Twas the night before Christmas, and in quaint Killingworth
Every family held vigil for the great savior's birth
The stockings were hung in each household with care
In hopes that a new schoolyard soon would be there
The children were nestled all snug in their beds
While visions of playing fields danced in their heads
And L.J. in her kerchief and I in my tie
Had just settled in with a heave and a sighThen out on the roof there arose such a din
That I sprang from my bed, stubbed my toe, barked my shin
Away to the window, throw open the blinds!
(I hope I can see past the glare from the lines)
The moon on the breast of the bare frozen plain
Made me think of the ice growing on Lover's Lane
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear
But a sleigh bearing Santa, pulled by tiny reindeer
The jolly old elf was both ancient and spry
(He drove just in his lane, and I'm sure we know why)
More rapid than speeders this Santa bore near
And he whistled and shouted and reviewed the past year
Now Bosco! Venuti!
Now giant McMansions!
No ballfields! No Town Hall!
No cash for expansions!
Let's build not one more porch!
Let's preserve each stone wall!
Now paint the trim! Fix the bridge!
Build a town mall!
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly
Grow the thoughts we are left with; such as how? such as why?
So up to the housetop the questions they flew
In the sleigh that was Killingworth, with the gay Santa, too
In flash and a twinkling I heard each tiny hoof
(which reminds me, we must fix the library roof)
So I drew in my head and then turned for a look
Down the chimney he came; and whole building shook
He was dressed head to toe in both crimson and white
His eyes, how they twinkled! His laughter, how merry!
And his clothes made it clear that this elf was all right
A bundle of houses he had flung on his back
So I begged and pleaded; "won't you please take them back?"
He sure didn't seem like he missed Trooper Perry
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow
Like he'd gone to the polls and had twice voted No
The stump of a pipe he clenched tight in his jaws
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old soul
And I instantly loved him, this cute Santy Claus
He had a broad face and a round little gut
That shook when he laughed, just like Jabba the Hut
And I prayed once again that I wouldn't get coal
With a wink of his eye and twist of head
He confirmed what I knew – that poor Bosco was dead
He spoke not a word but went straight to his work
(I forgot to take pictures and I feel like a jerk)
And laying a finger aside of his nose
He leapt up the chimney, or he flew, I suppose
He sprang to his sleigh, to our town gave a whistle
And away he then flew leaving just an epistle
One I heard him exclaim as he drove from my sight
Happy Christmas to all, and to all . . .
A good night.
And . . . I offer these thoughts with the greatest
thanks and deference to Clement Clarke Moore, whose spectacular poem "A Visit from St.
Nicholas" has been liberally altered by far better minds than mine.
It is a truly special time of year in - yes, I'll say it again - our truly special town. And, I thank you for sharing your thoughts, and reading mine, for another year. For Laura Jane, Mary Grace, Adam, Madelyn and Tanky (the world's fattest goldfish), I wish you and yours a very, very Merry Christmas. May your holidays, and the New Year, bring you peace, joy and happiness. I look forward to our next year together.
Saturday,
December 4, 2004
And Women Are From Venus.
It's Thursday again, my deadlines approach, and
as the sun slowly sinks I sit at my screen, chin in hand, wondering what
to do to fill the page. The select Pharmedica Committee has kyboshed the
idea of purchasing the building, a fair and well publicized vote has said
NO to new rec. fields, improvements we've made at the dump have bought
it a new lease on life and the Town Center plan is still too expensive
to consider. I can't even write about the Red Sox, for obvious reasons.
The items that have occupied our time and attention for so many months
have seemed to resolve themselves, leaving me nothing (wild cheering)
to write about.
Partly this is by ingenious design (we did, after all, appoint a varied and bipartisan committee to study the Pharmedica purchase; we issued new dump decals, purchased a new compactor and established the Pay As You Throw Committee, etc.) and partly (as with all good things) it has been plain dumb luck. But either way, the irony is not lost on me. I am, after all, one of the many town residents who have said, time after time, that they don't want to see an awful lot of change come to Killingworth, and I may just be the poster child for that very demographic.
I moved to town n 1974, and wouldn't you know it, that's the last time we built a ball field in town and about the same time our beloved transfer station took on its current configuration. Coincidence? Well, maybe. Then again, what can you expect from a guy who didn't want a Dunkin' Donuts coming to town.
Around Thanksgiving I wrote to you expressing my thanks for the chance to serve as your Selectman, and to express my hope that we could put the KRC behind us and walk together into whatever lies ahead. And, it's time for me to say thanks again, because from what I can see around town, people on both sides of the issue are shaking hands and burying their hatchets. True, the holidays are here and the spirit of the season (the distilled spirits, too) can bring people together, but from what I can see people are coming together with a new purpose, and that purpose is a wonderful thing to see.
Simply stated, it's the obvious concern: where do we go from here? There's something to be learned from every public vote and every public dialogue, and one of the lessons of the recent referendum is that there simply isn't support for constructing expensive recreation fields at this time. No way around it. Crystal clear. No . . . means . . . No.
To some this might be heresy; for others, well, go ahead and say you told me so. But now that the dust has settled one thing (at least) stands out: a plan that almost passed (71 votes) in May of 2003 drew nearly seven hundred more negative votes in November 2004 after the town issued an informational mailer. And while people may disagree about some things the lopsided vote said, it can be neither denied nor avoided that the more we publicized the $5.25 million plan, the more we alerted people to something they didn't want (you gotta love democracy). Leading us again to the obvious, a question we'll have to answer together, because as dusk turns to darkness I don't know where we go from here. Not afraid to say it, either: I don't know what's next, and in this regard my writer's block on that topic has served a very useful purpose.
Leading a community isn't about sitting in front of a keyboard, but trying to write to you each week about a piece of town business accomplishes one remarkable thing. It makes me (and I hope you, too) sit down and think about the issues, the good and the bad, the past and the present. In order for me to have something to prattle about I have to sit and think about what I want to say. Check my facts; examine the Town's history. And this week one of the great things writing this column has allowed me to do is to sit for some time and to think about the journey ahead. Where we might go and how we might get there. I don't have the answers, and we can be thankful that this year, at least we know where we're not going. That, sometimes, is all that you need to choose a new direction.
We've all got a lot on our plates right now. Holiday gatherings, seasonal shopping, tax planning, diet tips, who'll get stuck with Pedro. And I'm not about to add to your burden by suggesting you need to do one thing or another to keep your community the very splendid place that it is. But I will tell you one thing. When the first of the New Year comes to call, a new dialogue may start about land use decisions and the future of our town. If there's one great thing the recent debate accomplished, it got many (who otherwise didn't) people thinking not just about the next few years of growth, but about the next twenty, forty and more. Sooner or later, those questions must be faced, and one thing for us to talk about is whether we want to be the status quo generation, or the one that proactively planned for the Killingworth that'll be here long after we're gone.
For now, enjoy the splendor of the season. But remember that you read
it here first. I'm not just your First Selectman, not just a thirty-year
resident, I'm a man (of all creatures), and while they say it couldn't
be done, here I am.
Stopping.
Rolling down the window.
Asking, one and all, (gasp) for directions.
Reminders: Dec. 7, Town Hall, 7:30
p.m., Planning and Zoning. Dec. 8: at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Town
Office Building Study Committee; and, at the HK Rec. office (at the high
school) the Regional Rec. Authority at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 9, Town Hall, 7:30
p.m., the Pay As You Throw Committee, the Land Use Committee, and the
Conservation Commission. Dec. 13 at the Town Hall, the Board of Selectmen
at 7:00 p.m.; Park and Rec. at 7:30 p.m.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking
with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman’s
door is always open.
Saturday, November
27, 2004
Epilogue.
To open last week's column I ruminated a bit about Thanksgiving travel and the many events that last weekend packs in. Little did I know after writing that piece that I'd do some traveling myself, a whirlwind tour from King to Jester in twelve polling hours. I joke about it, yeah, but what I think needs discussion this week comes not just from my mouth, but from the hearts of many of Killingworth's elected officials, too; at least, the ones I've spoken with over the course of a dozen years.
A funny thing happened on the way to the coronation. A message got lost, and as I sit here today in front of the proverbial drawing board I don't honestly know why a voice that loud wasn't heard weeks before. I've listened to quite a few people since then, of course. Some blame costs; some blame the press; some blame my office and a word they call hubris. I'm not in the blame business, because the only people that really "lost" anything are those that would have used the rec. fields. This isn't about politics or personalities - at least it shouldn't be - it's about an opportunity, good or bad, that we as a town definitively rejected. A rec. center on Bosco? An idea now dead. A book closed, a coffin lowered. Long live the King.
The truth be told, to think that an issue such as this sank or floated on any one thing is a large assumption to make. Bright minds can come to many differing conclusions, and whether you voted yes or no you did so after weighing a broad range of considerations. Explanation is not my intent because whether I like it or not the horse still got out of the barn. What I need to do as your First Selectman is make certain the gate isn't left open again. So taking my tail from between my legs I'd like to try to start; to tell you the information that comes to the First Selectman's office and how I end up hearing things. Together, maybe we can find a way to increase the chance that your voice is heard more loudly.
The Town Hall is open five days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It's corny, but yes; my door is always open. My home phone number is in the book and printed on the First Selectman's business cards. The voice mail system at Town Hall invites calls to my home to discuss any Town matter; and, lest you wonder what this has to do with the price of beans, here it is:
Until last's week resounding defeat of the proposed recreation center, the vast (and by a large, large margin) majority of people that contacted me to discuss the plan all told me they favored it. And in this world where everything gets supersized, I'm not exaggerating. In the last few months probably no more than three - count 'em, three - people either called my home or office, or visited the Town Hall, and expressed to me their fond desire that the ship of doom not sail. (I did get two emails voting no.) True, there were plenty of comments at town meetings opposing it. Letters to the editor, too. But at those meetings and in the press, the yeas and nays were equal, leaving the many personal contacts to tip the scales of balance.
No elected official wants to lead where no one wants to go. And even the best-intentioned officeholder would be a fool to follow an agenda the public clearly doesn't want. A very real problem in our community, one we've wrestled with for years, has been acknowledged by every Selectman I've known: no matter how hard we try, we have a hard time getting the word out about what's going on around town. This column was designed to try to send a message, to share some news each week, and I'll try to keep it a bit more focused. Maybe then if what I'm crowing about is an idea you disfavor, you'll find that out before you get to page twelve; and, if you do, you'll give me a call and let me know you disagree.
A good idea is a good idea. A bad one, a bad one. Elected officials, as they should, generally work upon consensus, and if an idea has merit they'll usually all agree (or, if it has no merit, all should vote it down). Consistent with this, the Land Use Committee, the entire Board of Finance, and all three Selectmen unanimously endorsed the conflagration formerly known as Bosco. That's nine elected officials and one of (Land Use) the most non-partisan, politically neutral appointed commissions in Town. Each, apparently, heard from their constituents that the plan was worthy and was wanted. Each, obviously, was wrong; and none, as it should be, was more wrong than me.
A great bumper sticker seen in recent years says if the people will lead, the leaders will follow. And in a sense, that's very, very true; a clever (I like it!) way to say that where we go is up to us. I'm the guy with the honor and privilege of leading us in song. But that doesn't mean I'm the only one that gets to pick the music. Next time, I promise to put a little less grease on the wheel. That way, I'm sure to hear it squeak. So if you don't mind, climb on board, I could use the company, and the more hands on the wheel, the truer the course we'll steer.
And, by the way, if I take my eyes off the road, lemme know, will ya? The future, after all, is ahead of us, and we can still get there in time.
Reminders: Dec. 1, Town Hall, 7:00 p.m., Water Pollution
Control. Dec. 4 at the Black Rock School (Recycle Way), 8:30 a.m. to 1:00
p.m., the Historical Society Christmas Fair (Great gifts, crafts and items
for your home).
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking
with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's
door is always open.
Bedrock.
Thanksgiving means different things to different people. Travel, for some. Entertaining friends and families, for others. And whether the weekend you've planned will be spent near or far, those four wonderful days unfold with great dichotomy. The hours spent sitting in traffic interspersed with frenzied moments of holiday shopping. The busy morning in the kitchen followed by the restful repast seated around the table. The crowds shivering at the gridiron for the early morning contest, and the warm, sleep-induced comfort of football viewed from the Lay-Z-Boy. One way or another, it's a weekend that packs a lot. And for one reason or another, each of us has a reason to be thankful; and, this weekend, some time to put aside to take a little inventory.
I can inventory my good fortune and state the obvious; a loving, healthy family, my own good health, a job (for better or for worse) that lets me make a difference. And, some of the not so obvious matters, things that some might not think about. The good fortune of being born an American; of living in a land that, although divided over war, remains one of peace, where the issues of the day are decided in debate and where every opinion, left, right or middle-of-the-road, has a right to be heard and platforms from which to present it. And yes, to live in a community (for more than 30 years now) that I am proud to call home.
My pride in our nation and our town always comes to my mind when this weekend rolls around. The remarkable origins of the settlement of North America and the rise of the United States are a source of constant wonderment. The Pilgrims were not, of course, the first Europeans to establish a North American outpost. Colonists settled on the banks of the James River in Virginia more than a decade before the Mayflower sailed. The former group, leaving England in 1606 in search of commercial enterprise, would suffer and survive hardships that rival those of their Massachusetts brethren, but it is the tale of the Massachusetts settlers that I find so unique, so continually compelling.
It is a tale that comes to America's shores century after century. Whether the refugees hail from Cuba, Haiti, China or some other nation where freedom belongs to a select few, the newsreels never change. Pictures of families - not men in search of fortune - enduring weeks (or, in the case of our "American" Pilgrims, months) at sea on tiny, leaky vessels rife with sepsis, seeking a new life, one that offers what they can't find elsewhere: freedom to pursue their own thoughts and tenets, their own way of living, their own method (the Pilgrims) of worship; the right, among others, to promote their religion, freely, in the way that they desire.
This is what brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock, and in view of this, is it any wonder that our earliest colonies grew and birthed a nation founded upon liberty? One born from the search of religious freedom with the wisdom to protect all liberties. To painstakingly separate church from State, government from the press, militia from the power of governance. (Yet one that would, with cruel irony, tolerate slavery for nearly one hundred and fifty years.) I have no doubt that the Plymouth colony did not set out to change the face of the world as they knew it, but from such humble beginnings came the Nation we are so proud of. A nation of laws, not men. A land of opportunity. A promise of equality, of eternal hope, and the chance to see those hopes realized through work and perseverance.
In this spirit I give my thanks this weekend, and have a few hopes to offer, too. Most of all, a hope that one way or another the differences that have emerged during our recent referendum - and the lingering differences over construction of our new middle school - may take a different turn. If America is about anything, it's about tolerance. Of accepting your neighbor's decisions (provided they're within the law) as they accept yours. About debating the issues as all democratic nations must do, but then, putting aside your differences if the debate doesn't go your way. Of living with and accepting the result of a long community dialogue, even though the final vote was not the one you hoped for.
As this column goes to print, the referendum tally on the Killingworth Recreation Center is not known. But you don't need to count the yeas and nays to know that the dialogue itself, the debate over the issues, hasn't been one that made everyone proud. The right to gather and talk about the future is a precious moment, and above all things we do as town citizens, charting our course at our New England town meetings should always be one of our proudest. But just as we as a culture seem to want to speed everything up, sacrificing courtesy for efficiency, so too has civic debate become one that rests too often upon hyperbole, rhetoric, innuendo, and worse.
Maybe you don't want to live with new ball fields. Maybe you want them somewhere else. Maybe you don't cotton the idea of a new school, or refuse to accept that it will not be moved. But it's the people, not a rec. center or a schoolhouse, that make a town what it is. And if we lose that idea - if we grow intolerant of opinions that simply differ from our own - then we forget the principles from which we came. If you don't like new ball fields (or, the absence of them, if that's what the voters decided), then reject the idea if you must. But turning your back on any member of our town just because you share a different vision of what our future should hold is an entirely different matter.
The Pilgrims we teach our children about brought with them simple ideas that grew to become great principles: the idea that none of us are free if even just one of us isn't; that stifling even one voice stifles them all; that debate may divide us in thought, but cannot and must not divide us in purpose. We can and should be thankful that, one way or another, the ball field debate is now finished. But to be pleased with that and that alone is surely not enough.
We are a wonderful and special community, one that each in our own way treasures. But to remain truly thankful, to have something for which we can all be grateful, we must remain a community. A community that stands united in spirit and in principle, even as ideas take us different ways. One that not only stays together, but thrives, all on the idea that here on these shores, things are different. Here, your thoughts are free and your voice is protected. But only so long as you, too, embrace the opinion you really don't want to hear.
Thank you for joining the debate. Thank you for voting. Thank you, above all, for listening. And, for the unforgettable opportunity to serve as one of your Selectmen for a dozen rewarding years.
Reminders: Nov. 23, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Inland Wetlands and Watercourses. Nov. 24, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Land Use Committee, and the Town Office Building Study Committee. All Town offices will remain closed on Thursday and Friday, and the transfer station, open on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., is certain to be crowded. Plan accordingly.
The Thanksgiving Holiday presents the busiest weekend of the year for automobile traveling. Please drive carefully as you journey over the river and through the wood. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
And Four To Go.
Finally, the last of a four-part discussion about the significant capital projects Killingworth has, or is, considering. The first, One for the Money, examined the ins and outs of the proposed $5.25 million Killingworth Recreation Center to be voted upon on this Saturday, November 20 at a town-wide referendum. The second, Two for the Show, discussed the spectacular plan to create a showpiece town center complex. The third, Three to Get Ready, detailed the prospects of purchasing the Venuti land, land we may well need someday to prepare for our future. And now the last, a discussion about a fourth project, one that will probably be taken off the table, so to speak; a timely idea that investigation hasn't validated.
About ten years ago a local (Madison) developer with ownership interests in the land on all four corners of the Killingworth roundabout (the traffic circle) constructed an 18,000 square foot building on the eastern side of Route 81, north of the circle. It was constructed for its one and only tenant, and since its completion the structure (then the largest in Killingworth, other than the school) has been colloquially known by its occupant's name: we call it the Pharmedica building.
That building was joined (a few years ago) by a somewhat larger, 20,000+ sq. ft. building built upon the same site. Clearly visible from the roundabout, the newer structure has never been occupied. It is three stories tall and contains a complete alarm system, a sprinkler system and elevator, two wells, centralized heating and cooling and a propane-fired electrical generator (for power outages). It is hard-wired for the most up-to-date computer electronics and is completely finished inside (i.e., walls, carpeting, window treatments, etc.) with one notable exception: all of the floors are "open"; no part of the building has been segregated into individual offices.
The two buildings are presently for sale, along with a small, approved building lot that overlooks a (Winkel's) pond on the property. The large building can be purchased separately for about $2.7 million, the entire complex of two buildings and the vacant lot for $4.5 million.
Some time ago the Selectmen settled upon the idea that the site, and the buildings, might be the perfect place to build a small campus-like municipal center, and over the past few months a committee of nine, including three elected officials, has labored to determine if that idea makes dollars and cents sense. The final report, presently in draft form, only, seems to say no. Not that the property isn't extremely attractive; not that the concept isn't a good one. It's just that after a financial analysis that considered the cost to retrofit the building(s) for municipal use, the likelihood that we'll need so much space in the near future, the expense to build a new municipal building (as compared to buying one) and a wide variety of other factors, the committee concluded that the idea may be sound, but the timing and the cost are unfavorable.
There are some positives to contemplate regarding the purchase. If we were to buy these buildings, we needn't consider the $7 - 8+ million dollar "Town Centre" plan that was the subject of Two For the Show; and, turning the vacant lot into a town green that overlooks the pond sounds mighty attractive. The occupied building pays a pretty hefty rent right now, too, income that could be used to offset the cost of acquisition. But on the other hand, the Town isn't used to being in the landlord business, and leasing a commercial property carries headaches and expenditures with it. And what would we do with all that space? A senior center, a leased Post Office, daycare and other uses were considered, but they require significant expenditures to upgrade the building's central operating systems to accommodate such potential uses: access areas, increased septic capacity, a vault for the Town Clerk's office (as required by law) etc., to name a few. These and other factors, eventually, tipped the scale, so of all of the upscale projects the Selectmen have considered, this one, number four, must go.
And so . . . there you have it. With the Pharmedica question answered we march onward to Saturday, November 20 at the Killingworth Elementary School; 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. The vote some have waited eighteen months for; the vote some are outraged has come round again. The Killingworth Recreation Center, the KRC, the Bosco property or whatever you choose to call, is the question now upon us. We own the land, we own the conceptual design, and the Boards of Selectmen and Finance unanimously approved bonding authority. What we don't own is your vote, a treasure belonging only to you. How you use it will have an impact on the future of our community that will last (forgive me) forever.
Hyperbole? Only if you think Saturday's vote is just about ball fields. In my opinion it's a vote about much, much more. It's about whether we move forward to build the first recreation facilities in town in 30 years; about whether we finally move beyond the planning stage, define our needs and set out to fulfill them; about grasping the bird in hand, getting busy, building what we agree must be built, even in the face of disagreement over where to build it; or about waiting, instead, to catch the "perfect" bird, one elusively hidden in the thick Killingworth bush.
The optimist says we can do this. The pessimist says we can't. The idealist says we can, but we should wait a while longer, do more studies, buy more land and build the fields somewhere else. Call me thick headed, but if I'm any one thing, I'm pragmatic. We own this land and we can start this project moving forward, now; or, we can wait in the hope that another opportunity - someday - will emerge like Brigadoon from the mist.
This is our town. We can make it what we want to - or not; we can drive year after year to Haddam and other points just to use a playing field - or not; we can go back to the drawing board - or we can all get to work making a change. All that's needed is your vote, your chance to make a difference. The chance that is here just one last time: Saturday, November 20.
Reminders: Nov. 16, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Planning and Zoning. Nov. 18: at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Land Use Committee; at the South Fire Station, 7:30 p.m., the Board of Fire Commissioners. Nov. 22 at the Town Hall: the Board of Selectmen at 7:00 p.m.; the Zoning Board of Appeals at 7:30.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
Three to Get Ready.
On Saturday, November 20 the polls will be open at Killingworth Elementary School to decide a referendum question placed on the ballot by the Boards of Selectmen and Finance: Whether to appropriate and bond $5.25 million, for construction of the Killingworth Recreation Center upon 133 acres of Town-owned property located on Route 81. In my previous two columns I wrote to you about that ambitious proposal, and another "big ticket" capital investment, the Town Center Plan, that your elected officials have wrestled with for years. The purpose in doing this was to inform you, in advance of the vote, of all significant capital expenditures the Town has considered in the last year, enabling you (as it were) to compare apples and oranges when you draw the curtain closed.
Please make no mistake: although I'm in the midst of writing to you about four different projects, there is only one question on the November 20 ballot. My intent is to bring you up to date on all bondable projects the Town has taken out for a spin. We'll probably only be asked to vote on one over the next ten or twenty years; this is your chance to compare them.
My timetable of bringing you an apple (or orange) each week has waned a bit. (There's a lot to do in advance of the referendum, and yes; I took yet another "final" sail to Block Island and the Vineyard Sound. This time I mean it). Fortunately, we've got almost four weeks before the vote, plenty of time to discuss the last two of the four major items we've explored. So to get us back on schedule I am pleased this week to buckle down and speak about the third venture the Town has considered, the purchase of a remarkable tract of property on Route 148.
I hate to mention names, but the simple truth is that we're talking about the Venuti property; 258 (plus or minus) acres on the North side of Route 148, about three tenths of a mile West of Emanuel Church Road. It's hard to say enough good things about the property. Its soils have tested well for any kind of municipal, recreational, educational or residential development. It contains fifty or more acres of relatively flat, cleared meadow. It holds a thirty-acre manmade lake with plentiful beach frontage. And, in general it is a parcel of gentle slopes and light forest, perfect for developing any of the aforementioned uses.
To say that the Town has tried to acquire the property over the past year opens the door to interpretation, and there's a long history at play. Killingworth's acquisition drive began in 1997, when the owners and the Town contracted to convey the land to Killingworth (at a time when the parcel was represented to be nearly a third larger - 330 acres) for $4 million dollars. A subsequent title search revealed two "clouds"on the title (legalese), causing Killingworth to rescind the deal a year later (Oct. 1998) when title had not been cleared.
Fast forward to October 2001, when representatives of the Town and the Venuti family met to discuss the status of efforts to correct title defects. Over the next year various meetings between the owners and the Town, their lawyers and assorted title searchers convened to address the matter, and in February 2003 Killingworth's title insurer confirmed that clear title existed for 258 acres. By that time, however, the design for the proposed recreation center had progressed to completion, and the referendum vote scheduled for May was allowed to proceed without substantive consideration of purchasing the Venuti land.
The rest is history; the version you get depends upon who you talk to. Fifteen days before the scheduled referendum in 2003, Venuti representatives wrote the Board of Selectmen offering the land for sale at $8 million dollars. The Selectmen convened that very day, rejecting the offer by unanimous vote. Six months later the Selectman contracted to obtain an appraisal of the property. The finished product valued the land at $3.88 million, and within weeks the Selectmen (through counsel) offered to purchase the property (subject to Town Meeting approval) for the appraised value.
The response was a request to view the appraisal. Upon advice of Town Counsel, mindful that State law makes such appraisals immune from public disclosure, and recalling that the appraisal was acquired for confidential use in conducting confidential negotiations, the Selectmen agreed the appraisal should not be released (one Selectman has since changed his mind). And at a subsequent Selectmen's meeting, the Seller's rejected the Selectmen's offer to buy the land for the full-appraised value.
Which leads us to where we are.
Some will say, with good measure, that neither side has budged, that both employ the "walk away" technique and now wait for the other to make a new offer. I speak for myself when I reiterate - as I have several times, publicly - that the problem isn't that the Town hasn';t negotiated. Rather, it's that a decision was made not to bid against ourselves; not to respond to an $8 million, take-it-or-leave-it offer to buy land valued at $3.88 million. A decision many applaud and some oppose; one that has kept our treasury secure but not gotten us the land that I (yes, even I) agree we should buy.
And what beautiful and important land it is. As I stated in sworn testimony at our Killingworth Probate Court, it is one of the (if not THE) most spectacular large tracts of land in Town. I have no doubt it would serve the Town very well to own it, if not now, then in thirty years. But regardless of whether you find our position to be brilliance or buffoonery, the issue has now become moot: The property is listed for sale with a realtor for $12 million, and while many of my critics think we should buy it at 8, no one I know suggests we should even think about it at 12.
If a satisfactory price were to be negotiated, the purchase would need bonding approval from the Boards of Selectmen and Finance, and (of course) a Town Meeting vote. No engineering study has been done to determine what uses the Town might construct on that land. I, for one, think that when it comes to that parcel, the "Aw, C'mon" approach of common sense is sufficient to tell us that the sky is the limit, and the land, if acquired, would leave us with all that we need for virtually any purpose. The drawback, other than the price, is one all too common in real estate, another cliché, tried and true; and (of course), once we bought it, we'd then need to appropriate even more money to actually build what we need on the land.
So there it lies. Many pluses. Stubborn minuses. A great piece of property. A wonderful opportunity. A price to be haggled, with no success to date. And while some would say that cost is the obstacle, the asking price is a target too easy. The real drawback is immune to negotiation, a quality no one, ever, can change; one I've heard about from virtually every resident I've spoken with, those strongly in favor and those strongly opposed.
It's easy to say it's the price, stupid. But the real problem may be, location, location, location.
Reminders: Oct. 26, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Inland Wetlands and Watercourses. Oct. 27: at the Town Hall at 7:30 p.m., the Town Office Building Study Committee; at the HK Rec. Office (at the High School)at 7:30 p.m., the Regional Recreation Authority; at the Black Rock School (Recycle Way) at 7:30 p.m., the Historical Society Bd. of Directors. Oct. 28 at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Land Use Committee, and the Pay As You Throw Committee.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
Two For the Show.
As most of you know by now Killingworth is in a countdown mode, working its way toward a referendum vote on plans to build the Killingworth Recreation Center (aka “Bosco”): a state-of-the-art facility that will include three all-purpose/soccer fields, three baseball fields, a child's “T” ball field, a softball field, tennis and basketball courts, picnic areas, hiking trails, playscapes and a variety of related infrastructure (roads, parking, comfort stations, etc.) improvements that any similar project requires.
The plan has been approved for bonding at a total cost of $5.25 million, and as a prelude to referendum vote this column is reviewing Killingworth's long-term infrastructure plans. Last week's column (One For the Money) laid out some procedural matters that must occur and be considered in advance of the vote. This week will disclose more details, and, discuss one of the long-term development projects that have been in the works for a while, comparing apples and oranges, one capital improvement to another.
To get right to business, then, the first matter is the emerging details.
The first informational town meeting, to include a presentation by the landscape architects that designed the plan, Clough Harbour & Associates, is tentatively scheduled for October 18 (a Monday). A public walk of the proposed site, the town-owned “Bosco” property on Route 81 is tentatively scheduled for the weekend that follows: October 23 and/or October 24. A second town meeting – one that will adjourn to referendum – is tentatively scheduled for November 8 (a Monday); and, we are considering holding the referendum vote on Saturday , November 20.
By next week, these dates should be confirmed. As always, if you have questions or concerns regarding these dates, please call the First Selectman's office.
The second matter is a review of one of the “competing” large-scale capital projects, our ambitious “Town Center Plan”, a comprehensive redesign of a central part of Killingworth.
For many, many years the Town has owned a 45-acre parcel of land on the east side of Route 81 that starts at about the southern end of the library parking lot and continues north to Wolf Hollow Road. It continues considerably east, far, far beyond the back reaches of our current transfer station (the dump) and is the present site of the Town Hall and highway department facilities, the firehouse and ambulance company, the library, transfer station and Rocco Reale field. Those facilities, however, cover less than half of the land the Town owns at that site, and several years ago the planning process began on how to best take advantage of that parcel while preparing for our future.
After years of outstanding and often tedious effort, the Land Use Committee produced a brilliant plan, one that was endorsed at a duly called town meeting, to capitalize on the existing proximity of so many essential town services on that parcel and further develop the land into a true town center. The plan called for relocating the existing dump to the far east regions of the land, effectively moving it about two hundred yards or so further back into the parcel. The impetus of this was to accomplish two important goals: building a new dump, and removing the dump from the center of what is otherwise a usable 45-acre parcel.
There were, and remain, two good reasons to do this. First, if the Town ever wants to develop the parcel for municipal use, how do you do that with a dump in the middle of it? Who wants a park, a ball field, a post office or library (or anything else) right next to their dump? Second, Killingworth's current dump, while well run, has reached its full capacity. Before this year, can anyone ever remember the dump having to close early because all of the bins were full? We purchased a new compactor last Spring (and now have three on site) to increase our capacity, but the simple truth is that we have outgrown our current space. Maybe not now, but ten or fifteen years from now we will need a new dump.
Once the dump (per the plan) was moved, the project envisioned cohesive development of the vacated space. Construction of a new Town Hall, a community and senior center, an amphitheater, tennis courts, a town green, an all-purpose civic hall, gardens, hiking trails, meadows, a pond and skating area, numerous other improvements and the accompanying infrastructure needs (roads, parking, drainage, lighting, etc.) required to tie it all together.
Further, the plan called for modifications to Route 81 to slow traffic, install sidewalks and create effective pedestrian links between the elementary school, town offices, library and (via trails and walkways on the east end of the property) Sheldon Park.
The problem (and I'm not saying it really is; I'm editorializing) is the cost. When the project first neared the end of the design phase, the cost wasn't expected to top $4 – 5 million. In fact, when I obtained a $500,000 grant for the project in early 2002, the application I prepared listed the cost at no more than $4.5 million. A year later, when final design costs were near, the total tab for the project was well in excess of $7 million (conservatively), pricing the project (in my mind) at a level too high to prioritize at this time.
As a result, the Selectmen scaled the project back a bit. We are now obtaining final design plans to allow – for now (in case the Town changes its mind in the future) – for only one part of the plan to go forward: building the new dump. This way, the plan will be far less expensive to implement (we can build the new dump for about $1 million, the new infrastructure might cost $.5 million, and we already have the $500,000 grant) and we accomplish the two important goals of the plan: building a new dump to take us through the next 40 years; and, getting the current dump out of the middle of the otherwise usable 45-acre parcel. And , the plans are being designed so that if we ever decide to bite the bullet and build the whole enchilada, we can do so seamlessly, in stages, without changing a single existing design.
A lot to consider; I know. But, remember, this column for the next few weeks will be limited to assisting us in comparing the Recreation Plan, at $5.25 million, to the other development plans the Town has or should invest in.
I am committed to providing as much information as possible, so again: if you'd like to know more, or want to meet with me at any time for that purpose, please just let me know.
(phew!) Next week we'll venture forward, again. Three To Get Ready will discuss either the Venuti purchase, or, the Pharmedica buildings. Join me in October to find out, if for no other reason than to learn the final dates for our meetings, site walk and referendum vote.
Reminders: Only one meeting next week; Sept. 28, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Inland Wetlands and Watercourses.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
One for the money.
Over the years I've been guilty of a number of sins in this column. Most involved excess, and a few dear readers have been kind enough (well, most of them) to point out the virtues of moderation. It's easy to get carried away when an editor prints most of what you write, and little by little I'm becoming more succinct. The one writer's err I've tried most to avoid is repetition, is repetition (yukyuk). I loathe talking about the same local topic week after week. But, since this column was designed to educate and inform about the issues around town – now and in the future – on the advice of those friendly critics I'm going to Bosco us again and again for the next few weeks.
During our last episode the Board of Selectmen approved the revised recreation plan and recommended it to the Board of Finance at a price of $5.25 million. On Tuesday, the BOF approved the plan and unanimously passed the requisite bonding authorization. On Wednesday the Selectmen reconvened to pass the same bonding resolution, meaning that as of this moment the requisite legal financing requirements are in place. Except one. All that's needed now is a town meeting and a referendum vote. The stakes are simple. If it passes by even one vote we start to build ball fields. If fails by any margin it will be years before a shovel gets put in the ground.
When the Selectmen met this week we also passed a number of other resolutions. One was that the town meeting that adjourns to referendum must convene no later than November 8. This means the Bosco referendum will be no later than November 22 , because State law requires the vote to be held within two weeks of the meeting. There are a number of things that must happen before the vote, however, so the exact date of the meeting (and hence, the vote) has not been determined. The point is that the vote will occur before Thanksgiving ; so again, time is running short.
The Bosco land will be open for public inspection sometime before the vote. An informational town meeting will be held before the vote. A mailing will be sent to all households – if it can be done – before the vote, and this last point deserves a bit of explanation.
More than a year ago the Selectmen voted to send an informational mailing out in advance of another vote on any “big ticket” item, i.e., expenditures that would require bonding (such as an open space purchase, a new town hall, etc.). The purpose of that was to permit voters to compare, side by side, the different projects in the hopper and to cast an informed referendum ballot. It turns out, however, that approval by a town meeting (per state law) is required to issue such a mailing, so whether the mailing goes out rests in your hands, not the Selectmen's.
For this reason, I'm going to do my best in the weeks ahead to speak about each of the four bondable expenditures that would otherwise be discussed in the mailing: Bosco, the town center, Pharmedica, and the possible acquisition of the Venuti property. But in advance of this please be forewarned. The Selectmen, in an effort to assure that Bosco passes or fails on its own merits, voted this week to “freeze” any other projects until after the referendum. The Board will still listen to any new developments (such as the report expected soon from the Town Office Building Study Committee re Pharmedica, or anything else that wanders into the room) but will not, will not (repetition) take any action or cast any votes on any of these matters.
Hopefully, this moratorium (if you'll grant me that) will remove from anyone's mind the concern that as a community we're considering too many things at once. That it will allow us to focus on the referendum question without worrying whether we'll lose the bird in hand chasing two within the bush.
In the next week or two announcements will be made – both in this column and at public meetings – about the scheduling of at least one, and perhaps two, informational meetings to discuss the Bosco project. The last of those meetings (and perhaps the only one if we don't call two) will be the meeting that adjourns to referendum. If you have any questions about any meeting dates or times, and questions in general about the project, please call yours truly at 663-1765. And, if you have suggestions about how you'd like to make this information more public, please let me know.
In the coming weeks I will do anything I can to increase public awareness about this project. In that regard I am prepared to meet with any organization, virtually any time at just about any place, to answer any and all questions. You provide the coffee. I'll try not to repeat myself, and when I start to wander, gently poke me and wink: Remember, David; be succinct.
Reminders: Sept. 21, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Planning and Zoning. Sept. 22: at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Building Study Committee; at the Black Rock School, 7:30 p.m., the Historical Society Bd. of Directors; at the HK Rec office (at HKHS), 7:30 p.m., the Regional Rec. Authority. Sept. 23, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Pay As You Throw Committee, and the Land Use Committee. Sept. 27: at the Town Hall, the Bd. of Selectman at 7:00 p.m., and Public Health Agency and ZBA at 7:30 p.m.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
TOP
The equinox.
To everything there is a season, a time to sow and a time to reap. We mark the passing seasons on our calendars as the quarters advance from Spring to Summer to Autumn and Winter. We mark the summer solstice and that glorious day when daylight lasts past nine p.m. But for my money the longest day of the year – or perhaps the shortest, depending upon perspective – isn't in June, it's September 1 st , the day when summer spiritually ends.
The rumble of school buses is now heard in most communities and the end-of-summer holiday has come and gone. The kids and I will still hit the beach a few more times before we start picking pumpkins, but I bid my summer a final goodbye last week with one long last sail down Narragansett Bay and through Block Island Sound. Now, the days grow short, the nights cold, and the winter nesting process begins.
Nesting and planning is an important part of town government, too, and since time grows short before our next Bosco vote I wanted to add a bit more news about where we stand.
The Board of Finance will discuss, and possibly vote upon, the recommended bonding resolution at their meeting on September 14. In advance of that meeting I will schedule a special Selectmen's meeting (welcome aboard, Fred) for the morning of September 15. If the BOF authorize the expenditure and the bonding, and recommend that the question go to a Town Meeting, the Selectmen will vote the next morning on the same bonding resolution and on calling a Town Meeting for public discussion.
Here's where it gets tricky. The Town Meeting could be held as early as September 27; and, if we adjourn to referendum after that meeting the Bosco vote would need to be held no later than October 11. That day, of course, is a holiday, so the vote would probably be held in advance of October 7. This is not because anyone is in a rush to hold the vote. Rather, it's a function of what our Registrars and Town Clerk must do to prepare for the November election.
We can't hold a referendum in late October because the voting machines must be prepared for November. After that election is over the machines must be locked for two weeks, so it would be at least November 17 before the machines could even be opened to remove the fall ballot and insert the referendum question. This, of course, starts to approach the Thanksgiving holiday, so the question really becomes whether we want to vote in early October or wait until the holidays – always a busy time – are upon us.
Either way, the message I hope you take from this is that time is running out. Whether we vote in October, November or December there's not a lot of time left for you to learn what you can about the proposal and, if applicable, rally your troops to the position of your choice. A call to your Selectmen's offices (yours truly) will answer any question you ask, provided the information needed to answer your question is either already in our possession or can reasonably be obtained. And please remember, at the Town Meeting to be held within the next month or so, a full presentation of the proposal will be made, and the Bosco land will be open for inspection some time (current estimate) in early October.
For the next two Selectmen's meetings the Bosco proposal (discussed at length in my last column) will remain a permanent agenda item so that any question may be brought before the Board for discussion. I encourage you to visit and ask any question, make any statement and let the community know how you feel about Bosco: the sequel, our newest plan to build a badly needed recreation park.
I've heard from many of you over the last fifteen months that you didn't make it to the polls when we voted on the original proposal in May 2003. And at this point, how you would have voted doesn't matter. The fact that you wanted to and didn't, does. This time, don't miss the chance to cast your ballot on this important and sizable project. It will be many, many summers before we have this chance again.
Reminders: Sept. 7, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Planning and Zoning. Sept. 8: at HKHS at 7:00 p.m., Youth and Family Services; at the Town Hall at 7:30 p.m., the Town Office Building Study Committee. Sept. 9 at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Land Use Committee, the Conservation Commission, and the Pay As You Throw Committee. Sept. 13 at the Town Hall, the Board of Selectmen at 7:00 p.m., and Park & Recreation at 7:30 p.m.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.TOP
Batter up.
I've often mused that clichés make the world go round, that more often than not they contain a grain of wisdom that always proves true. Maybe to some people clichés are trite and parochial, but to me there's nothing better than an old wives' tale. For my money when all is said and done no one knows better than an experienced (old or not) wife, so we might as well listen to what they say and save ourselves some trouble.
This week any number of tried and truisms come to mind. It ain't over ‘till it's over; if at first you don't succeed; when you fall off the horse; well, you get the idea. This week I'm here again to pester and poke about the Bosco project, coming soon to a referendum near you.
Sort of.
On Monday, August 23 the Board of Selectman are scheduled to vote upon whether to recommend to the Board of Finance that a new (Bosco) recreation complex be constructed in Killingworth. In many respects it is a plan very similar to the one that failed in May 2003 by 71 votes. Since inquiring minds will want to know what Town Hall has been up to in the fifteen months since that vote, as well as what the “new” plan will look like and what it will cost, let's talk turkey (or let this turkey talk, if you will) about some of the questions that come to mind.
What does the proposal entail? To put it as simply as possible, it's everything the original Bosco plan was with one exception: the fourth all-purpose (soccer) field, the one closest to Beechwood, has been removed. Thus, it proposes three all-purpose fields, three little league fields, a “T” ball field, a softball field, tennis and basketball courts, concession areas, picnic areas and playgrounds, repairs to the existing farmhouse and stone barn, roads, parking and the mechanical infrastructure needed to tie it all together.
What is the projected cost; and, how is the cost different from the previous proposal? The proposal that failed would have cost $5.6 million (about $4.8 in hard costs [which included a 10% “overage” factor to allow for unforeseen construction difficulties] and another $600,000 to $700,000 in “soft” costs such as engineering, permits, design, etc.). To be on the safe side the total costs were rounded up to $5.6 million. The “new” proposal is budgeted (with the same 10% contingency for overages) at $4.65 million for hard costs, $.6 million in soft costs, for a total of $5.25 million; and, it includes a cost escalation factor of 4% over the life of the project.
What is the projected mil rate impact? The precise impact has not been determined. However, we had previously calculated the mil rate impact of the failed (more expensive) plan, and if we simply use that calculation now we can project the maximum impact for the new proposal, since the impact of the less expensive plan must naturally be correspondingly less.
The impact for the original $5.6 million plan, bonded for 20 years, would have been .63 mils annually. For a home with a market value of $500,000 this amounts to $.60 per day. For a home with a market value of $350,000 this amounts to $.40 per day. For a home with a market value of $125,000 (i.e., the newly constructed homes in Beechwood) this amounts to $.14 per day (about a dollar a week) and for homes of lesser value we're now talking about pennies.
Why are we voting on essentially the same plan? Perhaps the best question of all.
It's impossible to tell for certain why the plan failed last time, and why the vote was so close. (If 35 of the more than 1,000 people that cast ballots had voted differently, the project would have passed and we'd be finishing the fields today.) There were many things to think about: the new school had just passed, the Venuti property had just been offered for sale (15 days earlier) and the plan – no matter what side of the tracks you live on – was expensive. I have always stated my suspicion it was just too expensive, and an informal paper ballot conducted at last year's town picnic indicated that cost was the overwhelming factor. The point is that we don't know why it failed, but your town officials have looked at different options before bringing this matter back to the table, same site, slightly different plan.
First, the landscape architects were asked to work with the Land Use Committee to scale the project back. They did. The result was a plan that cut out all of the bells and whistles (basketball, tennis, concession areas, fixed bathroom facilities, the softball field, two complete soccer fields, picnic areas, building rehab., etc.). This did not, however, save a lot of money. This scaled back version would have still cost between $4.3 – 4.4 million, but it was, in many respects, less than half of the original plan in terms of what it delivered.
In view of this a decision was made to put back – in concept only – the bells, whistles and as many fields as possible, saving money in some other way, anywhere we could. The result was a plan that removes one soccer field only, the one that was arguably the most controversial; a plan that is $400,000 cheaper than the one that failed; a plan that gives us an awful lot more than the scaled back plan, at a cost of only $800,000 more. And while I will never say that $800,000 is not an awful lot of money, it's an amount that will have virtually no impact upon our tax bills when bonded over the course of 20 years.
And, there is one other important difference, too. The Town has since made an offer to purchase the Venuti property. That offer was for its full appraised value, $3.88 million. The Venuti's responded to our offer by asking us to release our appraisal to them, something we agreed to do only if they would release their appraisal to us. The sellers, however, did not choose to obtain an appraisal (as conveyed to us by their counsel), and our purchase offer was rejected. Subsequently, the property has been listed for sale for $12 million, a price that, for all intents and purposes, takes it off the table. One less thing to think about when considering the Bosco plan.
Where does the plan go from here? I can tell you that I will vote for the plan at the Selectman's table. I will not predict the vote of our other Selectman, or even whether we will have a third Selectman when the vote occurs. If the plan should pass, however, it proceeds to the Board of Finance, who could approve the expenditure as early as September 14 and recommend it to a Town Meeting. If that occurs, an informational meeting would be scheduled sometime in early to mid-October, adjourning to a referendum within two weeks of that date.
To some, this may be welcome news, long overdue. To others it may be an outrage, a shame, that we are going to vote once again on a plan, slightly altered, that has already come and gone. We have endured together a long and contentious year debating a new school and new ball fields, debate that has uniformly said we need to build these facilities even if we can't agree where to build them. And, like any other contest where rules are applied, we may not know the outcome of these important questions until the final gun sounds, until every team has made their twenty-seven outs, until, proverbially, a certain lady sings.
At this point, why the last plan failed is a question that matters only to the extent that the new plan does (or doesn't) address the issues that produced more nays than yeas. Time and public debate will tell us if it does. It's taken a while to get us back into the batter's box – we did, after all, have a little bit of work to do – and now, at last, it's back to the plate. One more swing for the team that seems to need a hit. One more chance to hit the ball out of the park.
Or, perhaps, to walk slowly back to the dugout, dreaming, only, of what could have been.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
Rumpelstiltskin.
Like most elected officials, I don't think of myself as a politician. I hope above all things that I am a father and partner first, a lawyer second, and then and only then someone that made their way to public office. The irony in this is that there's nothing wrong with elected public service; it's just that when you occupy a visible position and remain in the public eye, people make assumptions. Assumptions that you spin the truth, position yourself on all sides of an issue, tell people only what they want to hear.
One elected official I greatly admired for the courage of his convictions was Walter Mondale, and my fondest memory of him was his acceptance speech in 1984, when he was nominated for President. The United States faced record deficits, a fiscal problem many blamed on the tax cuts and supply-side economic theories of the time, and Mondale, before a national television audience, said it very simply: “Our deficit can only be solved by raising taxes. My opponent won't tell you he'll do that. I, on the other hand, just did.”
For many, the election was over at that moment, the pledge to raise taxes ending a campaign before it ever got off the ground. That took real courage, Senator. I salute you, and think it damned unfair that your honesty didn't translate into votes a few months later. Maybe there's a message there; that the public doesn't reward candor in its elected officials. And maybe if I come to believe that, it'll be my resignation that'll make the front pages. But for now, let me take a page from the Senator's character and talk – with plain honesty – about an unsettling trend in town, one that shames the act of courage for which I remember that great Democratic lion.
A Killingworth Selectman has a bumper sticker on his car bearing a simple slogan, one that I believe in: “If you don't like dissent, you're living in the wrong country.” True words, but ones too often used to legitimize polarizing rhetoric that inflames issues far beyond any productive measure. Something, in my opinion, that helps no one, and something, I'm afraid, happening far too often in politics.
An interesting note is that historical documents make clear that our founding fathers established our form of democracy with an eye toward political pettiness. Personal ambition, they reasoned, would lead to great debate; a public airing of ideas; a better mousetrap. But what I fear has become lost in our political process is that debate, as intended by the Framers, has been pirated. What we see most frequently is just plain criticism, often mean-spirited at best; public posturing by political parties: nothing the other side ever does is right; nothing on their side of the aisle is ever wrong.
If you look at things from only one point of view – always – you will naturally only see one side of the issue. (Or, put another way, if you look at things from only one Eye (wink)– Democratic or otherwise – you'll never get the full picture a broader perspective brings.) Using both good eyes that God gave me, I've read the weekly opinion piece in our local paper, and it leaves me – and remember, I'm being honest – with conflicting thoughts.
Our U.S. Constitution with its Bill of Rights (in my mind, man's greatest achievement) makes free speech inviolate, but is there really something to be gained from a weekly column that implies that all Republicans – their ideas, platforms and performances – are suspect; and, that they shouldn't be trusted to hold high public office? Is it really possible that every member of one political party simply isn't up to the job? Is our community made better by a weekly spin – under the guise of “local issues” – of everything any elected Republican has done or said? Mind you, I, too, think Rush Limbaugh is a big fat idiot, but that's not the point. If the Eye wants to serve, and I truly believe it does, shouldn't it serve something other than the Democratic Party?
A week ago, a good man (sadly) resigned high public office in Killingworth. His reasons are his own, but no sooner was his resignation announced when “the other side” proclaimed his apparent motivations. Their claim? That his own party turned on him for a vote he cast at the Selectmen's table, a criticism so unfair and unkind – and so nakedly political – that it is only outshined by its absurdity. I was always taught not to say anything about someone if I had nothing good to say. Is there something to be gained from “spinning” the resignation of one of our local political lions? If there is, somebody let me in on the secret.
The decision to seek, or resign, from public office in the town you call your home is a deeply personal one, one that should be immune from speculation, rumor, innuendo. Far too few of our citizens have the courage to step up to the plate and place their name on the ballot. Those that do deserve better than to be insulted by speculation that they couldn't stand the heat and got out of the kitchen.
You always played fair, Charlie, and deserved much, much better. Your years of public service remain something to celebrate. I will miss your voice at our meetings and your twice-daily visits to Town Hall. I'm just one taxpayer in Town, but let me make this clear. Your work for our Town was honorable; your resignation a matter of dignity and grace. I thank you for your efforts, and can only hope that our future ballots bear the character of many, many more like you.
Fair play. A simple concept. Rules that apply to all, for the benefit of all. Respect for public officials based not on their politics, but on their ideas, their performance. Words I believe we can all agree with, yet straws coming from me that someone will spin into next week's political gold; a suggestion, no doubt, that they're words that should be eaten. For entertainment it can't be beat, the pity of it is that nobody ever wins. Public policy isn't served by twisting the words of public servants. Advice worth keeping on Eye on, I think.
Reminders: Aug. 10: at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Inland Wetlands and Watercourses, and the Board of Finance; at HKHS, the Board of Ed. at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 11, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Town Office Building Study Committee. Aug. 12, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., the Land Use Committee, the Pay As You Throw Committee, and the Conservation Commission.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
Such sweet sorrow.
It's a little early in my second term as el jefe to be looking back at my time in the hot seat, but human nature begin what it is the past (as Yogi might say) is never far behind. Glancing to the rear (my best side) I can't help but notice that serving as First Selectman has meant an endless series of hellos and goodbyes. Talented people forever pop in and out of the life of an elected official. Colleagues, residents, employees. Dedicated volunteers. Coalition partners on an important civil project (politics makes strange bedfellows). And, this week we start our goodbyes to a top-notch professional, a friend for three years who has done his part to keep Killingworth the special place it will always be, my efforts notwithstanding.
Trooper Perry has been promoted to Sergeant, and I must say, Michael, congratulations to you. He will soon commence his new duties at the State Police barracks in Hartford, moving onward and upward to bigger and better things. For those of you that have worked closely with Michael, this news is not unexpected. I, for one, am glad to see his talents recognized; my selfish regret is that he must ever leave at all.
The Resident Trooper program has been very good to Killingworth. Our neighboring communities, larger in size, wrestle with fire and police costs that would choke a town our size. Clinton and Madison spend millions annually for their constabulary, payroll and pension costs that Killingworth could never bear. Yet no one I know doubts that we receive the finest public safety services. Our volunteer fire company, at an annual cost to the town of about $85,000 is second to none, answering hundreds of calls a year (it's not just fires, you know). Our crime rate, for a Connecticut community within our population demographics, ranks first, second or third lowest year after year, all at a cost that has never exceeded – even with overtime payments – $75,000. At a social function in May, one of our neighboring First Selectman actually made a point to ask me: how does Killingworth do it – stay so safe and secure – for an investment that is less than some police officers earn annually in some of our sister cities?
We have had excellent Troopers in years past. Many of you will recall them by name; many have their favorite. Trooper Perry started his residency here just about the time that I became First Selectman, and naturally I've worked more closely with him than with any others. But that prejudice aside, Michael always struck me as a perfect fit; the right man for the job. A Trooper that raised community policing to a real art. With his professional and approachable demeanor, he always earned your respect; yet, he very clearly demonstrated that there's more to law enforcement than just enforcing laws.
We have him (and his partner in crime, so to speak, Charlie Smith) to thank for our successful neighborhood watch programs. We have him to thank for bringing to our attention a number of grant programs that enabled us, year after year, to acquire additional State Police services for minimal costs. Often, in fact, we had additional evening police patrols for as little as $6 an hour. We have him to thank for his deft handling of major crimes in town (assaults with deadly weapons), and, for the life-in-a-small-town issues that only Killingworth can provide: how many times, Mike, did you round up escaped cows?
We do not yet know precisely when he'll leave us. The promotion ceremony will be held July 27, and I don't know how the Westbrook Barracks Commander will handle the replacement process (in the past, the First Selectman has participated). I will suggest, however, that if any person or community group wants to toss in their two cents, they should contact me or the other two wise men to pass along suggestions. Let us know the qualities you'd like our next Trooper to have so we may share this information when the time comes. There will be, no doubt, many applicants for the position (Dunkin' Donuts, etc.) and many excellent professionals to choose from.
We've all heard it said that you never know what you've got ‘till its gone. No one knows this more than Red Sox fans, but chances are that each of us has learned from experience that this old saying is true. In the case of Trooper Michael Perry, I hope it's not the goodbye that makes this clear; that everyone has had a chance, through the best of experiences, to know that we have had a true professional in our midst. That it isn't his leaving that allows us to appreciate the good man that he is, and the great public service he has provided. That in a year when State government has left us all to wonder, from time to time, how bad some public servants can be, we have all had a chance to see and work with the best that our State Police can offer.
The best, mon ami; the very best.
Adieu et bon chance, Michael. Thank you for all you've given. Be safe in all that you do in your new supervisory role. The light will be on at the traffic circle, so look us up from time to time. Look us up as those in your charge will, I am certain, always look up to you.
Reminders: July 27, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m., Inland Wetlands and Watercourses. July 28: at the Black Rock School (Recycle Way), 7:30 p.m., the Historical Society Board of Directors; and at the HK Rec. Office (HKHS), 7:30 p.m., the Regional Rec. Authority.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
Monty Hall.
My predecessor in the gold and ermine chair that serves our First Selectman once opined that serving as a town's big Kahuna was a lot like being a lawyer, except there was no chance of being sued for malpractice. In this regard he was (as often) quite right. Much of my time in Killingworth, Hartford and a variety of other venues is spent working with government regulations, wrestling with issues that clutter the desk of any active attorney. Matters concerning real estate, taxation, property rights (and disputes), organized labor, regulatory compliance, law enforcement and the plethora of sundry legal claims that concern our 36 square mile hamlet.
Like any good lawyer, much of my job within Town Government is advocacy. Trying to advance one idea or another for the benefit of my client (constituents). More often that not, advocacy opposed by an equally zealous group of constituents with a claim of their own to advance. And, just as even the most contentious lawsuit usually finds its way to settlement, my duties as First Selectman usually require a compromise in order to keep the wheels in motion. In other words, to keep the lights on and the doors open day after day, every First Selectman resorts to what's tried and true: Gather ‘round everybody; let's make a deal.
If it were only that easy. The problem (such that it is) with “dealing” from a municipal standpoint is that you must often tip your hand, so to speak, before negotiations get rolling. Our process of appropriating public money means that expenditures have to be approved before they can be spent. A great idea for government, but a bad one when you're trying to protect your constituent's financial interests. Imagine you're in the market for a new car, and even before you walk into the showroom the salesmen (often a disgraced lawyer or political operative) could look at a public document and see what you budgeted for the purchase. Then make an offer to buy the car for less than the full amount you allocated, and see how far you get. You get the idea, I hope.
For this reason (and occasionally others, too) town negotiations that seem to fail over issues of money should never be couched just as matters of cost, personalities, competence. Your Selectmen and Board of Finance aren't elected to write blank checks. They're charged with the keys to the treasury – trustees of your money, if you will – and part of that charge means they must play hardball. To do otherwise is to say that the asking price for anything the Town needs to buy, lease or acquire rights to will have nothing to do with market value. Rather, the price will always be what the seller wants for the item, no questions asked, take it or leave it.
A nice way of saying that when efforts to acquire land, or rights to use the same under rental agreements, take a bit of time to negotiate to fruition, neither side of the bargaining table is to blame. Town Government is big ($15 million) business, and it must be run that way. And sometimes when you push to protect your client's interests by seeking a financial advantage you can come across as inattentive, callous, a jerk. You may disagree if you want to, but don't take my word for it. Ask Mr. Trump.
Not every negotiation is successful, and maybe elected officials should go to a special school to learn how to barter when your counterpart already knows how much you can spend. Maybe, if we're lucky, there's a TV show in this. (Tonight on Fox: The First Selectman negotiates a lease! Don't miss “the Windbag”.) Or, maybe protecting your investment in our Town – long and short term – simply isn't as easy as the hot stove league would ask you to believe. I, as always, will gladly admit that I don't have all the answers. But from where I sit two things are quite clear.
The first is that no one in Town – no one – wants to see their tax dollars unwisely spent. The funny thing about wisdom, however, is that it is acquired looking backward, not toward the front. A bargain today can seem profligate tomorrow, and today's King's ransom is a steal when you look back years later. The secret is vision; to be able to know which is which in the heat of the moment, while you're working hard to close the important deal. To be able to look not just at one tiny piece of the puzzle, one limited, parochial interest, but at the big picture; one that encompasses the needs of tomorrow and today's ability to pay.
The second is that a tiny piece to one person is a vital interest to another; that on the question of long and short-term goals, clients (and their lawyers) and constituents, with equally good intentions, will often honorably disagree. A process vital to the art of the deal. One that leads, more often than not, to a mutually beneficial resolution.
Reminders: July 20, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m. , Planning & Zoning. July 22, Town Hall, 7:30 p.m. , the Pay As You Throw Committee, and the Land Use Committee. July 26: at the Town Hall, the Board of Selectmen at 7:00 p.m., and the ZBA at 7:30 p.m.; at the Library at 7:00 p.m., the KLA Board of Directors; at Haddam Elementary School at 7:30 p.m., the Board of Ed. (Education Subcommittee).
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
On balance.
I have returned from a lengthy vacation, it is a beautiful Friday morning, and all seems right with the world. The Yanks are a size eight and a half up on the boys of April, honor and integrity have returned to the Governor's office, and Killingworth has, at last, the same predictable political wrangling that other towns seem to enjoy. It's taken awhile, but partisan politics are finally home again; the good, the bad and the ugly.
As it should be, I am to blame. Secret meetings, Byzantine rules for Selectmen's visitors, radical ideas like building ball fields, supporting the school construction process, negotiating for land purchases based upon appraised values, etc. And, of course, just by being a smart-alecky wise guy.
Sophomoric humor (or worse) aside, there are serious things to be said about partisanship in local politics. Some of it good, most of it bad, but; things that must, and should, be said.
First and foremost, an apology for the FOI issue.
I truly believed that the November meeting at Town Hall between Mr. L., Mr. T., Mr. Goldman, Mr. Morgan and me was not a meeting that qualified under FOI guidelines. And apparently I was, and am, wrong. I invite anyone in Town to explain to me the authority – for better or for worse – the Selectmen have over the school board, and absent such authority the meeting cannot, under law, qualify as an FOI meeting. Don't take my word for it, read the Connecticut Statute itself; and please, you tell me: where do the Selectmen have such authority?
A little noted point within the hearing officer's decision is a finding that the subject matter of the meeting at issue was one over which the Selectmen did have authority; but, there's never any mention within the report as to where that authority existed, what it was, whether it stems from statute, charter, etc. It simply says the Selectmen have it; it never comes close to saying where.
Never the less, I am sorry. Truly. Sorry the incident occurred. Sorry a Selectman felt excluded. Sorry the good name of Killingworth government got dragged into court. Sorry I asked Mr. Morgan to stick around and meet the “new” (interim) Superintendent. Sorry, in fact, that I ever agreed – at the urging of the Selectmen, many residents and other elected officials – to broker a meeting of the School Building Committee and our Town Building Official.
The oddest things about the entire incident (to me) are twofold. First, when the FOI complaint was first filed, the BOS chose to err on the side of caution and have virtually no communication outside of posted Selectmen's meetings. The first one to complain about this was (you guessed it) the FOI Complainant, who asserted heatedly at a Selectmen's meeting that the First Selectman – by refusing to discuss Town business outside of Selectmen's meetings – was somehow committing a wrong. Second, less than two weeks after the FOI decision was released (a decision that held it was improper for Selectmen to discuss Town business without a proper posting of an agenda, etc.) the Complainant in the FOI claim called me at my home on the telephone. To talk, of course, about Town business.
I wonder if da Democratic Eye will take anyone to task for that .
What's the point? Well, for Town government to function, we must have equality; we must have consistency; a fair and balanced dissent. I've heard a lot lately about the “People's Right To Know” and it is a principal (open door policy) I will never disagree with. But while someone's right to know and anyone's right to differ should always be inviolate, those rights should neither abrogate nor usurp the balance and consistency that fair debate requires.
Example: It is well known by now that I am the minority voice on a Selectmen's decision to stripe our town roads. It is (or should be) equally well known that twice in the last month Town residents filed a petition asking the Selectmen to rescind the striping decision. The First petition was legally flawed (it lacked a “circulator's” statement, as required by State law) and was properly rejected. The second petition, however, met all legal requirements.
The Town Charter states the Selectmen shall call a Special Town Meeting when such a petition is received, yet at a recent Selectmen's meeting, two members voted against calling a Town Meeting in response to the petition, and their reasons are a matter of record. One Selectman claimed the petition did not “technically” ask for a Town Meeting, but rather, merely asked the Selectmen to rescind their decision. And the other Selectman? The one that championed the people's right to know? He said – and it's on tape – “The Charter is Wrong.” (Where's the eye when you really need it?) Call me a radical, but I just can't reconcile a crusade for open government with a decision to ignore a valid petition or unilaterally declare the Charter wrong.
Maybe it's true: balance is in the eye of the beholder, and all the cooking in the world can't improve sour grapes. If you're thinking I'm disappointed, well, you're right; perhaps just as much as some of you were when the FOI dust settled. A difference, maybe, and I hope it is one you will grant me, is that in being wrong, I'll tell you: I'm sorry and I regret it. After two petitions have been rejected, however, asking the Selectmen to change their mind on road stripes, and after an FOI Complainant asks, repeatedly, to bend the rules, inquiring minds (and especially paranoid ones like mine) start to wonder: does anyone else, on balance, want to say that maybe they were wrong?
Reminders: July 6: at the Town Hall, a Special Meeting of the Board of Selectmen (to open a bid, only) at 7:00 p.m.; and, at 7:30 p.m. at the All-Purpose room at KES, Planning and Zoning (the public hearing on the application for the proposed Middle School). July 7 at the Town Hall, 7:00 p.m., Water Pollution Control. July 8 at the Town Hall, 7:30 p.m.: the Pay-As-You-Throw Committee, the Land Use Committee and the Conservation Commission. July 12 at the Town Hall, Park & Rec. at 7:30. Please note that the Board of Selectmen meeting scheduled for that evening has been rescheduled for 8:30 a.m. on July 13.
Please drive carefully during your busy travels. I look forward to speaking with you next week. Until then, I remind you that the First Selectman's door is always open.
David
L.Denvir
323 Route 81
Killingworth, CT 06419
860/663-1765
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