Thank You, Durable!

I've been having trouble this year with my car's front left turn signal. The whole part was replaced a little over two years ago after a reckless jerk slammed into my car (which is a whole other story about unsafe intersections that could easily be made safer with a few stop signs).

The bulb went out early this year, and I had it replaced along with a few other maintenance repairs at the dealership. Pretty much everything else they did that day turned out to be bad, and it looks like they couldn't even get a simple bulb replacement done right.

A month or so after they replaced the bulb, it went out again. Since I was still mad at the dealership for the massive incompetence of their mechanic, I didn't take it back to them. I also didn't take it back to them because they had been trying to get me to replace the entire turn signal, even though it is only 2 years old.

This week I finally replaced the bulb again, at Jiffy Lube. The next day, it was out again. So frustrating! But this time I finally got smart and took the car back to Durable, along with the paperwork from when they installed the light.

The mechanic at Durable took one look at my light bulb, saw that it hadn't been screwed in all the way, and saw that there was rust in the socket because the previous bulb also hadn't been installed properly. He sand-blasted the rust, installed the bulb correctly, and was finished in minutes, all for no charge. Fantastic!

After suffering with incompetent mechanics, it is downright exciting to find a mechanic who knows what he's doing and takes pride in his work. I can see why Durable has been in business for a century--they know what they're doing and they do it well.

City Hall Tour

After several years of work, the renovation and restoration of our fabulous and nationally-famed Cass Gilbert Municipal Building (City Hall) is nearing completion. As a volunteer with Main Street Waterbury, I was privileged to go on a sneak-peek tour this past Saturday morning. Below are some of the photos I took, along with some explanations. (For contrast, take a look at the "before" photos in my 2006 blog post.)


As you can see, work is still in progress. The restored spaces, particularly the spectacular decorative walls and ceilings, are absolutely breathtaking. It reminds me of the Palace Theater when it reopened after being restored. Simply spectacular!

The cupola is completed. Constructed of copper laid over wood, with a gilt dome and some gilt details. The original clock movement was removed years ago and was given to the Mattatuck Museum.








Next is a view of the Aldermanic Chamber, with restored walls and ceiling. The mural map of Waterbury which you might remember being in the alcove is still there, under the painting recreating Cass Gilbert's original design. Our tour guide, Andrew Martelli (seen holding his daughter in the photo), explained that the map couldn't be removed without being destroyed, so the restored "original" fresco is designed to be removable without harming the map.





The restored ceiling of the Aldermanic Chambers.





Frescoes over the doorways on the second floor have been revealed and will be restored.




The restored ceiling of what was originally a courtroom on the opposite end of the second floor.



And a view of the wall with an appropriately judicial quote in the alcove--there are additional motifs throughout the room that indicate its original function.




A view of the courtyard.




Part of the fun of taking a tour before the project is completed is getting to see the "bones" of the building. The next shot is on the first floor, in the hallway, showing the marble walls laid over more functional brick.




The ceiling on the first floor. Absolutely amazing. Before it was a hideous yellow with white patchwork.




The main staircase. The original risers will remain, but the steps are so worn down they need to be replaced, after the construction crew are done using it. There are now two new and ugly staircases in the building in order to meet modern fire safety codes.




The restored walls and windows (which had been just about ready to fall out) in the main staircase.




Did anyone ever notice the medallions with Medusa before? Until now, they were covered with so many layers of paint they could barely be seen.




Below is the view towards the main staircase from what was originally the Mayor's Office, on the second floor. The Mayor's Office was relocated across the street after the Chase Companies sold their Cass Gilbert-designed headquarters to the city for one dollar in the late 1960s. As of next year, the Mayor's Office will return to City Hall, with one difference. The front room will be reception, and the Mayor's actual office will be down the hall, a little more difficult to access.





Here's another of the fun surprises revealed during the renovations--the original parquet floor of the Mayor's Office, hidden under layers of linoleum and vinyl.





Here's one of two skylights on the third floor (the other skylight has not been restored), in what was the drafting room. The entire third floor will be Corporation Council. Each of the city's eleven attorneys get their own office. Eleven attorneys! Something about that seems very disturbing. Why do we need eleven attorneys?




And last but not least, a view from the roof of the new bricks and marbles in front of the building. Interestingly, the new marble comes from the same Vermont quarry as the original marble. The main fountain will once again be a fountain, not a flower pot. There are some modifications--there is now going to be a walkway straight across the middle, since pedestrians have been cutting through that way for years. (Finally! The city does something pedestrian-friendly!).


While there were a few things that are too bad (like losing one of the skylights), overall the renovation and restoration are fantastic. I sincerely hope the project includes the creation of a regular plan of maintenance and that the city actually maintains proper care of the building. It is a stunning building, something we can all take pride in.

Tree to a Good Home

When the really bad storm came through on June 24, I wasn't at home, so I can't say if there was a tornado over Wood and Oak Streets. There was one not too far away, over near Bouley Avenue and Wolcott Street (the Rep-Am ran a photo of the funnel cloud the next day).

What I can say is that there was a tree down in front of my house, a tree down to the side of my house, and a tree down in my back yard. By the time I got home that day, the tree in front had been removed (it was blocking the street) except for a 20-foot branch dangling from the power wires. Mysteriously, the tree in my back yard was sawed up into several sections, each about five or six feet in length. All that was left in my yard were small branches and sawdust.

With some help from a friend, I tidied up the tree and its branches into a single pile and waited to see if anyone would come to claim the wood. After all, if someone went to all the trouble of cutting up a tree in my yard, surely they had some interest in taking it for themselves, right?

Two weeks later, and the tree is still out back. I'm not sure what to do with it. Anyone want it? First come, first serve!

Governor, Attorney General, Lt. Governor, Comptroller

 Beginning at least in January, the newspaper has been keeping track of Mayor Jarjura's state-level political ambitions. First he was considering running for Governor, which caused quite a stir (no matter what you think of the job he's done as mayor, the sad reality is that there is absolutely no way a Waterbury politician will be elected governor in the near future, especially one who gave ex-Governor Rowland a high-paying job).

After rumors that he would run for Attorney General and a brief stint as a potential candidate for Lieutenant Governor (he wasn't selected as running mate by the candidates for Governor), Jarjura has finally settled on Comptroller.

While all of this jockeying for position was going on, Jarjura submitted a city budget to the Board of Aldermen that called for an increase in the mill rate, after bragging during last year's campaign that he hadn't raised taxes. I know a few things about budgets, and it seems to me that Jarjura could have done a much better job with Waterbury's budget. He's had eight years at the helm, shouldn't he have been able to anticipate the need for higher taxes and spent the past couple years finding ways to avoid this? I'd still like to know why he refused to switch the city's electricity provider, which has the potential to save the city close to a million dollars a year.

The impression I have is that Jarjura simply does not care about Waterbury. I'm not sure he cares about the state, either. It seems like he doesn't care which state-level position he runs for, he just wants to climb the political ladder.

Theoretical motivations aside, let's look at the situation as it stands. Jarjura is challenging the official Democrat nominee for Comptroller, Kevin Lembo. The primary election will be held on August 10. So what exactly does a Comptroller do? In essence, the Comptroller is responsible for the state's finances. A full description and mission statement is available on the Comptroller's website.

In the news reports so far, which presumably are quoting a press release from Jarjura, he states his qualifications as follows:

“The fiscal and structural problems that Connecticut faces are nearly identical to what I faced when first assuming the Mayor’s office in Waterbury,” Jarjura said. “I look forward to the opportunity to work on righting Connecticut’s financial ship and bringing the same best practices to Hartford that served taxpayers in Waterbury so well.”

This is a fascinating choice of quote for several reasons. First, he seems to be ignoring the contributions of the state oversight board, which was able to turn the city's finances around in ways he could never have possibly done himself. Second, Waterbury's taxpayers are furious with him right now. His own brother was quoted in the Rep-Am as saying that he won't vote for him again. I think it's safe to say that the taxpayers in Waterbury would disagree about these nebulous "best practices" he's referring to.

Here's another quote, from today's paper:

“While I may not have been the pick of the Democratic par­ty bosses, I have won 16 elec­tions and primaries over the last 20 years, including an his­toric write-in victory in 2005”

Great, but how does that qualify him for Comptroller? 

There are plenty of other issues that I'm sure we'll all be talking about between now and August 10, but there is one last thought I have for today: when Paul Vance challenged Jarjura in last year's primary, Jarjura declared that Vance was being disloyal to his party by forcing a primary. Vance was able to force the primary by collecting signatures from voters who wanted more options. Jarjura is now forcing a primary because he was able to use back-room politics to get enough votes to qualify for the primary. If Vance was disloyal, what is Jarjura?

City Budget Cuts

The good news is that the swimming pools and lake will remain open this summer. The bad news is that they are still thinking about closing two fire stations, on Walnut Street and Willow Street.

Public safety should never be cut from a budget. No one has ever complained that we have too many fire stations. Sometimes hard choices have to be made, but this is not the right choice. It's like deciding that you won't refill the brake fluid in your car because you can't afford it, but you have to drive your car in order to keep your job. Something else has to be cut, or you have to find a way to increase your income.

Here's something sent to me by a Waterbury fireman:

It is being argued that the closing of these firehouses would save the taxpayers from paying higher property taxes. Unfortunately, it would have an adverse affect on the cities ISO rating. The ISO rates municipalities from 1 to 5 with 1 being the best. Presently, Waterbury has a rating of 3. An increase in our ISO rating would mean higher insurance premiums charged by the insurance companies. The difference in the premiums charged could quite possibly be more than the savings realized from the closure of firehouses.

Here's another way to look at it, in terms of city finances: worst case scenario, closing those fire stations means that someone living near one of them loses their home and all their belongings because the remaining fire stations, and then they or their insurance company decides to sue the city for negligence (or something like that--I'm not an attorney!). Flat out worst case scenario: someone loses their life because their neighborhood fire station was closed.

There is a budget hearing tonight at Kennedy High School, 7 p.m. If you can, please attend and demand that the city not endanger our lives by shutting down these fire stations.

Busy Weekend at the Train Station

Up until today, this year was a good one for parking your car at the Waterbury train station. New security cameras were installed and many months went by before I saw any shattered glass from car windows being broken into. Last week there was one window broken, the first I've seen in months. This morning, sadly, there were at least five.

The cars that get broken into are pretty much always parked behind the abandoned building, hidden from view from the street. The activity over the holiday weekend proves that security cameras are of limited use as a deterrent.

A better deterrent would be a real station. You know, like the one proposed by consultants hired by the state but objected to by the only privately-operated public bus company in the state.

Pedestrian "Safety"

I've been complaining for years that Waterbury is extremely unfriendly towards pedestrians. In a city where a very large percentage of the population doesn't have a car, this is a serious problem. According to the Hartford Courant, this is also a dangerous problem:

For Older Pedestrians, Waterbury And Bristol Are Most Dangerous Places In State
By DON STACOM, dstacom@courant.com
9:56 PM EDT, May 25, 2010

Waterbury and Bristol were the two most dangerous Connecticut cities for older pedestrians, according to a new report by a mass transit advocacy group.

The report, released Tuesday by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, listed five Connecticut cities in which disproportionate numbers of senior citizens have been killed in recent years. The cities are spread throughout the state, but one factor remained consistent both in Connecticut and in adjoining states: Older pedestrians — especially those over age 75 — are at much higher risk of being run down than any other group.

"Pedestrian fatality rates for people 65 years and older living in New Jersey, downstate New York and Connecticut are 68 percent higher than for the rest of the country," the campaign said in its report, "Older Pedestrians At Risk."

"Those 75 years and older suffer a fatality rate that is 84 percent higher."

That pattern is especially troubling because the population in the tri-state region is aging, the organization said, so more seniors will be at risk in future years.

The nonprofit group studied pedestrian deaths between 2006 and 2008 in all three states, and concluded that Connecticut has the overall best safety rate on a per-capita basis.

But several Connecticut cities stand out for their grim statistics concerning senior citizens walking on their streets and sidewalks, the transportation group reported.

In Waterbury, five of the six people killed in the study years were 60 or older. The comparable figures were three of four in Bristol, and two of three in three cities: New Britain, North Haven and Norwalk.

The organization is recommending more funding for the Complete Streets program, a nationwide campaign to improve or create sidewalks, crosswalks and bike lanes to promote walking and bicycling.

State Rep. Frank Nicastro, D-Bristol, said Tuesday that he will call on the General Assembly to look into the matter.

"I know the DOT has been looking at making Route 6 safer," said Nicastro, a former mayor who serves on the General Assembly's transportation committee. "The DOT has a responsibility to make sure all state roads are as safe as possible."

State Department of Transportation spokesman Kevin Nursick said that Connecticut's signalized crosswalks are designed to account for the average age of users. The state also uses large LED-type signals to be more visible to those with vision deficiencies, and its newest crosswalk signals use "countdown" clocks to show pedestrians how much time remains to cross safely.

"The engineering of our transportation infrastructure is obviously very important, and we continue to work diligently to make it as safe as possible, but the safety of the public, without question, requires their cooperation as well," Nursick said.

In 2008, "unsafe use of highway by pedestrian" was the most common reason for pedestrian-involved accidents — including those in which victims were hit but not injured, he reported. Those accounted for 45 percent of all pedestrian accidents. The "driver failed to grant right of way" category represented 20 percent of pedestrian accidents.

Copyright © 2010, The Hartford Courant

Waterbury Coalition for Better Government

If you care about Waterbury's future, please check out the Coalition's site on Facebook!

Mission Statement:
A coalition of residents who are working for an open, transparent, effective and equal representation in government.

Vision Statement:
We are promoting change in the structure of the government of Waterbury, Connecticut with the implementation of a democratic Aldermen by District method of electing the Board of Aldermen to replace the unresponsive, unrepresentative at-large method currently used.

New "Neighbors"

There have been some new birds at the feeder since I switched to inexpensive sunflower seeds. I don't know what kind of bird they are (anyone know?), but they usually show up in a group of three--one male, two females.



Unlike the chickadee, who is fearless, these birds are very skittish. The feeder is on the back porch, just outside the kitchen door. If they see me looking at them through the screen door, they fly away. If I'm not looking at them, but they see me move, they fly away. If I slowly raise the camera to my face, they fly away. Fortunately, if I hold the camera in front of my face and then move to where they can see me, they don't fly away. Silly birds.



I also had an unusual visit from a squirrel today, but I was on the phone and the camera was upstairs, so I didn't get any pictures. The squirrel appeared suddenly at the kitchen window, and then started trying to get the window screen to move or tear open. I had no idea what he was up to until I remembered that the open bag of bird seed is sitting at the window. The squirrel left shortly after the cats noticed he was there.

Weeds

Today I finally had time to plant flower bulbs purchased ages ago. First, though, I had to take out all the weeds in the way. Hours of physical work in the hot sun--a huge change from from how I've been spending most of my time lately (working at a computer in artificial light).




Clover and crabgrass were tough to pull out. Easier to pull out, but more prevalent, were wild cucumber and something called Greater Celandine.



Greater Celandine (assuming I've identified it correctly!) grows like crazy in my yard. It first appeared last year, and seems to grow even in the winter. Nothing stops it, but it is very easy to pull out. It has a bright dark orange sap, which has been used to cure warts and can be used as a mild sedative (hmmm.... maybe I should farm it instead of treating it as a weed--it's even been used to help toothaches).

I was rewarded for my labor at the end of the day, when the iris finally bloomed.

Pyro

I wouldn't have guessed it, but the blue plastic garbage cans issued to every household by the city are highly susceptible to fire. There's a firebug in my neighborhood who has set a few on fire--the result is a surprisingly small pile of blackened, hardened goo where the can used to be. An abandoned mattress or couch has also been torched

Whoever it is has been setting them on fire one at a time. Maybe three so far, and apparently always around three or four in the morning. I haven't witnessed anything, (my trash can is untouched so far, and I sleep on the other side of the house), but it certainly is making people nervous. What's next, a car? a house?

Maybe the firebug will get bored and quit. But we can't count on that. One of my neighbors said she'll let Deputy Chief Riddick know about this. I can't help but wonder if there is a connection to the big fire downtown last week. Scary stuff.

State of the City

There have been a lot of things going on lately here in Waterbury, and they are all interwoven. The basic theme of recent events: the city government is proving to be a big disappointment to many residents, and the residents have lost patience and are making themselves heard. I'm going to address at least some of what's been going on in this post.

On Saturday April 17, more than 100 people came together for the Unity for Justice rally and Charter Revision Committee public hearing in the WOW neighborhood. Earlier in the day, the WOW neighborhood was visited by Congressman Chris Murphy, with Aldermen Joyce Petteway and Paul Pernerewski tagging along.

Most of the two dozen people at Murphy's public meeting were teenagers, members of the WOW/NRZ Youth Council. There was some discussion of opportunities for internships and the possibility of a bus trip to Washington, D.C. for the Youth Council.

Some of what Murphy said sounded like a standard speech about the stimulus money, but he also spoke on a few topics more specific to Waterbury. I was very pleased to hear him say that it is cheaper to rehabilitate existing housing than to build new. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, not only because I love historic architecture but because it is unbelievably wasteful to tear down structurally sound, well-constructed buildings and replace them with new buildings using modern cheap materials.

Murphy also stated that more money needs to be spent on education and positive activity programs for youths--and that doing so will reduce the amount of money we need to spend on juvenile corrections. (Someone should send that message to Waterbury's Public Works department, which has proposed cutting park & rec youth programs.)

I was a little surprised when Joyce Petteway spoke up to say that we can't look to government to solve our problems, although I have heard her say this before. I don't think she means for it to sound as callous as it does. As she said, the citizens have a responsibility to get involved and to be knowledgeable about what is going on, but what she didn't acknowledge is that there are limits to what citizens can do on their own. We can't replace the sidewalks without help from the city; we can't tear down dangerous abandoned buildings without help from the city; we can't enforce the law without help from the city.

Chris Murphy followed up with a better approach, tossing out a few factoids: 20% of twenty-year-olds vote; 80% of eighty-year-olds vote; and there is seven times as much federal money spent on eighty-year-olds as there is on 20-year-olds. Active participation is essential.

Active participation is what followed that afternoon. The Unity for Justice Rally started at 2:30 in the WOW Center with rousing speeches by Jimmie Griffin, Monroe Webster, Lisa Lessard, Dani McEvoy, James Monroe, Robert DeCosmo, Victor Diaz, Paul Vance, myself and probably one or two people I'm not remembering at the moment. After the speeches, we all gathered in the street outside and marched to Walsh School for the Charter Revision Committee's public hearing on Aldermen by District.

The weather wasn't too terrible, only a little bit of drizzle. As we marched along Walnut Street and turned the corner at Wood Street, we passed by two abandoned, decaying buildings that really symbolize the city's lack of interest in helping us improve this neighborhood--the school bus stop is right at these structures, and children have to stand under them every morning. This is why we want Aldermen by District, because we can't seem to get anyone in the current system to care enough about our neighborhood's problems.

Not everyone was able to walk to Walsh School, so some people met us there. The total crowd was a little over 100 people in attendance, with 30 people speaking at the public hearing. I was impressed by the long line of people signing up to speak. We were allowed ten minutes each, but most everyone kept the speeches short, so we were done in less than two hours.

The final result was immensely disappointing. Even though more than 100 people turned out in support of Aldermen by District and maybe only 5 people ever spoke out against it (not at Walsh School, where the speakers were unanimously in favor), all but two members the Charter Revision Commission ultimately voted against it. I've heard a rumor or two about why they voted it down, but whether or not they are true, I have to agree with Commissioner Bryan Baker, one of the two who voted for it, when he wrote on Twitter "The citizens of Waterbury got screwed tonight."

What a lot of people seem to misunderstand is that it wasn't up to the Charter Revision Commission to change our system of electing Aldermen. It was up to them to allow us the opportunity to vote on it in the fall. The citizens of Waterbury demanded the opportunity to vote in a democratic process to determine how we are to be governed, giving countless examples of how the current system doesn't work, and we were effectively told that our opinions and concerns are not valid. We were denied the right to vote.

At the same time that all of this was going on, the city and citizens were also responding to Mayor Jarjura's proposed increase of the mill rate. Here's a reminder for anyone paying attention during campaign season last year: Jarjura's 2009 campaign advertising boldly stated "Mayor Jarjura and his Democrat Team DID NOT RAISE YOUR TAXES IN 2010." Technically this is true. In 2009, Jarjura had not raised our taxes in 2010, since it hadn't happened yet. But now it is 2010 and he is raising our taxes (or does the increase not start until 2011?). Remember this when he starts his state-wide campaign promises.

One of the biggest complaints from Waterbury's taxpayers is that they are getting very few services in return for their taxes. The increase in the mill rate is not connected to any improvement in services. At the moment, it looks like the only way we'll keep the taxes from increasing this year is to get rid of some basic, necessary services. (Hey, look! We're getting screwed again!)

One of the early good guys in this story is City Clerk Michael Dalton, who readily gave up his $6,300 raise. The Republican-American contrasted this with City Auditor James Berthelson, who refused to give up his $2,550 raise but earns a little over $30,000 a year more than Dalton does. Mysteriously, Mayor Jarjura was apparently undecided about giving back any of his $119,000 a year salary (so much for leading by example).


What distresses me the most about the budget situation is that every department head seems to automatically assume that a budget cut will require laying off workers, closing fire stations, prohibiting swimming at Lakeville, shutting down youth programs, and getting rid of the anti-blight team. Whatever happened to economizing? Whatever happened to finding more cost-efficient ways of getting the same things done?


This is a slightly trivial analogy, but if I want a cup of coffee every morning, I can spent $2 a day buying it from a cafe, or I can spend a few pennies a day making it at home. Considering how large the city's budget is, I'm sure there are plenty of similar choices that can be made. The most obvious one is the city's budget for electricity. The Education Department has a budget of $4 million for their electricity needs. They could save 10-20% if the city switched to Positive Energy as their supplier. Waterbury's taxpayers could potentially save close to $1 million just by changing their utilities contracts. Why hasn't this been done? I've been told that Mayor Jarjura was approached by Positive Energy and refused the opportunity to save this money. I can only assume that there are many other cost reductions that are also being ignored.


It's easy to see why so many people have left Waterbury. For those of us who have chosen to stay here and do what we can to make things better, it can be very frustrating to see just how much work we have in front of us. But to everyone who lives in Waterbury and wants to see it get better, I say keep trying, keep working together, and never let them get you down!

Out for Art at Goldsmith's

It was great to see so many people come out for an event downtown. The event was sponsored by the Waterbury Region Arts & Culture Collaborative, which has Out for Art events regularly.

Here are some candid shots from tonight's Out for Art at Goldsmith's on Bank Street.

Unite for Representation

For everyone who feels like the city doesn't care about their neighborhood, now is your chance to be seen and heard!

Unity Rally and March Saturday, April 17, 2:30 at the WOW Center, followed by a meeting of the Charter Revision Committee at Walsh School.

Spring Gardening

Spring is finally here. Gorgeous weather this weekend. I dusted off my bicycle, pumped up the flat tires, and went for a great ride on the Cheshire/Hamden Greenway. I also browsed the garden section of Walmart and wound up with $30 or $40 worth of bulbs to plant. I got a few in the ground yesterday; the rest will go in next weekend.

Meanwhile, here's the latest result of things I planted two years ago. Front yard:

(If only I could get the grass to grow!)


Back yard:


When I planted the fern two years ago, it was small, just that large clump you see in the middle of the photograph. All the other little bits of fern are new, off-shoots of the original planting.


I was so excited by the success of that fern, I bought three packages of fern roots at Walmart. Some of them had already started growing in their plastic packing.




While I was planting the ferns, I was chirped at by my new "friend", a brave little chickadee. Look closely and you can see him in the tree overhead, just at the roof line in the photo below.




Now I can't, of course, tell for certain that it's always the same chickadee being brave, but he's always alone and I can't imagine that all chickadees are so brave. How brave is he? Towards the end of winter, there was one day when he was so excited to see me refilling the bird feeder that he swooped down and perched on it the instant I took my hand off it. I was standing one foot away.




Whenever I refill the bird feeder, I can hear him (or another chickadee) call out loudly, apparently alerting all the other birds to the refilled feeder. They converge within minutes.




This particular chickadee must nest within sight of the feeder. He spends more time in my yard than any other birds. I'm tempted to see if I can get him to trust me enough to eat out of my hand.




I have also discovered a critter who is not as welcome. There is a bee (I hope only one!) who keeps flying in and out of this hole in the mortar. I'm definitely going to have to do something about that.

We're Number One!

And it's not a good thing.

As reported by several newspapers and news stations, Connecticut's unemployment has hit 9.1 percent and Waterbury has the highest unemployment at 13.4 percent (the national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent).

While we don't have the highest unemployment rate in the nation, we're not all that far behind Detroit, which used to be at 15.3 percent and has dropped to 14.8 percent.

During campaign time last year, I was very unhappy when I heard Mayor Jarjura state that Waterbury is in excellent economic condition. At that point, our unemployment rate was the second worst in the state. Now it's the worst. If Jarjura ever does decide to run for Governor, how will he explain that Waterbury's unemployment rate has gone from bad to the worst while he's been Mayor?

Come to think of it, what about the assorted economic developers in Waterbury? What are their responses to the latest unemployment figures? Wait, let me guess--it's not their fault, it's very complicated, there are external factors that can't be controlled.

Waterbury's unemployment rate has been among the highest in the state for at least a decade. There are no excuses for it getting worse. Whatever our economic developers have been doing obviously doesn't work. It's past time to try something new.

Aldermen by District

As hopefully everyone knows, it's Charter Revision Time in Waterbury, which means that we have an opportunity to enact positive change in how our city is governed. The hottest topic being discussed is Aldermen by District. There are a lot of layers to the issue, most of which have to do with fundamental inequities in the representation of the varied and diverse community that is Waterbury. For example, there are no elected representatives from my neighborhood and most city officials seem to be completely oblivious to the issues my neighborhood faces.

I took the time to actually read the City Charter, and I noticed that while the description of Mayor includes a residency requirement, there was no such requirement listed in the description of Aldermen. I brought this up to the Charter Revision Committee. Part of their response (I'm still discussing the other part with Committee member Bryan Baker) was that our residency requirement for Mayor could or has been found unconstitutional by the courts (more details on this are forthcoming).

If this is true, then it is all the more important that we succeed in getting Aldermen by District. If not, then we could end up with Aldermen who live in Middlebury, Woodbury, Cheshire or West Hartford.

Waterbury is a city of neighborhoods. It's not a very big city, but the neighborhoods are very different from one another, and there is a tendency to stay out of neighborhoods that aren't your own. The way an Alderman living in Bunker Hill views the needs of the city are going to be very different from the way an Alderman living in the WOW neighborhood views the city's needs.

We need better neighborhood representation. We need better politics.

Ready for Spring

I spent a couple hours today doing some pre-Spring Cleaning. My front yard has been looking miserable, full of dead leaves left from last autumn and litter that accumulates every day. I can usually keep up with the larger litter, but the tiny little wrappers for single pieces of candy, and the wrappers from cigars, and random scraps of plastic are a lot harder to keep up with--I wound up raking them into the compost pile along with all the leaves.

End result: the yard is clean and you can see the flowers getting ready to bloom. The daffodils in particular are just on the cusp of blooming.

The crocuses are doing especially well this year. I guess my yard agrees with them!

And here's the reason why I have to pick up litter in my yard every day. My neighbor is a corner store that never keeps their back yard clean. They've been cited for blight in the past, but it didn't do much good. The trash was back as soon as they passed re-inspection.

Next time I have a weekend off, I'll tackle the back yard. I need to wait at least another month to see how much of my garden is left in the back--the neighbor's dog jumped the fence this winter and chewed up several of my plants, destroying at least some of them completely. I suppose I should be grateful that's all he did--a neighbor down the street recently told me he's killed several cats. The dog is gone now, but his poop is still in my yard. Here's hoping that will be gone soon, too!

Charter Revisions

I had intended to speak at a meeting of the Charter Revision Committee, but that meeting was cancelled due to a double-booking at WAMS. I was unable to attend the next meeting due to a work commitment (but hopefully the rest of my neighbors made it and spoke out). In lieu of speaking my thoughts in public, I'll post them here. Not all of this is relevant to what the Commission is specifically looking at--there were a couple things that jumped out at me when I read the charter.

The Board of Aldermen should consist at least in part of official elected by district in order to better represent the city’s diverse population. Waterbury is a city of neighborhoods, and each neighborhood faces different challenges. Opponants of aldermen by district have claimed that this would limit the quality of our choices—this is a fundamentally flawed argument. First, if this argument had merit, then we should take it to the next “logical” step and allow residents of Middlebury, Cheshire, Naugatuck and Wolcott to run for office. Second, by stating that an aldermen by district election system would reduce the quality of our choices is flat out insulting. Does my choice of neighborhood make me a less qualified candidate?

I recently learned a lot about how politics in Waterbury does and does not work. While on the campaign trail last year, nearly everyone I spoke to in the North End and downtown on the Green felt that the city government didn’t care about them, that the city government has abandoned their streets, their sidewalks, their safety and their quality of life. There is a tremendous and terrible disparity between neighborhoods like mine and neighborhoods like Bunker Hill. The overall disparity is unhealthy.

I would also recommend that the charter include a description of Qualifications for the members of the Board of Aldermen, just as it does for the Mayor.

Section 11B-2, regarding snow removal, needs to be enforced. Anyone who has ever tried to get anywhere in Waterbury during the winter knows how important this is. If a sidewalk is unusuable because the property owner does not remove the snow, pedestrians are forced to walk in the street, putting themselves at risk of being hit by a car.

Sec. 11F-4 and 11F-5, regarding Sidewalk Construction Fund and Street Improvement Funds—this is something that is good to have, and it is something we need more of. I don’t know if this is suitable for the charter, but I think we need to be more proactive in acquiring these funds. A city is effectively a non-profit organization, and every successful non-profit has regular fund raising events. Rather than relying solely on tax money, why not encourage people to make donations to city improvement funds? Most of the city parks were made possible by the charitable donations of private citizens who have long since passed away. Why doesn’t the city actively cultivate new donors, just like colleges and museums do?

Here it Comes!

Once again, picking up litter in my yard led me to discover the first flowers of the year--two little snowdrops basking in the sun.