Broad Street, Make It "Shovel Ready"

A recent letter to Senator Handley, Representatives Thompson and Barry, Mayor Spaduccini, the Board of Directors and General Manager Shanley:

I would like to take this opportunity to advocate for the Broad Street Streetscape and Revitalization project to be number one on Manchester's "Shovel Ready" list. This area of Manchester has been studied, discussed and hotly debated since I became a resident of Manchester in 2002, if not longer. Action on this area of Manchester looked promising with the 2003 report from the Parkade/Broad Street Revitalization Steering Committee, and then again in 2005 with the Conceptual Design Report from BL Companies. Even a citizen lead effort on one portion of Broad Street, the now infamous Manchester Parkade, made an attempt to move on this vital area in our town. All have fallen short of what is possible.

When I first read of Obama's Economic Stimulus Plan for infrastructure projects, my first thought was of Broad Street and the Parkade. I believe that this area of Manchester, and Connecticut for that matter, has the potential to fulfill many needs and ideas in today's commercial and political climate. Whatever buzzwords that you choose, be it Smart Growth, New Urbanism, or Green Building, Manchester has an opportunity like no other inner-ring suburb of Hartford. With medium to high density, multi-use zoning, along with public and private redevelopment, Manchester would have the ability to attract and retain Connecticut's college graduates with businesses, housing and activities to suit their needs. With redevelopement on Broad Street, our town would also be able to attract young families, and active seniors. In your positions I am sure that you are privy to, or have been briefed on, a great deal of information on these subjects. I do not wish to repeat them in the interest of brevity.

Please forgive my bluntness, but the section of Broad Street from Center Street to West Middle Turnpike, measuring a mere two-thirds of a mile, is a commercial cancer that is slowly eating away at the heart of Manchester. I am sure that there are many other projects that may be closer to "shovel ready," or easier politically. I beseech you to not pick the low-hanging fruit, but to shoot for the moon and put your full combined weight behind this area of our town. Please, do not let another five years or even a decade go buy on this. Bring together Manchester, CRCOG and state agencies to get these projects off the drawing board and make it a reality. Take Manchester's working class roots and make it an example of what is possible.

Merry Christmas

Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at
Christmas-time.

-Laura Ingalls Wilder

Peace and good tidings from my family to yours during this holiday season.

Independent ≠ Indecisive

I choose to be unaffiliated. I choose to not bridle myself to a party line. I refuse labels, avoid pigeon-holes, and otherwise try to steer clear of anything that would allow a neat and tidy package to be wrapped around my thoughts, opinions or allow people to assume “where I am coming from.” As soon as someone assumes something about me, I'm concerned that they are no longer listening to what I have to say without coloring it with a prepackaged and presumptive label. I'm a reasonably intelligent citizen, not a demographic.

If you are a registered political party member, do you believe that those who are not are somehow indecisive, fence sitting, weather vanes waiting to see which way the wind will blow? If so, why? Shouldn't you be more concerned that you are surrounded by people who mostly agree with you? It's easy to have an opinion if everyone around you agrees with you.

The media loves to label people. Look at local articles from the Hartford Courant or the Journal Inquirer written about events surrounding BOD or BOE meetings and hot political issues. It usually follows this form:

Issue X is supported by This Party, and opposed by That Party. Director Umpty Squat may have a valid position on Issue X and is quoted in the paper: “I feel that because of these very well thought out and logical reasons, I cannot support this issue,” says Director Squat, a That Party member.

There it is at the end, the party label. As if to say, “oh... of course he opposes it, he is a member of That Party.” What if you are a member of This Party and you agree with the reasoning of Director Squat? Does that mean that you can't publicly agree and vote with him on Issue X because he is a member of That Party?

I am often encouraged by the writings of, and books about the founding fathers of our republic. Their acumen should be known by more than just the learned, or people who have an interest in history or government. I think most people would be amazed at how relevant their wisdom is, even after more than two hundred years. One of my reasons for being unabashedly unaffiliated is George Washington's open letter to the people of the United States published in most of the country's newspapers at the conclusion of his second presidential term in 1796.

In one of the subjects of this farewell letter, President Washington warned the American people, “in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party.” He went on to write that partisanship, “serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms,” and that political parties also, “kindles the animosity of one part against another.”

I ask you, doesn't that sound like the status quo at all political levels of municipal, state and federal government? Making mountains out of mole hills to distract us. Lighting fires of animosities against each other, and then fervently fanning the flames. Without looking through the lens of a political party can make some things I read in the paper, or on local message boards seem outright ridiculous. Especially after seeing that this has been going on for centuries.

Please, I ask those who are of the opinion that unaffiliated voters are indecisive to not confuse party loyalty with integrity. They are not the same thing.

I leave you with a final thought from F. Scott Fitzgerald:

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.”

I Manage To Find The Time...

AP study finds $1.6B went to bailed-out bank execs...

Ok, the main subject of the article linked above is infuriating enough, but here is what put a bur under my saddle:

"Goldman Sachs' tab for leased cars and drivers ran as high as $233,000 per executive. The firm told its shareholders this year that financial counseling and chauffeurs are important in giving executives more time to focus on their jobs."

Wow, I have to focus on my job and give my company 100% for at least eight hours a day (most days it's nine hours), and drive myself to and from work, and do my share of household chores, and be a father, and be a husband, and still be expected wake up and do it all over again the next day, and the day after that. Most days I'm happy to be able to put in a hard day's work. All this and Phil Gramm has the nerve to call us the whiners!?

Priorities

You have to have priorities in life. Here are mine in order

1. My Family
   a. Those under the roof of my house
   b. Those related by blood
   c. Those related by relationship (Marriage, Civil Union, Domestic Partnership or whatever.)
2. Friends
3. Career
4. Feeding my mind, body and soul
5. Improvement / care of domicile
6. Civic involvement

As you can see, the priority that this blog falls into is at the bottom of the list. So the question is, do I continue to keep this blog? Write to it only when I can, or when something going on in Town Hall or the Lincoln Center Hearing Room sticks in my craw?

I can understand why people in the past have resigned from civic duty. It is a second career. You cannot be a decent spouse, parent, employee and civil servant all at the same time unless you intend on having no time for sleep or the enjoyment of activities to feed and care for you mind, body and soul.

So, what is really important in life? Is it refuting message board gas bags and risk becoming one myself, or keeping track of my priorities? I think that question has an easy answer.

In an effort to at least remain relevant, my writings here will be more spontaneous, and off the cuff. I read something recently:

"Perfectionist striving can paralyze constructive action. Do something; you can always apologise tomorrow." - Jim Burgin

A Witness To History

Someday, I will be telling my children, "I was there when..."

All during the day yesterday, from when I awoke, to waiting in line in the early morning to vote at the Mahoney Recreation Center, to listening to the radio on the way home from work and then watching the returns on the election coverage provided by PBS, I felt that I was a part of and a witness to history being made. Last night, I stayed awake while most had already gone to bed. After the announcement of victory had been made, I had to hear President Elect Barack Obama's speech as it was given live. I only wish I could have been in Grant Park to feel the elctricty that must have been in the air.

As I worte earlier this year, Barack Obama gave me a sense of hope that we desperately needed as a country. The opening comments of his speech last night spoke directly to what I believe:

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible; who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time; who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

Who ever you voted for yesterday, I pray that everyone can believe in yesterday's answer.

Someday, when my children are learning US history in high school, I will be giving them a little bit of extra credit homework of my own. I want them to read these two speeches by Barack Obama. I believe that at least one of them will be tought in history classes fifty or one hundred years from now.

A More Perfect Union - March 18, 2008
Yes, We Can - November 4, 2008

I look forward to teaching my children about yesterday. Teaching them about the dream of our forefathers, why we are all so lucky to be citizens of such a great republic, and that my vote yesterday was to pass along my hopes and dreams to them as they grow up in this world that we are all creating for them.

Yesterday gave me my answer. Yes, we are all in this together.

I'm Mad As Hell!

"I don’t have to tell you things are bad, everybody knows things are bad: It’s a depression! Everybody’s out of work, or scared of losing their job; the dollar buys a nickel’s worth; banks are going bust; shop-keepers keep a gun under the counter; punks are running wild in the street; nobody anywhere seems to know what to do and there’s no end to it! We know the air is unfit to breathe and our food is unfit to eat. We sit watching our TVs whilst some local newscaster tells us that “today we had fifteen homicides and sixty-three violent crimes” as if that’s the way it’s supposed to be! We know things are bad, worse than bad: they’re crazy! It’s like everything everywhere is going crazy, so we don’t go out anymore! We sit in the house and slowly the world we’re living in is getting smaller and all we say is “please, at least leave us alone in our living-rooms - let me have my toaster and my TV and my steel-belted radials and I won’t say anything! Just leave us alone!” Well I’m not going to leave you alone. I want you to get mad! I don’t want you to protest, I don’t want you to riot, I don’t want you to write to your congressman because I wouldn’t know what to tell you to write, I don’t know what to do about the depression and the inflation and the Russians and the crime in the street – all I know is that first you’ve got to get mad! You’ve got to say “I’m a human being goddammit! My life has value!” So, I want you to get up now, I want all of you to get up out of your chairs! I want you to get up right now, and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!"

-From the character Howard Beale in the 1976 film Network.

Journalism vs. Bloggers

From Tim O'Riley's blog on August 18th:

What journalists do, which many bloggers have yet to learn, is to consult multiple sources and do fact checking before blurting out a story. But what bloggers do, which journalists have yet to learn, is to wear their biases on their sleeve, rather than pretending they don’t exist.

I couldn't agree more.

Economic Policies For the Working Class

During my research on a recent subject, I found an organization called the Economic Policy Institute. In their own words they are "a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank that seeks to broaden the public debate about strategies to achieve a prosperous and fair economy." They have a noble mission statement, "To inform people and empower them to seek solutions that will ensure broadly shared prosperity and opportunity." After reading some of their publications, I felt some vindication in my personal philosophy of what I like to call "responsible capitalism." A free market with a conscience and without rampant greed, or "moral hazard" as the Federal Reserve Board likes to call it.

Now, before all the conservatives out there start sniffing, yes, the EPI seems to be left side of center, and they do have a number of labor union representatives as part of their board of directors as well as liberal university egg-heads. BUT, yes, that's a big but, that is just their board. Their researchers and economist on the other hand are graduates and Ph.D's from places like MIT, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Georgia Tech., and other places that give you really expensive pieces of paper after four, six or eight years of school. Their facts and research are rather interesting and explain a great deal on why I feel like I'm on a hamster wheel getting no where fast.

I highly recommend reading the following:

1.) How Much More Can Consumers Be Squeezed by Stagnant Income, Skyrocketing Household Costs, and Falling Home Prices?
Testimony given by Dr. Jared Bernstein, Senior Economist for the Economic Policy Institute, to the Joint Economic Committee of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives.

2.) A Plan to Revive the American Economy
If I was to give this a title, I would call it The New Deal for the New Century
Part of the EPI's Agenda for Shared Prosperity.

It is obviously part of the progressive movement, but unless you are part of the top 1% of America's wage earners, as most of all of us are not in a town with deep working class roots, why wouldn't you support this?

Lessons Learned for Spruce Street Enterprise Zone?

An interesting read for all those involved with the Spruce Street Revitalization Zone, a.k.a an Enterprise Zone.

Why Enterprise Zones Have Fallen On The Skids -- Courant.com

It Only Took Ten Months

My impression of Carnac The Magnificent:

Carnac holds an envelope to his forehead.

"It will be repealed in a five to four party line vote."

Carnac rips the envelope, blows in it, extracts a piece of paper and reads it.

"What will happen to the Living Wage Ordinance when it comes before the Manchester Board of Directors?"

Ed McMahon: "You are correct sir. Hey-oooooooo!"

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

I'm surprised that the Living Wage Ordinance has lasted this long with the new GOP majority. Maybe I'm seeing more than that's there, but the vote in April with the LWO exception for Vision Technical Molding and Advance Mold is looking like the set-up and this next BOD meeting will be the knock-out punch for the LWO.

Director Peak, I can agree that it may be "an inefficient policy," as you were quoted in the Journal Inquirer, some government policy is inefficient or ineffective at best. I have one question, how do you expect people to afford to live in this state? If someone needs to make at least $18 per hour to afford a modest, two bedroom apartment in our area, how is someone going to even afford slumlord's apartment on a minimum wage of $7.65 per hour? I guess we will have to ask the Supportive Housing chairman, David Blackwell, to start planning for more low-income and supportive apartments around town.

Mayor Spadaccini thinks that this ordinance isn't fair to companies like Cigna, a company who made net profits of $1.12 billion in 2007 and $1.16 billion in 2006. (Figures from Google Finance) Mr. Mayor, how fair is it going to be to have people this winter who are going to have a hard time paying their rent, keeping their family warm with out of control energy cost, and feed their family with food prices going up at their current rate? This almost sounds like a twisted GIECO commercial: "Hey, were sticking it to the working class, but at least were saving a bunch of money on our town insurance."

Instead of repealing the ordinance, why not get both parties together and fix the so-called inefficiencies in the ordinance. The LWO isn't a magic bullet to solve the problems of the working class; however, it is a statement by the citizens Manchester that if you want to do business with us, you have to be a fair company and pay your employees enough to just barely survive in the state of Connecticut.

Director Beckman is always stating, sometimes very passionately, about the importance of his conscience when it comes to issues in town. I have a question for you Director Beckman to weight in your conscience. What is more important: repealing on ordinance that will primarily benefit the profits of a large corporation, or having a person being able to support their family with a decent wage?

Manchester Budget Tied To Incorrect Inflation Figures?

RECESSION, YEAR 8 - Yahoo! News

I read this during lunch today, and there is one point in it that made me think about Manchester.

The official inflation rate of two to three percent is a lie, and it has been for years. Presidents Reagan and Clinton ordered the Bureau of Labor Standards to change the way it calculates the Consumer Price Index. Previously they compared the prices of the same items from one year to the next. Now, in order to cheat senior citizens out of cost-of-living increases on their Social Security payments, the government uses a "substitutions" analysis. "The consumer price index assumes that if prices get too high, consumers will start buying cheaper products," reports The San Diego Union-Tribune. For instance, if steak gets too expensive, they will switch to ground beef.

Steve Reed, an economist [with] the Bureau of Labor Standards, freely admits the change makes inflation looks lower than it is. He also admits its motivation: "Even if the CPI was one percentage point higher, it could cost the government hundreds of millions of dollars."

John Williams, an economic consultant who publishes the monthly newsletter "Shadow Government Statistics," calculates that "inflation is actually running at an annualized rate of 9.95 percent." Inflation has been rising since 2002.

If the actual rate of inflation is running at close to 10%, how is the Manchester GOP going to maintain services with only 3% budget increases?

Oh, one more thing: how many of you have changed from Steak to Ground Beef so far? At this rate, we might have to switch to dog food.

Two Party System

Screwed Up Priorities?

I'm not saying that making a profit is bad. But putting profits above everything else? There has got to be a balance point between making a profit, and being a socially responsible company.

The story of Gene Seymour. A hero who almost lost his job for saving someone's life. Listen to free mp3 stories by The American Storyteller!

Henry Rollins Has A Point

Where's your outrage? I'm not just talking about war in general. I'm talking about outrage over anything. The economy, jobs, corporate greed, the mortgage debacle, local politics, schools, parenting, whatever. I agree with Henry Rollins, turn that outrage into "civic good." Do something and don't just turn our problems over to our children.

In Memoriam: Tim Russert 1950-2008

Turning on the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer last night, wanting to catch up on the news, I was deeply saddened to find out that Tim Russert suddenly died yesterday. I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but on Sunday mornings and election nights, he was a trusted voice on a subject that I care a great deal about. Seeing the outpouring of commentary by his colleagues and politicians, both in printed word and on television news, is a testament of the great loss to serious political journalism in Washington D.C. with Mr. Russert's passing.

During national election years, to drown out the noise created by most political news coverage these days, I tuned in to Meet the Press on Sundays to get a sense of what was really going on. In my opinion, Tim Russert was in the same league as Walter Cronkite, and Edward R. Murrow. Mr. Russert was always described as tough, but he was fair. He had integrity, a quality that is not center stage as much as it should be.

I most appreciated his working class roots. Mr. Russert did not put on airs. To me, he was a person who embodied the ideals of what is so great about our country. He was another example of what you can do if you worked hard and had integrity.

Good bye Mr. Russert, you will be sorely missed in this household on the historic upcoming election. It is a shame that you will not be here to see it and share with us your obvious love and excitement for the election process. Peace be with your wife, son and family during this time of sorrow.

An excellent article about Mr. Russert from the Gray Lady

Compromise, not Bipartisanship

I have been paying attention to politics long enough now that I feel that I am beginning to see how it truly works. Even if you aren't involved with government, there are politics everywhere. If you have maneuvered for a promotion at work, you have used politics. If you have been in a relationship long enough, to the point where you don't agree on everything like you used to, you have gotten a taste of politics. It even starts as early as elementary school. Did you ever convince the other kids on the playground to play tag like you wanted instead of red rover like little Susie wanted to? If you did, that was your first taste of politics. If you pay attention, you can even catch some grade school behavior in the stilted halls of government: "I don't like your idea. I'm taking my ball and going home!"

People who have more expensive educations than I do might say that politics is the science or art of government. I cannot disagree with that. There is a great deal of liberal arts and sciences that can help anyone do well in government. Those subjects include law, psychology, sociology, economics, history, and of course, political science. I, on the other hand, like to simplify things. For me politics is nothing more than a game with no written rules. You have to figure out those rules and develop your own play book. I'm certain that there are unimaginable volumes of ink devoted to politics over the history of the written word; however, like wisdom, politics is something that is best learned through life rather than just in books. Another quality that politics shares with wisdom is that the more you learn, the more you realize that there is so much more to learn.

The spark that lit the fire for this latest commentary is due to the June 10th meeting of the Manchester BOD. I am beginning to understand what being called partisan or being asked to be bipartisan means in our current two party system. If you want someone to agree with you from the other side of the isle, you ask them to be bipartisan. If that person disagrees with you, then they are being partisan. To go one more step, if someone strongly disagrees with you, then they are being divisive. This is one of the failures of a two party system. What ever happened to finding compromise?

I'm not entirely sure when during our history that it started, quite possibly with the start of the Cold War, but compromise is being painted in a negative light at all levels of our government. Compromise is associated with surrender, capitulation, or even being unprincipled. There was a time in government when compromise was an honorable way to find agreement, tolerance and balance. Looking back in history, some of those compromises, whether they were a failure or a success, where given names. In the lead up to the Civil War there was the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. During the Philadelphia constitutional convention there was the Massachusetts Compromise, the Three-Fifths Compromise, and the Connecticut Compromise which was later to be known as The Great Compromise.

Am I expecting the next "great compromise" to come out of the Lincoln Center hearing room, no; however, I was encouraged to see what appeared to be an impromptu compromise during the debate on the water & sewer rate increase. In a philosophical difference between the Democrats, who wanted a five percent increase to the rates, and the Republicans, who wanted a three and a half percent increase, Director Tweedie offered an amendment to split the difference at a four and one quarter percent rate increase. I commend him on breaking rank and offering up his compromise even after the impertinent comment made by Michael Pohl, Manchester Democratic Town Chairperson, calling him a "baby duck following Director Pelletier."

Finding compromise is not being unprincipled or a personal weakness. If anything, it takes a great deal of skill, tact, and courage to find the middle ground. Since the November election, a common theme during the BOD meeting public comments has been a want by the citizens of Manchester for the two parties to work together to do what's best for the town. I am encouraged by one of Mayor Spadaccini's comments during his closing statement during the particularly rancorous portion of the June 10th meeting that voted in Director Farina. If Mayor Spadaccini feels that his greatest failure so far is getting the two caucuses of the BOD to work together, then I hope that he does more to find the compromises rather than presiding over one party line vote after another. By being the Mayor of Manchester and Chairperson of the BOD, he represents more than just the majority party on the BOD, but the whole town's diverse political make-up. By finding true compromises, rather than seeking "bipartisanship," the Board of Directors can truly serve the Town of Manchester and its citizens.

Checks and Balances

It's Congress, not a king's court | csmonitor.com

A thought provoking commentary that should be read by every member of congress and also to remind us that the president is only the head of one third of our federal government.

Barack Obama: My Generation's JFK?

Being an independent voter, I look forward to the horse races of the primaries to be over with. I wish that I lived in a state with open primaries. If I did, I would have cast my vote for Barack Obama. For the first time since I could vote, I have never been as hopeful for a presidential candidate as I have for this person.

This November, I think our country has a chance to shed its cynicism, shed its fear and believe once again that we can make tomorrow better than yesterday. I long for renewal of my faith in the idealistic principles that our country was created from. I believe that Barack Obama can heal this country in a way that John McCain cannot. In a word, Barack Obama gives me Hope.

He gives me hope that he can truly do something to help the squeeze that is on working/middle class Americans. Everyday it feels like I have to make more just to break even. Obama is not a child of privilege. Although he may not have to worry about his finances now, I'm sure that he remembers what it was like to try to make ends meet.

Barack Obama gives me hope that he can restore America's standing in the world. Our current president and his administration has squandered everything that this country stood for in the world. I think that if the world sees us elect Barack Obama, they will realize that it is our resolve to move on from the failed policies of the last eight years and rebuild.

Most of all, Obama gives me hope that we can heal the divisions in our country like no one else in the last two hundred years of our federal republic. Whether those divisions are racial, economic, political, religious, or whatever else those in power have used as a wedge to drive us apart. I hope that I can show my children that it doesn't matter who you are, we are all in this together and we all can make a difference.

Since his speech at the DNC in 2004, I have held out hope for this person to run for president for the reasons above and many more. I'm happy that he has made it through his party's process to become a presidential nominee. So without a doubt, my vote this November will go towards Barack Obama. I hope yours will as well.

King Corn

I'm a documentary watcher. The really good ones present a story for you and let you form your own opinions. The best ones are the ones that make you ask questions and think, "wow... I didn't know that." Last night I watched King Corn.

From Netflix:

In Aaron Woolf's thought-provoking documentary, friends Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis move back to America's Corn Belt to plant an acre of the nation's most-grown and most-subsidized grain in an attempt to follow their crop into the U.S. food supply. What they discover about genetically modified seeds, powerful herbicides and the realities of modern farming calls into question government subsidies, our fast-food lifestyle and the quality of our food.

Being a parent has made me aware of food in a way that I wasn't before. How much we buy, how much it costs and especially what we feed our kids. One thing that we have tried to cut out of our diet is high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). This was even before I had heard about King Corn. We make sure that the juice we buy doesn't have it, we buy ketchup now that doesn't have it, and no more soda. We are finding out that it is hard to buy items without HFCS. After watching this documentary, I can see why. HFCS should be on the same list of "very bad for you ingredients" as trans-fats, or hydrogenated oils.

So the one question that watching this film brought up: is the federal government, through their agriculture policies over the last thirty years, inadvertently making us literally fat and happy?

Take ninety minutes of your week and check this documentary out. If you have Netflix, it is available for instant viewing on your computer.

Freethinkers

"Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking."

-Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy

The Sun Also Rises In Manchester

The sun rose in the east for yet another day. A fresh, spring day like we get to enjoy every year in Manchester. People getting ready and going to work, kids eating breakfast and finishing last minute homework before school, dogs barking to be let back in the house, newspapers being delivered and read, and town offices and departments opening their doors to serve our town and take care of our community needs yet again. As I drove through town on my way to work this morning, I did not see a single piece of the sky on the ground.

Much to the chagrin of the Democratic Caucus, the Republicans passed their budget last night. I am sure that things are going to be busy for the next few days in General Manager Shanley's Office, as well as in Dr. Ouellette's office; however, this is why they earn what we pay them. Like most of the taxpayers in this town, they are also going to have to make do with a little less than they were expecting.

I have to admit that prior to last night's meeting, I was almost caught up in the emotions caused by the proposed budget cuts. If you are a parent, it's hard not to get riled up when there is a perceived threat to your kid's education. I then took a step back, and decided that I was going to wait and see what was going to happen. Like it or not, the decisions that were made last night were set into motion on election day last year by only seventeen votes. Last night there was little, if anything, a packed Lincoln Center hearing room could have done to change that fact.

I, much like the town, run my household budget from June to the following May. By the beginning of May, I know what my raise is, I have the new tax rates by then, and some good data from the previous year to make an educated guess at the upcoming year. (If you don't use Quicken or MS Money, I highly recommend it.) It was hard this year. I have seen almost every single line item in my budget climb faster in the last year, than in previous years. Those rising costs have eaten into financial plans that are made as a family in my house. Repairs to the house, paying off debt, and saving more. In order to maintain those plans, cuts were made. Sure, we could take the easy path and justify anything really, but we had to be realistic and make the hard choices. It was this process at home that gave me pause, and provided me with a willingness to try to be objective last night.

No doubt about it, there was political grandstanding on both sides leading up to, and during last night's budget adoption meeting. It didn't help that there was some sensationalized press coverage to fan the flames, and the usual party faithful with their cans of gasoline to add fuel when needed. When it came to the end of the meeting, and listening to the majority budget message, I had to agree. In this current economy, how can our town ask for more money that outpaces average taxpayer cost of living increases yet again?

There was a point made last night by the Democrats that I could not agree with more: there needs to be more cooperation and openness during the budget process. Each year in October and November I hear all about bipartisanship from both parties and how the BOD and BOE need to work together. Six months later it is always business as usual. The BOD and BOE battling each other over money, and budget adoption voted along party lines. Both parties need to be more open with their plans earlier in the process, and then allow the voters to speak their minds on those plans. If the BOD wants more citizen involvement, it's time to have their actions match their words.

Voltaire wrote that we should, "Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers." If that is the case, then here are the questions that I am asking:

• If there is such an outcry by the Democrats about being heard on the budget, why didn't they speak at the Waddell Auditorium on April 2nd encouraging the BOD to fully fund the BOE and General Manager's recommended budgets?
  
  
• The Republicans have said that they are going to be bipartisan and would have a more open and accountable government. Then why would they cancel the joint budget deliberations and not reschedule the meeting? Also, why wait until 36 hours before the budget adoption meeting to release their changes?

So, like every year after the budget adoption meeting, the sun rose once again, and the sky is right where it belongs. To me there is one positive outcome of all that has happened over the past six months, according to the Journal Inquirer, the Lincoln Center hearing room was filled to capacity for the first time in six years for a budget adoption meeting. Agree or disagree with the current majority, they are getting more people involved.

"Truthiness" and Being Manipulated

Lately, I fell like I am asking myself the same questions more and more: "Am I being manipulated," or more to the point, "Am I getting screwed?" Those feelings have popped up in everything from paying my bills, filling up my fuel tank, reading the national news, and now even reading the local news. The way I usually combat that feeling is educating myself more, reading more, and trying to understand. Unfortunately, one recent conclusion that I entertained was: gee, maybe ignorance is bliss. Through continuous learning, and being an involved citizen I try not to let apathy take root; however, occasionally it does and I have to weed it out.

A buzzword that went around the media a few years ago was truthiness. It stemmed from the satirical show on Comedy Central, The Colbert Report. It was awarded Merriam-Webster's 2006 Word Of The Year, and it was defined as:

truthiness (noun)

1 : "truth that comes from the gut, not books" (Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," October 2005)
2 : "the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true" (American Dialect Society, January 2006)

In a 2006 interview with The A.V. Club, Stephen Colbert said, "It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that's not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything." (1)

Personally I disagree with Mr. Colbert. Facts matter to me a great deal. I certainly hope I am not alone. I don't want truthiness, and I don't want to be blissfully ignorant. If I am to make the best decision or form an intelligent opinion to persuade people, I need the facts, not some one's perception of the facts. Truthiness is just a new word for the old art of rhetoric and manipulation.

Sometimes the best school is the old-school. When listening to people, or reading opinions, I turn to logic to try to find out if I'm being manipulated. I recently read this by Tim Holt of logicalfallacies.info :

"The ability to identify logical fallacies in the arguments of others, and to avoid them in one’s own arguments, is both valuable and increasingly rare. Fallacious reasoning keeps us from knowing the truth, and the inability to think critically makes us vulnerable to manipulation by those skilled in the art of rhetoric."

So I am here to fight the apathy of my generation by fighting my own apathy. I'm here to say that I will not be manipulated, and I will not be lied to. Most importantly I want the facts, not truthiness.

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References

(1) http://www.avclub.com/content/node/44705

The Way Business Is Done

If you create more jobs in Manchester, you can extort the taxpayers and by-pass the living wage ordinance. I have to give credit to the owners of Vision Technical Molding and Advance Mold, they have taken advantage of a perfect storm to come out ahead. That storm is made up of a U.S. recession, Republicans in the majority, and Mohawk Cable (Belden, Inc.) closing its doors in Manchester and sending jobs to Mexico. I also have to give credit to the Manchester GOP. This is the first chance they’ve had to poke a hole in the Living Wage Ordinance that they voted against when it was enacted by the Democrats.

“Less than two weeks after local officials learned that the Mohawk Cable plant on Progress Drive was closing, town directors approved a tax abatement for two companies that suggested they, too, might close and move their operations out of the country.” (1)

According to the Hartford Courant article, this “suggestion” was made two days after the announcement of the closing of the Mohawk plant in a letter to the General Manager from one of the partners of the company. Is it just me, or does this sound something like this: give my company a tax abatement and let my company bypass the living wage ordinance or I will move my plant and lay-off 160 people. I’m asking myself, how is this not extortion?

Extort: to wrest or wring (money, information, etc.) from a person by violence, intimidation, or abuse of authority; obtain by force, torture, threat, or the like. (2)

In the business world, it isn’t called extortion, it’s called “leveraging your position.” I have no issue with businesses making money. It’s what they do. What I have a problem with is how this deal went down. It was introduced in an executive session of the April 1st BOD meeting. It was then added to the agenda for the second meeting of the month with no public announcement that the BOD agenda was revised. Now, when I was a teenager, and I tried slipping something under my parent’s nose, it was called, “pulling a fast one.” How is this open and accountable government?

In the end, the upside is that Vision Technical Molding and Advance Mold are creating fifteen new jobs now and fifteen more over the next year. Hopefully those jobs can go to people being laid-off at the Mohawk Cable plant. Those being laid-off should take advantage of the retraining being offered to get the skills they would need to work in an injection molding plant. Also, in seven years, Manchester will be able to add this company’s addition into the grand list.

The downside is that Manchester's taxpayers are footing the bill for $85,000 over the next seven years, and nineteen people at those plants will not be making the Manchester living wage of $11.40 per hour. Incidentally, a recently published study by the National Low Income Housing Coalition stated that a person would need to earn $18.64 per hour to have a modest two bedroom apartment in the Hartford area. (3) So those nineteen people will need to get a second job, or if they have a partner or spouse, they will have to work full time as well.

I’ve been laid off before. It’s very scary. I ask you this: Should businesses and town governments use that fear to their advantage? In this taxpayer’s opinion, it’s extortion, but that’s the way business has always been done.

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References:

(1) Uhlinger, Nick “Manchester Approves Tax Break For Two Companies” Hartford Courant 10 April 2008

(2) http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/extort

(3) National Low Income Housing Coalition “Out of Reach” study. 2008

Welcome

“Perhaps the sentiments contained in the following pages, are not YET sufficiently fashionable to procure them general favor; a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom.”

-Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776

Welcome to the Silk City Independent. This will primarily be a political commentary blog containing the perspective of an Independent voter in Manchester, Connecticut. I research and weigh both sides of any issue, because the world is not black or white, Republican or Democrat, but many colors and shades; and in the case of Manchester, largely unaffiliated with a political party. In this writer’s opinion, the political climate in town has become increasingly divisive and partisan. It is time to add a voice from the greater percentage of voters in Manchester.

Do you know what the make up of Manchester is when it comes to voter registration? According to the Connecticut Secretary of State on Oct. 30, 2007 :

Republican	6,103	18.9%
Democrat	11,320	35.0%
Minor Party	257	0.8%
Unaffiliated	14,685	45.3%
Total	32,365	100.0%

If the Board of Directors, BOD, or Board of Education, BOE, were apportioned by voter registration, there would be two Republicans, three Democrats, and four Unaffiliated or Independents on each of the governments bodies in town.

Connecticut has been called the land of steady habits. I can’t argue with Mr. Paine’s thinking, “…a long habit of not thinking a thing WRONG, gives it a superficial appearance of being RIGHT…” Political issues are almost always dependent on perspective. It is time to add a non-partisan, common sense perspectives to the dialog in Manchester.

Columns will be published on a minimum of a weekly basis. If you are a civic minded, unaffiliated voter in Manchester and would like to be a regular contributor, please leave a comment to let me know. Reader comments are welcomed; however, as with any publication, the editor reserves the right to moderate those comments.