Politics
Monday, May 13, 2013
New Party Likely to Run David Press for P&Z
By James Lomuscio
A new party candidate for the Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) will appear on the ballot in November, according to Michael Nayor, a Westport attorney and town resident for 36 years.
David Press: former Republican P&Z member. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Nayor said today that he was recently informed by the Secretary of State’s office that the Coalition for Westport (CFW) has met all the legal requirements to have a line on the ballot.
Nayor, a Democrat, said that a likely candidate will be David Press, a former P&Z commissioner and a former Republican who is now unaffiliated. Press, who worked with Nayor to form the CFW and was listed as its spokesman, did not respond to calls. The new party could also field other candidates as well.
According to Town Clerk Patricia Strauss, the next step will be for the state to return the signatures on the party petition to her office. She will then verify that the more than 40 signers are Westport electors, after which the petition will be returned to the Secretary of State’s office making it official.
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Republicans Seek Candidates
The Westport Republican Town Committee (RTC) said today it is seeking candidates interested in running in November for various boards and commissions, including the Board of Education, the Board of Finance, the Zoning Board of Appeals, and the Board of Assessment Appeals.
The RTC’s Board and Commissions Nominating Committee will be chaired by 2012 GOP candidate for U.S. Congress Steve Obsitnik, and will begin interviewing qualified candidates for office this month, an announcement said.
The committee will make recommendations on candidates for nomination to the full Republican Town Committee, which will vote on the nominations at its July 16 meeting.
Registered Westport Republicans who are interested in learning more about the positions available or wish to be considered for a nomination should contact Desiree Soli, chairwoman of the Westport RTC, at (203)400-2773 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
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Friday, May 10, 2013
New Political Party Forms on Land Use Issues
An announcement today added a new voice to land use issues in Westport.
Michael Nayor: new party’s coordinator. Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
A bipartisan group calling itself Coalition for Westport (CFW) said it had filed paperwork in Hartford to form a new political party which believes “the town is lacking a constructive overall vision for Westport.”
The announcement identified Michael Nayor, a Democrat and former Planning and Zoning Commission alternate, as the coalition’s coordinator, and David Press, a Republican and former P&Z member, as its spokesman.
It said more than 40 Westport residents, Republicans, Democrats, and unaffiliated voters were part of the coalition. It did not list their names.
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Thursday, May 09, 2013
A Fiscal Game of Chicken and Scapegoats
By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.orgThe legislature’s Republican minority won’t propose an alternative budget this year for the first time in six years, a political shift that the GOP and Democrats are now racing to define in the minds of voters.
The GOP spin is that Democrats have irreparably ruined the state’s finances, at least for the short term. The Democratic spin is that the minority is playing the easy role of critics, but it can’t hack the hard work of governing.
The top Republicans in the Senate and House, John P. McKinney of Fairfield and Lawrence F. Cafero of Norwalk confirmed their decision against crafting a budget alternative in interviews with The Mirror. Despite the lack of a minority budget, though, they said Republicans would not shrink from the budget debate, offering suggestions in press conferences or as amendments to various bills.
Democrats said the GOP leaders, both of whom are weighing bids for governor, are focused on the 2014 elections, and not the state’s fiscal health. The Republicans say the exercise has changed little in previous years.
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Voting Changes Go to Referendum in 2014
By Mark Pazniokas
www.ctmirror.orgThe Senate voted along party lines Wednesday night to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot in November 2014 that could open the door to early voting in Connecticut in time for the 2016 presidential election.
If approved by voters, the General Assembly would have the flexibility to consider a number of election changes that are now precluded by Connecticut’s unusual constitutional restrictions on the use of absentee ballots.
The 22-14 vote was the last legislative step in a process that required the House and Senate to approve a constitutional referendum question twice in consecutive years in order for voters to now have their say.
“Today marks a historic and significant step forward for modernizing elections in Connecticut so we can finally enact early voting in our state,” Secretary of the State Denise Merrill said.
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Thursday, May 02, 2013
The Short, Fast Life of a Political Gaffe
By Mark Pazniokas
www.ctmirror.orgGov. Dannel P. Malloy knew the drill. The last step in dealing with a political gaffe is address the press, take a few questions, smile and say something mildly dismissive like, “You know, we’re pretty much done with it.”
C-SPAN finds Gov. Dannel P. Malloy in the crowd Saturday night at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. C-SPAN photo
And so it was that Malloy waited for reporters to surround him tonight outside the State Capitol and ask questions about him reimbursing People magazine $1,234 for his trip to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
A TV reporter asked about the previous day’s claim by Senate Minority Leader John McKinney, R-Fairfield, that Malloy violated state ethics laws by accepting a freebie to one of D.C.‘s hottest political/social events.
“You know, Sen. McKinney says lots of things,” Malloy said, smiling. “I just decided to head the whole thing off, rather than take away from the important work, for instance, on education reform, that has to be done.”
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Major Concessions Deal Undermined by Bad Guesses, Secrecy
By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.org“Ladies and gentlemen, this is a historic agreement,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told the crowd assembled in the dark-paneled Old Judiciary Room of the state Capitol.
Six months after insisting upon $2 billion in concessions from the state’s 45,000 workers, Malloy announced on Aug. 18, 2011, that unions had approved something worth more than $1.6 billion in the short-term.
The deal, he pledged, would dramatically enhance state government’s finances for decades to come.
“It represents the most fundamental restructuring of the relationship between state government and state workers that has ever occurred in the state of Connecticut,” the governor said.
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Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Promises, Gimmicks and a Historic Shortfall
By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.orgWhen Dannel P. Malloy became the state’s 88th governor on Jan. 5, 2011, he inherited a financial mess unmatched in Connecticut history.
The Stamford Democrat faced a state government on pace to spend almost 20 percent more than it would receive in its next budget—unless something changed dramatically.
Forced to fill a $3.7 billion shortfall, Malloy challenged legislators, unions, businesses and the public to embrace his “shared sacrifice.”
“I truly believe Connecticut’s best days are ahead,” Malloy told lawmakers two years ago. “The tide is turning for us if we step up and work hard with courage and conviction.”
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Friday, April 26, 2013
Malloy, Sharkey Endorse Minimum Wage Increase
By Mark Pazniokas , Keith M. Phaneuf & Jacqueline Rabe Thomas
www.ctmirror.orgHouse Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, said today he will back Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s call for increasing the $8.25 minimum wage to $9 over the next two years.
“I think I am in line with where the governor is, frankly. It is always a balancing act to recognize the needs of workers, while also trying to stimulate an economy,” Sharkey said. “I think the governor’s approach strikes the right balance.”
After expressing support last month for raising the federal minimum wage to $9, Malloy is ready to endorse bringing the state minimum to that mark.
“This is just good public policy,” Malloy told Capitol reporters today following the monthly State Bond Commission meeting in the Legislative Office Building, calling it “one of the best ways to get children out of poverty.”
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Malloy: State Must Put Any Budget Surplus This Year in Bank
By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.orgState government may close the fiscal year with a small surplus, but Gov. Dannel P. Malloy made it clear today that lawmakers should make no plans to spend what’s left over.
The administration notified the legislature this week that it wants any surplus dollars deposited into the emergency reserve, commonly known as the Rainy Day Fund.
After forecasting deficits for most of this fiscal year, the governor’s budget office on April 20 issued a razor-thin surplus projection of $2.8 million. That represents about 1/60th of 1 percent of the state’s annual operating budget.
The state’s chief municipal lobby, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, wrote to legislative leaders earlier this week asking that any last-minute surge in revenues be used to enhance aid to cities and towns in the next state budget.
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Thursday, April 25, 2013
Malloy, Wyman to Host Community Forum in Norwalk
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy and Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman today announced that they will host a community forum in Norwalk on Tuesday.
The event will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. at West Rocks Middle School, 81 West Rocks Road..
These town hall-style events provide an opportunity to discuss the state’s pressing issues face-to-face with state residents, Malloy’s office said.
They are open to the public; tickets are not necessary and seats are available on a first come, first served basis.
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Tuesday, April 23, 2013
It’s Jim Marpe & Avi Kaner for GOP Selectmen
By James Lomuscio
UPDATE Jim Marpe, former member and acting chairman of the Westport Board of Education, received the unanimous endorsement of the Republican Town Committee’s (RTC) selectman’s nominating committee tonight to run for first selectman in November, and Avi Kaner, chairman of the Board of Finance, got a unanimous nod for the second selectman’s spot.
Jim Marpe (l) and Avi Kaner congratulate each other tonight following their endorsement by a Republican Town Committee nominating committee. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Dave Matlow for WestportNow.com
Robert LeFleur, chairman of the search committee, said he will present the committee’s findings to the full RTC Wednesday night, and that a formal RTC endorsement will take place at its July meeting.
“I am honored, and I am humbled,” said Marpe at the announcement in the Green Room at Town Hall. “And, I am thrilled to have Avi as my running mate.
“This will be a tremendous team effort, and our goal will be to work with you not only to get ourselves elected, but the entire Republican slate,” he added.
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Towns Want Any Windfall in State Tax Receipts
By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.orgHow tight is state revenue? Even the possibility of a small windfall is causing cities and towns to stake a claim.
Municipal leaders, who were disappointed last week by the lean town aid package recommended by legislators, today called dibs on any last-minute revenue bonanza that sometimes is found after the April 15 income tax filing deadline.
The Connecticut Conference of Municipalities “urges you to take advantage of expected increases in projected state revenues and craft a state budget that protects the interest of hometown Connecticut and its residential and business property taxpayers,” municipal leaders wrote to top Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate.
State government tests revenues three times annually, including on April 30—usually a few weeks or a month before they adopt a budget for the next fiscal year.
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Friday, April 19, 2013
Lawmakers Put Malloy’s Car Tax Repeal on Hold
By Keith M. Phaneuf
www.ctmirror.orgThe legislature’s tax-writing panel today put Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed car tax repeal on the shelf, but leaders insisted the concept would be revisited before the full legislature adjourns on June 5.
And while Malloy didn’t get his way when it came to the car tax, the Democrat-controlled Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee embraced most of his other proposals, endorsing more than $110 million in new taxes next year, a controversial energy auction, and a break for tax delinquents in a vote along party lines.
Technically, the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee adopted the governor’s plan to end the municipal property tax on motor vehicles—with one huge change.
While the governor wanted to end the tax in the 2014-15 fiscal year, the measure the finance panel adopted postpones that until 2018.
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Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Democrats, GOP Split on Ballot Reforms
By Mark Pazniokas
www.ctmirror.orgAfter a partisan debate on ballot access, a divided state House of Representatives voted today for the second time in two years to place on the ballot a constitutional amendment potentially opening the door to early voting in Connecticut.
With the Senate set to endorse the same amendment, it will be up to voters to decide in November 2014 if the state constitution should be amended to give the General Assembly greater authority over election law.
Connecticut’s constitution is unusually explicit on the question of how votes can be cast, limiting legislators’ authority over reforms such as allowing the wider use of absentee ballots, voting by mail and early voting.
The resolution adopted today on a 90-to-49 party-line vote is merely another step on a multi-year journey to what Secretary of the State Denise Merrill and Gov. Dannel P. Malloy say they hope will be easier ballot access.
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Note: WestportNow Publisher Gordon F. Joseloff is also First Selectman of Westport