S P R I N G    2 0 1 8

March 20
April
May
June 21




      
Summer Camp NEWS:  https://aspetuck.news/sports/other-sports/weston-parks-and-recreation-summer-offerings-105849
 This is Camp Weston, Summer 2018. Gone fishin'? Or pfish'n?  Summertime and the living is easy.  A great place to be unless you are the target of a young angler."Summer Stack"  in Weston!



TELLING IT LIKE IT IS DEPARTMENT
Were you looking for a good "read" or two as the summer approaches?  Click below:

CONNECTICUT FISCAL CRISIS:  PEW STUDY
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/files/AWP_92_final.pdf

OHIO VOTING CASE FROM S.C.O.T.U.S.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-980_f2q3.pdf


        
June arrivals in the Aspetuck Valley.  
Purple Iris is always there.  Peonies fallow for decades...in bloom.  Kousa dogwood ready for its close up, below, as June approached...







K O U S A    T I M E

                 
"Time lapse Cornus Kousa graphics - one per day until June..."
Will "Kousa" (Korean dogwood) bloom this Spring?  See a previous June at the top of the page...we note that our Kousa does not bloom in dry years.


WHERE THE DISCUSSION ABOUT WHERE OUR COUNTRY IS HEADED BELONGS.

 
IN THE FOURTH DISTRICT FOR CONGRESS IN 2018
The race to watch - below, peace and quiet in Weston and lots of green - in advance of P.T.O. Fair.




LEGISLATIVELY SPEAKING:  NEXT IS A BRIEF "VETO SESSION" TO OVERRIDE ANY GUBERNATORIAL VETOES...IN A FEW WEEKS. 



Erase the State of Connecticut?  #ME TOO.  Champion of compromise (r.)
Republicans have a plan for spending & taxes;  Democrats for spending only.  So they compromised in the end!


Opening lines of THE WASTE LAND (T.S. Eliot, 1922)

APRIL is the cruellest month, breeding     
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing     
Memory and desire, stirring     
Dull roots with spring rain.




HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DISPOSAL - est. 255 attended



"LET THEM EAT TUNA" (OR WAS IT HERRING), MARIE ANTOINETTE MAY HAVE SAID
A fishy situation.  So how bad could CT's fiscal climate be if they are still stocking rivers, streams and ponds?





How about this for a Charter change:  Not there checked in by 8pm?  Sorry, can't vote.  Or just get rid of the quorum altogether.
"NO" voters on the dog park issue showed to try to make a quorum to cut parts of the budget - or at least make a statement.  Unintended consequences of not having a quorum at ATBM?

     

ABOVE LEFT, GRAPHIC OF AN EMPTY W.H.S. AUDITORIUM (500 PLUS CAPACITY)  - AT RIGHT WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE FROM THE 5TH ROW. APRIL 18, 2018 (CHARLIE HELPED KEEP COUNT)
By the way, I sure hope there is a quorum of 130 at ATBM April 18th at 8pm in the Weston High School Auditorium...but those in the know think cutting the budget from 2.45% increase to 1.67% increase will make it difficult to get a quorum.



Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - all day from 6am to 8pm - in the Town Hall Meeting Room - WOW - 1,686 voted or @25%.



ARE WE PRESCIENT OR WHAT???
Charlie changed his mind ("Meow").  And that very well may have won the day for the pro-dog park group!  Will the combination of neighbors and those who don't want to spend money prevail in the end?




CHARLIE HAS HIS OWN PRIORITIES


PRE-EVENT ANALYSIS
So how many ballots will be cast at the Special Town Meeting machine vote?  More than will be cast at the budget referendum?  (See below)

With the dueling mailers, and if we get, say, 1000 votes cast (HAH - I was just taking a wild guess BEFORE the event - 1686 voted),  this should be a lesson in developing a local good method for influencing folks coming out of this whole experience.





BETTER THAN ANYTHING ON TV
High noon in the CT Senate.  More than 4 1/2 hrs.  Whoa - Judge McDonald not confirmed as Chief Justice by a 19-16 vote (one recused), a final tally that was unexpected - call for "reconsideration" better known as a do-over where I come from.



SENDS A MESSAGE TO BUSINESS - DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT COMING HERE.
The last anyone will hear from this group as procedures excoriated by CCAG, Common Cause, dissed by legislators, barely supported by CCM.


         
DOG PARK SPECIAL TOWN MEETING ADJOURNS TO MACHINES APRIL 4TH
This is going to be interesting to see if more than 200 voters vote 'yes' on the prevailing side...6am to 8pm at the Town Hall Meeting Room.




MARCH ENDS LIKE A LION - OR AT LEAST A SNOW LEOPARD
The continuing story of the Dog Park, followed closely by the Weston Budget Process and oh by the way, the CT Fiscal Crisis turning into MASS QUANTITIES OF UNFUNDED MANDATES.  Not to mention going broke.  But I digress...

Thank goodness, this Spring snow missed us!  Dog Park Special Town Meeting adjourns to the machines...April 4 all-day voting in Town Hall Meeting Room.

MEANWHILE...Tues., Mar. 27th, 8pm, Board of Finance Public Hearing (FY'19 Budget) WMS Library



What it looked like last year...