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?  

Got Your Water Bill?

How many cycles do water and sewer bills have to go out with wrong information before anything is done?
 What about the report? http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/02/finally-water-sewer-investigation.html

Finally: Water & Sewer Investigation Report Reveals Disfunction

Professor Douglas Rae Investigation of Water & Sewer: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUweUYya3A1b2I3cnc/edit?usp=sharing
Subcommittee Findings: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwa2FCcUZwUjlBTTg/edit?usp=sharing
Water & Sewer Attachments: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwTHFCbjVEV0pDeG8/edit?usp=sharing
Water & Sewer Sub Committee Findings:https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwYUpaaUFqME9PTGc/edit?usp=sharing

The Water & Sewer Debacle:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2008: In 2008 $100,000 had been spent to overhaul the department including a reorganization plan that according to Mayor Giuliano, was never enacted by W&S Director Guy Russo as ordered.W&S was supposed to have made as of 2008 after the department had to be taken over by then Finance Director James Reynolds due to lost of funds, had still not been implemented. In addition to the extreme departmental debt and numerous warnings to basically fix things before they hit the fan, an  unprecedented number of grievances by employees were filed at this time and on the job accidents spiked leading to the logical conclusion that at the very least management needed to  be scrutinized

2009: Candidate Dan Drew stated on record in an interview with the Wesleyan Argus that:"Not to mentioned our city's sewer department is in dire straits financially. If it were privately owned, it would declare bankruptcy. We don't know where we're going right now."

In 2011 the Common Council voted to investigate the Water & Sewer department “to investigate

The underlying basis which led Mayor Sebastian N. Giuliano to order moving the Water and Sewer

Department’s administrative staff from headquarters on Berlin Street to City Hall.” This “investigation” was in response to a letter from the WPCA (Water Pollution Control Authority) objecting to this move. Apparently, the WPCA did not believe that the mayor had discretion to move the Director and Deputy Director to City Hall.  A firestorm of debate ensued with the end result being $10,000, yes, 10 thousand dollars being spent on this matter!
 

The Charter, Chaper 111 sec. 8, provides the Council to conduct an investigation; Council-not a consultant.  Disregarding the Charter, Professor Douglas W. Rae was hired by the sub-committee, Councilwoman Kasper, Councilman Bibisi, Council Klattenberg and former Councilman Bauer, to assist in the investigation by conducting preliminary interviews with key department and personnel.  The backstory is that there was and still continues to be management issues within the department.  The problem was not former Mayor Giuliano moving staff it was the incompetence of the “management team” and the grievances filed.

So, the Council decides to spend $10,000 because a Mayor moved staff, the investigator never interviewed all the employees of Water and Sewer and the $10,000 conclusion, “Water and Sewer’s central administrative spine is broken” according to the final report.  In the end, nothing changed, management has yet to withdraw from the Teamsters Union (Mayor Drew deciding not to adhere to the recommendation of the report), management HAS NOT received any training as indicated necessary in the report. 

 In conclusion, $10,000 was spent and NOTHING has been done.

 
The public needs to be aware that the report was done “illegally” because Council did not perform the investigation. Water and Sewer management continue to manage in the same “broken” manner with the same problems still present.  And, the public should demand to know why former Mayor Giuliano’s move of the director and deputy director set the stage for a $10, 000 report yet Mayor Drew has moved people and offices without so much as a peep from the Council. 

 
The entire Water and Sewer Investigation Report dated March 5, 2012 is posted for your review. The $10,000 question-“Was $10,000 wisely spent or squandered?”

2013: Several requests to get this report via FOI were made and dismissed.http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/wilson-foi-results-transparency-not.html

How many cycles do water bills have to go out with wrong information before anything is done?

Wilson FOI Results: Transparency? Not Really.

Over a month ago Republican Town Committee Vice Chair William Wilson sent an FOI request to the City of Middletown asking for answers to a variety of public information questions. His letter was sent on December 18, 2012. On January 4th, 2013 the Insider asked readers to help out by sending in copies of the same letter to try and get answers. By law, the only documents that fall under FOI are those already created, however, the fact that the answers to some of the questions below have no existing documentation by the Water Department is  troubling fact in itself! Only a receipt was provided for the plane ticket to China, no report as promised or itinerary from Mayor Drew Director Guy Russo of the Water & Sewer Department finally answered a few of the questions Wilson proposed on January 13, 2012, over 30 days later. By law, a response must be given in 4 days as to status. The memo was dated on Dec. 21, but was not emailed from the City until January 13 due to an"internal glitch", however it still shows that according to the email trail, Director Russo did not respond to the Town Clerk,who followed proper procedure, until January 11..  No word on the existing report that cost the City $10K in April of 2012 but never presented to the Council, that was conducted by an outside investigation team to determine why the department was loosing money so rapidly. This was mentioned in greater detail by the Letter to the Editor by John Milardo: His Town

Wilson's Original Letter and list of questions can be found here:
http://www.middletowninsider.com/2013/01/we-need-your-help.html

On Fri, 1/11/13, Russo-Driska, Sandra MiddletownCT.gov> wrote:

From: Russo-Driska, Sandra

MiddletownCT.gov>
Subject: FW: FOI Reuest - William Wilson
To: "'William wilson'"
Cc: "Russo, Guy"
Date: Friday, January 11, 2013, 4:14 PM

Bill,

This was apparently sent via interoffice email, however, due to an apparent glitch at our end, I do not have it in my FOI folder, sent box, or deleted box.  I apologize.  Here is Director Russo's response to your FOI request.

Let me know if you need further assistance.

Sandra Russo-Driska
Town Clerk

__________________________________________

From: Russo, Guy
Sent: Friday, January 11, 2013 4:09 PM
To: Russo-Driska, Sandra
Cc: DeSena, Linda
Subject: FW: FOI Reuest - William Wilson

Memo: Original here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1OYjxtLEgUwMFJNck10b01SeFU/edit
To: Sandra Driska-Russo, City and Town Clerk

From: Guy P. Russo, Director of Water & Sewer

Date: December 21, 2012

Re: William Wilson, FOI Request of December 18, 2012

Please note that in response to item numbers 1 – 4 of the subject FOI Request, that the Water & Sewer Department Offers the following:

1.How many discharges from the sewer treatment located at 100 River Road have there been in the last 5 years?  How many gallons per discharge into the Connecticut River during that time? Please provide any DEP reports of spillage & discharge for the last 5 years.
1) The Water and Sewer Department has a total of 219 pages of paper reports filed with DEEP (nee DEP) addressing this information request. We request prepayment of reproduction costs at the rate of $0.50/page, for a total of $109.50. Please advise if this is acceptable to the requester, and if so when prepayment has been received by your office, and we will provide the copies. Please advise.

2. Please provide me the relevant reports to disclose any and all spills into the Connecticut River stemming from Middletown's sewage treatment plant and relevant systems dating back five years. Have there been any other spills as documented by the City of Middletown into the Connecticut river where sewage has been discharged or overflowed? Please provide any and all  bypass reports.
2)  The Water and Sewer Department has a total of 9 pages of paper reports filed with DEEP (nee DEP) addressing this information request. We request prepayment of reproduction costs at the rate of $0.50/page, for a total of $4.50. Please advise if this is acceptable to the requester, and if so when prepayment has been received by your office, and we will provide the copies. Please advise.

3. Please provide documentation to answer the following question: Have there been any fines due to discharges or spills during the past five years to the Water and Sewer department? If so, when, why and for what amount?
3)  The Water and Sewer Department has no documents responsive to this request.

4.Please provide information regarding billing oversight at the Water & Sewer department. How many billing complaints have been filed in the past five years? How many customers have been misbilled? Please provide a record of this and the remedy.
4)  With regards to this inquiry, I request that Mr. Wilson be asked for specifics as I am not sure what more specific documents/reports he is looking for. If there are specific reports or documents, I will then be able to adequately respond. Additionally, some of this request would involve the creation of documents/reports that do not exist. Please inquire of Mr. Wilson as to how he would like to proceed.

Cc: Mayor Daniel Drew Timothy Lynch, City Attorney

Letter the Editor: Government ReOrg Costly In Many Ways

Letter to the Editor from Councilwoman Linda Salafia

Letters to the editor are published as courtesy and not necessarily reflect the opinions of Insider Staff.  Government ReOrg report his here: http://www.middletowninsider.com/2012/12/mayors-task-force-on-efficiency-report.html

I voted against the incentive plan offered to the Teamsters and the non-bargaining directors because I feel that it's not a good move for the City.  However, I also believe that  the employees that opted to retire should not be blamed or faulted in any way for making their decision to retire.  I'm actually surprised that more didn't take the offer!!  Even though there is an MOU between the City and the union, retirement incentives are not generally negotiated; it's usually offered to the union by the administration as a take it or leave it situation; and since unions are in the business of looking out for their members' best interests, they agree.

Now, I feel that the incentive was not a good move because for the City to save money, they need to not replace the retiring employees at the same level that they were at.  Mayor Drew has said that he's only replacing those employees that are required by law and those in key positions.  Also, he promised that for the January Common Council meeting he would bring forward his plans for the reorganization that he has in mind.  However, so far, most of those positions vacated have been replaced by employees appointed in the acting capacity including the Deputy Personnel Director being appointed as Acting Personnel Director.  I realize that employees were promoted so that down the chain of command there are vacancies; however, this was not what was presented as the reason for the incentive:  the incentive was presented to allow for reorganization.  So tell me:  if you put people into the vacant positions with the exact same job descriptions and duties as the retiring employee had, how are you going to change those positions or eliminate those positions through a reorganization without affecting the employee in the position.  Seems to me that you're back to the same status that you were at before the incentive: an active employee in the position that you wanted to modify????  Seems to me that prior to the incentive, if you'd modified the job and the active employee didn't want to do the modified job, they could have retired; now you've got employees in the position that you want to modify that it's eligible to retire and will have to take a new job, reduced pay or something - I just don't see that happening.  That's why I think that the reorganization should have come before any retirement incentive.

By the way, we were promised that the plans would be presented at the January meeting but nothing.  I'll add it to the list of things I'm waiting for:  the report on the outcome of the China trip; the actions taken after the report on the Water and Sewer Department issues.  Although I have read the report by the committee on government efficiency, it has not been actually presented to the Common Council for approval and implementation.  Simply the administration could share with the whole council a flow chart of proposed hierarchy of departments and reorganization.  Hopefully, one has been done by now.

Another, reason that I've problems with the incentive that was offered:  it's huge brain drain on the City.  There were quite a few 466 employees who retired over the last few years and now with these retirements, the City is losing much of it's historical knowledge.  Seems to me that you're going to be repeating mistakes already made; these are the people who know what's been tried before and worked and what didn't.  Not to say that things can't necessarily be done differently, but you just extended the learning curve significantly and can we as a City afford that???

I certainly do not in any way shape or form, blame those employees who accept this incentive and wish them all well!!!  They all serve the City well and the City is in debt to their years of service.  I for one am sorry that they retired.

Linda Salafia

Common Council Member (R)

Guest Blog: "His Town"

“And Justice For All” is a newsletter involving my opinions, views, and commentary as a life long Middletownresident. In my capacity as a former employee of Middletown (retired) for over 41 years, I have a differentperspective regarding how and why public figures do what they do.

Citizen John Milardo

  Read in its original format here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/1DgV8eQYn9YmRysNKwgt6kIHIoKBhMrK2dGH8WjCUtojxOdFNWfUMLj1Ve5Pg/edit

Republished by the Insider with permission from the Author, all opinions expressed are the sole responsiblity of the author and not necessarily those of the staff of the Insider.

     A “Letter to the Editor” in the “Middletown-CT Patch” on-line newsletter (http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/salafia-letter) by Middletown Planning, Zoning & Conservation
member Molly Salafia, struck a note with me. The jest of it is about transparency in government and doing what is right for the citizenry of our town; and not just for a political Party and their cronies. I totally agree with Ms. Salafia, but the reality is totally the opposite here in Middletown. It may be the same in some other communities – but I live and work in
Middletown, so that is what I’ll speak to.
     Over the past few years, Middletown’s Democratic Party and elected officials have become far
more than political. They have become an organization which has only one “voice”. That“voice” goes after anyone who may have a different opinion than him/her. For story purpose, the masculine his will be used from now on. The “voice” will have you thrown off his Party’s Town Committee because you dare have your own view, see a wrong and want to correct it, or stick up for yourself . The “voice” is all knowing and will go outside the realm of politics to personally attack you and your family to extract his vendetta on you for attacking his Party, or one of his loyal subjects or ladies in waiting. Middletown’s Democratic Party is a closed secretive organization, with absolutely no room for anyone but those who are hand selected by the almighty, all knowing, all vindictive, his Majesty of Middletown. Least I forget to say, the community has been led to believe the “voice” is an honorable and caring person.
     So Molly, you may ask why do I think this way? It is because I have seen it happen to others as
well as a member of my own family! All of Middletown has seen it happen! City voters either think nothing of it, or have been fooled by their own elected officials into thinking what they do is truly in their best interest. Or, they have been brainwashed over the years to follow their local Party which may no longer stand for what it did once.
     We have all seen the Democratic Council go against every issue the past Republican Mayor
recommended the City fight due to improprieties. Nothing was done by the Democrats over the six (6) years Mayor Guiliano was in office. Yet, now that we have a Democratic Mayor in office, every single one of those issues has or is being settled, and justifies what the Republican Mayor was doing. How is the Democratic Councilmember’s refusal to perform their sworn duty for the people good government?
     The Government Operations and Efficiency Task Force (aka Blue Ribbon Panel) was put together for the sole purpose of tricking the public into believing their government is doing things on the up and up. The panel was hand selected by Mayor Dan Drew and contained many friends and contributors of Governor Malloy, whom the Mayor worships. The Task Forces recommendations are a lot of hooey! All of us on the inside already knew what the findings were going be. It was all political, nothing to do with good government or streamlining. It has to do with complete and total control of operations by politicians.
     Molly, you may ask why would politicians need to control City departments? It is a simple
rule of politics: If they can take care of complaints by the voters quickly, it makes them look good and keeps their voting constituency happy. A happy voter will most likely vote for their
re-election. Our elected political leaders can do “favors” more readily if their people are in charge of City departments. They can tell these new Directors what type of work should be done in the City and point the department in a specific direction. Special interest groups, engineering firms, contractors and companies, who contribute to political campaigns are taken care of in this manner.
     The Blue Ribbon panel has recommended three (3) Super Departments. One (1) of these departments will take over existing personnel who perform different types of maintenance for all City properties and buildings. The departments to be consumed have nothing in common with each other, but they will be placed together anyway.
One (1) of the people who will head a Super Department is not qualified to run the division he now gets paid to lead. It is amazing how far butt kissing will get you – a quality politician’s love. A move isn’t made without the approval from his political board of director(s) which meet at bars and local eateries. No real business is conducted in the office. Even departmental promotions are determined in saloons.
     Another of the Super Departments will be headed by a Director who will control all the money
for the City. There is talk that this Director may also take over the finances for the Water &
Sewer department. This sounds like it would make sense to combine all finances under one roof. If the Director and the individuals he oversees don’t fudge numbers for political reasons, it may work.
     The last Super Department will include all matters to do with planning, zoning, tourism and
conservation. It could work if everyone knows which way the City is heading and not only department commissions or the political world. All those living in Middletown have the right to
know, recommend, and respond to the direction their City is headed.
One of the main reasons the Mayor is for the reorganization of departments is so there are less Directors which answer to him and he has meet with. That’s all well and good if the three (3)
Directors have all the answers regarding the operation of their respective Super Departments.
     I have personally been involved at meetings where one of these proposed “Super Directors” cannot answer questions about the department he is currently in charge of, and has to literally run out of the room to get a subordinate to come to the meeting and give the answers. If that is going to be the same case after the consolidation, you gained nothing! All you will do is get subordinate managers angry why they have to do the job for their highly paid Director. And make no mistake about it – the new Super Directors and some of the other political employee cronies will receive substantial wage increases to head these new departments. To ensure the consolidation looks successful, watch how much additional taxpayer money the Common
Council throws at these departments so they and the Mayor don’t get egg on their faces.
No matter what deficiencies there may and will be with the consolidation of departments, it will
go through. The Mayor would not have offered the Retirement Incentive to Teamsters Directors and Managers, and the non-bargaining Directors and employees if he didn’t already know the eight (8) Democratic Councilmember’s are going to vote for the reorganization, and at least one (1) Republican Councilmember, for a super majority vote. The only way the consolidation of departments will fail is if there is a large turnout of Middletown residents speaking against it during the two (2) Common Council meetings which will happen in the near future. Mayor Drew wants to fast track this so he can hang his hat on something he’s done during his tenure as Mayor.
     Ms. Salafia, I know I’ve gotten off the beaten track a bit, but look at other issues which have
occurred over the past year, some of them unnoticed. This is our local government form of open
and honest government.
• The Water & Sewer Department investigation for the Common Council by Professor Douglas Rae, which went nowhere for a $10,000 plus cost to the taxpayers of Middletown. It was approved by the Common Council and quietly and quickly placed on a shelf. Why wasn’t anything done? All you have to do is connect the political and bloodline dots to figure it out. An alleged speeding ticket given by Connecticut State Police while in a City vehicle was recently squashed for this Director. How many times does the billing cycle for the Water & Sewer Department get to go out to the citizens and contain wrong information before something is done about it? Isn’t four (4) years in a row enough?
• How many people know that the Personnel Director (my wife) had to hire a private Attorney to represent her against Mayor Drew because he was attempting to terminate her with frivolous allegations and without just cause? She told me he would try to do this if he was elected Mayor, and he did – on her first day of work under him and throughout his first year in office.
• Two (2) other employees have hired private Attorneys due to this Mayor’s refusal to recognize and adhere to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• The Mayor’s strong arm tactics with certain Directors telling them they must support his proposed budgets – no matter how bad they cut the department, and must support his proposed Super Departments consolidation; or he will consider them insubordinate and discipline them. This is open and honest government?
• Does anyone know that Teamsters Local 671, which represents unionized City Directors and
Managers, is currently in binding arbitration over contract negotiations? Mayor Drew talked
a good game about how he is a “Union Man” when he was a Mayoral candidate. I see what
a good Union Man he really is? Why does the Mayor give non-union Directors and personnel a better wage and retirement incentive than he did with unionized employees? Aren’t we all doing the same job and working for the same employer and goals as managers?
My opinion is the Mayor is seeking to create dissension amongst the unionized Directors and Managers to bust the Teamsters.
So Molly, it is a shame what Mayor Drew is doing to the P&Z Commission, but that’s how he does business – load up the panel or commission with members who will do what he wants them do. That is how honest and transparent government works in Middletown under Mayor Drew and the Democratic Party’s regime.
     Stay strong. Stay involved. Stay together. Seek the truth.
Yours in Solidarity.
John Milardo

We Need Your Help

A few weeks ago, William Wilson, vice chair of the Middletown Republican Town Committee sent letters to the Mayor, Town Clerk, and Water & Sewer Director under FOI for some documents that would show where tax payer money is being sent. Below is his letter. We are told, he has only received the receipt for Mayor Drew's plane ticket to China, and nothing more. The questions below are very important to tax payers. Do not let your city government get away with ignoring the voice of the people. They can ignore one, but not many! 
Download the FOI Here
If you care about where your money is going copy and paste this letter, sign your name & address, and either email or send to: 
question@MiddletownCT.gov 
cc: TownClerk@MiddletownCT.gov
Town Clerk, City Hall
245 deKoven Drive
Middletown, CT 06457 

To: The Town Clerk of the City of Middletown,
     I am sending this letter as an FOI request to be answered by the appropriate parties within the City of Middletown. I would like the all the relevant reports that will answer the questions below.

1.How many discharges from the sewer treatment located at 100 River Road have there been in the last 5 years?  How many gallons per discharge into the Connecticut River during that time? Please provide any DEP reports of spillage & discharge for the last 5 years.

2. Please provide me the relevant reports to disclose any and all spills into the Connecticut River stemming from Middletown's sewage treatment plant and relevant systems dating back five years. Have there been any other spills as documented by the City of Middletown into the Connecticut river where sewage has been discharged or overflowed? Please provide any and all  bypass reports.

3. Please provide documentation to answer the following question: Have there been any fines due to discharges or spills during the past five years to the Water and Sewer department? If so, when, why and for what amount?

4.Please provide information regarding billing oversight at the Water & Sewer department. How many billing complaints have been filed in the past five years? How many customers have been misbilled? Please provide a record of this and the remedy.

5. Please provide receipts& expense report for the Mayor's trip to China. Please also provide the detailed summary report he told the Common Council he would provide at the Common Council meeting immediately following his return. Please include a detailed list of whom he met with.

6. Please provide copies of the documents prepared by the architect hired by the Mayor to do drawings of a proposed addition to house the senior center at City Hall.

7. Please provide a list of open commission seats as of the date of this letter. A list is provided to the Common Council at the Mayor's request but not to the public.

8. In March or 2012, a report was summarizing for the Common Council stating that results of the independent investigation of the Water & Sewer Dept. A report was created at the expense of $10k. Please provide a full copy of this report.

All subsequent data provided may be returned to me as printable pdf files in digital format on CDs I will provide, in lieu of paper copies at the City's earliest convenience.

Sincerely,  Your Name & Address Here

Taxpayers & Pensioners Time to Open Your Wallets

     

Story time kids! Word on the street is that Mayor Drew is trying to rid the City of two of his least favorite department directors, and to do so, he is planning to offer a golden handshake (read more details here) of gold shower caliber. Again this political punt is not only at the expense of  hard working individuals who had in the past spoken their minds against the Drew regime, but it is at the expense of tax payers. One of the directors being offered this buy-out is the Personnel Director, former aid to past Mayor Dominique Thornton (D). The Personnel Director’s past actions dealing with the Water & Sewer Department's mismanagement were unfavorable in the eyes of certain key Democratic Council members who presumably felt sold out that the Personnel Director actually worked in a non partisan professional way with the then Republican Mayor and did not entirely do the bidding of the Democratic party who felt that she be indebted to them.     (We will explain the  connection between the Council, Personnel Dept. & Water & Sewer below.)   If half of the eligible employees take this early retirement package, resulting in about a dozen upper management employees cashing out,  it will cost at least half a million dollars in bonuses. The pension fund is self funded; however, these bonuses will come from the general fund - tax payer money. That is not counting the retirement up to 85% of their pay for life which will put all current, and future retirees at risk of the fund running dry and not being able to sustain everyone it was set up to and had been able to.  Dan Drew and the Democrats on Council raised your taxes once already and are about to do it again. Should the Mayor be tethering Middletown to inevitable tax increases for his second year in office with these uncertain economic times over his petty differences with a couple of people in management he wants out??      You seen your water bill?!?? If you noticed a huge increase double or even triple your last bill you are not alone.  The Insider has received numerous reports of bills going out with huge increases, some without even a unit cost per unit shown on the bill! We have a few instances where businesses have be grouped in with other businesses and double billed. If this has happened to you speak up! In a brief synopsis here is why this is happening:       In 2009, then candidate Dan Drew stated on record in an interview with the Wesleyan Argus that:"Not to mention, our city's sewer department is in dire straits financially. If it were privately owned, it would declare bankruptcy. We don't know where we're going right now." Why does the Insider bring up this quote? Fact is Drew acknowledges on the record that the W&S is f***** in 2009, but in 2011 contradicts his own statement by advocating for an investigation to prove that actions taken to remedy a situation he acknowledges existed should not haven happened.  Huh? Yeah no kidding. After much resistance on the part of the Democratically controlled Common Council to remedy the situation, Mayor Giuliano, as any good teacher would with a wayward student- moved the pupil closer to the teacher's desk so to speak in order to keep a closer eye on the issues with the indebted and problematic department. Mayor Giuliano moved the managerial portion of the Water & Sewer Department from their location across town to City Hall. He then followed procedure with a indebted department and had the Finance Department monitoring funds to find out why the department was hemorrhaging money. Also at question was why changes that W&S was supposed to have made as of 2008 after the department had to be taken over by then Finance Director James Reynolds due to lost of funds, had still not been implemented.  In 2008 $100,000 had been spent to overhaul the department including a reorganization plan that according to Mayor Giuliano, was never enacted by W&S Director Guy Russo as ordered. In addition to the extreme departmental debt and numerous warnings to basically fix things before they hit the fan, an  unprecedented number of grievances by employees were filed at this time and on the job accidents spiked leading to the logical conclusion that at the very least management needed to  be scrutinized.         Flash forward to October 2011. In an attempt to legitimize Dan Drew as having some government experience (other than student government)  5 months before he is manufactured into their next Manchurian candidate, the Democrats pony him up to take the spot of Councilman James Loffreddo following his resignation. After this the Common Council,  voted to spend $10,000 to do an independent investigation of not just of the Water & Sewer Department, but the Mayor's Office & Personnel Department to see why they had suggested the moving of the  W&S Department, despite the fact that is was clear as day the department was mismanaging many areas. Dan Drew then is quoted extensively by the Press in no coincidence – as Viktoria Sundquivst is still editor of the Mess and lap dog of the MDTC. Drew went as to far as to accuse Mayor Giuliano of "grandstanding" by ordering the W&S to be looked into.  In March 2012 it was reported to the Common Council that the report was complete and that the Water & Sewer Department would be moving back to its building. Nothing more was said. No copies were made available to Council members, the conclusions were actually summarized to give the appearance of transparency but not full & lawful disclosure. The audit found that the department was in fact far in the red, taxpayers were still finding inaccurate billing incidences in large numbers, but other wise business as usual! The other recommendations by the independent auditors were never put in place, it would be nice to know what they were, but unfortunately this report has never seen the light of day - even though taxpayers paid $10K to find out why the W&S Department is bleeding money. What is there to hide?? How many chances does this director get?      Why is W&S allowed to be mismanaged as a dysfunctional and resource draining department? No one can be certain, but the fact that Majority Leader Councilman Tom Serra (D), a pivotal person & political puppeteer in the Drew regime, is the untouchable first cousin of W & S Department Director Guy Russo could be some cause for concern. Oh what a tangled web.  Now in 2012 nothing has changed and taxpayers are getting screwed with outrages bills & W&S is still in shambles. What say you now Mayor Drew? There is a special WPCA (Water Pollution Control Authority) Commission meeting this Thursday  at 5:30 pm Water & Sewer Dept. located on Berlin Street where citizens can bring water bills they believe to be miscalculated.   Why 5:30 pm when Council orders are to hold all public meetings at 7:00 pm to allow the working class public to attend? Well, some Commissioners just care more about themselves and would rather the public NOT attend.Word on the street is also that the  secret audit ( which by law the tax payers have a right to see since they paid for it!) will be the topic of discussion and with any luck there will be answers to what has been going so wrong in Water & Sewer. Articles for background information referenced above: http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2011/10/05/news/doc4e8d17df04a0b162206729.txt http://www.middletownpress.com/articles/2009/09/11/news/doc4aab058e09876715608832.txt?viewmode=fullstory http://articles.courant.com/2012-03-12/community/hc-middletown-wpca-investigation-0307-20120312_1_water-and-sewer-director-guy-russo-investigation http://articles.courant.com/2011-10-04/community/hc-middletown-wpca-investigation-1005-20111004_1_sewer-bills-water-and-sewer-investigation

Letter to the Editor: Time for Water Dept. Investigation

Dear Middletown Insider:

 Why are there problems with the new water bills using the new software that was presented to the council where Mary Bartolotta asked the question to Bill Oliver and Guy Russo :" Were they sure we are not going to have a repeat of the other failed implementation of yet more software to run the water department?" 

Another $100,000.00 plus wasted with no accountability.  Time for another investigation of the water dept.

M.E.  from Middletown

Middletown's Tangled Web of Nepotism & Cronyism

So many connections it is hard for
 anyone to keep straight!
But if you thought Drew is new player
and not entrenched, boy were you wrong.

Irony is Mayor Drew co-sponsoring a job & resume workshop at Russel Library this week when he in fact inflated his resume, and is allowing exactly what he preached against- nepotism, cronyism, and dishonesty in government.
No credit has ever been given  to Former Mayor Seb Giuliano, and for that matter Christine Bourne who uncovered significant wrongdoing at the BOE as far as the million dollar discrepancy and pushed the issue - maybe a little harder than the public wanted, but he got the results. The Democrats consistently tried to block attempts to reform the BOE administration, including Mayor Dan Drew by trying to sweep on going labor disputes under the rug. The new administration was forced to deal with it when the audit came out with huge discrepancies and parents came out rightfully outraged over the "scream room" fiasco The current Democrats on the Common Council are trying to cash in on something that was started by Republicans.  Dr. David Larson is a breath of fresh air, as is Gene Nocera (D), along with new efforts by Shiela Daniels(D) and the new BOE members. However, Mayor Drew and the council have a lot to make up for. Mayor Drew stated in his own words he would end nepotism practices in City government. 

Readers can find the statement here: https://secure.democracyforamerica.com/campaigns/4164-drew-2011

Drew wrote: "Above all, I want to make Middletown’s government honest. For years, the city has suffered through decisions made in the best interests of municipal contractors and private developers who have political or familial connections."

Drew need not look further than his own party, whom he has yet to call out for wrongdoing. In 2009, Drew made statements published in the Wesleyan Argus stating “If the Water Department were a private organization in would be bankrupt.”  Former Finance Director James Reynolds was called in under the Giulaino administration to aid in correcting the accounting problems and when problems continued compounded by labor issues, Giuliano moved the Water Dept. to City Hall for closer monitoring by the Finance Dept. Upon his election, less than one month later, Drew moved the department back to its satellite location on River Road. The Department Director is Guy Russo, cousin of Democratic Councilman Tom Serra.

Democratic Councilwoman Hope Kasper played a huge part in the hiring of her own son-in-law, Joshua Burger at the BOE.  Mr. Burger was first hired as a temporary employee (and given health insurance benefits) to fill a vacancy which is the subject of a union grievance (still outstanding).  While the union’s issues are still making their way through the process with the State of Connecticut, Mr. Burger has been appointed by the Board of Education administration to the Payroll Supervisor position without following union posting requirements.   This was the position that Ms. Bourne was removed from by the BOE and also was part of the settlement agreement brokered by Judge Holzberg between the City and BOE; however, rather than filling the position properly, the BOE stated that they no longer needed the position.  This was called to question by several Republican candidates during the past election, yet the general public ignored this fact and Kasper won anyway.  It should be noted that Judge Holzberg is the spouse of a former Democratic Mayor of the City of Middletown. Holzberg has a close personal relationship with Superintendent Michael Frechette.

 Former Superintendent Michael Frechette openly and vigorously campaigned for Drew and Serra. Board of Education member Ted Razcka's wife is Assistant Registrar of Voters, a fulltime position with benefits but picked and appointed by the Democratic Registrar of Voters; ironically Razcka was the only member to vote EXTEND Business Manager Nancy Haynes contract after the audit showed there was $1 million in deficit. It was voted to get rid of Haynes 8-1. Razcka, ironically of course, was also the only hold out not to get rid of Frechette.  It cannot be ignored by the community that the relationship of Councilman Tom Serra to the Board of Education is also a long one. Allegations have been made repeatedly in public & during Council Meetings by former Middletown public school teacher Sal Carricoglia about Jason Serra, assistant coach at Middletown High and son of Tom Serra, and a cover up of  misconduct regarding the younger Serra's job performance. While yes, these are  rumors, the have never been fully aired, and yes, Carricoglia himself was dismissed from his position for alleged on the job misconduct; it is hard for the public to be able to discern the truth when any statements by Frechette are tainted with that fact he publicly campaigned for Serra and has a long standing personal relationship. Judge Holzberg presided over Carricoglia's latest trial. Councilman Serra stated publically that he did not feel Chief McMahon was entrenched enough in the community because he did not worship here, a statement that was made on record, and therefore Serra did not support the appointment of the Chief. Serra instead pushed for the installment of Chief McKenna, another fine officer. Carrogolia alleges that McKenna and Frechette were both part of the cover up of the misconduct of Jason Serra on the job, and thus support of McKenna for Chief is a favor on the elder Serra's behalf. We at the Insider don't mean to perpetuate slanderous rumors, but we think that the public should be made aware of all ties of those in elected office, and our Mayor should take a stand and bring these allegations to light to dismiss them once and for all.

 Ironically, after McKenna took the position of chief, Serra's nephew was made part of the police force. In a town of 40,000 such as Middletown it is no doubt that there are familial ties; at the Insider we see  nothing wrong with the hiring of relatives so long as they are qualified and all job candidates are given equal opportunity.  With Frechette gone, Dr. David Larson is charged with the daunting task of reviving the Board of Education administration, we can as citizens can only hope that when the position of Head Coach, that is currently on the BOE agenda as becoming vacant in June, that Dr. Larson fully & impartially vet the best person into that vacancy despite family ties, owed favors, or past affiliations if in fact they do exist.
 What happened to honesty in hiring practices?? It is also pertinent that  Mayor has proposed a relaxing of the qualifications for the position of City Attorney, against the unanimous opposition of the Personnel Review Committee and after posting it twice. There are many applicants who meet the current, higher standard so why does the Mayor want to "dumb down" the qualifications? Only one conclusion - he has a crony in mind who doesn't currently qualify. So much for "making government honest" 
All allegations true or false should be brought to daylight and discussed publicly, so that finally the citizens get the truth- and our new Mayor despite a shared political party should do no less than demand it.