State Sen. Jason Welch introduced a bill this week that aims "to transfer all unexpended funds designated for the New Britain busway" so the money can be used instead "for the purpose of restoring commuter rail service from Waterbury to Hartford, through Plymouth, Bristol and Plainville."
The measure is before the transportation committee.
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50 comments:
At first read I thought, well it's about time. Then I see he just wants to move the money to another project.
What makes him think the "railway" is any better?
How about not spending the money?
He is listing to the city leaders and doing action.
Way to go Jason!
I love this guy!
I think its more a case of Welch following the lead of Mike Nicastro and the Chamber of Commerce
This is a case of a State Senator following the wishes of the people of Bristol, unlike his predecessor who followed the wishes of the Democrat State Senate Leaders, the state Democrat Party and/or the state union leaders (mostly one in the same).
Excellent going Jason!!!
Why does everyone insist all politicians are following some behind the curtain leads? That would be like saying art ward is a smart guy but listens to turkeys from the DTC. We all know that’s not true
Before law school welch got his BA in economics. I’m guessing he made this suggestion because he can count. As for not spending the money the proposal refers to unallocated money not the 500 million people keep publishing. I’m Just Saying
Kick a** Jason!
But what then if this fails? Is the busway then inevitable?
"Following the lead" does not necessarily mean the politician is a puppet (Time will tell on that score) It was just an observation that this is the position of the Chamber as well.
As to whether it is the will of the people of Bristol, I'm not so sure. The Chamber wants to substitute commuter rail for the busway while those who work in construction probably favor the busway project since it will mean jobs for them. The local naysayers seem to want to put their heads in the sand and do nothing. If we are going to renovate downtown, we're going to need a way to encourage customers from outside Bristol to come here. If we are going to build housing as part of the downtown plan, we'll need a way for those folks to get to their jobs. Getting people out of their cars and off I-84 is the ultimate goal, and the question is, what is the best way to do that?
Welch has already done more for Bristol than Tommy did in all his years.
Keep up the good work Sen. Welch
ConCon: you are such a hypocrite. When Colapietro gave the people what they wanted he was "pandering". But Welch is a "leader" when he panders to the Chamber of Commerce, Boys & Girls Club, the NIMBY homeowners on Chippens Hill, and on and on.
"'Following the lead' does not necessarily mean the politician is a puppet".
-LOL...agreed, that was Colapietro exclusively (regarding 31st Dist. Senators) .
-Actually I think they should scrap the bus-way and the rail-way both. Perhaps take up the rail-way in three decades when it's viable.
Use the money to improve current routes for personal transportaion (cars), trucks and buses. Or better yet use the money to paty down the debt or give it back to the taxpayers.
This guy should run for MAYOR. He would be theonly mayor in bristol history to have a education.
Allen:
We're spending $50 million on the new 72 to get people downtown (aka pipedream).
Perhaps it is you who's head is in the sand (or up some other dark place).
To 11:14 Rather than continuing to shoot your dumb mouth off just name one thing he's done for Bristol! Just one thing.He is the chambers mouth piece and the Barne$$$$$$$ tell him and his son-in-law Betts what to do. And they still haven't done anything yet. They only make feel good proposals that aren't going anywhee.
Hey 11:14 It's "we love you Welch" instead of Hamzy? What about Whit? LMAO at what jerks you followers are.
4:14 Are you saying that he isn't asking for the 500 million of us taxpayers money?
12:58 Listing? See even you jerks aren't perfect like you think you are.
12
:46
Suggest that you check the records.
You are wrong by at least two.
Senator Welch, Thanks for listening to the citizens of Bristol (and please ignore the 1 or 2 colapietro-lovers on this blog who can't get over the fact that you beat him)!!!
Jason so much for the tea party agenda. all politicians the same spend, borrow and bull s-it
2 Colapietro lovers? Another dumb guess. How many are you ? One? that love all republicans regardless of what they do? Even lie about doing something. What is the question?
So I see someone has a weak stomach and has to have the comments aimed at them (Welch & Whit & Bobroske)removed from the Press stories. Hey kids, come to the Press and see what censorship in America is like.
Welch is a Barne$ clone. Money goes with money. He's only doing their bidding.
The US is so far behind in railway development our railway will not be seen for a couple of generations. Good, maybe Mike Nicastro can stop holding his breath waiting for the railway. lol.
Bristol needs rail transportation.
What has Jason done for Bristol. Simple: he beat Tom Colapietro.
Hey why does every one keep nocking the Barnes? If it weren’t for them the unions wouldn’t have any one to embezzle from
11:59 C'mon jerk stop being so condescending and answer the question . Or can't you?
12:03 Barne$$$$$ have all the money they need so they want to own Bristol. And if you were smart at all you would know that it was the Lewis'e not the Barneses that founded Bristol. They'll never own me. We know they own you already.
11:59 Sounds like the same old jealous rhetoric but the question is what's he done for Bristol and you can't name one thing. All you can do is show your true colors. "Hatemonger"
I gotta admit there is some truth that Welch beat Colapietro and Colapietro has been a winner several times. So I'd like to know how many of these jerks on here ever won anything? And the truth with the proof not just wise unprovable wise remarks.
Hatemonger? No hating here...We're loving Jason Welch!
A group organized by the 31st District GOP just ran a bus to New Briatin for a Tim Stwart fundraiser. Stewart is the mayor of New Britain, currently seeking a state senate seat. Stewart is the point-man for the bus way as well as one of it's biggest supporters.
Clearly this is a smoke and mirrors move by Welch aimed at putting the bus-way issue to bed, so he (Welch) and the Bristol GOP can go ahead with supporting Stewart when and if he gets elected.
I love Jason and Whit. (And if they have money I will not love them any less for it!) No hatemonger here either.
Not only do are the Barns pulling the strings of Betts and Welch, they have Ward in their pocket too!
TJ is the puppet master
8:44 There you go lying again. You are a hatemonger and you love Jason because he is a republican. And now can you answer the question you put out here? What has he done for Bristol? An honest constructive answer? I don't think you can give an intellegent answer. If it's the truth.
Isn't Welch a little late? Just about everyone I know was against the Busway long before he came out against it.
8:44 Are you a member of the Arion nation? All pure white?
The nerve of Welch!!! He said he was going to be different. He said he'd stop needless government spending. And what do we get? A worthless letter on government paper to tell us he has a web site we can go to to sign up for e news! The majority of us threw that right in the trash the rest who are computer savvy already know to look for those web sites and sign up for e news, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE TOLD TO GO TO A WEB SITE IN A LETTER WASTING TAX PAYERS MONEY!!!!
What was his campaign promise? CUT DOWN ON THE COST OF GOVERNMENT SPENDING. LOOKS LIKE HE FORGOT real FAST once he got elected. How much did that mailing cost us taxpayers? $40-50,000? Shame on WELCH!!! Even if it cost less, small things mount up to BIG expenses.
Many people can't AFFORD computers either. So what is he doing...keeping people in the dark?
The DTC is run (well it's more like NOT run) by its worthless leader E. Nelson. Nelson couldn't tell Ward anything. Ward tells Nelson what to do. Nelson was practically non-existent in the last election. Nelson should step down.
To "Concerned Constructive Conservative". Shows how stupid you are. Welch is jerking this town around. Strange, he has no past before Bristol. How do you know he has a BA in economics? It’s only what WELCH tells us he has. He claims he went to public schools, which ones and how long? How does one gather a huge down payment and adopt all those kids so soon after school. Most people struggle to pay off loan after loan… No school gives TOTAL scholarships…he really can’t be that brilliant or he wouldn’t have located in Bristol. Think about it folks. Something smells fishy about this kid.
WELCH lied during the campaign, said anything to win at all costs. Now he's forgotten his promises. He himself says he “never understood the enormity of the job”...could be he still doesn't understand, esp. after he decides to give the Boys/Girls Club 500,000$...what about saving the tax payers money? Oh that's right. He doesn't CALL it PORK but IT IS PORK and payola for his benefactors.
6:18 Jason has proposed cutting unfunded mandates, killing the busway (stupid spending) and getting rid of legislators' benefits. All so we don't have to pay more in taxes. He's given us hope for the future, at the very least. It's very refreshing.
Multiple states are on the abyss of bankruptcy, financial turmoil and incapable of paying thier bills, why?
It is definitely not because those of us that pay taxes pay too little.
So, who do we hold accountable in times like these when multiple finacially obligated promises have been made and not kept (by both parties). When the lottery came into being in the late 70's for the sole purpose of funding schools and both parties saw what a windfall the state would reap and created multiple entitlement programs that had nothing to do with schools they raided the funds. Stil, a good percentage of our school systems are still in trouble. In the 90's it was the state income tax that was sold to us under the lie of "just until we are in the plus again". But he did close the budget gap and yet we are broke once again.
We also struck a deal with the casinos for billions in revenue from the slot machines. Again, both sides of the aisle are equally guilty for raiding the funds and creating unecessary entitlement programs.
We lost a congressional seat but still the biggest employer in the state of Connecticut remains the State of Connecticut.
Do we get mad at Union workers because in some people's opinion you are greedy? There is a valid argument for that. Remember, you are a taxpayer also because muliple tax-payers are payng for your salaries and benefits. So again, the taxpayer in my argument wins that battle. Do we hold those that have mispent, robbed and created unsustainable entitlement programs with thier wreckless spending of taxpayer monies? That is a more valid argument.Concerning the union, the money WOULD be and SHOULD be there for you had not this state plundered our funds.IT is time to renegotiate. Take a sample of what the average median income and benefits are in Bristol and say maybe put in a 10% buffer and that is what you get. You get exactly what we get. While not directly respondible for this mess, the political machine has been.The people you have voted for the last 25 years are the ONES WHO SCREWED YOU. Not us.
Do I expect the best, absolutely. But use this as an example. Do I have any means to challenge a police officer that has been working 100 hours a week for his top 3 to retirement? No. Do I believe police officers working 60, 80 90 hour shifts to get thier top 3 in are going to be at the top of thier game if and when a "real" emergency comes along? Heck it's few and far between to get your body adjusted to the graveyard shift and be at your best let alone the toll of working so many hours week after week.
Schools in Bristol seem to be on the never ending Carousel of suspension due to sub standard test scores to decent at best. It is best said that those who can't do, teach. While again I believe there are many fabulous teachers in this town, we cannot reward them properly or get rid of the dead wood. Do your time and collect our dime. Most of us spend 13 years in school, for the sake of argument and being generous, why should a taxpayer have to pay 60% of thier taxes to fund education for life. Cap it at 20 years. That pays for the 13 that you used Bristol schools, plus 7. The term "public servant" is just that. You know the risks that are inherint to the job you are taking. Is it my responsibility to pay you fairly? Absolutely. Is it my responsibility to pay you a salary that is unsustainable and not justifiable because you chose this position? Absolutely not. If people do not wake up and take responsibility for the real issues that we are going broke, nothing will ever change. There sums up Bristol in a nutshell. Moan, groan, complain but vote the same people into our Federal, State and local positions of authority over and over and over. It is like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole thinking one day you are going to do it. Well, that one day is here and if you do not step up and recognize the crisis that is facing this country caused by BOTH parties, we will just slowly float downstream until we drown....
Overtime DOES NOT count towards pension payments!!!
7:04 Give up on Colapietro he is gone and we at least knew his name . Unlike you and your cowardly wacko friends. Now lets see what Welch and your other friend can do. Or are you afraid to talk about the present and not the past. If you really cared you can look at the records of the two and see that Colapietro has a record of a lot of good. Yours will never catch him as long as the proof is there rather than your useless lies.
11:32 More Blah, Blah, Blah. Talk about Hyperbole. You and your two nuts are funny!
To Tom Colapietro you lost loser now get off the Blog.
I am not Tom Colapietro and apparently you haven't got the guts to say who you are so I guess you are nothing and you certainly don't know who or what you are talking. I guess you don't like Colapietro and I bet he wouldn't like you if he knew who you were. Hell I don't like you and I don't and never will know who you are . Just another loud mouth know-it-all.9:38 Oh aand if you aren't afraid of him why don't you call him and tell him to his face? No guts.
Gee 2:40 PM, if you're not Colapietro, then apparently you haven't got the guts to say who you are either.
Colapietro lost. Welch won and he's been a badly needed breath of fresh air. Oh, BTW, there's really no need to call Colapietro to tell him we don't like him...the majority of voters have made that point crystal clear. Time for you to GET OVER IT.
Didn't vote for Welch but absolutely in favor of killing the busway-light rail would be a Godsend for everyone who has ever sat on 6 or 72 trying to get to work/home. How much better a place would this be if you could leave the car 10 minutes from home and be in NYC or Boston in 90 minutes?
HES THE NEXT MAYOR
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