Rumblings: Nice guys finish last... or not at all.

1. ABANDONED: Mayor Dan Drew stated on the council floor he was going to have a report done to see how the 2013 blizzard that crippled the city could have been handled better. Rumors were that Danapolean gave the word to turn away help from the National Guard & there was a chest puffing match behind closed doors resulting in Middletown roads still being uncleared days later. No report.

2. ABANDONED: Mayor Drew & Gov. Malloy went to China in 2012 to "find jobs" and promised Councilman Pessina that a report would follow. And all that trade Drew said he opened up? How is China helping Middletown?? No report.

3. ABANDONED: Under Mayor Drew the Youth Services department launched a new website with reports with updates about activites. The website was last updated in Nov 6, 2013.  Cuz he's "young guy mayor" Danny did start the Yoot Youth Cabinet (not to be confused with the already in existence Youth in Government Program cauz if you rename somethin you can take credit for it duh)

4. ABANDONED: Mayor Drew's twitter boasts a computer rendering of LED lights on the Arrigoni Bridge. Critics & the town of Portland felt the idea to "bring tourist" excessive. Why such a "great tourism destination" quietly abandoned by the Mayor if it was so awesome?

5. FINISHED: Both budget's under Mayor Drew's regime resulted in milrate increases for taxpayers. The democrats on council voted against all proposals for senior tax relief under the previous republican mayor, yet endorsed a watered down proposal from Mayor Drew while simultaneously raising taxes for everyone else two fiscal years in a row! 3X a charm?

6. STARTED: Mayor Drew advocated for the merging of Park & Recreation and Public works as well as the City Attorney's office and Personnel Depts. to "save money" No cost savings have ever been proven upon inquiry. In fact, outside Counsel is stilled used by the Office of General Counsel at tune of $60K for the investigation into the allegeded drug abuse allegations against the police chief. In 2013 he told the Courant he expected to save more than $150K a year; in other sources Drew is quoted saying the savings is in the MILLIONS. It has been a year & no cost savings have been proven.

7. ABANDONED: Several commitee vacancies have remained unfilled by Drewilishious. Example: Design Review & Inlands & Watercourses, Citizens' Advisory have  had  vacancies for the entire 3 years Drew has been in office. Drew has had time to redecorate the Mayor's office to the tune of $6K.

8.ABANDONED: 20 monthes later...all those grants Danious Maxious got. The bike path, the parking lot redo's,the parking garage... so how yall citizen's enjoying those? Give them bread and circuses...

9. ABANDONED: City Hall news letter. When Drewocles took office he initiated the practice of wishing workers happy birthday via special email, a practice most hadn't had the priveledge of experiencing since elementary school. He also initiated a city hall newsletter. The last publication of which was July 2012. 

10. ABANDONED: Mayor Drew put out a mandate that all committee meetings take place after 7 pm so that members of the public could attend. Clean Energy Task Force still meets at noon 3 years later. And the Harbor Improvement Committee NEVER has met despite the focus on the spanking new riverfront.

11. FINISHED (NOT REALLY): Mayor Drew ran on the campaign to end all lawsuits and grievances between the city, union members and the Board of Education. He even held a press conference declaring that the smoke was clear. However, lawsuits still exist 3 years later....

12. ALMOST NOT FINISHED: Just in time for Veterans' Day: Trees of Honor, the memorial dedicated to fallen Connecticut Soldiers of the Irag and Afganistan Wars is underway at  Veteran's Park in Middletown. After the photo ops with the Big Dannel were over, Mayor Drew went a little MIA on the details of the two+ year project. The ribbon cutting of the memorial was scheduled. What did Drew forget? The planting of the actual trees!! President of the City (D's prefferred moniker) forgot to secure resources - ie heavy equipment and man hours to get this done... so at the last minute project volunteers scrambled to get help to get 65 large trees in the ground before the dedication. Not even Joe Samolis, Mayor's Aide, could get this accomplished & the man has had to shovel some hefy mayoral do-do. Organizers contacted local papers  to put the call out for help; the papers convenietly leaving out the fact that the holes had yet to be excavated literally days before the opening...several TOH organizers posted requests via personal social media pages &amp sent emails in an effort  to dig the project out of the perdicament Drew left them with... Luckily, volunteers hauled a**  & finished the job beautifully. Gee.. thanks Mayor D...

Unlucky 13: ABANDONED: 

ANYONE kept tally of how much money has been 

appropriated every month by the Council?!?!

Just about every meeting the Common Council approves requests for additional funds to departments above and beyond what was allocated in the fiscal budget proposed by Mayor Drew and approved by the council. No news source has reported how much has been spent and when asked certain council persons have stated the budget is "fluid"... the bleeding of taxpayers has been STARTED.....

Letter to the Editor: Salafia Weighs in on City Overtime

 Below is a letter to the editor published as a courtesy to readers; all opinions expressed are that of the author and not necessarily that of the Insider staff.   

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In the Middletown Press is an article about the high amount of overtime paid over the last 3 years.  I've several comments about the article and statements made in it.  First of all for as long as I can remember, overtime has been an issue for the City; the mantra has been "we need to control our overtime costs."  The Mayor is quoted as now requiring the Directors to control overtime costs; news flash - not new, the Directors have always been cognizant of overtime costs and responsible for their budgets.  The article states that we've a new Chief Management Analyst; I would like to know who this new employee is? when hired? job description?  What department?

 

Also, the article states that of the three years, 2012 was the lowest.  However, not mentioned is the change in scheduling that was supposed to provide better coverage and to lower overtime.  Is that a factor or not?

 

Also, the article states that they are adding 5 new employees from a grant.  Has this grant actually been accepted? The City will have to absorb the cost of these employees after the grant expires; has this cost been compared to the cost of overtime?

 

We've had a couple of really difficult years with storms and have been lucky to have some of our costs reimbursed by FEMA.  Also, we've learned through experience that having a fully staffed department, Central Communications is a prime example, that overtime costs go down. 

 

But from what I'm reading, looks like not much has changed:  overtime is still a problem and nothing has changed.

 

Linda Salafia, Middletown

 

Salafia (R) is a former Common Councilmember,  retired city employee having served as Payroll Supervisor, and former vice president of AFSCME Local 466 Municipal employee union for the City of Middletown

Letter to the Editor: Vote for Fiscal Responsibility, Vote Giuliano

Below is a letter to the editor published as a courtesy to readers; all opinions expressed are that of the author and not necessarily that of the Insider staff.  -------------------------------------------------------------- 
 I urge all Middletown residents to join me in electing former Mayor Sebastian Giuliano to the Common Council. He has proven himself to be a tireless advocate for our city, placing the interests of citizens over political concerns.

He has repeatedly worked to implement reforms to protect the City's financial health. During his years as mayor, the tax base grew, the City's cash reserves grew, the North End saw a long-anticipated revitalization come about, and the business climate reached new heights.

Seb has advocated fiscal discipline that will protect future generations of Middletown citizens. If elected, he will work to implement a requirement that city budgets contain 5-year projections, so we can actually see how today's decisions impact our future. He also believes that borrowing money or taking it from the City's "rainy day" funds should only happen when approved by a 9-vote "supermajority" of the Common Council. And he believes that the Board of Education should have a more direct and open method of a adopting its own budget.

I'm voting for Seb Giuliano on November 5 and I ask all Middletown voters to do the same!

Lea Tomaszewski