So, like, is somebody supposed to clean this thing?

The clock on Main Street, which appears to be popular with birds.

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

How Bristol stacks up

Here are links to a couple of new studies that rank Connecticut cities and towns:
areavibes
nerdwallet
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Cockayne vows action on unfunded mandates

Press release from Mayor Ken Cockayne:

In an effort to get a handle on the growing number of unfunded mandates, passed on to municipalities and local taxpayers by the General Assembly, Mayor Ken Cockayne, today asked each Department Head in the City of Bristol to supply his office with any unfunded mandates that they believe hinders their ability to perform their duties. "Unfunded mandates are killing local governments as well as taxpayers," Cockayne continued, "It is time the members of the General Assembly deal with this issue and use their time in the next legislative session to offer us some relief."

In addition to unfunded mandates, the newly-elected Mayor also asked his Department Heads to provide him with a list of any state laws they felt should be reformed to allow them to perform their jobs in order to execute our responsibility to serve the citizens of Bristol."

"Over the past six years, as a member of the Bristol City Council, we have heard numerous calls for assistance regarding the impact of unfunded mandates," Cockayne added, "Now as Mayor, I am working to advance the progress on this issue, and work with the members of our local legislative delegation to try an alleviate some of these burdens."

The Mayor intends to prepare these issues into a legislative package on behalf of the people of Bristol and share them with our Representatives in Hartford, as well as the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, the lobbying arm used by many local governments.  "I urge every member who serves on a board or commission in Bristol to work with their respective department head to help develop a comprehensive report to our Legislators," Cockayne concluded, "Unfunded mandate relief is a key to holding the line on taxes and I am hopeful that our legislators in Hartford will hear our concerns."

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Jeffries: Ward, Fuller betrayal cost Democrats a win

Unsuccessful City Council candidate Steve Jeffries lashed out this week at two leading Democrats in town whom he portrays as traitors for backing the election of Republican Mayor Ken Cockayne. It's understandable.

Steve Jeffries

Given that Cockayne won by a 52-48 margin -- close enough that a couple hundred votes going the other way would have led to Democrat Chris Wilson's victory -- it is entirely possible that a lack of party loyalty from a couple of key leaders might have made the difference. I'm sure both former Mayor Art Ward and former City Councilor Kevin Fuller wouldn't mind a bit if their refusal to back Wilson landed Cockayne in the city's top job. Ward never took a stand in the mayoral race, a sort of low-key endorsement for Cockayne given that it looks odd when a three-term Democratic mayor won't stand with the the party's candidate to succeed him. Fuller, who was nearly his party's mayoral candidate, didn't pull any punches. He flat out endorsed Cockayne. Jeffries called Fuller's endorsement of the GOP candidate a betrayal. Jeffries comes across as particularly irked that on Election Night, Ward "was nowhere to be found with any of the Democrats." Instead, Ward was "in full spirits with the Republican Party down at Nuchies" as they celebrated Cockayne's win. "Clearly actions speak louder than words" in Ward's case, Jeffries said. Jeffries, who came in third in the 1st District, said there is "no mistake that both Ward and Fuler in their own way convinced many Democrats to throw their support to the Republican establishment, which altered the election results."
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Familiar faces secure city appointments

Just remembered that I never posted these appointments made at the last City Council meeting:
Bristol Development Authority -- Mayra Sampson Energency Conservation Committee -- David Mills Fire Board -- Jim Albert Fields Study Committee -- David Mills, Henri Martin Marketing Task Force - David Mills
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

City snags $225K grant for new generator

Press release just issues by Mayor Ken Cockayne:

Mayor Ken Cockayne today announced that the City of Bristol has been awarded a $255,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace the aging and inadequate emergency generator at the Bristol Police and Court Complex.

The current emergency generator is more than 30 years old and does not power the second floor of the building, which contains the preferred location for the City’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC). The new, more efficient generator will power the entire building, including the EOC. Equipment to provide uninterrupted power – power that is available following utility failure and prior to start of the generator – will be included to ensure critical equipment is unaffected during an outage. As part of the grant requirements, the City will contribute $85,000 to complete the project.

“During natural disasters and other events that may affect power, it is critical that the Police and Court Complex, including the EOC, remain operational,” Cockayne said. “This FEMA funding will help ensure that the City’s emergency response personnel can manage emergencies safely and effectively from a central location.”  

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Let's hope the new Bristol logo works out better than this one from 1974

If you click on them, you can enlarge them. Be sure to read the description of the logo!
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

RIP, Susie Parker

Susie Parker, the wife of former city Councilor Terry Parker, died this morning. Parker posted on Facebook that "Susie, my wife for 29 and a half years, pass away around 2:30 a.m.. She is at peace and without pain. She is the love of my wife and my best friend. May she rest in peace. Prayers for me and my family will be much appreciated." Susie Parker worked in the city assessor's office for many years before her retirement last year. She had been ill for months. Terry Parker is one of the few politicians who had the respect of everybody in the city's political world, a gentle man who made no secret of his love for his wife of nearly three decades. He opted not to run for a council seat this year in large part because he wanted to spend every possible minute with Susie.
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Is this blog pornographic? The city thinks so

City Hall just installed some new internet blocking software -- can't trust those government workers, you know -- and it is blocking my Bristol Today blog. The software, clearly misinterpreting Mayor Ken Cockayne's name, thinks the blog is pornography.
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Top finishers in City Council races

In the 1st District, Democrat Calvin Brown secured the most votes of any of the four council hopefuls. He also won all three precincts within the district. In the 2nd District, Republican Henri Martin topped the five contenders overall and in each of the three precincts. In the 3rd District, the top vote-getter was Democrat Ellen Zoppo-Sassu. She won two of the three precincts in the district. The other precinct, at Greene-Hills School, was carried by Republican Derek Czenczelewski. One of the other interesting tidbits that can be gleaned from the voting results is that TJ Barnes secured more votes overall in his treasurer's race than anyone else on the ballot, easily topping GOP mayoral candidate Ken Cockayne. What jumps out, though, is that Mary Alford, who twice sought the city's top job, actually won more votes for Board of Assessment Appeals than either of the mayoral candidates garnered. Typically, those further down the ticket trail. Alford's 5,819 votes crushed any of the other citywide candidates except for Cockayne and Barnes. She finished well ahead of anyone else running for the assessments appeals panel or constable.
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

Ward expresses thanks fo chance to serve Bristol

Open letter from former Mayor Art Ward:

Well, here it is the first week of retirement from the Mayor’s Office and I still have so many people to thank.

Along those lines, I would like to thank Mayra Sampson, who did not run for election, for accepting the interim City Council position, and for fulfilling it so well.

I would like to wish Council Member Mills and his family the very best and express my gratitude on behalf of all of the citizens of Bristol for the service of both Council Members Sampson and Mills and former Council Member Kevin Fuller.

Over the past six years, we have experienced the greatest recession of our lifetime, a tornado, a blizzard, a hurricane, flooding and just about every other event that nature can throw at us.

We have been tested as a community, we have been forced to band together for the good of all. While we always wish that we could have accomplished all of our intended goals, overall, I believe that we have been successful in the majority of our endeavors

.

It has been a privilege and an honor to have had the opportunity to serve as your Mayor and I extend my gratitude to everyone who has been a part of our team. They say that adversity makes us stronger and I truly believe that we have reached the pinnacle of strength as a community.

I would like to take this opportunity to especially thank my Administrative Assistant, Mary Suchopar, who has worked for two different administrations, two different political parties and has always been steadfast and true to the office that she serves.

The Department Heads of the City of Bristol are hard-working, dedicated individuals who are always trying to do what is best for the tax payers. I thank them for their pursuit of excellence in service to our citizens.

To all the employees of the City of Bristol, I thank you for your support and admire your dedication to making Bristol the best that it can be for all who live and work in this great City.

To the incoming administration, I hope for a better economy, a unified vision for the City of Bristol and the resolution to work together to make it happen.

May you all enjoy a life of health, happiness and love of family.

Arthur J. Ward
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

One reason Cockayne won: Newspaper ads

Republican Ken Cockayne used his healthy campaign war chest to run a race that wouldn't have seemed out of place 20 years ago, or 20 years before that, or even 20 years before that. And maybe that was part of the reason he won. Instead of crunching numbers on a computer, he took his cash and bought a whole bunch of orange signs that wound up posted all over town.

And he bought orange pens to match his campaign color and handed them to one and all. They were actually pretty good. And he purchased orange pencils that got handed out at the polls. And in one of those moves that any campaign strategist would scoff at Cockayne bought a whole bunch of high-profile advertisements in the local newspaper, The Bristol Press, the very place that pays me now and again. For eight days before the election, Cockayne had front page ads touting his race for the city's top office. For good measure, his ads were on the paper's website, too. Now I heard beforehand that the ads were silly, a waste, reaching the wrong people in the wrong format. But it turned out that he did something right. Let's face it, anyone who bothers to read a local newspaper these days, especially in print, is likely to vote in a municipal election. They've already shown they care about the city in a way that non-readers, as a whole, don't. And, yeah, they're more apt to be older if they read the print version. Older people are way more likely to show up at the polls than younger ones, if only because they have the time and the experience to recognize that elections actually matter. So, candidates, when that newspaper ad rep comes calling, you might want to think seriously about buying some space. There's reason to think it matters.
Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com