Congressional terms should be four years long rather than every two years, said U.S. Rep. John Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol.
Larson said that members of Congress should serve staggered terms so that only half are up for election every two years.
The move would allow for more focus on issues and less on campaigning.
It would also, Larson said, cut the costs of campaigns in half since they'd be held half as often.
Changing congressional terms would take an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Constitution provides that "the House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states."
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
May 11, 2009
A Texas billionaire and Rob Simmons
Former Republican congressional candidate Joe Visconti said that he was talking to U.S. Senate hopeful Rob Simmons recently about the difficulty of raising money for a campaign in Connecticut.
Visconti said it's hard to raise money for the GOP in the Nutmeg State "because nobody thinks we can win" against incumbent Democrats.
He said that he and Simmons both recognized the need to raise money in Red States where Republicans hold sway.
In fact, Visconti said, Simmons told him he "was flying to Texas to get money from a billionaire" to help unseat Dodd.
I guess Dodd's allies on Wall Street, who have lavished campaign contributions on Connecticut's senior senator, aren't the only ones with big bucks.
Not sure who our Simmons is talking to down in Texas, but it could be this guy.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Visconti said it's hard to raise money for the GOP in the Nutmeg State "because nobody thinks we can win" against incumbent Democrats.
He said that he and Simmons both recognized the need to raise money in Red States where Republicans hold sway.
In fact, Visconti said, Simmons told him he "was flying to Texas to get money from a billionaire" to help unseat Dodd.
I guess Dodd's allies on Wall Street, who have lavished campaign contributions on Connecticut's senior senator, aren't the only ones with big bucks.
Not sure who our Simmons is talking to down in Texas, but it could be this guy.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Visconti eyeing another challenge to Larson
The West Hartford town councilor who took on U.S. Rep. John Larson last fall is looking at a possible rematch.
Republican Joe Visconti said he "probably will" run against the Democratic incumbent in 2010, but would like to have more cash in his campaign treasury the next time around.
Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol, raised $1.6 million during the last campaign compared to $14,000 for Visconti.
Visconti said the national GOP never took his campaign or ideas seriously.
"I might as well have leprosy nationally," Visconti said, particularly for pushing immigration reform.
But, he said, the atmosphere is changing.
A lot of people "are fed up"with the special interests that control so much in Washington, D.C. and the incumbents there who are so entrenched.
Visconti said he would like the Republicans to target the Top 10 Democrats the next time around, pouring cash into efforts to oust men like U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and Larson are leaders of the party in power.
"Attack the head," Visconti said.
With an effort like that, Visconti said, it might be possible to attract money from Red State Republicans who are eager to see the country take a different direction.
Visconti said he is "excited about" trying again to beat Larson, who easily won in 2008, but needs a bigger campaign warchest next time.
"It's about the money. It's always about the money," Visconti said.
State Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy said the party wants to take on Larson seriously.
"We are looking to recruit a candidate that can be credible and raise money to actually run a race." Healy said.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Republican Joe Visconti said he "probably will" run against the Democratic incumbent in 2010, but would like to have more cash in his campaign treasury the next time around.
Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol, raised $1.6 million during the last campaign compared to $14,000 for Visconti.
Visconti said the national GOP never took his campaign or ideas seriously.
"I might as well have leprosy nationally," Visconti said, particularly for pushing immigration reform.
But, he said, the atmosphere is changing.
A lot of people "are fed up"with the special interests that control so much in Washington, D.C. and the incumbents there who are so entrenched.
Visconti said he would like the Republicans to target the Top 10 Democrats the next time around, pouring cash into efforts to oust men like U.S. Sen. Chris Dodd and Larson are leaders of the party in power.
"Attack the head," Visconti said.
With an effort like that, Visconti said, it might be possible to attract money from Red State Republicans who are eager to see the country take a different direction.
Visconti said he is "excited about" trying again to beat Larson, who easily won in 2008, but needs a bigger campaign warchest next time.
"It's about the money. It's always about the money," Visconti said.
State Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy said the party wants to take on Larson seriously.
"We are looking to recruit a candidate that can be credible and raise money to actually run a race." Healy said.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Commuter rail deserves serious look, congressmen say
The possibility of establishing commuter rail between Waterbury and Hartford, with stations in at least Bristol and New Britain, deserves study, two congressmen who represent the region said Monday.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol, said that transportation links through the area are going to be crucial as high-speed rail moves forward between New Haven and Springfield, Mass.
Spurs that replicate the historic rail travel patterns in Central Connecticut could be a key element, Larson said.
“Investing in rail transit is always a good idea,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy, a Cheshire Democrat whose 5th District includes New Britain.
Both Murphy and Larson said more study is needed on the prospect for commuter rail between Berlin and Waterbury before anything can move ahead.
Before any “big public investment” in the line, Murphy said, there would need to be a serious look at its capacity to handle the necessary trains.
In addition, private ownership of the rail line by Pan Am Railways presents another issue that needs to be addressed, Murphy said.
State lawmakers have $250,000 to conduct a preliminary study of the 24.5-mile line included in a transportation bonding package that’s likely to be approved in the weeks ahead.
Bristol Mayor Art Ward said he’s happy the two congressmen are taking an interest in the project.
“That opens the door for the potential for funding” from the federal government, Ward said. “That’s going to be instrumental for the establishment of a commuter line.”
Pan Am has said it would cost $52 million to upgrade the existing single-track line to allow for commuter trains. That includes several new depots. But others have said they think the price tag will be higher because new road crossings may be needed.
Murphy said the only study he’s seen, done two decades ago, is outdated and needs to be done again to determine what’s feasible.
Larson said that in the past, rail lines provided more transportation between Connecticut cities than the highways provide today.
He said he would like to see rail, road and airports tied together into a hub that would allow residents of the region to go to Boston and New York, or by air from Bradley Airport to anyplace in the world.
“Whatever it takes,” Larson said.
“Connecticut has a huge opportunity,” Larson said, if it can seize the chance to remake its transportation system.
Ward said that during hard times, new ideas often get floated that would make drastic improvements possible.
They sometimes fall by the waywide as the economy improves, Ward said, but he hopes the exploration of a commuter line running through Bristol won’t get tossed aside.
“We owe it to future generations to move forward,” Ward said.
Update: Take a look at what New Britain Mayor Tim Stewart has to say. He's pushing the busway to Hartford as the best option, though it would clearly do much less for Bristol.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
May 8, 2009
Despite fundraising advantage, Larson pushes campaign finance reform
During the past four congressional elections, U.S. Rep. John Larson has raised $2.80 in campaign cash for every penny that his Republican challengers have collected.
No doubt that fundraising advantage helped Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol, crush each of his opponents.
Since 2001, he has raked in nearly $4 million in campaign cash compared to the $14,000 hauled in by Republican hopefuls.
Three of Larson’s GOP challengers four opponents in these races didn’t raise any money at all.
Oddly. though, given his success with the current campaign finance system, Larson is taking steps to make the playing field fairer.
The Fair Elections Now plan that he’s trumpeting would essentially ensure that his challengers have the same campaign money that he gets as long as they can clear some relatively minor hurdles.
"Elections should be decided on the basis of who the best candidate is, not just who raises the most money,” Larson said last fall. “And, members of Congress should be freed to spend their time legislating rather than fundraising.”
Larson and U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, a North Carolina Republican, are the main sponsors of the bill in the U.S. House.
In a letter to House colleagues recently, Larson wrote, “There is no question that public confidence in Congress is being eroded by the perception that big contributions from Washington insiders have come to dominate our campaigns. Many of our constituents are left to wonder if we represent their needs or the needs of our big donors.
He said the “never-ending pressure we face to raise money cuts into the time we have to meet with our constituents and take the considerable time needed to study, understand, and offer common sense solutions to our country's growing problems.”
Switching to public financing of campaigns would help, Larson argued.
The proposed measure is modeled on the state campaign finance programs already in place in Connecticut, Arizona, Maine and North Caroliina, supporters say.
If the federal program were to pass as proposed, House candidates who qualify would wind up getting as much as $900,000 to fund their congressional campaigns – less than Larson collected last year to thrash Joe Visconti, the little-known West Hartford town councilman who took him on.
To qualify, a House candidate would have to take in at least 1,500 contributions from people in their own states and raise a total of $50,000.
Once a candidate qualifies for funding, the measure would provide matches for donations up to $100 on a four-to-one basis until it reached the ceiling for spending on the race.
Candidates could collect an unlimited number of donations of $100 or less from individuals.
After qualifying, small donations, up to $100, would be matched on a four-to-one basis, up to a ceiling at which matching funds would no longer be dispersed. Candidates would be permitted to collect an unlimited number of $100 contributions from individuals. The proposal covers both primary and general elections. The funding for the proposal comes
The plan calls for a small fee to be assessed on firms getting government contracts in order to fund the entire program.
For more information about the Fair Elections Now proposal, check its website at fairelectionsnow.org.
Larson has represented the 1st District since 1998. Though he began to represent Bristol only in 2002, following a post-Census redistricting, The district also includes Berlin, Newington, Southington, Wethersfield and Rocky Hill.
The money race
2008 campaign
John Larson - $1.61 million raised
Joe Visconti - $14,000 raised
2006 campaign
John Larson - $984,000 raised
Scott McLean - $0 raised
2004 campaign
John Larson - $644,000 raised
John Halstead - $0 raised
2002 campaign
John Larson - $673,000 raised
Phil Steele - $0 raised
2000 campaign
John Larson - $769,000 raised
Bob Backlund - $83,000 raised
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Trash, cursing mar city's skatepark
When crowds gather at the city’s new skatepark – which happens every time the sun is shining – a sea of debris usually follows.
Surrounding the $500,000 skatepark are scores of plastic water bottles, candy wrappers and energy drinks of all sorts. The trash cans are often dumped entirely as skateboarders haul them over to use as obstacles.
Park Director Ed Swicklas said he’s got someone picking up the trash there for as much as three hours a day.
Park officials said if they don’t see things get better in the next couple of months, they’ll consider fencing the skatepark and perhaps even supervising its use.
“We gotta see an improvement,” said Bob Fiorito, a park commissioner.
Park officials said that landscaping efforts in the next few weeks may help and putting in trash receptacles that can’t be hauled out by over-eager skateboarders should at least keep youngsters from overturning barrels.
Shawn Brunoli, a skateboarder, said that because the skatepark is “always packed” with boarders, bikers and friends, the sheer number of people likely contributes to the trash that’s tossed all over.
“We’re struggling with the fact that nobody seems to want to put anything in the trash barrels,” Swicklas said.
He said it angers him to find “seven million energy bottles” strewn around on a Monday morning.
Cindy Donovan, a park commissioner, said that she’s seen the “trash all over” the place at the skatepark day after day. She said it angers her, too, because the users don’t even have to pay to use the new facility.
“Wherever they stand, they just drop what they finish,” Swicklas said, with no concern for the appearance of the place.
Officials admit, though, that because the landscaping isn’t done, the skatepark still has the look of a construction site, which may contribute to the feeling that cleaning up isn’t needed.
Swicklas said that he wishes the skateboarders and bikers who profess to love the new recreational facility, which opened last fall, will “take ownership of it” and take care of it.
He said that users of downtown’s Brackett Park, which got a major facelift a few years ago, have done a good job of policing it. He said the older and more responsible people at Brackett Park make sure others follow their lead in preventing vandalism and keeping things clean.
Swicklas said the skatepark needs to develop the same sort of ethos.
“When they start cleaning up after themselves and others, they stop littering,” Donovan said.
Officials said they’re desperate to find a solution for the skatepark’s care.
“We don’t want it dumpy,” said Tom Ragaini, a park commissioner.
Donovan expressed skepticism that things are going to get better.
She said she’s certain the new landscaping – mostly grass and low-lying shrubs – will get trampled.
“It’s just going to be ruined,” Donovan said.
But Swicklas said he thinks the young people who use the skatepark can learn to take care of it. He said the key is to make them aware of the concerns.
Watch your words, kids
As part of the $7 million renovation of Rockwell Park, officials decided to move the basketball court from its longstanding spot beside Mrs. Rockwell’s Playground to a new one beyond the center field fence at Muzzy Field.
The main reason for the change?
Officials wanted to keep the steady patter of foul language from the basketball players far from the young children next door.
So they put the new 16,000-square-foot skatepark where the basketball used to be.
That may not have been such a great choice.
Cindy Donovan, a park commissioner, said the foul language she hears at the skatepark is offensive and commonplace.
One skateboarder was screaming obscenities the other day, she said.
Donovan said she’s worried the new playground that should open this spring may be tarnished by the language. It could keep families with young children away, she said. – Steve Collins
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
May 7, 2009
City Hall blocking all sorts of websites
Memo from Scott Smith, the city's computer chief, to all city computer users:
From: Scott Smith
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2009 2:37 PM
To: *.bfdpo.GWBRISTL@mail.ci.
Subject: Fwd: Internet Filtering (Forwarded from City Email)
Importance: High
To All City Computer Users:
The Internet is a great resource that can be used for many business-related activities, but our Internet access connection is running at maximum bandwidth. We need to reduce the amount of traffic going through it or face additional expense. Therefore, we will be implementing additional blocking of certain categories on our Internet filter. The following categories have been identified as non-business related and will be blocked. Many of these were already being blocked.
Adult/Sexually Explicit
Alcohol/Tobacco
Chat
Criminal Activity
Downloads
Entertainment
Fashion and Beauty
Food and Dining
Gambling
Games
Hacking
Hobbies and Recreation
Hosting Sites
Illegal Drugs
Intimate Apparel and Swimwear
Intolerance and Hate
Kid Sites
Peer-to-Peer
Personals and Dating
Photo Searches
Phishing and Fraud
Proxies and Translators
Real Estate
Ringtones/ Mobile Phone Downloads
Sex Education
Shopping
Spam Urls
Sports
Spyware
Streaming Media
Tasteless and Offensive
Travel
Violence
Weapons
Web-Based Email
We may unintentionally block categories which have a work-related use because some sites are listed in unexpected categories. If you need any sites that might get blocked due to the category being blocked, please contact the Personnel Director to justify its usage and the site can be unblocked upon approval. Please do not contact me as I will just refer you to Personnel.
If they try to block the Bristol Blog, be sure to let me know!
Update: The internet may be off limits, but city workers can still access the Bristol Blog. Thank goodness.
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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
May 6, 2009
City to raze another building on mall site
A former movie theater on the downtown mall site, which most recently housed a paint store, is likely to be torn down by mid-summer.
“It’s another step forward for the development of the 17 acres,” Mayor Art Ward said.
The city recently received bids for knocking down the building and prettying up the site after the rubble is cleared away.
Nine companies sought on the job, but Bristol’s Carpenter Construction offered the low bid at $84,950, about $75,000 cheaper than the highest bid.
City Purchasing Agent Roger Rousseau said the City Council will consider next week whether to accept Carpenter’s bid.
Rousseau said that demolition work on the building would begin after June 1 and must be done by August 15.
He said that landscaping at the crucial downtown corner will be done in the fall, when trees and grass have a better chance to flourish.
When the work is done, Ward said, the goal is to beautify the corner “so it’s not a sore thumb.”
The mayor said that after the former theater is removed, only the privately owned McDonald’s restaurant will remain on the southern end of the mall site.
On the northern end of the city-owned site, the Discount Food Outlet grocery store remains busy. Officials have said they’ll let it stay open until they’re ready to do something with the site.
There is also a privately owned Dunkin’ Donuts just north of the grocery store.
Ward said that any developer will work with the doughnut shop and McDonald’s to make sure they’re included in a revitalization project. He said they won’t pose a problem.
Getting the movie theater building “out of the way,” the mayor said, will clear up the site for development when better economic times return.
Ward said the city has to make sure it’s ready to act when the sluggish economy turns around again in a year or two.
Bus stop to be moved
A bus stop located beside the former movie theater building is going to be relocated about 75 yards to the west on Riverside Avenue.
City Purchasing Agent Roger Rousseau said the bus shelter is going to be taken down and stored for future use.
The stop itself will be marked only by a sign when it is shifted to the new location just down from McDonald’s, Rousseau said.
The change is needed, he said, to make sure bus passengers are safe while the demolition is taking place.
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Pine Lake advocates seek funding for projects
Pine Lake advocates are growing restive waiting for word from the state on whether plans for a new parking lot and fishing pier will receive funding.
“We’re disappointed we haven’t heard anything,” said Helen Lobaczewski, who has served on the Pine Lake Committee for nearly two decades.
The city asked the state Office of Policy and Management in January for a green light to use $155,000 left over from a dredging project to carry out the project.
There hasn’t been an answer.
“That sort of puts us in a quandary,” said city Councilor Frank Nicastro, a Democrat who also serves as the 79th District’s state representative.
Nicastro said that many projects around the state are on hold – or have been wiped out – as officials search for ways to close an $8 billion budget gap.
“If there wasn’t a financial crunch right now, I think we’d have heard an answer a long time ago,” Nicastro said.
The plan, which has tentative backing from the city’s Park Board, calls for creating a seven-space parking lot off Surrey Drive to the west of the pond.
The Pine Lake panel would also like to have a dock that would allow handicapped people to fish in the pond, which was dredged in 2004 and stocked with fish since then.
A trail around the pond is also possible, officials said.
The state allocated $700,000 for the dredging project, but it wound up costing less. Nicastro said $155,000 remained for Pine Lake and could still be used for the park as long as OPM agrees.
The parking lot would cost between $35,000 and $56,000 annually, city engineers have determined. It will be on the cheaper end if gravel is used and more costly if it is paved.
Pine Lake is located between Birch and Emmett streets. It is bounded on the north by Pine Street and on the south by city-owned swampland.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Bristol in line for $557K in federal energy efficiency cash
Press release from state Rep. Chris Wright, a Bristol Democrat:
REP. WRIGHT ANNOUNCES STIMULUS MONEY AVAILABLE TO
BRISTOL FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS
$557,5000 Earmarked For Bristol
State Representative Chris Wright (D-Bristol) announced that federal stimulus money is available and can go directly to municipalities for energy efficiency programs.
Bristol is slated to receive $557,500 from the stimulus package for energy efficiency projects. In order to secure the funding local officials need only to provide the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with a plan outlining the proposed usage for the funds.
According to the DOE, approved usage of the funds includes energy audits, retro fits, energy distribution, establishing financial incentives to encourage energy efficiency, or developing a conservation and efficiency strategy. Municipalities are able to utilize the money that works best for them to increase efficiency and conservation.
“ This is good news for Bristol because the infusion of funds from the federal government, not only increases high tech jobs in the green energy field, but can also help reduce municipal costs by lowering operating expenses,” Rep. Wright said. “In addition, the federal program helps us make our cities and towns more efficient without straining the state’s existing funds.”
Towns with a population over 35,000 must submit their plan directly to the U.S. Department of Energy by June 25th in order to secure their allocated funds. Smaller towns can apply to the Office of Policy and Management for a portion of the lump sum designated for small towns.
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Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
May 5, 2009
Larson aims to find out why the economy collapsed
A proposal to investigate the roots of last year’s economic collapse is expected to win approval by the U.S. House Wednesday as part of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act.
U.S. Rep. John Larson, an East Hartford Democrat whose 1st District includes Bristol, has pushed for months for a bipartisan commission to probe the cause of the crisis.
The American people need to understand how we got here – and lawmakers need to know how to prevent this type of economic crisis in the future,” Larson said in a prepared statement Tuesday.
“This commission can answer those questions. It will help as we move forward with common sense reforms to prevent this from happening again,” the congressman said.
The 10-member panel proposed by lawmakers would be modeled on the Depression-era Pecora Commission that investigated the Wall Street crash of 1929.
The Pecora Commission’s high-profile investigation uncovered a range of fraud and manipulation of the markets, leading to public pressure that eventually caused Congress to enact the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that created the regulatory oversight of Wall Street that’s been in place for the past 75 years.
“Unfortunately, 75 years later, bankers, traders and corporate executives have managed to outsmart that regulation, or the regulators were asleep at the switch. The structure is now outdated, full of holes and blind spots,” Larson wrote recently in a piece in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill weekly.
“ So we must begin again where Pecora did, shedding ‘fierce light’ on today’s schemes so we can build a modern regulatory framework that first and foremost protects working Americans,” Larson said.
The congressman said that if the federal government is going to pour money into salvaging financial firms “we must determine the exact causes of this economic meltdown. We owe at least that much to the 3.6 million Americans who have lost their jobs in the past year.
“We need a commission that looks back, not just at the last eight years, but to the last 28 years of regulation and legislation that led to this crisis,” Larson wrote.
Larson, who heads the House Democratic Caucus, said a commission “would help build a framework under which America’s new financial leaders could excel. In the end, the goal is to deliver not just a report but an ‘investor’s bill of rights’ to protect Americans’ savings, 401(k)s and pension plans.”
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Lake Compounce manager likes idea of naming road for Norton
The city may seek to rename the access road that runs between its 229 Technology Park and the parking lots for Lake Compounce.
The one mile long road could be named something like the J. Harwood "Stretch" Norton Boulevard, Mayor Art Ward said Tuesday.
Ward said he would see if Lake Compounce, which leases the road, had any concerns about the proposal.
The manager at Lake Compounce, Jerry Brick, said he likes the idea.
“It would be a nice tribute to him and a nice way for his family to remember that he is connected to the park,” Brick said.
“I’ve been nothing but a fan of his since I’ve been here,” he added.
Norton, a former mayor who died April 3, managed the nation’s oldest amusement park until his family sold it in 1985. His family had owned at least part of the park since it began in 1846.
The city is also eyeing the possibility of renaming the road that runs alongside the park, but most of it is in Southington, where it is called Mt. Vernon Road. It becomes Lake Avenue when it reaches the Bristol line.
Changing the name of the four-lane access road would be easier, because the city owns it and nobody lives along it.
Former Mayor William Stortz suggested this week that steps be taken to honor Norton. He suggested renaming a road near the park that Norton loved.
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
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