Kids Raising Money For Kids

Its a hot day out there!

If you’re on the way to Banknorth or coming out of Pat’s IGA and need some refreshement, stop by the the two tents behind the store. A Lemonade stand has been set up in DaPa Construction’s parking lot on Mad River Rd. Ext. Lemonade is 50 cents and there are homemade lollipops for sale. The kids are raising money for Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Debbie Nadeau is chapperoning the handful of young children who call out to passing cars.

So if you hear a couple of screaming kids, just stop by for some cool lemonade on a hot day for a good cause. “We’ll be out here until about 4 pm – but we’ll do it again!” says Nadeau.

Republicans Choose Slate for November Ballot

The Wolcott Republican Town Committee unanimously chose its slate in a brief caucus Monday night. A crowd of supporters filled the room. The candidates are:

Mayor: no nomination
Town Clerk: Dolores “Debbie” Slater
Treasurer: no nomination
Tax Collector: no nomination

Town Council
1st District: Jeffrey Lumia, Dave Valletta
2nd District: Christopher Whibey, Harry Fitzgerald
3rd District: Christopher O’Brien, Carl Dambrauskas

Board of Education:
Gregory Dandio
Gloria Gubitosi
Mary Kelly
Kim Lumia
Joe Mango
Patricia Najarian

Board of Assessment Appeals
Cynthia Mancini
William Evans

Zoning Board of Appeals
Fraces “Mae” Flynn
Steven Grant
Kenneth Barnes

Constable
Paul Gallucci
James Natale
Louis Dubois Jr.

Democrats Choose Candidates for Town Election

Below are the candidates running on the Democratic line this year. The party selected their candidates on Thursday. Republicans will select their slate on Monday at the Senior Center on Nichols Rd. at 7 pm. The election will be held November 3rd.

Mayor: George Babcock

Town Clerk: none

Tax Collector: Lorraine McQueen

Treasurer: Roger Levesque

Town Council:
1st District: David Gentile, Charles Marsella
2nd District: Mike Perrone, Fran Masi
3rd District: Mike Santagotta, Art Lerz

Board of Education:
James Pape, Anthony Gugliotti, Helen Audibert, Arthur George, Mark Baldwin, Theresa Pineau

Zoning Board of Appeals:
Jack Kirshbaum, Paul MAzurek, Brett Muccino

Board of Assessment Appeals:
Don Charette, Roy Howe

Constable:
George Leggio, Bob Castriciano, Ted Storlazzi

Source: Larson, Andrew; Republican – American “Wolcott Democrats confirm preselected slate, 7/25/09”

Townwide Picnic Sunday

Bring your lawnchairs and blankets to the Green on Sunday. Beginning at 3 pm will be the free town wide picnic. Everyone is welcome and there will be food, refreshments, and a DJ.

If you would like to enjoy the warm afternoon a bit longer, the group Soundcheck will perform beginning at 6 pm.

Have you heard Soundcheck before?
What neighbors do you hope to see at the picnic?

Start a discussion! Click on “Leave a Comment” above!”

Dunn To Hold Fundraiser

Mayor Tom Dunn is running for re-election this year. A wine and cheese fundraiser will be held at Mona Lisa restaurant Thursday starting at 7 pm.

Fundraiser Today To Help Boy

A fundraiser to help Justin Fortin is being held NOW at Peterson Park from 4 pm- 8 pm

Justin has leukemia has been in hte hospital for some time.

The fundraiser will include include food, DJ and games. Tickets are $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and children

If you cannot attend, please send a check to: Justin Fortin Benefit Fund. Send it to Helen Donovan, 55 Forestview Dr., Wolcott 06716. You can also contact her at (203 879-9145

Open Apology to Mr. Gugliotti

By Christopher O’Brien
Two months ago I wrote a narrative of the Wolcott budget. Included within the budget were quotations by Board of Education members. As in any good piece of writing, I used quotations to illustrate and give more credibility to the piece. After reflecting upon the use of one of the quotations in particular, I have apologized to Anthony Gugliotti over the use of his comment.

The statement I quoted from Mr. Gugliotti was that if taxpayers could not afford a mill increase, they should move out of town. Mr. Gugliotti says that he never made the statement, particularly within the context I portrayed it. Instead, the statement was used in the midst of a discussion where he was illustrating a point, and he says that it was not his position to raise taxes. Mr. Gugliotti told me that he said that if taxes were raised, taxpayers WOULD leave town, not ‘should’ as I presented. He further presented this as part of a lengthier point.

As an editor of this piece, I should have attributed his statement to the sources I heard it from or not used it at all. For a few weeks now, there has been a proper notation at the end of the original article on Facebook saying that I heard the original quote from unnamed sources who were at a meeting that I didn’t attend. The original quotation is still present with that attribution.

Mr. Gugliotti graciously accepted my apology last night, (Monday). Using the quote as a personal attack as well spreading what might be considered a rumor negated the intent of the article. That focus was supposed to be whether or not wages should be frozen to stablize the budget.

I want to be able to work with the Board of Education and Mr. Gugliotti as chairman of the Board’s finance committee. The business of the town demands that we work together and this incident has impaired that. Mr. Gugliotti is very knowledgeable to how the education department operates and I have no doubts that he knows most of the figures within the Board’s budget. Because the Town Council that I sit on needs information from the Board to rest our decisions, we need a positive working relationship in the future.

I do need to be very clear on a couple of points though before anyone starts rumors about why I have made this statement. First, it will likely be suggested that those who gave me the statement ‘set you up’. I strongly disagree. I am the only person responsible for what I write. I trusted the people who told me the statement, and still do. I have not identified those sources because they can speak for themselves if they wish. Only those present when the statement was made could judge it appropriately, and thus far no one present has found it necessary to do so. That would rest the blame for repeating the alleged statement fully on myself. Period.

As for the writing of public events and meetings, I will continue to convey information in this forum, but may elect to use other methods. I think that there is benefit to the public when more information is available. I still feel that many of the workings and decisions by town officials are not reported. There are many events that can bring the town together that are not widely known. Anyone who sticks their head out to report on public events- or even public officials themselves- can get information wrong or make mistakes. I will try to get this information right the first time, but will happily make corrections if necessary.

Finally, you may recall that the Board of Education directed its attorney to accuse me of libel and making misleading statements. I did not commit libel and no statement I made was libelous. Libel has a specific legal definition and even including Mr. Gugliotti’s statement does not meet that legal standard. Yet, because of how I used the statement and did not properly attribute it, I believe its use was poor journalism and a bad decision. The points I made did not require that quote to back them up.

Immediately after publishing the article, Mr. Gugliotti challenged the quotation. At that point a good journalist would have noted the source and could have seen if the quote was needed and could have made a reasonable correction. Indeed, the piece again was aimed at policy, and not personalities.

To Mr. Gugliotti and the townspeople of Wolcott, I apologize for this error.

Thankyou for reading.
Christopher O’Brien
3rd District Town Council

General Assembly To Hold Session Monday

Governor Rell vetoed a total of 19 bills this legislative session, and the Legislature will meet Monday July 20th to see if they can override eight of these.

Here is the list of bills expected to come up today.

Amongst these bills include some high profile proposals to repeal the Death Penalty , require the posting of nutritional information at restaurants, and killing the Chestnut Hill energy project in downtown Waterbury. It also includes the proposed Democratic budget which passed the House 91-48 and the Senate 25-11.

In order to override the Governor’s veto, the Constitution requres that 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate vote in favor of a measure to succeed. That would require 101 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate. If every Democrat votes in favor of the measures, they could easily pass the measures in question, but keeping such a consensus has been difficult, particularly on fiscal matters and the abolition of the death penalty. If one Senator breaks ranks and all Republicans hold opposition, then the measures die. In the House, the Democrats number 114 and there are 37 Republicans.

Here are some of the bills that passed both houses of the General Assembly, with their vote count. Included are the votes of Wolcott’s two legislators, Rep. Corky Mazurek (D-80) and Sen. Sam Caligiuri (R-16).

HB 6502 An Act Concerning the Standard Wage for Certain Connecticut Workers
This bill looks legnthy and appears to mandate a “prevailing wage”. In other words, all workers for certain classifications in the bill must be paid the same as the highest paid workers of the same type in Hartford County. In other words, when a person makes a certain wage in Hartford, someone in Sterling, Stamford or Waterbury must be paid the same amount, including benefits.

Passed the House 112-35 and the Senate 30-6. Mazurek Voted YES. Caliguri voted yes on a procedural vote called “Order of the day”. I’m not sure what that means, though it might be a bundle of bills that are grouped together for one vote.

HR 6531 Deals with insurance underwriting and requires certain approvals before insurance contracts are re-written or changed from the Insurance Commissioner.
The House Passed this 112-36 and the Senate 36-0 Mazurek and Caliguiri both voted Yes.

HR 6578 An Act to Repeal the Death Penalty generated a large amount of debate at the Capitol. This bill would ban the Death Penalty for future cases. Dr. William Petit waited hours before speaking at a public hearing on the bill. This bill is unlikely to come up for a veto over ride because the numbers simply are not there.

The House passed it 90-56 and the Senate 19-17. Caligiuri and Mazurek both voted No.

HR 6582 Was a plan to begin converting state health plans from certain private insurance administrators such as Anthem to the State of Connecticut plan. This bill allows non-state employees and municipalities to enroll in the state health plan. The Sustinet Proposal itself is more than one billion dollars just to be implemented.
It passed the House 109-36 and the Senate 21-12. Mazurek voted yes and Caligiuri voted no.

HR 6600 This is to begin implementation of the Sustinet Plan. This plan has been derided as universal healthcare by many. The price tag, just for implementation, will add over $1 Billion to the budget.

It passed the House 107-35 and Senate 23-12. Mazurek voted Yes and Caliguri voted No.

HR 6649 – Deals with cetain requirements of the DOT. I’m unclear why the Governor vetoed this bill. It passed the House 143-2 and the Senate 36-0. Mazurek and Caligiuri voted Yes.

Sources:
ATalbot; “A Heavy Hand; July 2, 2009; http://ctlocalpolitics.net/2009/07/02/a-heavy-hand/#more-4830

Bigelow, Chris; “Governor No”; July 8, 2009; http://ctlocalpolitics.net/2009/07/08/governor-no/

Bigelow, Chris; “Rell’s Veto Pen Active”; June 24th, 2009; http://ctlocalpolitics.net/2009/06/24/rells-veto-pen-active/

Goodman, Susan and Debra Bogstie; “Gov. Kills Bill Abolishing Death Penalty”; June 8, 2009; http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/news/local/Gov-Expected-to-Veto-Death-Penalty-Friday.html?=123

Pat’s IGA Owner Dies

Pasquale “Pat” DiSapio, the owner of Pat’s IGA passed away at his home yesterday, according to an obituary in the Waterbury Republican- American. Calling hours will be on Wednesday from 5 pm to 8 pm at The Albini Funeal Home, 430 Chase Parkway. The funeral will be Thursday morning at 11 am at St. Pius X Church followed by burial at Calvary Cemetary.

Pat was the founder and owner of Pat’s IGA for many years. He worked at the store until just a few years ago, taking pride in the fresh vegetables in the store. His wife, Rose, managed the bakery at the other end of the store. Pat’s IGA was a leading IGA store and one of the largest such stores in the Waterbury area. It still is the main store in Wolcott, apart from Walsh’s IGA on the other end of town attracting shoppers from Waterbury, Cheshire, and Marion. Yet, even people from Waterbury and Terryville drove to DiSapio’s store in the center of Wolcott for its low meat prices.

Pat will long be remembered for this contribution in the center of Wolcott.

Source:
Waterbury Republican- American; July 14, 2009; page 5B

General Assembly To Hold Veto Override Session

Governor Rell vetoed a total of 19 bills this legislative session, and the Legislature will meet Monday, July 20th to see if they can override eight of these, according to sources at the Capitol.

Amongst these bills include some high profile proposals to repeal the Death Penalty , require the posting of nutritional information at restaurants, and killing the Chestnut Hill energy project in downtown Waterbury. It also includes the proposed Democratic budget which passed the House 91-48 and the Senate 25-11.

It is unclear which bills will be up for debate on Monday for attempted veto overrides, but in order to do so the Constitution requres that 2/3 of the House and 2/3 of the Senate vote in favor of a measure to succeed. That would require 101 votes in the House and 24 in the Senate. If every Democrat votes in favor of the measures, they could easily pass the measures in question, but keeping such a consensus has been difficult, particularly on fiscal matters and the abolition of the death penalty. If one Senator breaks ranks and all Republicans hold opposition, then the measures die. In the House, the Democrats number 114 and there are 37 Republicans.

The Death Penalty bill is unlikely to come up because it received fewer than 100 passing votes, and it only passed 19-17 in the Senate. The proposal blocking the Chestnut Hill project and an ash plant in the town of Franklin is also unlikely to come up because Chestnut Hill already announced they will voluntarily withdraw their proposal to build a food disposal and energy plant in Waterbury’s Brooklyn section near Rt. 8.

Bills likely to come up include the Sustinet health care bill which was vetoed partly because its cost is enormous. Gov. Rell also said that this state effort was redundant of the national health care debate. The House of Representatives in Washington DC plans to begin debate on a national healthcare bill this week.

Negotiations to solve the State’s budget deficit are ongoing and it is still unclear when a vote will come up for that, but one can presume it won’t be Monday.

Wolcott’s Representative is John “Corky” Mazurek. Sam Caligiuri represents Wolcott in the Senate.

Summer Concert Series Begins

Today the Waterbury Municipal Band, at the direction of Michael Trentalange will perform at 6:00 pm

Deluge Briefly Closes Wolcott Streets

In the past 24 hours, rain has washed out driveways and endangered roads in Wolcott.

Woodtick Rd. was closed at Upson Rd. last night as the Lilley Brook undermined and overan the road. Some of the corner appears to be washed out. The main roadway of Woodtick appears intact and on Friday the road was open again. There was still some minor debris along Upson, but the road is cetainly passable. A pipe under Woodtick appears bent.

Lower County Rd. had rock debris along it last night and I assisted a motorist who had a branch caught under his car. He was able to resume travel in just a few minutes. The curves near the 4th hole of Farmingbury Hills Country Club had a waterfall halfway down the curve turning the street into a river. Cars did need to slow down along this stretch and Public Works crews cleaned that area up into the late evening.

Lower Longmeadow Dr. was awash with water Friday morning and the Town crew needed to make some repair to the overpass for that Mad River tributary there according to local business employees. A few residents reported the roadway just behind the Liquor Outlet and Dunkin Donuts was closed this morning. Dirt washed towards Cumberland Farms. Traffic is now passing over a solid road there today and the stream’s flow was at its normal size. The road is now open.

Harrison Drive had a washed out driveway sending debris and dirt down the road.
Rogers Rd. also had one driveway washed out. A mound of dirt was at the end of it today. Another residence at the end of the road had some of its front yard washed down, but it appears that most of that debris was small cedar chips that rested on a plastic lawn cover.

Waterbury had similar roads under water, including the dip in Wolcott Rd. near Pep Boys, resulting in cars floating in places. Long Hill Rd. was still closed Friday night behind Friendly’s.

This report made through first hand observations and brief interviews. A more complete report will be made over the weekend

Connecticut July 4th Fireworks Displays

WTNH has a listing of all the 4th of July Fireworks Displays in CT. If you see anything missing, let me know!
http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/local/news_wtnh_2009_fireworks_in_connecticut_20090625