Sunday Morning Poetry
By Redcoat | May 10, 2008
Happy Mother’s Day. And in honor of the occasion, a poem about mothers.
Mother Doesn’t Want a Dog
Judith Viorst
Mother doesn’t want a dog.
Mother says they smell,
And never sit when you say sit,
Or even when you yell.
And when you come home late at night
And there is ice and snow,
You have to go back out because
The dumb dog has to go.
Mother doesn’t want a dog.
Mother says they shed,
And always let the strangers in
And bark at friends instead,
And do disgraceful things on rugs,
And track mud on the floor,
And flop upon your bed at night
And snore their doggy snore.
Mother doesn’t want a dog.
She’s making a mistake.
Because, more than a dog, I think
She will not want this snake.
Topics: Uncategorized, Poetry | 2 Comments »
Who is the “real” Republican?
By Redcoat | May 9, 2008
One of the most interesting, and least commented upon (except by the astute readers of this blog), aspect of this budget season has been the repeating of political history. Specifically, once again the Republican council members have split, with one of them voting with the Democrats. On Tuesday, Bob McGee actually bothered to speak on the cuts to the budget, expressed concerns about the impact of the reductions on essential town services, and voted with the 6-1 majority to adopt the budget. All in dramatic contrast to Joan Carey.
It’s pretty clear by now that Mr. McGee is more comfortable working with the Democratic majority than he is with his running mate, Ms. Carey. And this is not the first time - recall Will Watson breaking from Paul Argazzi and voting with the Democrats on most issues. OF course, what will happen next is completely predictable. The BRTC leadership will begin to isolate Mr. McGee, and then attack him, and then drive him out of the party. It happened with Will Watson. It happened with Mary Agostini. And it happened with Eileen Meskill (apparently not Republican enough). And it looks like it’s happening again, as evidenced by Mr. Rampone’s Citizen letter.
Of course, the BRTC doesn’t feel it has any other option. It has worked so hard to avoid working with the Democratic majority (over two Council terms) and to paint them as irresponsible, that for one of its own to begin to work constructively with the Democrats is to destroy their narrative. After all, how bad can the Democrats be if one of their nominated candidates comes to realize that he can work and agree with them? Instead, discredit the “traitors” and try to pretend that they aren’t “real” Republicans - as defined by Scott Veley or whoever else is pulling the BRTC levers. By pursuing this tactic, however, the BRTC continues to marginalize itself, deliberately foregoing a conversation with the majority of Berlin residents in order to maintain some sort of ill-defined ideological purity and blind loyalty. Instead of demonstrating that they are prepared to lead and committed to the well-being of our community, they refuse any constructive engagement, sacrificing Berlin’s future for the hope of their political future.
It’s a familiar story and one that Berlin residents have rejected - over and over again. On the other hand, if the BRTC keeps pursuing the same unsuccessful strategy that it has pursued for the past decade, after a few more elections we may be in a position to have a Council majority comprised entirely of former Republican council members.
Topics: Politics, BRTC | 2 Comments »
Letters to the Editor
By Redcoat | May 9, 2008
This week’s Citizen contains some letters which remind us of the sad state of political debate in Berlin. Where to begin?
Why not start with our two former Republican Town Council members? Don Geschimsky writes about - well what exactly is he writing about? Consider the first sentence: “Several days ago I read an article about attorneys, and I thought it was about Berlin and then I found out it was Hartford.” Remarkably, this was the part of the letter that made the most sense.
Mr. Geschimsky jumps from corporation counsel to the town garage to Sam’s club to new home construction to the high school parking lot. And oh, by the way, the $400,000 is not for the school parking lot, but the track. Just curious, how much do the seniors pay to use the parking lot at the senior center?
True to his well-earned reputation, Mr. Rampone serves to completely confuse. What is he talking about multiple budget referendums? Mr. Rampone describes Joan Carey as an “everyday woman who works for a living and has all of the same bills that most of us have?” And this makes her different from Rachel Rochette how? Particularly interesting is Mr. Rampone’s interpretation of what happened to the last Republican budget and council. Wow. (I know I’m jumping around here, but hey, have you read his letter?).
Keep in mind that these two writers were 40% of the last Republican Council.
But I found the most interesting - and revealing - letter was the one written by Douglas Nelson about what can be fairly described as his fury at the prospect of garbage collection being cut. According to Mr. Nelson, Berlin residents who live on state highways apparently don’t have access to the services that the rest of us enjoy. News to me, but I haven’t been at the library when these second class citizens have been turned away.
No, what Mr. Nelson’s letter unwittingly reveals is the philosophy, continually espoused by the BRTC, that budget cuts carry with them no impact. It is possible to cut the town budget without any loss of services, or so we are told. The reality - which causes Mr. Nelson to decry that cutting a service and calling it a tax reduction is a “farce” - is that any real budget cut does one of two things: it either shifts the cost of a service to residents (trash collection) or shifts a cost into the future (building maintenance or capital spending). The problem for Mr. Nelson, I suspect, is that the cut that he thought was on the table cut his service, as opposed to a service - like education - that he doesn’t utilize.
Unfortunately, one cannot completely fault Mr. Nelson when one of our political parties is working so hard to encourage this type of “magical” thinking. Why confront and grapple with the difficult choices of reality when make-believe is so much easier?
Topics: Letter to Editor | 1 Comment »
Budget adopted
By Redcoat | May 6, 2008
Tonight the Town Council adopted a budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. Following the defeat of the budget at referendum, the Council, in a 6-1 vote, cut an additional $418,000 from the budget, meaning that the final budget raises the levy (i.e. total taxes) just under 3%. During the budget debate/conversation Council member Joan Carey did not say a single word.
Topics: Town Council, Budget | 30 Comments »
Town Council Meeting
By Redcoat | May 5, 2008
The Town Council meets on Tuesday at 7:00 to finalize a budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year. For readers who attend the Council meeting, feel free to write about it in the comments.
Topics: Town Council, Budget | No Comments »
Sunday Poetry
By Redcoat | May 4, 2008
This edition of Sunday morning poetry is more like Sunday evening poetry. But it’s never a bad time for poetry. I hope everyone enjoyed the day, especially the first glimpse of the sun in a long, long time.
You, Andrew Marvell
Archibald MacLeish
And here face down beneath the sun
And here upon earth’s noonward height
To feel the always coming on
The always rising of the night
To feel creep up the curving east
The earthy chill of dusk and slow
Upon those under lands the vast
And ever climbing shadow grow
And strange at Ecbatan the trees
Take leaf by leaf the evening strange
The flooding dark about their knees
The mountains over Persia change
And now at Kermanshah the gate
Dark empty and the withered grass
And through the twilight now the late
Few travelers in the westward pass
And Baghdad darken and the bridge
Across the silent river gone
And through Arabia the edge
Of evening widen and steal on
And deepen on Palmyra’s street
The wheel rut in the ruined stone
And Lebanon fade out and Crete
High through the clouds and overblown
And over Sicily the air
Still flashing with the landward gulls
And loom and slowly disappear
The sails above the shadowy hulls
And Spain go under the the shore
Of Africa the gilded sand
And evening vanish and no more
The low pale light across that land
Nor now the long light on the sea
And here face downward in the sun
To feel how swift how secretly
The shadow of the night comes on…
Topics: Poetry | No Comments »
OK, what next?
By Redcoat | April 30, 2008
The budget was defeated on Tuesday, with the relevant number being 10,500. Which was approximately how many voters chose to stay home and not color in one bubble on a sheet of paper.
Now that the budget has been defeated, what do we do now? And no, it’s absolutely not adequate to simply respond cut spending or eliminate waste. The time for empty rhetoric is over, now is the time for hard and difficult decisions. The budget as proposed was, for all intents and purposes, a status quo budget. There were no new positions on the town side and the BOE side was cut below proposed operating costs. The reality is that we are no longer talking about cutting spending, the real question before us is cutting services. Which services are we willing to cut, which capital investments and building improvements are we willing to put off? Those are the choices before the community, choices which until now opponents of the budget have avoided answering. Now it’s time to come forward with your solutions.
During the upcoming discussions on what the budget should look like, all I ask (and apparently it’s asking a lot) is that we be honest with what the impact of these decisions will be. Far too often in the past when we have discussed budget cuts the proponents of these cuts have minimized, ignored or even denied the impact of these cuts. Unfortunately, by doing so the residents of Berlin are left with a false choice - one without costs - when the time comes to make a budget decision.
One could argue that for years Berlin has been living with, for lack of a better term, “artificial” budgets. For example, as has been discussed at length in this blog, we have put off simple capital replacement fundings and building maintenance year after year after year so that we can put forward budgets with little or no tax increases, or that can simply survive a referendum. Then, as the town did last year, react with indignation when it is proposed that we finally fund some of these purchases through bonding. But this is the inevitable result when our leaders pretend that their decisions or positions are without consequences.
I think - I hope - that it goes without saying that this approach to budgeting and governance can’t go on forever. So is now the time that we, as a community, start facing and making the difficult decisions that confront us?
So Berlin Blog readers, what are your thoughts? What do you propose that the Council do concerning the budget (specifics please)? If you were a member of the Council, what would your response be to the referendum result?
Topics: Town Council, Budget, Taxes | 62 Comments »
Referendum Results
By Redcoat | April 29, 2008
Results are in: Yes 581 No 1400.
A remarkably low turnout, the lowest in recent memory I believe. Have at it in the comments.
Topics: Budget | 5 Comments »
VOTE Today
By Redcoat | April 29, 2008
Today is the town budget referendum, polls are open from 6:00am to 8:00pm at the five usual polling places. Berlin Blog encourages all to vote, and hopes that your vote is balanced by both your individual concerns and the needs of our community. Excercise your civic duty (although I suspect turnout will be light).
Feel free to use the comments for any observations/thoughts about the vote today.
Topics: Budget | 3 Comments »
Budget Referendum
By Redcoat | April 28, 2008
Well, there’s been a lot written about the budget process the past few weeks. This is your opportunity to write about. How are you voting tomorrow, and how do you think your fellow residents should vote? Use the comments to share your two cents, and take the time to explain why you are, or others should, vote that way. And please, do us all a favor and try to utilize thoughtful arguments and leave the tar and feathering for another day.
Budget referendum - thumbs up or thumbs down?
Topics: Budget | 7 Comments »