Woodstock CT Café

In last Friday’s issue of the Villager, Editor Walter Bird attempted to address the debate over embryonic stem cell research. Since his vociferous defense of Anne Coulter a few weeks ago, we have paid no attention to his column. However, we examined closely his latest column because it was focused on the stem cell debate to see what insight he could offer. His insight boiled down to labeling those in favor of embryonic stem cell research as idealogs. We thought that this was an odd label to give a paraplegic, someone with spinal cord injury, or someone with a loved one with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s Disease. His editorial became even more twisted when he wandered on to link Bush’s position on stem cell research to the necessity of the Iraq war. Then he marveled at the fact that Bush can stand his ground because he doesn’t need to be re-elected. Mr. Bird ends with the declaration that “We must have leaders that will not abandon their beliefs to garner votes” - a statement that conjures up the image of the hooded leaders of the Klu Klux Clan.

The Cafe has restrained itself from exploring broader issues not pertaining to Woodstock. But, unfortunately each and every week our mailboxes are insulted by the Villager. To maintain some degree of balance, the Cafe feels some responsibility to respond to ’stuff’ printed in the Villager. So we decided to try a new technique in publishing - that is, new for the Cafe. We decided to tap the expertise of Woodstock resident, John Leavitt, to see what we might learn about the subject of embryonic stem cell research, the subject so tortuously manipulated by Mr. Bird.

This interview was first published in May of 2005 by Thought Mechanics, a nationally recognized blog. It has been updated to include a comment on the recent success of scientists at Stemagen (La Jolla CA) who announced their success at cloning human embryonic stem cells. Admin

Thought Mechanics: What is an embryonic stem cell?
John Leavitt: An embryonic stem cell is a cell that is toti-potent. In other words, these cells are the earliest stage embryonic cells that develop after the egg is fertilized. The unique property of an embryonic stem cell is that it has the capacity to differentiate into any tissue in the body.

Thought Mechanics: We heard in the news 2 years ago about the Korean fraud regarding their claim to have successfully cloned human embryonic stem cells. How has this impacted on the future of this field of research?
JL: Fraud in academic research is rare. It’s unfortunate but I have heard of no negative fallout when it comes to the academic and public desire to move forward with embryonic stem cell research. On the positive side, the false claims of the Korean ‘success’ led to lots of productive discussion about the importance of embryonic stem cell research. It gave us an opportunity to envision the benefits and the downside and weigh them against each other. Read the rest of this entry »

“Will the MFATF soon be called the MEATf-heads? I hope not.�

It’s interesting that the Café article proposing an “independent commission� entitled “To the Board of Education� was published on March 21st. Shortly afterwards, on the 24th of March the following was published at the Café in a “Villager Renews� article from comments by Ms. Rapose (Chairman of the BOF) and Ms. Wholean in the Woodstock Villager that same day - “Ms. Rapose, chairwoman of the Woodstock Board of Finance, announced plans to appoint a blue-ribbon panel of Town citizens to look at the Town’s budgetary issues. Ms. Rapose gave credit to an anonymous individual for this suggestion. It was stated by the Villager that Ms. Wholean is also in favor of forming this panel to look at Town spending. But Ms. Rapose said that every fiscal faction…should be represented on this panel. Since about 75% of the Town budget is for education, it is the hope of WoodstockCTCafe that Ms. Rapose will consider assembling a group of clear thinking, open-minded citizens with backgrounds that indicate a respect for education but who also don’t automatically equate ‘quality’ with the amount of money spent.�

Since I refuse to subscribe the the Villager website and I often deliver the Villager to the dump ASAP, I could only recover the statements of Ms. Rapose and Ms. Wholean from the archives of the Cafe. Apparantly many in Woodstock give the Villager a speedy demise. If you go to the post office on Friday or Saturday morn, you can see the trash cans stuffed with copies of the Villager.

The Villager in its MFATF article (will the MFATF soon be called the MEATf-heads? I hope not) on Friday July 28th attempts to re-write history by stating “The concept originated in First Selectman Margaret Wholean’s ‘From the Hot Seat’ column which was first published on May 26th and chronicled by the Café in an article entitled “Ms. Wholean’s Hotseatâ€? . The Villager article this last Friday then goes on to say “Wholean even made the modest decision to question the general budget she helped draft when she asked ‘But is it a good budget?’â€? Well, gag me with a spoon!

To the credit of the Board of Finance, Ms. Wholean stated in the Villager on Friday “The Board of Finance has recommended to me that I form an advisory group to look at these issues of budgeting…â€? apparently on March 24th. Read the rest of this entry »

Paladin’s comment below says “So I have heard the following on this “blue-ribbon commissionâ€?: Ernie St. Jean, Barbara Rich, Roger Gale, Becki Leavitt, Bill Sowka, and a few others from the Republican Town Committee (the Chair, I think, is someone that ran for P&Z)…. Anybody else? Also, is this open to the public? ” posted here by Admin on Monday August 7th

The Cafe published this article on March 21st during the chaos of referenda and budgetary debate. It is being re-published in response to the decision by our First Selectman, Ms. Wholean, to organize the “Municipal Finance Advisory Task Force” (MFATF). Originally, the author proposed that such a committee be assembled by the BOE to independently validate the education budget. It makes good sense to apply this concept to the Town operating budget as well. So the Cafe applauds this effort. It is hoped that MFATF will be free of special interests and able to advise the Town on how to make the budget development process prioritizable, equitable, transparent, and less devisive. But, it’s our concern that this will not be the case.

Here is what was proposed in March:

It is herein proposed that a commission of Town citizens be created for the purpose of carrying out an independent review of Woodstock’s education budget.

This commission, composed of Woodstock citizens, should be authorized by the Board of Education (BOE) to carry out its mission independently of the BOE with the exception of the BOE’s cooperation with this commission in exchanging information and providing clarifications as needed by the commission.

Nominations for appointment to this commission should be posted publicly on the internet and in local newspapers as these nominations should be known by the Town citizenry. It should be stipulated that nominees to the commission (1) should have no prior role with the BOE or the Academy including recent candidacy for election to the BOE or the Board of Trustees of the Academy, (2) should not have recently run for Town office or been appointed to any Town committee, (3) should have some form of higher education combined with sustained experience in a profession, and (4) no commission nominee should have a child entering or coming through the Woodstock school system in the fiscal year 2006-2007 or thereafter. The commission members can be chosen by the BOE or after the BOE selects appropriate nominees, but only if there are many nominees, the final commission members might be elected by the Woodstock electorate based solely on the nominee’s published credentials.

The mandate of this commission should be as follows: (1) To complete a line-by-line review of the proposed BOE budget for the 2006-2007 school year; (2) provide an independent review of reasonable needs of the school system based upon review for the proposed budget; and (3) provide a review of the events that led to a proposed budget that currently exceeds the allowable budget presented by the Board of Finance by about $660,000. To complete its mission, this commission will compile a written report that will be published in a timely fashion on the internet and in local newspapers. There is no set time line for completion of this review. It’s not expected that this review could be completed before the 2006-2007 Read the rest of this entry »

See Sherri Vogt’s Website. See Mike Albert’s Website. Bill, See Sherri’s latest comment under “Sherri Vogt Responds…” at the lower right.

“Sherri, … If you can figure out what the lesson is, you might have a shot at beating Mike.”

In November 2004, Mike Alberts beat Reese Painter by 48 votes (0.44%) to win a seat representing the 50th Congressional District of Connecticut composed of 5 towns – Woodstock, Pomfret, Eastford, Brooklyn, and Hampton. The odd thing about this election was that there were two elections - the first to represent District 50 in the next full congressional term and a second to represent the 50th District for the remaining months of Jefferson Davis’ term who had resigned in August 2004. Mike won the first election but lost the second election by 11 votes. Why was the vote different for the two elections that were side-by-side on the voting machine? Read the rest of this entry »

“So how did the letter from the DTC reach the Villager?�

I was both surprised and pleased to read the letter written to Ms. Wholean from members of the Democratic Town Committee (DTC) regarding her commitment to carrying out the goals of the Democratic platform on which she was elected. I was pleased because this seemingly forgotten platform was the platform that compelled me to vote straight democratic last November. The DTC letter was very well written, to the point, and it clearly spelled out the positions of the DTC on truly significant issues facing Woodstock. This letter was also uncharacteristically frank for political leadership. However, it seems to me that given the tone of Woodstock citizenry in denying the two referenda, statements in this letter could hurt the position of the Democratic party in the next election unless the DTC can revise their position on Proposition 46 or explain effectively why Prop 46 needs to be done away with.

In discussions at the Café there have been some who have recognized the necessity of Woodstock government to work under the budgetary confines of Prop 46 because of the overwhelming rejection of any change in Prop 46 by the voters. When some of us recognized that this situation was not likely to change, we began to look at other ways to address the needs of the school system without changing Prop 46. We discovered, however, that the Board of Finance was intransigent on how to divide tax money between the Town operating budget and the education budget and we saw funding implemented for significantly higher salaries for the Selectmen and proposals for completely unnecessary expenditures like a soccer field placed on a waste remediation site, reduced taxation for some of our wealthiest citizens (the ‘elderly’), a dial-a-ride service, a Town keystone cop, putting away money in a fund to purchase open space, etc.

Through all of this we saw no evidence of leadership by any of our ‘elected’ Selectman with regard to any of the important issues, the most prominent of which was whether-or-not there was good reason to repeal Prop 46. Instead, these three Selectmen stuck their heads in the sand and let the citizenry fight it out. Read the rest of this entry »

The letter dated April 26th from the Woodstock DTC to First Selectman Margaret Wholean signed by DTC committee members (taken from the Villager edition of July 21st) reads as follows:

“Dear Margie:

As members of the Woodstock Democratic Town Committee, we would like to provide our comments relative to the current budget discussions.

Last year, our committee and slate conducted extensive discussions and developed policy goals that were clearly articulated and distributed broadly to Woodstock voters through mailed literature, public debate and phone messaging. The “Democratic Team,� with you leading it, promised to bring coordinated professional management to the town’s three primary policy areas:

Land Use – Conservation, Development, and Scenic Road Protection

Education – Balanced Improvement of both Public and Private Education

As the budget process draws to completion this year, it appears that Woodstock Academy will receive its reasonable healthy funding request. The town’s operating budget, generally representing essential services with few reductions possible, will receive its needed funding. The public school system has gotten what remains available under the Proposition 46 expenditure cap, and is again left facing serious proposed cuts to its budget request that sought only to maintain preexisting programs. Read the rest of this entry »

As I travel around the State campaigning for Governor, the first thing most people want to know is, why am I running? I am running for Governor because I believe in the possibility of government, when run openly and well, to make a positive and lasting difference for people and the communities they love. It’s that belief that gets me out of bed in the morning. That’s at the core of why my wife Cathy and I have dedicated more than two decades to public service.

I have been honored to serve the people of Stamford for over 11 years. We have turned the city into a nationally recognized model on many fronts, from education, the environment and crime fighting to economic growth and fiscal integrity. We turned Stamford around by working together toward a common vision of a community where people and employers want to live, work, play and raise a family. As Governor, I can do the same for all of Connecticut. Read the rest of this entry »

The Café will continue to publish unedited articles and comments by contributors (for the most part). However, the author of “Opinion 1� in the article entitled “Selfish Couple…� has been persuaded by Jim Kaeding’s comments regarding anonymous personal characterizations and that the more personal characterizations in “Opinion 1� were inappropriate. Therefore, the author has requested that Admin delete the second paragraph of Opinion 1 and the author extends an apology to Craig and Susan Powers. The Café feels that personal characterizations may be appropriate if they stem directly from information in the primary source of the statement which, in this case, was the article in the Villager that quoted statements by the Powers and Mr. Shultz.

“It is up to the visitor to evaluate whether they are reading an honest account�

Why is anonymity offered at this site? Perhaps one minor answer is that we are not a national blog although occasionally we have visitors from other states and countries. The commentary at this site is focused exclusively on Woodstock CT in areas that are important to all who live in this small town such as:

· The education system which is 74% of the Town budget,
· Town management,
· Town politics,
· State politics as it relates to the Town,
· Neighboring town issues as they relate to Woodstock,
· Local environmental issues,
· Local cultural issues,
· Local social issues,
· Local economic issues, and
· Local lifestyle issues, etc.

It is the perception of many who have spoken here and in the Villager (some anonymously) that for many years our Town has been mis-managed and exploited by sub-par leadership with special agendas or short-sighted and even incompetent leaders that simply have not operated in the best interests of the community. When I moved to Woodstock, the sore point of the period in Town was disbelief by some in the failure of the Town leaders to purchase the Data General Property that could have been converted to a high school or rented to businesses to generate income for Woodstock. This property was subsequently ‘stolen’ by Hyde School, a nonprofit that pays no taxes. I was then exposed to the charming and personable Selectmanship of Mr. Ed Newman and then the rebellion of Town citizenry over the way in which the school system was run. Next we had the angry campaign of Ernest Wetzel that educated me with a lot of half-truths and mis-information. The chaos and complaints over Town management continued under the leadership of Republican Delpha Very, a disciple of Mr. Newman. Ms. Very’s tenure as First Selectman was abruptly followed by unanimous defeat of the Republicans by ‘new’ Democrats last fall. Through all of this my Woodstock associates and I felt that we lived in complete political darkness – even those of us who joined either the Republican or Democratic Town Committees and attended Town meetings. Nevertheless, we have cared about the Town and want to make Woodstock our home for the rest of our lives. This is perhaps the answer to the question initially posed.

Maybe this lack of transparency and the political chaos is the norm for most rural towns in Eastern Connecticut. I can say from experience that this is not characteristic of Towns of more affluent areas. Some of us thought that having some peaceful dialogue about the local issues like those listed above might help to shed light on the issues that perplexed us so that we could contribute more effectively to the Town. Living in the dark in Woodstock has been the norm for a long time because there is no easy way to get the facts even today with the presence of the Villager. This is the way some leadership in this Town would like to keep it.

There are many who have contributed to the Café to share information with the rest of us, and to enlighten us. The collective intelligence of all of us is well documented in the archives, warts and all. I can say for myself that, as a contributor of some of the articles at the Café, I have learned a lot about the Town and how it operates. The ability to speak freely in this forum has liberated us from the political darkness of Woodstock. Our learning about the goings on in Woodstock has come from writing the articles, reading the articles of others, and reading the commentary of other contributors. Many times I have been dutifully corrected and I have always appreciated knowing when I have misstated the facts. This awakening would not have been possible without anonymity. This is because it is the argument stated explicitly in words, not the credibility of the author that is being debated.

Anonymous debate and dissent has a long and honorable history. One outstanding example is the pseudonymous authorship of the Federalist papers. The Federalist papers serve as a primary source of interpretation of the constitution. Who were the anonymous in this discourse? These 85 articles were written by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, and John Jay, under the pseudonym “Publius,” in honor of a noted Roman consul. Without this public discourse on the controversial content of the US Constitution, ratification would likely have taken much longer and the efficacy of the Constitution many have been diminished.

As it is in Woodstock, clearly readers are squeamish about leaving comments because only a low percentage of visitors post statements. Many of us, myself included, blog pseudonymously because we are simpering cowards. And, bullies always want it their way. Most people naturally feel awkward about expressing themselves in public. This is why we have chosen to make this an anonymous or pseudonymous site – that is, to help people present their feelings and ideas without fear of retribution. This is also why we ALWAYS remove the email addresses of visitors who post comments. The Café prefers that contributors use a pseudonym and that they submit their comment with a false email like “aka@hotmail.com” (I hope that there is no one out there with that address because they are probably getting a lot of hate mail). I would also answer those who demand that we use our true names with the following – How do we verify that the name given by the author is truly HIM or HER. I had this strange concern when I read Robert Skelley’s post at the Café yesterday. It would certainly be twisted if the opposing lawyer represented herself as Robert Skelley and blew his case for him. And, how many Becki’s are there in Woodstock…I hope only one.

It is up to the visitor to evaluate whether they are reading an honest account. This is true whether the contributor reveals his/her name or not. It’s simply NOT TRUE that anonymity equates to dishonesty. I think that readers can tell who is off the wall by the way in which the writers express themselves. This is the great advantage of having discourse from both sides of the issue in explicit words and conversation. If you say something stupid you should get slammed…but then you can change your name and start a whole new more intelligent persona and then keep trying until you find your true deserving identity. One contributor used his name and self-esteem at the Café to stir up interest in his referendum in Woodstock to repeal Prop 46. He then spoke openly in favor of its repeal in the Villager. It turned out that this was his ploy to stir up anti-repeal sentiment. Thus, he manipulated the entire Town at its own expense to carry out his strategy. This lesson was worth learning.

Here is another reason why we are anonymous. A few years ago there was a rift in the local Republican Party in an attempt by some to change the constitution of leadership in this long ruling party. Those that tried to take over the leadership of the party ended up with physical threats to their well-being…and the offenders got what they wanted out of this bad situation. The new Republicans retreated to their personal livelihoods and removed themselves from Woodstock politics. I can read their minds even now… “Life is too sweet and I am too committed to my family and profession to sink this low and deal with this harassment.â€? More recently on Election Day last November in Woodstock some citizens experienced harassment at the polling place by one of the candidates. This candidate has contributed articles and comments under his own name at the Café. Does his use of his own name make him more credible? Me thinks not! So as one of our valued contributors suggests, “Namelessâ€? equates with “Blamelessâ€?. Read the rest of this entry »

How did the hearing go today? Well, it was awfully warm and the fans employed to bring relief made it a challenge for everyone to hear the testimony. Being that this was my first hearing of this type, I really had no expectation beyond that there would be other interested citizens like me there to bear witness. Quickly, the only preconceived notion I had was dispelled as I found myself the only one in the gallery not directly connected to the trial … attorneys, clients and witnesses. There wasn’t even any reporter from the Villager there, which was surprising to me. When we read the next article about this litigation in the Villager it will be interesting to assess their objectivity. The hearing started shortly after ten. There was a ten-minute break after eleven and then a lunch recess shortly after noon. The hearing ended about 3:30 and will reconvene tomorrow morning at the Town Hall (it’s cooler there). Read the rest of this entry »

Robert Skelley is Craig and Susan Powers’ attorney

I would like to ask all of the commentators to step back, just for one moment, and realize that they have now become part of a larger argument that is pulsing in this nation’s schools. I would like you to step back and realize that your debate, with a myriad of opinions on both sides of the issue, focuses on primarily the fiscal cost of providing equalized education to all students. I agree with the commentator who stated that parents are not entitled to the “bestâ€? education for their children, but I would argue that the use of the term “minimalâ€? education is not appropriate nor does it meet the standards of the law, either. And, just for the heck of it, has anyone considered the purpose of this law? (IDEA 2004, as it is commonly known) It is not intended to deprive “normalâ€? (for whatever that really stands for) students of any part of their education; it is not intended to provide “moreâ€? of a normal education to those who are educationally disabled. It is intended to provide a level playing field for everyone. Not more for some, nor less for others; just level. Unfortunately level can sometimes be very expensive… or, in the alternative, it requires creativity and committment to assuring that everyone has the same chance to succeed. Please note that I said chance… not guarantee.. to succeed. Once one has the chance, it is up to one’s abilities to make use of that chance. In most instances school departments opt to minimize the cost of leveling the playing field by controlling who gets what. Sounds very businesslike, and in many instances, very appropriate. But sometimes there becomes such a demand to contain cost that the business of education becomes the business of denial. Federal law requires that every single child that has a learning disability be provided with an individual education plan that hones in on providing that child what is needed to level the field. Sometimes it is simple to do, other times it is very difficult to do. And yes, sometimes it gets very expensive. And yes, it is important to control costs when they can be controlled, to try to limit just how expensive education can be, and to try to make it all as affordable as possible to all of us. That requires vigilance on both sides of the issue. The schools must find and treat earlier and with greater creativity in programmatic solutions; and parents must pay attention to their children and the school system. Even if their child does not have a disability, because the value of every child is one that we all benefit from and have responsibility for. This case, as in most cases, will have those who support the position of the parents and those who support the position of the school. Some will be stuck in the middle. But the dialog is so incredibly valuable. This is a big issue for Woodstock and every single town in the country. It is important for each parent and for each child; and it must not be left to fester for fear of raising hackles or bruising egos. I don’t believe the Town of Woodstock had evil people as guardians of education; I don’t believe that there are evil parents out there simply trying to scam money out of the education coffers. I believe there are reasoned people, each with a perspective, that should be able to remember that this is about a child who needs his community to remember and respect him as an equal with all of the other members of the community. The facts will speak for themselves, the result will be either welcomed or berated, for that is the course of a democratic society; but please keep in mind that there is a young boy who is counting on the school, his parents and the law to do what is right and just so he too can share in the benefits of that democracy. Read the rest of this entry »