’13: the establishment of Middletown High School in the 1840s

What: First Friday talk on Middletown History
When: Friday, May 10, 4:30 p.m.
Where: Room 004 Allbritton Center (222 Church St)

Corruption, Ellen, St. Francis and other Rublings or Who Got Paid for Midnight on Main.

Rumblings Part II

Holy Smokes! Joe forgot to back in the 'ole' boy.

Corruption in the Public Sector-  Are we talking about the famous Community Health Center run by Ernst Starvo Blofeld  or in this case Mark “I love my bowtie” Masselli.  This man  banks a lot of capital on your dime folks?

That’s right the taxpayaers of this fine city are paying for Mark’s  trips to the Olympics and other festivals all in the name of  WHAT?  Why did he have to go to TIBET or the Olympics? Let’s get real.  Perhaps he was finding medical supplies for the CHC in the mountains of TIBET or getting hockey puck samples at the winter Olympics.  

The spin has already started, in the commentary section of The Insider and  other fine (biased) blogs in town a few folks wrote to say:

  “Mark started a company many years ago to help those  in need that need health care.” 

Really?  Did he use his own money to do that or did he create a non-profit company that allowed him to be tax exempt and award himself a huge salary of his own.?  You know the answer to that one folks.  BIG BUCKS

The only way to expose this type of corruption is from the outside or to utilize people who are not involved in the magical circle of public sector corruption. Translation: bring in The Untouchables.

The problem with public sector corruption is that everyone who is in a position to clean it up has to get his or her own hands dirty to get there. That's the "dirty little secret". Everyone is dirty, so nobody can blow the whistle without being implicated themselves. Which is why the light has to be shined from the outside, i.e. The Insider.

SAFER GRANT- Remember how Dan Drew was all overthe Italian mayor about hiring cops when he debated Giuliano a few years back? Drew in fact railed against Giuliano for not taking the SAFER grant!  One reason Giuliano did not pursue SAFER was because the City would then have to cover the total sum of the salaries of the new law enforcement hired under the grantonce the grant ran out after two years. Well, it seems Drew is doing the old cop shuffle himself.  The boy king who backs into his stall, has opted out of keeping on the SAFER grants, a program that will allow Middletown to hire a few extra Police and Firemen.  If one goes back and views the three debates, Dan mentioned numerous times that our city needed more cops and emergency management personnel and he would be the 'man' to deliver those folks to Middletown.  On April 4, 2013 the tides have changed and Drew is quietly letting the SAFER grant go without hiring anybody new in fire and police.   I can see the comments now, “A SAFER grant only pays for an employee for two years and then the town is on its own and has to come with said employee's salary.” So what! Dan Drew promised to bring in more cops and said he would get the job done.  I think not.  He also promised to lower taxes.  Spin that one, High Street doorknockers!

Random Thoughts-  Perhaps the people that are suing the city after the double whammy denial at the Planning and Zoning Committee should focus on a few important issues that are plaguing the town:

A)   Villagers, please help the food pantry- Those people really need help, but yet, most of  you like the MK-Ultra Zombies that you are want to please your master and help Blue House LLC make money.  Think about it, why couldn’t the master pay for the anti-Middletown lawyer himself?  He has the money, but  he wants you, the MK-ULTRA followers to pay the money for his Kurtz like journey into madness.   

B)  Perhaps the village district can get together and send Ellen DeGeneres a letter and request that she stop dancing on the program. Enough is enough.

C)   Question of the day:  What notable (rich) members of the  Middletown elite were paid for their services on New Year’s Eve at the Middnight on Main event?   The town elders were yapping about “giving it up for the community” or stating that , “being a volunteer is a great thing,” while taking city money for the event. The liberal rich get richer:  I love the smell of fresh MOOLA in the morning! Money that is! There' a lot of money in liberalism. Don't deny it ED4ED or MM.

D)   Token Republican- The roster of the Riverfront Task Force has been announced  and according to the April 2, 2013 published committee  brief, only one member of the Republican Party is allowed in the room.  Former Deputy Mayor and Suzanne Vega fan (R) Joseph Bibsi (the Garrett Morris of the group) will join Richard Pellitier, Mike Gaudino, Dan Russo and others on this important commission, er I mean Task Force, in order to complete important tasks.

E)    Drunk Driving is a bad thing, please don’t do it.

F)   The Middletown Board of Education has voted to privatize their cafeterias. Perhaps now, we can get the kids to eat some fruit! Ketchup doesn’t count.

G)  Development Design Review- Bob Landino ‘s case is coming up and it seems that 3 of  the 6 members will not be voting for a variety or reasons. Conflict of interest baby! The number one overused excuse not to show up. Let's  take a stance on the Landino issue.  I still love how the mayor of the town is 100% in support of Landino, but yet the village people district zombies continue to ignore this.  He's the enemy folks! Wake up.

H)   Did Dan Drew really compare himself to King Solmon and St Francis of Assisi in the recent budget address?  Rumor has it that Drew had Joe Somolis, his designated car parker to taste his food thrice daily.  The other day the Mayor's CD player broke and Joe had to ride shotgun and rap the entire side 1 of Dr. Dre's The Chronic while helmet head dove the MN1 car around Wesleyan Hills.  "Everything going to be alright, yep, yeah, protect the gov, yeah, f- th 2nd amendment."

I)    Earl V. Roberts still wants to run for something in the fall.

J)    What happened to NEAT?  Did their funding really dry up? Mark, come on can you spare them some loose change? Stupid Question.

K)  Coleman’s Carnival showed up and it didn’t rain.  Is that a pig flying?  Rumor has it hell recently froze over as well.

L)   Who does more for the community Fred Carroll or Mark Masselli? Answer: Fred, hands down!
M) Hats off to BOE member Ryan Kennedy: Board member Ryan Kenney objected to the redistricting of Macdonough on the grounds that the board would have to revisit the issue again in the fall. "This is a very temporary fix to a very permanent problem." said Kennedy. 

N) Wesleyan’s new (lack of) ethnicity policy- This is true folks! The Wesleyan Security Officers are not allowed to use color to describe anybody doing anything remotely suspicious on campus. If someone is carjacking you in the Usdan lot, the cops can’t say, “All units be on the look of a white male, 5 feet 7 inches with glasses.”  The Wes security will have to say: “All units be on the look out for a male 5 feet 7 inches with glasses.”  What's next leaving gender and hair color out of physical descriptions too? This is the stupidest thing I have heard of in town.
o) Complete Streets Report only has 3 out of 56 pages that aren't common sense fluff  that actually talk about pedestrian/bike issues in Middletown specifically. Oh yeah and a color coded map that the city pz department probably could have done in an afternoon. Good theories, but no real plans! Yup, taxpayers paid the professional consultants $20,000 for this 6th grade level book report that took a year to complete!
P)  Margaret Thatcher said "There is no public money, only taxpayer money." And on that note another wise person once said: "Grants are the institutional equivalent of prostitution. The "John" (ie the institution paying the grant) offers payment to any "hooker" (eg. a city, a school district, a non profit) who will perform specific act or acts. And we all know how well that ends. R.I.P Iron Lady.

Q)  Where the hell is the streaming for municipal meetings that was supposed to be finalized a few months back?  Now, that may be the stupidest thing I have heard of in town. Imagine expecting the town to fulfill any objective on time, that’s like ED4ED actually making a difference on the board or education.

2 Important Meetings: Big Dan Comes to Town!

1. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman will host a community forum in Middletown on Wednesday, March 6.Wednesday’s forum in Middletown will be held at City Hall, 245 deKoven Drive, and will run from 7 to 8 p.m. Staged questions by Malloy lackeys & pre-screened questions will be allowed by sign-in sheet.

Those wishing to do business at City Hall Thursday morning should not the late opening, as Mayor Dan Drew will be arriving later than usual. 
The citizen's understanding is called upon, for our dear Mayor's lips will be quite sore from all the butt kissing on Wednesday. 

 Mayor Drew will resume his usual schedule of leaving early at 2:30 pm to watch his children, and have the mayor mobile returned by Mayoral aide Joe Samolis to give the appearance he actually works a full day.

Tell us in comments: What would you ask Gov. Malloy?

2. The state General Assembly’s Public Health Committee will hold a public hearing in Middletown this Friday. 11 a.m. at Beckham Hall, 45 Wyllys Ave., at Wesleyan University.
The Public Health Committee is co-chaired by state Sen. Terry B. Gerratana, D-6, and state Rep. Susan M. Johnson, R-49. State Sen. Jason Welch, R-31, and state Rep. Prasad Srinivasan, R-31.

The Agenda states the committee will review bills pertaining to approval for residential nursing facilities; requirements that psychiatrists give notice that patients pose a threat to themselves or others; behavioral health assessments for children; mental health services at school-based centers; and other topics pertaining to psychiatric and physical health.

Resident William Boylan discusses the dangers of school mandated psych evaluations in an open letter to Sen. Bartolomeo published here on Patch:
http://middletown-ct.patch.com/blog_posts/open-letter-to-senator-barotolomeo

Major Zone Changes on Agenda for PZ Public Meeting Wednesday

Planning and Zoning Commission
Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 7:00 PM, Council Chambers  
 

1. Proposed Zoning Code text amendment to add Section 60.02.41 Mixed Use Development and 44.08.45 Mixed use Development Special Exception. A copy of the proposed text is on filed in the Office of the Town Clerk. Proponent Acquisition Holdings, LLC. Z2013-1    

 2. Proposed Zoning Code text amendment to modify Section 30.02 Institutional Development Zone        (Uses). A copy of the existing and proposed text is on file in the Office of the Town Clerk. Proponent    Ed McKeon Z2013-2 

See all links below for more information and proposed text changes in their entirety at the City of Middletown website:

Planning and Zoning Commission
Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 7:00 PM, Council Chambers
Agenda
Public Hearing Notice
       Item 6.1 Text Amendment Section 44.08.45 & 60.02.41 (Mixed Use Zone)
       Item 6.1 Staff Comments- Part 1
       Item 6.1 Staff Comments- Part 2
       Item 6.1 Staff Comments- Part 3
       Item 6.2 Text Amendment Section 30.02 (Institutional Development Zone)
       Item 6.2 Staff Comments

Wesleyan to host Gun Violence Panel

Guns and Gun Violence: Crisis, Policy and Politics

Date: Wednesday, February 6
Time: 7:30PM
Place: Center for the Arts Hall
Cost: FREE (Open to the Public)

Panelists:
Saul Cornell, Fordham University
Kristin Goss, Duke University
Matthew Miller, Harvard University

Chair: Leah Wright, Wesleyan University

Moderator: John Dankosky, WNPR

For directions, please click here.

For panelist bios, please click here.

For poster image, please click here.

Guest Blog: Fred Carrol:City Government Is A Whore

Local activist

Guest Blogger Fred Carrol writes his thoughts about proposed zoning changes to the MX and ID zones and his thoughts on the development at the corner of Washington & Pearl Streets being proposed by Centerplan Development. All opinions of guest bloggers are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Insider staff. 
To learn more about Carrol read previously guest essays. Available here:http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/12/guest-blog-fred-carroll-on-washington.html   and
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/09/guest-blog-loitering-wars-update-by.html 
 In his own words:
"It occurs to me that certain elements in Middletown Government ARE A WHORE FOR CENTERPLAN.....[and at least one community action group....who are more of a "community act stunned" group, but of course it's easy to criticize]." Thus reads a recent Face Book post by me which prompted the Middletown Insider to solicit for an essay on the subject, and so here it is. Now, as a minimalist I would think it quite sufficient to simply describe the pertinent parties as whores, call Centerplan out on being slippery, slimy liars and, after apologizing for "stating the obvious" and "telling everyone what they already know" call the deal done. But there's a catch, you see, as is so often the case, no one is crazy enough to say what "everybody knows".

Which is to say there's no shortage of well informed, intelligent, principled citizens in Middletown, but for the most part everybody just has too much to lose by telling the truth as they know it. And of course there's certainly no shortage of folks who are "crazy enough" to say or do absolutely anything, but for the most part those people don't particularly know or care about Centerplan or who's who and what's what in Middletown Government, at least not until their Drug Dealer gets a Loitering Ticket, and then suddenly half the North End decide to get involved in "community activism"....so it falls to me, Dr. Freddy H. Carroll, and I'm not even a real "Doctor"! Yeah, sober, "invested" people who care have to much to lose, and the Less To Lose Crowd basically don't care about anything except where their next loose cigarette and lukewarm meal is coming from.....and of course they know both of those things and so don't care about much else, certainly not the fact that their government is selling their city CHEAP.....And that's it, "the City" just can't be generous enough with some "entities" at the expense of others, others meaning basically "the little people". "Well Fred", I can almost hear someone say, "That's some tough talk, of course you have the facts to back all that up, right?"

No, I have no facts, you couldn't "prove" or "disprove" anything by me, but there are plenty of people who could substantiate my statements short of using such explicit language as "whore" and "liar"; and when I see these people sit at a "community action group" meeting with their hand in the air for half an hour and then get three minutes in which to make their every point or not get even three minutes to take Centerplan and their peanut gallery of Bill and Peter to task, I say to myself; "Somebody has to speak truth to power here, hear?"

So in closing, if you want to convince me that I'm wrong about whores and liars let me see you convince Ed McKeon or Catherine Johnson in a fair debate and then I'll reconsider my choice of words, but until then I'll call Middletown Government a whore and Centerplan a smarmy liar all day every day.....

Fred Carrol

Guest blog: Fred Carroll on Washington St. Development

Last week guest blogger local Fred Carroll went to  N.E.A.T.'s monthly meeting. At the meeting the developer's from Centerplan Inc. presented their vision for the proposed development on Washington & High Street across from Pearl Street which has been generating much controversy. The development is supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Mayor Dan Drew ( who even held a press conference to show his excitement). The development is opposed by some local community members such as BOE member and Middletown Eye blog founder Ed. McKeon who has blogged quite a bit on the subject and started a facebook page: No Wrecking Ball No Strip Mall.
Such a proposed development, originally backed by Wesleyan University as a site for a new campus bookstore, would require a change in zoning to allow such a commercial endeavor.  The Insider recently covered the topic in an earlier piece: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/11/when-village-people-fight-bianco-vs.html

Drew, notably absent from the N.E.A.T. meeting.

Now that Wesleyan has backed out of supporting the deal, the Insider has observed Mayor Drew doing the "Denial   Dance " shuffle as he tried to distance himself from his first statements of support- similar to what he did when he first did not support the Senior Center at Eckersley Hall project. When seniors turned out in full force to support the Eckersley Hall project, Drew did a 180 as to not loose face or the key voting block. Drew told the media last week he only supported the Centerplan project when Wesleyan backed it. Hmm so Wesleyan University developing a controversial area its ok, but someone else doing it  not so? Or is it that many key community members, particularly Democrats who represent a substantial voting block, have shown they oppose this plan and you are worried of loosing support? This truly begs the question, when this mayor supports or does not support something, is it in Middletown's best interest or his own?? Open mouth and insert foot Dan.
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In Fred Carroll's own words:

So just a few weeks ago word got around that Wesleyan was planning to put a big box book store at about Washington and Pearl, here in Middletown. As usually happens when something really stupid comes down the pike some righteous citizens rallied, raised their voices and said; "Now hold on just a cotton pickin' minute there, Pilgrim..."...and like an actual equine, perhaps startled by an autistic woodchuck standing blithely in the middle of the path, the Horse Of Progress reared back on it's hind legs, verily throwing off it's rider-Wesleyan. Where the thing stands now is; no Wesleyan, no bookstore, and not necessarily even a box, but if there is a box built, it will be a very well built box, as this is a premier developer, according to Peter Harding, who apparently knows a thing or two about box building.......And while I have your attention, these N.E.A.T. meetings are worse than silly-somebody has to say it!

When Village People Fight: $Bianco$ vs. The Village

A large majority of the folks who are against the new Washington Street Wesleyan bookstore/Starbuck proposal are part of a local sub-society collectively known as The Village District (People). These Village People are quite affluent around Middletown and have their thumbs in most political pies.  They aren’t poor either people! In fact some of them use federal, state and local tax monies to fund their pet projects while giving themselves a six-figure salary.   While you and everyone else you know hustles at work, these folks are taking advantage of the government grants and suspension of taxes to make their money.  There’s a lot of money to made in liberalism folks.   Here’s where it gets interesting:  A huge supporter of the Village District is a man named Jeff Bianco, a local architect and veteran chairman of Middletown’s Historic Preservation and Design Review Committee whose job is to mainly preserve cool and ancient stuff in town.  (I.e. Nice old building, let’s protest so the town won’t knock it down).

 Guess what? While his friends are publicly serving as activists and blogging against the proposed new bookstore-Mr. Bianco stands to gain if the project goes forward. Why? He is the architect on the project and stands to make good money if one day you are able to pull up and buy a coffee-mocha.chocolate-creamladunno-jejune from the Seattle owned franchise. Then it’s official Mr. Blanco’s pockets have been lined with the Benjamins and has scoffed at his Village friends and Historic Committee.

The Chairman of Middletown Design
Review & Historic Preservation,
architect Jeff Bianco defended
the  Pearl Street
development & tear down
of historic property
 by saying "We don't live in Venice." *

Hypocrisy 1: Mr. Bianco serves on the Historic Preservation and Design Review Committee in Middletown, but I guess it’s okay to build and destroy on Washington Street as long as you get your beak wet.

Hypocrisy 2:  As of this writing, Mr. Bianco’s name has yet to be mentioned by any of the other blogs or papers in Middletown except for Wesleying.org where he is featured presenting the project.  This is very strange, these blogs have taken strong stances against the development on Washington Street, but none are critical of Mr. Bianco and/or Mr. Drew.  Why is that? Simple, they don’t want to put their necks out there too much and burn bridges within their own party and network.  I wonder if Mr. Bianco and Mr. Drew were Republicans, would they be vilified in the blogs?  You bet your ass on it.

Prediction: The other blogs will get upset that we mentioned Mr. Drew and Mr. Bianco.. 

* http://wesleying.org/2012/11/27/liveblogging-the-bookstore-relocation-open-forum/

January 3 2007! Read and Think

An Alternate History Lesson by: Robbie Sipangelo

A history lesson you will not find in the news, weather TV or

Print. You won’t find it in our schools  either.

         Do YOU REMEMBER JANUARY 3, 2007?

This is NOT a political message, but rather a clarification to remind us all of the correct facts.

Remember that on October 9, 2007, 11 months before our “economic crisis” occurred

(that was actually created), the Dow hit its highest point ever, closing at 14,164.53 and reaching 14,198.10 intra-day level 2 days later.  Unemployment was steady at 4.7%.  But things were already being put in place to create the havoc we’ve all been experiencing since then.  And it all started, as this email explains, on January 3, 2007.  --LFL

This tells the  story, why Bush was so “bad” at the end of his term. Don't just skim over this, it's not very long, read it slowly and let it sink in. If in doubt, check it out!!!

The day the Democrats took over was not January 22nd 2009; it was actually January 3rd 2007, which was the day the Democrats took over the House of Representatives and the Senate, at the very start of the 110th Congress.

The Democrat Party controlled a majority in both chambers for the first time since

the end of the 103rd Congress in 1995.

For those who are listening to the liberals propagating the fallacy that everything is

"Bush's Fault", think about this: January 3rd, 2007 was the day the Democrats took over the Senate and the Congress.

At the time:

The DOW Jones closed at 12,621.77 The GDP for the previous quarter was 3.5% The Unemployment rate was 4.6% George Bush's Economic policies SET A RECORD of 52 STRAIGHT MONTHS of JOB GROWTH

Remember the day...

January 3rd, 2007was the day that Barney Frank took over the House Financial Services Committee and Chris Dodd took over the Senate Banking Committee.  The economic meltdown that happened 15 months later was in what part of the economy?  BANKING AND FINANCIAL SERVICES!

Unemployment... to this CRISIS by (among MANY other things) dumping 5-6 TRILLION Dollars of toxic loans on the economy from YOUR Fannie Mac and Freddie Mac FIASCOES!

Bush asked Congress 17 TIMES to stop Fannie & Freddie - starting in 2001 because it was financially risky for the US economy.

And who took the THIRD highest pay-off from Fannie Mae AND Freddie Mac? OBAMA

And who fought against reform of Fannie and Freddie? OBAMA and the Democrat Congress.

So when someone  tries to blame Bush.  REMEMBER JANUARY 3rd,

 2007....