Verification from Sec. of the State

The 3rd line BOE candidates received notification from the Secretary of the State's office that they have enough signatures to be on the ballot in November. This sets up a race among 16 candidates for 9 positions on the BOE. This race for BOE should be the most interesting in years. Normally only 3 candidates for the BOE lose since each party runs 6 candidates. Of those 12 candidates the top 9 win spots. This has lead to "cutting" of the vote totals by some candidates in the past. This happens when a candidate tells friends and family to vote just for him/her so that other candidates in their party receive less votes. Such cutting happens mostly in the BOE ticket where they think their mayoral candidate is likely to lose since a winning candidate normally drags the 6 BOE candidates from their party into office. The candidates from the losing party know they are going to be fighting among themselves for 3 of the last 6 seats. With this election no party is assured of a 6 candidate sweep. Even were the Mayor to win re-election there could be substantial losses by her BOE candidates. I predict this will lead to some vicious cutting on both the Republican and Democratic tickets.

The 3rd line BOE candidates

The candidates on the 3rd line for the BOE in the November election have been notified by the Town Clerk that they each have enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot. It is not official until the candidates receive notification from the Secretary of States office but that should just be a formality.

Tweed Airport Video - 8/6/2009

I went out to do some taping of the construction of the north safety zones at Tweed Airport this evening. The first part of the footage is of the section north of Dodge Avenue. At the northern part of the video is where the new Dodge Avenue is being constructed. The rest is what remains of the Tuttle Brook and the ongoing construction. While I was taping from a vantage point atop some sewer pipe a small plane came in for a landing. I managed to catch it coming in for the landing without falling off the pipe. The last part of the tape is the construction going on south of Dodge Avenue.

Town Council Meeting - 8/4/2009

The public hearings on the Blight Ordinance continued on Tuesday with a host of residents showing up to voice their concerns about blight and noise in town. The ordinance will be reviewed again at the next Town Council where it will, probably, come up for a vote. Unlike most of the people that show up at the public hearings on this ordinance, I am not a big fan of the government telling me what I should do with my property. If I want to live in a society where everyone is forced to conform to one aesthetic view of the world I could move to North Korea. To have that aesthetic set by the yahoos on our Town Council is absurd.

The other big item of the night was the approval to put down a deposit on property at 420 Coe Avenue for a new fire HQ. The current HQ on Main Street has been a disaster for years. Read the story in the New Haven Register by Mark Zaretsky here. Or just watch the video from the meeting.

Public Hearing:

Regular Meeting:

Petition Deadline Today

The entire BOE Massacre story brings to mind Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6:7 ...

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

The Democratic leadership decided to remove the current BOE members and they are now about to reap the results of their actions. Marilyn Vitale and the 3 other members of the BOE that were not renominated will be turning in petitions this afternoon. The 4 candidates will appear on a 3rd line for the BOE in November. They are not, as has been erroneously believed by some, asking to primary the endorsed Democratic ticket. In November there will be 6 Dem candidates, 6 Rep candidates and 4 independent candidates for 9 seats on the BOE. They have made it possible for no Democrats to be elected to the BOE come November. Congratulations on the brilliant move by the Democratic Town Committee.