I haven't been doing well at keeping this blog up to date lately. I'll try to do better.
First off, there are two stories on the City Council's battle over the Charter Revision Commission that are pretty much required reading if you want to follow the details here. So go read this story and the second-day story here.
Now let's take a closer look.
Here is what I know about who was selected for service on the charter panel.
Four council members picked someone whom Mayor Art Ward found acceptable. They were:
Edward Krawiecki, Jr -- chosen by Ward himself
Richard Saporito - chosen by city Councilor Kevin Fuller
Jon Fitzgerald -- chosen by city Councilor Ken Cockayne
John Fasolo -- chosen by city Councilor David Mills
Beyond that, we know that city Councilor Kate Matthews selected a retired firefighter, Dana Jandreau. Ward refused to name him.
I'm not sure who city Councilor Kevin McCauley wanted and I haven't heard who city Councilor Cliff Block initially asked for either.
All three of the so-called Stooges -- Cockayne's term for Matthews, McCauley and Block -- were told by Ward they could pick someone from a list of a dozen other contenders the mayor found acceptable. Block looked over the list and decided to pick one of them, Pastor Laura Galbraith.
McCauley and Matthews refused to go along.
So the mayor added two more members off his list, Richard Lacey and Dr. Val Vitale. A memo given the council indicates that Cockayne is the one who suggested the mayor tap Lacey.
Those on the list who were not selected were:
David Preleski, Stephen Allaire, Dr. Kenneth Benoit, Rev. Alphonso Fontana, Dr. Michael Ptaszynski, James Donovan, Robert Cummisky, Cheryl Ann Assis and Gary Lawton.
All but the last three have an asterick beside their name on the memo with the notice that their names were offered "based on knowledge of law and life and death decisions."
In the big picture, then, the mayor had 16 people he was willing to appoint. At least six of them are lawyers and two are ministers. At least four are medical folks, though I'm not sure that Saporito's status as a chiropractor really meets the standard that he regularly deals with life and death decisions. He is, however, a bright, community-spirited guy who used to serve on the Board of Education.
The other picks on the mayor's list were Fasolo, a former personnel director, and Cummisky, Assis and Lawton. I only know Lawton, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor last time around. He's a decent guy, too, but has no expertise in law or "life and death decisions."
Matthews pointed out that her pick, Jandreau, was a first responder to emergencies in town for years. He's been there time and again when life hung in the balance.
Matthews correctly pointed out that if it weren't for people like Jandreau who were present when the mayor started choking in December, the council wouldn't be trying to fix the charter now. It would be wrapped up in a special election for mayor. Tough words, but true.
Already, one problem has arisen. There are three city officials on the charter panel - Krawiecki, Lacey and Fitzgerald -- but state law says no more than one-third of the membership can hold city office. That translates to two members on a sever-member commission.
So either one of the three has to go or the mayor has to expand the membership of the commission. (Or, I suppose, one of the three could quit his other city post.)
Stay tuned for whatever happens next. It's become clear it's going to be a wild political year.
*****
28 comments:
Why do they find it necessary to have medical personnel on the charter panel? Did I miss something?
It isn't necessary to have a person on the panel that has a medical or first responder background. They wouldn't be able to contribute anything unique to the commission. Each and every medical emergency is unique and has nothing to do with revising a city charter. If the Mayor was out for a medical emergency, the "medical" charter member wouldn't be able to advise the rest of the charter on anything specific to the situation because they wouldn't be involved with the Mayor's medical emergency and if they were, they can't share any information without violating HIPAA regulations. So why the need for a medical person on the board? Makes no sense at all.
The firemen in Bristol are first responders but not first MEDICAL responders. They are not cleared, certified or equipt to handle medical emergencies until the ambulance gets there. Their only role is to control the safety of the scene. They don't even respond to medical emergencies. Dana Jandreau, although he may be a good fireman, is only a EMR (Emergency Medical Responder). That is one step below an EMT-B (Basic Emergency Medical Technician). He isn't trained or certified to do anything but CPR and basic first aid - AND the firemen in Bristol don't have medical equipment to do any life safing effort anyway.
This is all rediculous anyway because there is no reason that a medically trained person needs to be on the board. They can't offer anything medically unique that would relate to changing the city charter.
The fact is that the mayor has created an alliance with Cockayne (bizarre as he may be his opponent this fall), Fuller and Mills. He is relying on the advice of Ed Krawiecki (weird and bizarre as the guy is active in the Republican party and will most likely host a fundraiser at his home for Cockayne like he does for all Republican candidates).
Another fact is that the advice being given the mayor seems to be lousy. This is the second Charter revision commission Art has tried to create and gotten caught on legal issues.
A sadder fact is that he is taking the advice of these people - if this is his inner circle, it is a sobering thought that they are advising him so poorly.
Maybe Art should take more time to read things like the Blasejowski report (which he admits he did not read) then listen to the advice of people who I am not sure have his best interests in front.
Every time Kate Matthews opens her whiney mouth she gives me one more reason not to vote for her again.
Did she even bother to meet Pastor Gailbraith before rejecting her for the Charter or was she so hell bent on having Jandreau on the board that she had a closed mind about any other options?
And I agree with previous posters - there is no reason to set a requirement to have a medically trained person on this commission.
"...listen to the advice of people who I am not sure have his best interests in front."
Oh, so you think McCauley, Matthews and Block have Ward's (or Bristol's)"best interests in front?" LMAO! We all know that these 3 answer to a different master!
12:40 poster,
Please tell me what fundraisers besides one Krawiecki has hosted? I would love to know since I've attended many over the years and only one has been there.
Perhaps he should take the advice of the three who had the mayor dead within the first 12hrs of his accident. The Zoppo VULTURS came in for the kill when they saw the Mayor hurt! Typical...exactly what you expect from SCUM
Don't ask why "they" want medical personnel and city lawyers on the Charter Commission. This is all Ed "Lisa Moody" Krawiecki. The Three Stooges were against it. It's Lisa Moody's way of punishing them for thwarting his attempt to make Cockayne acting-mayor-for-life last month.
It seems real simple:
Who gets appointed mayor WHEN the then mayor is declared unable to serve.
Not much different from a mayor resigning, other than a possible return.
Does the criteria require Charter recognition?
Why not by Ordinance?
That would allow foe more flexibility if and when circumstances change.
the DEMS should get their act together. all I see is GOP hard at work on the weak mayor.
the mayor don't feel the love coming from the DEMS.
Ward is a sure thing, nobody else is at this point.
cocky is fake Ward, he is no good for you and he is worst for Bristol.
At least the three stooges weren't anonymous bores. Three stooge were at funny. More than I can say about these phonies on here.
The "Three Stooges" is right!
LOL!!!
Thank you Ken Cockayne!!!
John Fitzgerald is a state trial judge referree....so why does he count as a city official ?
If anything, he's a state official.
2:49 - "Zoppo Vultures"? You and the little tin god you worship need to find something positive to motivate you, and to let go of your hatred for the Bristol DTC that rejected you FOUR EFFING YEARS AGO. Move on - Ellen certainly has.
10:51, Maybe the little Zoppo vultures (more like chickens actually) should remember the majority of voters rejected their fearless leader.
...and you've got your head buried somewhere dark and deep if you think for a nano second that Zoppo and her little henchmen are over it.
this whole thing was unethical and illegal and krawicki should resign. once your own corp council refuses to back down and admit he shouldn't have been on in the first place, then you know we're in deep trouble. this man cannot be trusted to give an honest legal opinion on anything, in my view. he is a ward lackey (never thought I'd say that) and needs to be replaced along with lacey. you thinkg he would have learned his lesson years ago when resigning from being a rep. i guess old habits die hard.
how can anyone justify the mayor's behavior? No one should be forced to pick from HIS list!!! This is unprecedented! To allow three members of the council to get their picks and three others to not be allowed to pick their own is soooo obviously inappropriate and to have corp council part of the charade is adding salt to the gaping wound. Also, to allow Cocayne to go off and lose control every time things don't go his way shows that our mayor has lost total control. There are some real weird alliances happening here and they're definitely not good ones.
just to respectfully respond to 10:22. I agree with you that it doesn't matter if someone is a medical professional or not when it comes to being on this committee. My only disagreement with you is that Mr. Jandreau ONLY does CPR. Isn't that what saves lives? Yes, they don't have a fully equipped ambulance and can't administer that type of first aid, but they can do things to stave off catastrophe until the paramedics do arrive. I understand what you're getting at and I don't mean to quibble. I'm just pointing out the obvious.
10:51 poster,
How wrong you are. It's a well know fact that Zoppo, Minor, McCauley and Matthews meet regularly to talk about what is happening and how to address it. More meetings when a issue arises so she can tell them how to vote.
So, next time you plan to lie, make sure your not caught with your pants down!! Problem is, they thought Ward was going to die. Now who is laughing!!!!!
Does the council do any work, or just fight about chicken crap?
What going on with the BPD?
Whats going on with the budget?
How are you going to avoid raising taxes?
Lets get to some serious issues.
Jon Fitzgerald is a member of the Housing Code Appeals Board.
The 2:49 Poster on here sounds like the real scum as he calls other people. You should try sticking to the issues (if you can) Scumbag!
Isn't it about time for McCauly to call for a vote of no confidence?
Unfortunately we do not have a two party system here in Bristol.
Most of the in politicians support the "out" politicians.
Those that don't are thrown aside.
To the Cockayne lover . Up yours and "Bigfoots" you know what. You seem to be there anyway.Dummy !
Zoppo was not rejected by a "majority of voters". It was a primary, so it was only registered Democrats voting. In a general election she would have won because Artie's Legion Hall buddies would have been offset by independents who vote for the person, not the party.
Minor, McCauley, Zoppo and Matthews meet to talk about politics in general, because there is a city to run and they have a combined 18 years of city council experience. There is more to life than the 2007 primary. Stop acting like the last decade's high school football hero and grow up.
1:00 PM, I'm sorry, you're correct. She was REJECTED by the majority of her own party, including her own district. In a general election, she would've been REJECTED by a landslide because people do vote for the person and not the party... and although it's obvious that YOU think she walks on water, the rest of us don't trust (or like) her. Sorry.
P.S. Oh please...Zoppo, McCauley, Matthews and Minor meet because they want to undermine the current regime and run the City. Stop acting like your little football heros are trying to do something noble...nobility is defnitely NOT what this group is about.
7:28 a.m.,
TOUCHE!
Post a Comment