Video of General Maurice Rose Armed Forces Reserve Center Dedication

Middletown resident and Eye fan John Brush submitted the following video of the dedication speeches given at the ribbon cutting of the General Maurice Rose Army Reserve Center that opened last week. More about this Center can be found in the previous Eye blog post here:

Eye on a Fellow Blogger: John Brush also writes several blogs with Middletown themes. He has covered local politics & elections, civic events ( some with video!) as well as national issues with commentary. Read Mr. Brush's blogs: His first is mostly politically themed; "Steady Habits" here: & "Right of the Middle" here: featuring local observations- featuring arts, entertainment, environmental issues, nature photos (great birds featured on page 2) and civic happenings.

Inauguration Ceremony

You are cordially invited to the swearing-in ceremony for:

Mayor-Elect Daniel T. Drew
Common Council
City Treasurer
Planning & Zoning
Board of Education
Board of Assessment Appeals

Tuesday, November 15th , 2011 at 7 pm

Woodrow Wilson Middle School, 370 Hunting Hill Avenue, Middletown CT 06457

Reception to follow in the Cafeteria. Light refreshments will be served.

The Public is Invited and Encouraged to Attend

Letter and Wish List from Ken McClellan

written by Ken McClellan:

My congratulations to all the candidates and incumbents who will be serving in elected office for the next two years. I wish you all the best, and hope that you will take your responsibility seriously, with the best interests of all the citizens of Middletown as your primary goal. During the campaign, there was a lot said and promised about transparency, accountability and managing the budget. To that end, I humbly submit my wish list and suggestions for the newly elected officials. This list should be easy, since most candidates campaigned on the premise of supporting many of these issues.

My Wish List

Board of Education

Institute Performance Reviews with peer input for the Superintendent and Assistants. Performance reviews are done in the majority of private companies and for all federal employees. Peer reviews are used by a majority of private companies and are valuable tools in determining the actual performance of an individual.

Review the Superintendent's contract for renewal when it is not more than a year left on the contract. Use the Performance Review to determine if he should be renewed.

Stop mileage payments to all school employees. Require vouchers and itineraries for any mileage reimbursement. This is standard practice in most private companies.

Submit a line item budget to the Common Council. Stick to the budget.

Change independent auditors.

Justify requests for changes in the budget or line-item transfers.

Set up a complaint review with the school system for all employees.

Conduct reviews of complaints with the Superintendent

Comply with all state laws, city charter and current court and labor department rulings, immediately.

Comply with federal law regarding whistle-blower protection for employees who bring reports of wrong-doing.

Common Council

Demand a line item budget from the Board of Education.

Require justification for requests for changes in the budget or line-item transfers in the BoE budget.

Require BoE and the school administration to comply with state laws, the city charter and court and labor department rulings.

Consolidate Finance Offices of the Board of Education and the city.

Ensure that the Board of Education and School Administration comply with all state laws, city charter and current court and labor rulings, immediately.

Budgeting for street and other infrastructure maintenance and repairs, rather than borrowing to fund routine maintenance. Bonding increases the cost of maintenance by adding the interest to the cost. It give the false impression that the council is saving money, when you're actually spending more.

Build the Emergency fund to at least 2 months operating expenses, to keep our bonding interest rate low. Additionally, investment income can be included in the budget, to help keep taxes down.

Look for real savings to lower taxes. Don’t hide the spending and tell us that you’re saving money.

Planning and Zoning

Review and update the Plan of Conservation and Development.

Review and update city zoning code to support the Plan of Conservation and Development

Review and update the Commission By-laws to support the PCD and zoning code.

Mayor Drew

Conduct a search for a police chief and look at qualifications before recommending a candidate for approval by the Common Council.

I also have a few predictions on how this next administration will play out. I’ll hold on to those for now.

Again, congratulations and best wishes to all our newly elected officials.

Ken McClellan

Middletown, CT

Letter to the Editor: Matt Fraulino

I would like to use this opportunity to thank everyone in Middletown that I met on the campaign trail over the past three months. As you may know, I was a Republican, first-time candidate for Common Council. Even though the ball did not bounce my way — I came up several hundred votes short — I had an outstanding experience.

While campaigning, I had the good fortune to meet some great people at the many community events that I attended as well as at the many, many homes that I visited while door-knocking.

By and large, everyone was very welcoming and I was constantly reminded of the special community that we have here in Middletown. During visits to each home, we undoubtedly caught many people in the midst of a chore or activity relative to their daily lives. I would like to express my appreciation to Middletown residents for their graciousness in receiving an impromptu visit from several candidates at one time.

More often than not, a great conversation came out of the visit. Whether they devoted 30 seconds or 30 minutes to our visits, I offer my sincere thanks to everyone for taking time out of your busy schedules to speak with us.

I have always been proud of this city that I — along with my siblings, parents and grandparents — was born and raised. The campaign process served to galvanize my pride in the city and gave me the chance to learn that you love Middletown as much as I do.

I would also like to thank Mayor Giuliano and the Republican underticket for making me a part of their team. It was a pleasure to visit the Middletown residents with these individuals and every outing with the mayor was a lesson in Middletown as well as a living example of the reason why a person should seek public office. Mayor Giuliano’s love for this city is a love that is palpable; his knowledge of the city and emotion that he shows while talking about it will attest to this point.

I said earlier that I have always been proud of this community and am equally proud to have had Mayor Giuliano as my hometown’s leader for the past six years.

Now that there is a transition in our leadership, I ask those elected leaders to keep the prosperity of Middletown and its residents as a continued priority. Whether you are a Republican, Democrat or Independent, we must come together and respect the outcome of the election and offer our support to Mayor-Elect Drew.

There are several issues that will develop in the next two years — the merger with the Mattabassett District, securing a tenant for the Aetna property and revitalization on Main Street’s North End, amongst others — and we need our leaders to make the right decisions that will move us forward. As an employee of the Middlesex Chamber, I look forward to still being able to work with these leaders in some capacity.

Let us all be mindful to keep Middletown first.

Matt Fraulino, 2011 Republican Common Council candidate

Candidate Profile: Tina Mazzota Raffa for Treasurer (I)(D)

Candidate profiles: as a courtesy The Middletown Eye will publish candidate profiles unedited in the order received.

My name is (Josephine) Tina Mazzotta Raffa and I am a Petitioning
Democratic candidate for City Treasurer. I am a lifelong resident of
Middletown and care about my community. I have 20 years of banking
experience and am currently employed at Liberty Bank. I am concerned
about the financial future of the City of Middletown. With the
Democratic controlled Common Council taking money from the City's Fund
Balance, almost 6.5 million dollars in the last few years, I am greatly
concerned. With a $130 million dollar budget and less than $11 million in
reserves, we have almost one month operating money remaining. This is of
great concern to me. The Democratic controlled Common Council has spent
our savings unwisely. I will be an advocate for proper spending. I
have been very active in my community as a soccer coach, CCD instructor at
St. Sebastian's Church, the Mayor's Ball Committeees and my four
children's PTOs, sports programs and fundraising activities. I am the
co-owner of Watch Hill Signs and Graphics, a small business Middletown
with my husband Luigi Raffa. We have four wonderful children, Stefano,
Luigi, Luca and Carmelo Raffa. It is very important to me that Middletown
thrives for my family and yours.

Please vote for me on November 8th. I promise to put Middletown over
politics and look out for the financial future of our community.

Thank you.

J. Tina Mazzotta Raffa