Thursday, January 29, 2009

Coppola Throws His Hat In The Ring

Seeking the Democratic nomination, Bob Coppola said in a telephone interview last night that he will primary, "if necessary." I told Bob that I thought that it was a bit early to start campaigning but he said that his task right now is to "build up support." "Many Democratic Town Committee Members have pledged support," he said, "and I'm looking for more."

"I'm a moderate," Bob said. "People know that I've been a Democrat and a Republican but I'm not philosophically linked to either the Ds or the Rs although I'm leaning toward being a D.

Asked to explain why he's running, Bob said, "I'm 65 years old and am retiring from teaching in June. If I'm ever going to run for Mayor it's got to be now.

"I'm not running against Pat Murphy. I'm running on my ideas. My campaign slogan is, 'A Bridge to the Future' and I plan to be the Mayor of all the people, not just the Democrats and Republicans. My litmus test isn't a person's party affiliation, it's the person's ideas."

Admitting that he has a lot of work to do to get up to speed on the issues, Bob said that Pat Murphy has enough on her hands right now with the Budget and he doesn't want to put her "in a bind right now" and engage in a year-long campaign. "I'll put my specifics on the table in May because the Mayor shouldn't be distracted from her work on the Budget."

Speaking of the Budget, I asked Bob if he agreed with the News-Times Editorial that it may not have been the best time to sign a new teachers' contract. "Teachers have to take a moment and think about what's going on right now," he said. "I don't want to be specific at this time but something has to give. Administrators should consider putting a hold on raises . People are hurting. We have to consider the people who are losing their jobs. I feel for them.

"As far as the Budget is concerned, administratively, we need to work things out with the Board of Ed. It shouldn't be confrontational. Town Hall and the BOE have been at odds for many years."

I asked Bob about combining the Finance Departments and facilities maintenance responsibilities. "I don't support the combining of the Finance Departments. Absolutely not. There'll be conflicts over who will sign a purchase order. But I'd like to look into combining facilities maintenance."

I asked if he had any suggestions for the current Administration. "We should have committees like the TEC7 that we had for Route 7 and expand it to include Route 67. People need a platform and need to be heard." He was referring, of course, to 7TAC, the Route 7 Technical Advisory Committee. "Something has to be done about the flooding that was created by the widening."

He also said that the Mayor "doesn't seem to be eager to work on the homeless issue." "I don't think that we should pretend that they're not there. We need to boost our social services. This is the year to act. I know there'll be places in the Budget to cut but this isn't one of them. This is the time to help people."

Bob said that he has support from many people. "You read in Nanci Hutson's story that Board of Ed Member Dave Lawson is a supporter. So is a gentleman named George Barta who will help make me computer literate.

"I reached out to Jay Umbarger but I'm not pressing him because his Wife is prominent in the Republican Town Committee."

Clearly, Mr. Coppola has a lot of work to do. As time passes, he will be pressed on the issues and asked the tough questions.

"I don't plan to be Mayor for a long time. If I'm not elected, I'll take my Social Security."

Monday, January 26, 2009

Restaurant Inspections: What’s A Good Score?

I asked Director of Health Mike Crespan to explain a little bit more about the Department’s inspection scores. “First,” he said, “You can’t compare the rating of a full-service restaurant with a hot-dog stand because there are so many more items to look at in a restaurant.”

Noting that the big areas of inspection are food handling, personal hygiene, temperature control and sanitizing, Mike says, “You should be cautious if you see a score lower than 90 for a full-service restaurant and for a hot-dog stand a 90 really isn’t very good and you should be concerned.”

There are 4, 2 and 1 point violations, the 4-point violations being the worst. “A score of less than 80 usually indicates the existence of 4-point violations,” Mike said, “And a score of 80 or less requires reinspection after two weeks.”

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Recycling Center and eWaste

Effective July 1, 2009, the Town is required to segregate certain electronic waste ("eWaste") at the Recycling Center. There are four CEDs ("covered electronic devices"): televisions, computers, monitors and printers. Instead of being dumped in a landfill, they will be processed in an environmentally sound manner, broken up into components and reused where possible.

The program is paid for by the manufacturers so after July1 there should be no charge to drop off these items. Of course, "paid for by the manufacturer" means that the disposal fee will be built into the retail cost of the item. In California, a fee is added on to the sale price.

Restaurant Inspection Results

Courtesy of Jacqueline Thayer in the New Milford Health Department, here are inspection results for all of New Milford's restaurants. The scale is 0-100.

Note that the Department recently closed McDonald's, Panda and Main Moon on Main Street; all were permitted to reopen after correcting the violations.

The Health Department will soon have its own Web Page that will contain this and much more information.

NAME, DATE OF INSPECTION, SCORE

59 Bank 9/28/2008 71
59 Bank 10/14/2008 96
A Piece of Cake 9/1/2001 99
A Piece of Cake 9/26/2008 98
Adrienne Fine American Dining 4/15/2008 95
Adrienne Fine American Dining 9/2/2008 94
Alfredo's 5/19/2008 90
Alfredo's 9/15/2008 95
All Aboard Pizzeria 5/20/2008 91
All Aboard Pizzeria 9/18/2008 92
All Aboard Pizzeria 1/8/2009 92
Arby's 6680 4/3/2008 91
Arby's 6680 8/18/2008 92
Arby's 6680 12/15/2008 94
Arion Singing Society 5/5/2008 92
Bank Street Coffee House 5/8/2008 100
Bank Street Coffee House 9/2/2008 96
Bank Street Coffee House 12/16/2008 86
Bank Street Coffee House 1/2/2009 93
Bank Street Theater 12/11/2007 96
Bank Street Theater 9/22/2008 95
Barn Café, The 6/2/2008 97
Barn Café, The 1/6/2009 96
Big Y World Class Market 5/19/2008 88
Big Y World Class Market 9/15/2008 80
Bonni Manning Catering, Inc. 11/18/2008 100
Brick House Pizza & Restaurant 4/8/2008 90
Brick House Pizza & Restaurant 8/18/2008 86
Brick House Pizza & Restaurant 12/4/2008 93
Buck's Rock Camp 8/13/2008 86
Bulls Bridge Golf Club, Inc. 4/26/2007 97
Candlewood Valley Country Club 4/15/2008 98
Candlewood Valley Country Club 8/17/2008 90
Candlewood Valley Health & Rehab Ctr. 4/3/2008 98
Candlewood Valley Health & Rehab Ctr. 8/18/2008 99
Candlewood Valley Health & Rehab Ctr. 12/2/2008 92
Cantebury School 6/15/2008 96
Cantebury School 10/2/2008 92
Carvel Ice Cream 4/15/2008 96
Carvel Ice Cream 11/13/2008 89
Clamp's 7/15/2008 95
Cookhouse, The 6/2/2008 86
Cookhouse, The 9/25/2008 83
De Italia Pizza 6/5/2008 85
De Italia Pizza 8/25/2008 85
De Italia Pizza 12/16/2008 87
Delitalia 8/14/2008 95
Delitalia 12/4/2008 91
Dunkin Donuts (12 Danbury Rd) 5/15/2008 92
Dunkin Donuts (12 Danbury Rd) 9/9/2008 90
Dunkin Donuts (12 Danbury Rd) 1/6/2009 98
Dunkin Donuts (East Street) 6/23/2008 99
Dunkin Donuts (East Street) 9/25/2008 98
Edible Arrangements 1/6/2009 96
El Mariachi 6/3/2008 96
Executive Cuisine 5/13/2008 94
Executive Cuisine 9/2/2008 92
Executive Cuisine 1/6/2009 93
Faith Ministries Cafeteria 4/8/2008 98
Faith Ministries Cafeteria 9/9/2008 97
Faith Ministries Cafeteria 1/8/2009 100
Food for Thought of CT 6/5/2008 91
Food for Thought of CT 9/22/2008 92
Food Mart 5/5/2008 98
Food Mart 9/22/2008 95
Friendly Service Station #30 4/8/2008 95
Friendly Service Station #30 8/20/2008 92
Friendly Service Station #30 12/16/2008 95
Friendly's #1262 6/26/2008 88
Friendly's #1262 9/28/2008 95
Gary's Rib House 9/8/2008 93
Gary's Rib House 9/26/2008 98
Gaylordsville Country Store LLC 12/16/2008 96
Gaylordsville Diner 5/19/2008 89
Gaylordsville Diner 9/15/2008 93
Grand Patisserie 4/8/2008 95
Grand Patisserie 8/18/2008 87
Great Wall 5/20/2008 84
Great Wall 9/11/2008 80
Heritage Inn, Inc. 7/15/2008 96
Heritage Inn, Inc. 11/17/2008 88
Hill & Plain School Cafeteria 4/8/2008 98
Hill & Plain School Cafeteria 9/30/2008 98
Hit & Run Deli 3/31/2008 95
Hit & Run Deli 8/20/2008 94
Hit & Run Deli 12/2/2008 87
Holiday Restaurant 5/13/2008 82
Holiday Restaurant 9/9/2008 80
Holiday Restaurant 1/6/2009 86
Home Buffet 5/12/2008 91
Home Buffet 8/25/2008 82
Home Buffet 12/18/2008 77
Home Buffet 1/8/2009 89
Horton's Hot Dogs 8/1/2008 100
Il Colosseo 6/2/2008 95
Il Colosseo 9/22/2008 81
Italia Mia 6/5/2008 88
Italia Mia 9/28/2008 90
JN Petro, Inc. 8/7/2008 96
JN Petro, Inc. 11/13/2008 96
Jo Jo's Deli & Catering 6/2/2008 87
Jo Jo's Deli & Catering 9/22/2008 90
Joan's Candy Cupboard 5/8/2008 100
Joan's Candy Cupboard 11/25/2008 100
Joey's Restaurant 4/15/2008 96
Joey's Restaurant 9/2/2008 97
Johana's Restaurant 6/5/2008 87
Johana's Restaurant 9/25/2008 81
John Pettibone School 4/8/2008 98
John Pettibone School 9/11/2008 97
KBRO Gas Station 5/31/2007 92
KBRO Gas Station 9/11/2008 93
KBRO Gas Station 1/8/2009 98
Loaves & Fishes 6/2/2008 100
Loaves & Fishes 12/15/2008 99
Lucia of New Milford LLC 6/2/2008 93
Lucia of New Milford LLC 9/23/2008 83
Maxx, The 12/17/2007 94
Maxx, The 8/17/2008 97
McDonald's 1603 6/26/2008 93
McDonald's 1603 9/30/2008 78
Midway Market & Deli 3/26/2008 93
Midway Market & Deli 7/28/1980 98
Midway Market & Deli 11/17/2008 93
Milano's Restaurant 5/20/2008 88
Milano's Restaurant 9/23/2008 85
Mir Enterprises (Valero) 4/15/2008 97
Mir Enterprises (Valero) 9/8/2008 97
Natural Market Place 5/8/2008 98
Natural Market Place 11/25/2008 98
New Main Moon Chinese Restaurant 5/12/2008 87
New Main Moon Chinese Restaurant 9/2/1988 80
New Main Moon Chinese Restaurant 11/17/2008 85
New Milford Chinese 3/18/2008 94
New Milford Chinese 7/15/2008 92
New Milford Chinese 11/17/2008 85
New Milford Culinary School 10/14/2008 91
New Milford Fish Market 1/30/2008 99
New Milford Fish Market 7/28/2008 99
New Milford High School 4/8/2008 99
New Milford High School 10/2/2008 92
New Milford Hospital 7/28/2008 81
New Milford Hospital 11/25/2008 83
New Milford Main Moon 5/13/2008 84
New Milford Main Moon 8/25/2008 86
New Milford Main Moon 11/13/2008 84
New Milford Sports Club 7/15/2008 94
New Milford Tennis & Swim Club 7/12/2006 100
New Milford Tennis & Swim Club 7/15/2008 80
North Country Restaurant 6/19/2008 89
North Country Restaurant 11/6/2008 80
Northville Elementary School 4/22/2008 96
Northville Elementary School 10/14/2008 89
Northville Fire Department 9/20/2008 100
Northville Market 7/15/2008 92
Northville Market 11/17/2008 95
Northville Market 11/17/2008 95
On The Go Grill 5/5/2008 96
On The Go Grill 8/13/2008 97
Oriental House 3/20/2008 92
Oriental House 7/28/2008 88
Oriental House 11/17/2008 90
Palma Restaurant 4/3/2008 87
Panda Empire 3/18/2008 80
Panda Empire 7/28/2008 76
Park Lane Sunoco 7/14/2008 96
Park Lane Sunoco 11/17/2009 99
Peggy's Coffee Shop 4/14/2008 96
Peggy's Coffee Shop 8/14/2008 98
Peggy's Coffee Shop 12/2/2008 95
Primo's Deli 6/5/2008 92
Primo's Deli 9/23/2008 94
Rao's Citgo LLC 4/14/2008 95
Rao's Citgo LLC 8/18/2008 95
Rao's Citgo LLC 12/18/2008 95
Richmond Center, The 6/3/2008 100
Richmond Center, The 11/13/2008 100
River Café 2/8/2008 89
River Café 11/14/2008 90
Route 7 Deli & Catering 6/26/2008 92
Route 7 Deli & Catering 9/28/2008 89
Royal Buffet 5/12/2008 80
Royal Buffet 8/25/2008 85
Royal Buffet 12/15/2008 82
S. J. Barringto's Café & Pub 3/18/2008 91
S. J. Barringto's Café & Pub 7/28/2008 85
S. J. Barringto's Café & Pub 11/13/2008 83
Salsa 5/15/2008 97
Salsa 9/11/2008 95
Salsa 1/8/2009 95
Sarah Nobel Intermediate School 4/8/2008 98
Sarah Nobel Intermediate School 9/9/2008 99
Sarah Nobel Intermediate School 1/6/2009 99
Scalfani Street Food 4/2/2008 96
Scalfani Street Food 8/13/2008 96
Scalfani Street Food 12/4/2008 91
Scalfani Street Food 12/25/2008 90
Schaghticoke Middle School 4/22/2008 95
Schaghticoke Middle School 9/8/2008 93
Schulz's Merryall Market 8/12/2008 96
Schulz's Merryall Market 8/18/2008 100
Schulz's Merryall Market 7/10/2008 94
Sports Page Café, The 3/31/2008 92
Sports Page Café, The 8/15/2008 87
Sports Page Café, The 12/4/2008 92
St. Peter's Masonic Lodge 4/26/2008 99
Starbucks Coffee Company 5/8/2008 94
Starbucks Coffee Company 9/9/2008 92
Starbucks Coffee Company 1/6/2009 95
Steve's Deli 5/15/2008 96
Steve's Deli 9/4/2008 93
Steve's Deli 1/8/2009 93
Stop & Shop Supermarkets 5/13/2008 88
Stop & Shop Supermarkets 9/4/2008 83
Stop & Shop Supermarkets 1/8/2009 88
Subway - Lores Plaza 5/20/2008 93
Subway - Lores Plaza 9/4/2008 94
Subway - Lores Plaza 1/5/2009 96
Subway - Park Lane 4/14/2008 92
Subway - Park Lane 9/8/2008 90
Subway - Wal-mart 4/14/2008 90
Subway - Wal-mart 8/20/2008 85
Subway - Wal-mart 12/15/2008 81
Sue's Snack Bar 3/18/2008 91
Sue's Snack Bar 9/2/2008 92
Sue's Snack Bar 12/16/2008 97
Taco Bell 4/14/2008 92
Taco Bell 8/20/2008 96
Taco Bell 12/15/2008 88
Theo's Downtown Diner 6/3/2008 94
Theo's Downtown Diner 9/23/2008 94
Thor's 8/21/2008 100
Three Brothers 6/26/2008 90
Three Brothers 9/28/2008 83
Upper Crust 3/31/2008 91
Upper Crust 8/14/2008 84
Upper Crust 12/2/2008 89
Village Crest Center for Health & Rehab. 7/15/2008 99
Village Crest Center for Health & Rehab. 11/17/2008 96
Villarina's Pasta 4/14/2008 98
Villarina's Pasta 9/9/2008 98
White Peach 2/6/2008 94
White Peach 7/15/2008 91
Windmill Diner 9/2/2008 97
Windmill Diner 1/5/2009 96
Yokohama Japanese Restaurant 5/20/2008 84
Yokohama Japanese Restaurant 1/5/2009 84

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Bob Coppola Looking At Mayoral Run

Bob Coppola, former Councilman and School Board Member, is “exploring the possibility” of running for Mayor. “I have to decide by March,” he said, “And I really can’t say more until I have an official committee in place.

“I like Mayor Murphy. She’s a friend. But friends can differ on policies.

“There are some really tough issues coming up and I want to understand them all before I begin making comments.”

Similarly, Bob had no comment when asked if would be seeking the Democratic nod and Democratic Town Committee Chair John Lillis didn’t offer more. “He’s a registered Democrat and most certainly will be given consideration by the Nominating Committee.

He was a viable Member of the Town Council and the Board of Ed so he’s a legitimate candidate.”

Pat Sherry, Republican Town Committee Chair, was more forthcoming. “Given his history with the Democratic Party, I doubt the Dems will give him the nod. He left them on bad terms and then joined the Republican Party that supported him for the Board of Ed. He then returned to the Democratic Party. There's really a lot of history here. My guess is that he’ll wind up running on the New Milford First ticket.”

Bob is retiring from the teaching profession on June 30, 2009.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Breaking! Gas Leak Causes Evacuation

A gas leak at the Lindstedt facility on Youngsfield Road has caused the closure of the Road and an evacuation of the DPW offices. The Fire Marshal is on the scene.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Constitutional Issue III

A third Constitutional issue has been brought to my attention by a reader.

The subject of the Seventeenth Amendment, ratified with Connecticut's vote on April 8, 1913, is Senators Elected by Popular Vote. In relevant part, it provides as follows; I supplied the emphasis:

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

This Amendment modifies the first paragraph of Article I, Section 3 of the Constitution by providing that senators shall not be "chosen by the Legislature thereof" but shall be "elected by the people thereof." If there is a vacancy, it allows each state's Governor, if authorized by that state's legislature, to appoint a temporary person who serves until there is a special election set in motion by a writ.

The process couldn’t be more clear but, as pointed out in a NYT Op-Ed piece by Thomas Geoghegan entitled, “A Job Too Big for One Man to Fill,” “Colorado, Delaware, hapless Illinois and star-struck New York will have senators ‘elected’ by a single voter, the governors who appoint them.”

I wonder what has happened to our Republic. I agree with Geoghegan that, “The 17th Amendment was supposed to stop backroom deals and the courts should let it do so.”