Davidoff the new minority leader

Leon Davidoff, who will become minority leader of the town council, is a complete unknown to me, and probably many others.

The Hartford Courant repors that he is “a veteran of the rough-and-tumble politics of neighboring Newington,” which is an odd qualification to help run West Hartford, but since we’re a welcoming sort of place, I don’t mind.

It is pleasing to see that the 45-year-old Davidoff, a store owner, wants to avoid the partisan craziness that can wreck a town. Good luck keeping Visconti in check, fella.

Steve Adler could have been minority leader — since he got the most votes among the Republicans who earned a seat — but let Davidoff have the job because of his Newington experience. That’s a class decision.

According to the Courant, “Davidoff sat on the town’s plan and zoning commission from 1999 to 2004, serving as chairman from 2001 to 2003” so he’s got a solid background to draw on.

I wish him luck. It looks like Davidoff and Adler will be able to work with the Democrats to make this town better. I hope Visconti can do more than throw verbal bombs.

 

So what will Visconti do now?

He didn’t even need my vote to capture one of the seats reserved for the losers. He snagged it anyway, no doubt to the dismay of the Democrats who will now have to deal with him all the time instead of just warring with him here.

One thing it will surely do is improve the TV ratings for town council meetings.

Election Night

I can’t post the results so I hope somebody can jump in here and let us know the burning question…. Did Joe Visconti go down in flames?

In the end, I have to admit, I couldn’t fill his bubble. I hemmed. I hawed. And, finally, I passed him by. I wound up voting for a couple of Republicans, but mostly Democrats, including all three of the Board of Education candidates. They impressed me.

I miss the old voting machines. Filling in bubbles reminds me of high school.

So who should we vote for?

There’s no news in the papers and not much going on.

So let’s debate who should serve on the next town council and Board of Education. Tell us why you think the way you do — and try to convince us that you’re right without being mean-spirited.

I’m sure I’m not alone in having no idea who should be elected.

Who cares how large political signs are?

Democratic and Republican leaders in West Hartford are talking about a pact to get all of their candidates to “refrain from using oversize, billboard-style campaign signs,” according to a story in today’s Courant.

“I hope you will agree that this is one more way that we can put partisanship aside and do something that the people of our town will appreciate,” Democratic Chairwoman Maureen Magnan said in a letter asking Republican Chairman Carl Donatelli to agree to the ban, the story said.

Donatelli called it “a worthy objective,” the paper reported, but added, “I don’t know that I can make a promise on behalf of all the candidates that no signs will go up, regardless of the size. We can make the suggestion, but we really can’t enforce it.”

Two years ago, a few candidates erected some 4-by-8-foot signs, which are hardly billboards or something. They were criticized for it by “residents,” the paper said.

Last time I checked, this is still a democracy, and elections are a whole lot more important than all the signs we see every day for the Mohegan Sun, the lottery, restaurants and that big porn store on the Berlin Turnpike.

Candidates can put up any sign they like. It’ll either pay off at the polls … or not. But residents who are griping about sign size really need to take another look at their lives. It’s not a big deal.

And Magnan and the Democratic candidates who seem to have put the issue on the table should realize that handshake deals with Republicans as a way to undermine the rights given candidates by the First Amendment may be illegal. We have our rights as Americans and among them is the right to run for office and put our names on a big ol’ sign.

Personally, I don’t like political signs. They’re ugly. But I don’t like restrictions on free speech even more.

Visconti gets Advocate to do PR for him

Party Animal: Gadfly Joe Visconti throws himself into the political fray

So Visconti’s on the ticket, eh?

Joe Visconti’s on the Republican slate now, a bonafide contender. Has he got a prayer of winning?

New York is taking over

The news that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg has dumped the Republican Party to become an independent opens up a fascinating scenario that I haven’t seen discussed yet: the possibility that we could have a serious three-way race for president among three New Yorkers.

Imagine a ballot where we’d have to choose between New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and current New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg.  It’s an amazing scenario to contemplate given that New York’s political clout on the national scene has been dwindling for decades.

Was there ever even a presidential race where two New Yorkers faced off? 1940 maybe?

In any case, after all the talk of power shifting to the Sun Belt, it’s at least curious that New York could hold such sway in a presidential election.

For Connecticut, that can’t be a bad thing. We’re clearly better off with a New York president than another guy from down South, whichever side of the aisle he may hail from.

Personally, I can’t quite grok that I may have to vote for Hillary next year, but time will tell.

Don’t cheat on Carpenter successor

It was disturbing to see in the West Hartford News that Republican Party leader Carl Donatelli said there have been Democrats recently changing their party affiliation to Independent in anticipation of Carpenter’s resignation. The obvious implication is that the Democrats may be prepared to pick a successor to the soon-to-resign Barbara Carpenter (who really ought to step down now, however much I admire her) who isn’t really unaffiliated or a GOP loyalist.

There’s a reason the state law requires minority representation. It’s to ensure there are watchdogs in place to keep an eye on the majority.

In our town, that function is mostly gone, with one Republican switching sides and another allied with the Democrats. That leaves just one GOP councilman, Mark Sinatro, to hold a line that should have three people.

The majority councilors should see the wisdom in genuine opposition and let the Republicans pick someone to replace Carpenter. Let Donatelli and his gang provide a handful of possibilities and pick one of them. Or at least turn to someone that we can all trust to be a good Republican, not a Democratic lapdog. And I say that as a voter who generally backs the Democrats.

Another one bites the dust

“The Republican minority leader of the town council, Joseph Verrengia, switched his party affiliation Thursday and said he will seek a nomination to run for re-election in November as a Democrat.” – From today’s Hartford Courant

It says all you need to know about the terrible state of West Hartford’s Republicans that two of the three who serve on the town council have defected. Better hang on to that last one, Donatelli!

There’s a lot to say about this, but I haven’t got time. I’ll leave it in the capable hands of those readers who want to lash out at one another, or even offer calm perspective.