Let the Propoganda Begin

Well, it started. I received my first mailer from the Blue Back Square propoganda machine. I have to tell you I am truly getting tired of this. Here are some exerpts and get ready, because it's truly a load of the smelliest garbage I've read in a while... "This spring, the Town Council voted unanimously to stand up to Westfarms Mall's underhanded tactics. They voted to amend the Master Agreement to prevent Westfarms from killing Blue Back Square with endless frivolous lawsuits that could drag on for years." While I agree that the lawsuits brought against the town by several residents are backed by Westfarms and they have an indemnity agreement, I can tell you several things. 1. Those residents are suing the town of their own free will. They were not approached by Westfarms, no, they approached Westfarms as the only large organization in town that wasn't already in the pockets of Mr. Heapes and/or Barry Feldman. These lawsuits are not frivolous, quite the contrary. I know first hand the stress these families are taking on by utilizing their right to fight Blue Back Square. Let's clear one thing up right now. Blue Back Square is not a group of citizens being pushed around by Westfarms. Blue Back Square is an enormous monster of financial backing that dwarfs the ability of these residents to fight something 20 feet from their property. The proof in this is that the Blue Back Square machine spent close to $1,000,000 on the referendum last Fall. Is anyone surprised they took the vote? Another exerpt from the very expensive mailer, speaking of Westfarms Mall... "If they think they can push us around, they don't know West Hartford." The town council and management of West Hartford and Richard Heapes are the bullys pushing the residents around. How about the council passing an ordinance to allow for the combining of Zoning Board and Town Council public hearings. How about you open the gate and let them walk through. Could the corruption all up and down the line be more clear? And it doesn't just sit on the Democratic side of the aisle either. As noted in a recent article it's interesting how the republican party in the town is basically on the council to rubber stamp Mr. Feldman's wishes. Let's all remember that Mr. Turco (council member until 2003) is an attorney involved with Blue Back Square. Was Mr. Turco on the council when the Probate Court left the building on Raymond Road to make way for a huge developer....the answer is Yes. Lastly, the mailer says... "The town council put in place additional protections which benefit all residents..." Why didn't the town require this developer to take all the steps required by a small business owner who wants to build property? There are residents who are in the process of challenging this development via the legal system, how do these additional protections benefit them? Why has the town rolled out the red carpet to an out of state developer with NO BIDDING PROCESS? What other answers do we have than there must be financial benefit up and down the line. What's next from Mr. Heapes, Mr. Feldman and Mayor Slifka? Maybe a commercial with all three of them sharing a banana split in the middle of their new development....It won't be long. More soon... West Hartford RAC (Sorry for the month off)

State Historic Preservation Office Notice to Town Manager

Click the Title to view a letter which was sent to Barry Feldman recently in order to let him know that the State and potentially the Federal government will be reviewing the town campus as a historic area. This is great news! Statements made by government officials akin this to "another ploy by the same people." This is not a ploy, this is real action by residents of the town to keep the sitting council from ruining our municipal campus for their own gain. Thanks, West Hartford RAC

Save the Center Meeting a Resounding Success

I want to commend all the speakers at tonight's Save the Center Petition Drive event. Joe Visconti and Jasyn Sadler really took care of business as they spread the message that this fight is not about WestFarms v. West Hartford, it's about Residents v. West Hartford and we are sick of the council suggesting otherwise. Look back very soon for copies of the speeches that were given tonight as they are absolutely fantastic! Also, look in the Courant over the next few days to see if they finally print material from a Blue Back opponent. Jasyn submitted a copy of his letter (which he read tonight) to Tom Puleo of the Courant after Jasyn's speech. Thanks, West Hartford RAC

PETITION DRIVE IS ON!

Hi everyone, this just came in my email...please consider taking the time to collect signatures!

Thanks, West Hartford RAC

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Note: Please forward the message below ASAP to as many WH friends as you know as Volunteers are desperately needed!

Dear Friends, As you may have heard, in a surprise "Special Session" last week on about 36 hours notice, theTown Council changed the Blue Back Square Master Agreement! These 32 pages of alterations removed critical safeguards that mean among other things:

• Critical traffic plan safeguards contained in the Original Master Agreement have been removed.
• Our Town property can be transferred to the developer without the final dispositions of the appeals of certain Zoning, Inland & Wetlands and Town Council Decisions.
• More financial risk has been shifted to the citizens so this development can be rushed into place.

GOOD NEWS: A new petition drive has been started!! The petition requests the Town Council leave the safeguards in the "Master Agreement" as approved by the voters.

BAD NEWS: We only have 30 days from the time the change was passed to collect about 3,000 signatures (which was last Wednesday)!!

We really need your help collecting signatures for this petition. Please consider either.....

1. Take a list of names of residents in your community who signed the petition last time that you could call or visit to get their signatures. (phone numbers and addresses are already included on the list. Also lists are already divided by community so you could be assured addresses near your home). This would be perfect if you could make some calls on week days or evenings and either ask them to stop by your place to sign the petition or schedule a time to stop by theirs or just urge them to attend the Save the Center petition signing at Town Hall on Tuesday April 26th from 5:30 to 8:30. You could also just visit a few addresses every evening. Of course there would be no pressure to get everyone on the list.
2. Signing up for a 2 hour shift this weekend (or during the week if you can't on the weekend) to collect signatures at one of the local grocery stores (probably Stop and Shop on Farmington). (I did this during the last petition drive, and it wasn't too bad. There were a few unfriendly people, but only a few. Plus, it helps if you can find someone to volunteer with you for moral support)

If there is any way you can do either of these (or both!), please use the email address below.

If you are unable to volunteer, but would like to sign the petition, PLEASE e-mail or call the number below to say when a convenient time for someone to stop by your home to collect your signature, or you could stop by Save the Center's Tuesday April 26th Petition Signing meeting at Town Hall from 5:30 - 8:30 or stop by Stop and Shop on Farmington sometime this weekend as we are hoping to have this staffed with volunteers collecting signatures for most of Saturday and Sunday. PLEASE FORWARD this e-mail to others in town who may want to help with the effort. e-mail contact: westhartfordvolunteers@yahoo.com

Thanks!

Petition Started to Strike Down Council Vote

Today, Save the Center kicked off the petition drive to stop the changes in the Master Agreement approved by the reckless council on Tuesday. Your signature is needed in order to place this decision on a referendum. Take the power away from the biased council and put it in the people's hands. Please take the 1 minute it takes to sign the petition and the 10 minutes it takes to vote on whatever day the election takes place.

Also, On April 26th, at Town Hall, a public meeting will be held by Save the Center from 7 - 9 p.m. to tell the community what the implications are regarding the changes, possible future amendments to the Master Agreement and council actions. Feel free to sign the petition at this meeting. And I hear there may be food!!

Thanks, West Hartford RAC

Residents' Voices Go Unheard as Biased Vote Approves Amendments

Once again, the town council of West Hartford proves to be a brick wall. While resident after resident implore upon the council to let the court system do its job, they again came with speeches written prior to hearing the testimony and clearly have biased opinions of the matter before them. Why must the town be subjected to over two hours of repeated claims that the Taubman Company is trying to ruin the town management's fun when the decision was made prior to the meeting. Each town official who spoke tonight passed off anyone with a dissenting opinion as someone from the Michigan based company. Let's be clear that there are residents of West Hartford who think this project is a complete sham. I also urge you to check out what the Courant has to say in tomorrow's paper about tonight's meeting. I guarantee (and I'm writing this at 10 PM after the meeting) there will be a glowing pre-written (before the meeting) article in the paper quoting Mayor Slifka from his pre-written (before the meeting) speech and saying how wonderfully detailed the town officials were in making their decisions. I truly believe that some or all of the town officials involved in this deal are in some way benefiting from this project. How else can you have such a biased opinion before hearing what people have to say? Please, next time before you get into the Public Forum portion of the meeting, remind the people who plan to speak that you aren't there to listen to what they have to say. Remind them that your decision is made for you by Barry Feldman. Remind them that you have a speech written outlining your decision. Remind them that you don't care one ounce about what happens to anyone in the town but yourselves and your careers. The fight over Blue Back Square isn't about Taubman against the Town of West Hartford. It's about the citizens of West Hartford against a greedy, tyrannous town government and out of state developers who've concocted the deal of a lifetime, for themselves. Have a great day. Mark Quigley

E-mail to Town Council 4/12/2005

I sent this email tonight in response to some of the comments at the Town Council meeting. Please feel free to discuss... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr. Mayor and Town Council, I think each of you need to step back and think about what the decision you make at the special meeting on April 13, 2005 will do. If you approve this amendment, you will propogate the perception (some would call it belief) that most or all of the council made decisions last year for Blue Back Square in a biased manner. I urge you to let the appeals process run it's course, that's what it is in place for. If I were able to attend tomorrow night's meeting, I'd say exactly that. That's why we all live in this country, because there is a system of checks and balances. In addition, I'd like all of you to think about the comments you made tonight against the small parking lot proposal on Ellsworth in respect to your decision to approve Blue Back last year. Let me know how you think you sound here. Forgive me if these aren't exact quotes, I was fighting off laughter.

• Mr. Slifka stated, "...town should be more proactive on the issue of encroachment." That's interesting, I guess a parking garage in the face of Burr St. residents isn't "encroachment."
• Mr. Slifka again, "...not what the neighbors think..." is a good idea. Each member of the council dismissed pleas from the neighbors around Blue Back. In fact, many of you made it a point to talk back to some of the neighbors points in your remarks prior to voting.
• Mr. Verrengia stated that the decision on this parking lot is the ..."toughest decision he has had to make, " or something to that effect. Wow.......I guess Blue Back was an easy decision. What does that do for the town's perspective on your analysis of the decision you made in Blue Back.
• Mr. Slifka stated that he can't support the "destruction of a building with historic value." That's interesting as well. The Board of Education building may not be a "Historic" building, but I think everyone will agree that it's a building with historic value, and the town council voted 9-0 to allow a greedy developer to destroy the building and put in a movie theater, while on the other end of town a historic movie theater is being torn down right now. Oh, that's right it's in Elmwood.
• Several council members, including Mr. Coursey and Mrs. McClay likened the parking lot to a "buffer." Are you kidding? What kind of buffer? A buffer with loud cars....How is a parking lot a buffer. What kind of argument is that?

If the vote tonight reflected using your heart to make a decision, as Mrs. Cantor stated, what did you use to make the decision to approve Blue Back? One can only guess... Thank you, Mark Quigley p.s. I know you all weren't on the council for the Blue Back decision -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

West Hartford Town Councin Special Meeting 4/13/2005

A special meeting of the town council has been called in West Hartford for Wednesday April 13, 2005. The purpose of the meeting is to amend the Master Agreement between the town and Blue Back Square in order to allow for the work to begin on the project prior to the completion of litigation and/or zoning appeals. Let me just say that after what was an obviously biased process last year (including passing ordinances in advance of the application to help the developer with the process), if this amendment is passed, I'm not sure how more clear it would be that the town management and town council are owned by Richard Heapes. As the council tonight voted against the "encroachment" of a small parking lot adjacent to the center of town which included the destruction of a 1925 home, how can they justify the decision to sell off the Board of Education building and encroach on the neighbors on Burr St. You cannot use the same argument for one project against another. The world revolves around perception and if the town government makes decisions for the benefit of one developer, how can the perception be anything but corruption? Oh wait, I forgot, our Mayor was in a commercial advertisement for this development last year...seems the perception is already there.

Interesting Phenomenon Occurring

On the front page of West Hartford News was a headline referencing low turn out for the WH Budget public hearings. Is anyone surprised? How many times do the residents of this town have to speak their minds only to be shut out by a town manager and town council that just stare blankly at them and then patronize them as they try to argue why they did the right thing when, in fact, they are doing the wrong thing. This is the same problem with Blue Back Square. Not one person who lives in the vicinity of Blue Back spoke out in favor of the project. Each person who lives on Burr St who spoke at the public hearing denounced the project as a sham and some are now suing over it. The town's people don't want to talk to a brick wall, and here's why the low turn out at the public hearings. We are tired of speaking passionately about issue after issue only to be shut down and ridiculed. Several members of the town council continually speak at the public as if they don't know what they are talking about. Trust me, West Hartford government, when I say we know what we are talking about and we are tired of your pompous demeanor towards your citizens. Thanks, quigleywh@gmail.com

Zoning Board Appeal Hearing Today in Hartford Superior Court

I took the day off to watch the Appeal filed by several West Hartford residents who live directly across the street from the developer (one of which is my sister). I think everyone is doing a great job in getting everything in front of the judge to make a decision here. One thing to note is that no one from the town was at the meeting. Only Mr. Allaire, the town's deputy counsel who was arguing the case. I guess the mayor doesn't care about the case enough to make an appearance. Again, I commend the residents who have the guts to stand up to this monstrous development. The folks who took the stand today did a great job and sounded very credible. Have a great weekend! Quig

Steroid Hearing on Capitol Hill

Did anyone out there watch some of the hearings today? First off, I believe that steroid use in baseball should be removed. They can do it, but with the huge numbers of fans returning since the '94 strike, they wanted the long ball and have looked the other way for a long time. The teammates of players who juiced aren't to blame in this, because, let's face it if they said anything they would be blackballed just as Conseco has been. One thing I saw that made me a little sick of the entire process on Capitol Hill was the antagonistic stance most of the committee members displayed towards everyone in question. They were acting as if they were personally attacked by the "rampant" use of steroids in baseball. What I also don't understand is how the House Government Reform Committee provides any relevant standing in this area. Is baseball part of our system of Government? Do they feel like baseball is such a part of the fabric of America that they somehow have some jurisdiction? Seemed like a lot of grandstanding by none Please, let's rid sports in general of the use of these drugs so when my young children want to play sports at more than a middle school level, they don't have to compete against someone who's using. Have a great day... Mark

Connors Stepping Down

I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Kevin Connors on a job well done. While I've only been in West Hartford for 5 years, there has been no more of a steady backbone to the town council as Mr. Connors. I think it's unfortunate that he was up against the current mayor when challenging for the State Senate, but I think that run was a long shot with West Hartford leaning towards the left. One thing to note was the 9-0 approval of Blue Back. I believe and have discussed this with others in the town that had Connors taken a stand against Blue Back, he would have garnered more votes, generated a higher turn out and eventually taken the Senate seat. That being said, speculation is speculation. All-in-all, I think this gives the republican party an opportunity to regroup, find a couple of fresh faces and get to the job of working the issues from a little farther right of center than the past few months. Good luck, Mr. Connors. Mark

Letter in West Hartford News

A version of the following letter was printed in the West Hartford News on March 10, 2005 ----------------------------------------------------------- Residents using their rights to challenge blue back Anyone else who stood at the meeting tonight in room 422 of Town Hall in West Hartford heard Mr. Weinner dodge question after question saying that basically most of the questions that were asked were more questions for the town. Wow, there's a surprise! I was wondering when we'd get to the "Oh, you'll have to ask the other partner in this partnership to get the answer." The bottom line on Blue Back is that Mr. Heapes and Mr. Weinner obviously have the town council and town manager on a string. The fact that several of our town's residents' lawsuit contain "Language in the lawsuit bears a close resemblance to arguments that the same attorneys filed on behalf of Westfarms..." as an editorial in today'd Courant writes, is absolutely irrelevant. The citizens who are standing up to not only the town and this monstrosity of a development, but basically half the state should be applauded by all of us. Finally we have citizens taking the action they have a right to take against the town that has done so many things in the wrong way. My next topic is the the fire on Raymond Road a month or so ago. Hmmm, let's think about this for a minute...a building burns completely through at a time when it's guaranteed that no one will be inside, in an area ripe for "fresh" development. Who could have guessed that the cause of the fire would be undetermined? I'm no fire investigator, but I can't think of an area of town where I'd be more suspicious of an intentionally set fire.

Proposed 6% increase in town budget

The new budget was proposed last night by Mr. Feldman and it contains an increase of over $10 million from the previous year. That equates to an increase of 6.1% which will once again fall on the taxpayers. This is very close to the amount voted down by a referendum last year. We can do better than this and you can be assured that there will be people in town who will make sure management works harder to make ends meet and also allow us to keep more of our hard earned dollar. Not all of the residents in this town make hundreds of thousands of dollars per year and can absorb huge increases in property taxes year in and year out. It's time town management recognizes this. Have a great Thursday! Mark

Start of blog

Hi, and welcome to my daily posting on quigleywh.blogspot.com. Come back each day to see what I have in relation to local, state, and national politics. I may even stray into other areas including sports, news and parenting (I might talk about my 2 kids). Anyway, check back often as I'll attempt to post here every day. Thanks, Mark