Woodstock CT Café

“There’s a hole in the bucket dear Liza, dear Liza! There’s a hole in the bucket dear Liza, my dear! Then fix it dear Henry, dear Henry! Then fix it dear Henry, my dear!…” (referring to lost emails sent to an unused email address, Admin)

Below are emailed correspondences between several Woodstock CPS citizens in 2004. The names have been changed to protect the innocent or guilty (depending on your persuasion).

October 2004
Dear Henry, At about the time our original 13 states adopted their new constitution, in the year 1787, Alexander Tyler (a Scottish history professor at The University of Edinborough) had this to say about “The Fall of The Athenian Republic” some 2,000 years prior.

“A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.”

“The average age of the worlds greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence: From Bondage to spiritual faith; From spiritual faith to great courage; From courage to liberty; From liberty to abundance; From abundance to complacency; From complacency to apathy; From apathy to dependence; From dependence back into bondage” Read the rest of this entry »

Last night when I sat down to watch the evening news I hadn’t intended to sit through President Ford’s entire funeral ceremony. However I was touched by the solemnity of the occasion and the strength and dignity of Mrs. Ford at age of 88 presiding over her husband’s funeral in the rotunda of the Capital. For me, personally, it was a time to recall the importance of having respect for the presidency and respect for leadership wherever it is needed. Bush and Rumsfeld were considerate in their absence and Cheney conducted himself well in delivering an effective eulogy for President Ford (I suspect that this was Cheney’s last important contribution in Washington). As my brain absorbed the historical images, I was alert to the parallels between our situation in these final days of 2006 and the turmoil that existed in our government between 1974 and 1976. During these times political turmoil changed the course of our local and federal history because there was rampant distrust of our leadership. It seems to me that the main lesson of these parallels for the Woodstock today is NOT to repeat the mistakes of the past (as often happens), not that leadership is inherently bad or untrustworthy.

Listening to a recounting of the events of Ford’s career as a Congressman (1949-1974), Vice President (Dec. 1973 to Aug 1974), President (1974 to 1976), and then 30 years as ex-President caused me to revisit my view of the world during those times. In the 1950’s Ford traveled to Viet Nam early in his congressional years, and as an ex-naval officer (in the Pacific theater during World War 2), to be reassured by the French colonial leadership that they had the situation under control. He could not have forgotten this mistaken belief as the French were annihilated on the beaches of South Viet Nam and later in the 1960’s and early 1970’s as we plodded through a failed war originally justified by hysterical fear of Communism. Thus, it was not surprising to hear Ford’s negative opinion of the Iraq War revealed in several interviews posthumously at his wishes. He had developed his opinion based upon learned experience. It seems that our situation in Iraq today closely parallels the situation in Viet Nam in the 1973-74 when “Peace with honor!â€? was the war cry rather than “Stay the course!â€? And, the common thread in all of this in Kissinger who was in attendance at the ceremony, and whose image spans these last 40 years. He was and is an easily offended, touchy advisor whose track record illustrates his need to extend failed and failing wars at the cost of everything else. He has been called “thin-skinnedâ€? because he can’t stand the idea that he was ever wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever been blind-sided by a completely new concept – then dwelled on this concept for months before you began to understand its meaning and impact? This describes what happened nation-wide when President Bush announced that “I’m the decider” (these immortal words were spoken by President Bush on April 20th, 2006). Over the course of the last 8 months the number of hits in Google for this exact phrase has progressively risen to 142,000 as people repeat and try to understand the significance of his statement, including creation of new lyrics for the Beattles’ song ‘I’m a Walrus’ (Koo-Koo-Kachoo!). I have to confess that I have started using this statement in dealing with certain family matters and it seems to get the point across.

In Woodstock some recent concepts seem to parallel the ‘decider’ concept so I thought I would take this opportunity to explore the connection. For example, there was the November incident when a ‘sort of’ anonymous person calling himself “Web Police” emailed the Superintendent of Woodstock schools and members of the BOE to angrily warn them (conceptually) not to use the Café to publish community notices. This warning was in a statement that ended with “This goes for other officials of this two bit town as well.’ A Café writer responded with “Fascism Rears its Ugly Head in Woodstock” an article published on November 18th. One polite response to Web Police was “… there’s a difference between someone anonymously providing a forum/service for others to openly communicate and debate local politics and a pathetic, bullying ignoramus who uses Internet anonymity as a launch pad for personal attacks. My official answer to your question is go pound sand.”

“If you understand why votes are kept anonymous you will understand why anonymous expression of political opinions is vital as well.” Bowman

I was struck, however, by the use of the term “fascism” in this context. So I began trying to understand the definition of fascism a little better. Read the rest of this entry »

‘Questioner’ came back to continue his debate with Bowman about rights of individuals. See today’s comment under “Kudo’s to the Court…”

It’s amazing the changes that have happened over a few short years. The amount of information available to the common person and the ability of that same person to make his voice heard have caused a sea-change in how we live our lives.

I can remember when doing a research paper for school entailed long trips to the library, scouring many different books that may just happen to mention in passing the topic I was interested in. Now I can do much more intensive research on topics that interest me in a few short hours. I many ways I envy the school children of today.

What will it mean for the future credulity of the public at large when most urban legends can be checked in a few seconds as snopes.com? I would like to believe that this availability of knowledge to almost anyone of almost any means will herald an end to general ignorance of the public at large on a whole host of issues. Unfortunately with human nature as it is I question how much of this will come to pass. What are the effects of ignorance and apathy? Snopes.com has been around for many years and is extremely easy to use yet I still get emails relating to one urban legend or another with regularity no matter how many snopes links I send out. Read the rest of this entry »

The wonder of Christmas is a social ritual that has been practiced by humanity since the beginning of our existence. Our current Judeo/Christian expression has its underpinnings in a long history of rituals that brought comfort to many long before organized religion co-opted the tradition.

The true color of Christmas is black, or to be more accurate, darkness. Though I don’t claim to be an expert, there is a great amount of common sense about this time of year, as it may have been perceived an eon ago. In a time when humanity was not capable of much more than tribal organization, the waning length of daylight and the sun’s weakening arch in the sky had to strike fear in our early forefathers. In an effort to appease a ‘higher power’ that may have become disinterested, disappointed or otherwise unhappy with the deeds or accomplishments of our ancestors, they developed any number of celebrations or sacrifices.

Read a recent lecture by Jay Livernois

These different endeavors obviously had their intended affect because shortly after the sun started reaching for a higher zenith as each day passed. Fertility was honored because of its obvious power in prolonging human existence. Kissing under the mistletoe was an attempt to entice the ‘power’ of the plant to continue ‘living’ even when all other plants ‘died’. Evergreen trees were brought inside so their life force could be diffused to the occupants in the home. The shiny balls we hang on our modern trees are simplistic renditions of the (hopefully) returning sun. Read the rest of this entry »

This is an opportunity to build a new kind of community understanding…?

(From Time.com by Lev Grossman, adapted (italics) from the World to Woodstock) — The “Great Man” theory of history is usually attributed to the Scottish philosopher Thomas Carlyle, who wrote that “the history of the world is but the biography of great men.” He believed that it is the few, the powerful and the famous who shape our collective destiny as a species. That theory took a serious beating this year.
To be sure, there are individuals we could blame for the many painful and disturbing things that happened in 2006. The conflict in Iraq only got bloodier and more entrenched. A vicious skirmish erupted between Israel and Lebanon. A war dragged on in Sudan. A tin-pot dictator in North Korea got the bomb, and the president of Iran wants to go nuclear too. Meanwhile nobody fixed global warming, and Sony didn’t make enough PlayStation3s.
But look at 2006 through a different lens and you’ll see another story, one that isn’t about conflict or great men. It’s a story about community and collaboration on a scale never seen before. … It’s about the many wresting power from the few and helping one another for nothing and how that will not only change Woodstock, but also change the way our Town changes.

see a citizen’s view of writing at the Cafe

The tool that makes this possible is the World Wide Web. Not the Web that Tim Berners-Lee hacked together (15 years ago, according to Wikipedia) as a way for scientists to share research. It’s not even the over-hyped dotcom Web of the late 1990s. The new Web, Web 2.0, is a very different thing. It’s a tool for bringing together the small contributions of hundreds to thousands of eastern Connecticut people and making them matter. … it’s really a revolution.
And we at the Café are so ready for it. We’re ready to balance our diet of predigested news with raw feeds from Woodstock, Thompson, Eastford, Pomfret, Brooklyn, other parts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, and even from our distant travelers. You can learn more about how Woodstock functions as a Town from articles and exchanges at the Café than from attending community meetings and reading the Villager.

see “In Woodstockistan…”

Woodstock has and endures its solitary geniuses — its Einsteins, its Edisons, its Seadog, its Karnac, its Randy, its Rocket Scientist, its Paladin, its Cain, its Bowman, its Becki, its Stranded…, its Nameless… , its Meghan; its taxpayer; its Higgins, its Kupiec, its Goldsmith, its Debunker, its Verumi, its Wetzel, its Klusek, its Shultz, and many many more – but some of those lonely dreamers may have to learn to play with others. Read the rest of this entry »

The following portions of this offer in quotes have been transcribed from the Villager.

“The Woodstock Board of Education is committed, statutorily and philosophically, to ensuring a quality education for all Woodstock students, grade K-12. In both our relationship and our contract negotiations with Woodstock Academy, we seek to keep students first, and to support our goal of continuous improvement in student achievement and student success.
The proposal put forth to the Woodstock Academy by the Academy Negotiating Subcommittee of the WBOE achieves the following:
· Closer alignment of interests between the K-8 system and the 9-12 system
· Greater collaboration in academics, programs, and other student interests between the two systems
· Greater collaboration and communication on fiscal matters between the two systems
· Long term program stability and planning ability for the Academy
· Long term financial stability for the Academy
· Strengthened communications by clarifying roles of the sending town representatives, and clarifying the rights and obligations of each system
· Greater participation by the sending towns in major governance and fiscal issues of the Academy
· Recognition of the historical relationship and statutory intent between the Town of Woodstock and the Academy
· Recognition of the responsibility of the WBOE to provide responsible oversight to the Woodstock taxpayers of the $25 million +/- to be spent in this contract over the next 5 yearsâ€? Read the rest of this entry »

Last night at the BOE meeting a letter was read from the ‘thought police’ (e.g. Preston Shultz) requesting copies of ‘communications’ from BOE members (personal emails) to the Cafe (see comment from ‘Barely Legal’). The Cafe has no direct relationship with the BOE and has no idea if BOE members are posting or communicating comments to the Cafe. The only communication to the Cafe from the BOE that we can think of is one that was well publicized in the Villager and in the minutes of a BOE meeting this last fall.

The 8th graders will go to the Academy next year. See article about last night’s BOE decision in the Norwich Bull. WINY reported this morning that the BOE vote was 5 to 4 to end the matter for next year. It’s interesting that the 5 females on the BOE voted YES and the 4 males voted NO.

Ernie Wetzel has reincarnated as a Woodstock Academy Trustee. Wetzel, best known for his tireless, false campaign against the Woodstock Public Schools, is equally extreme in his promotion of Woodstock Academy, where he has found a new home. Why the strange political bedfellows?

Wetzel has long charged the Woodstock Public Schools with nepotism and financial mismanagement. But Wetzel’s tirades against the Woodstock public schools are well known. What is striking is that on examination, Wetzel’s charges are pointed in the wrong direction, as they are all TRUE of Woodstock Academy. Here are just a few of the Academy’s relationships with the town’s boards:

Sandy Rotival – Trustee; Planning/Zoning Commissioner
Tom Stokes – Trustee; spouse of Beth Murphy, Board of Finance
Kevin Johnston – Trustee, brother of Christine Lessig, Board of Education member
Philipa Paquette – Trustee; mother of Kirsten Rigney, Board of Education member
Jim Kaeding – Trustee; spouse of Margie Wholean, First Selectman.

Comparison of employees at the Academy with lists of town board members – and town committee members – would show many additional relationships.

The Academy publicly prides itself on its management. But in reality, Woodstock Academy has expended millions of taxpayer dollars on land, infrastructure and facilities that have failed (septic system) or become inadequate (classrooms/library/athletic fields) only because of the overexpansion of the student population. This overexpansion has created a second generation of major cost requirements for the sending towns – beginning before the last generation was even paid for. Read the rest of this entry »

NEWS FLASH! (11:00 AM Dec. 12th) Our First Selectwoman was featured this morning on WINY’s Call In Talk Show. We are given to understand the reason she doesn’t communicate with this site is because of its anonymous nature. The radio talk show format is anonymous as well. What about it Margaret? How about interacting with our readership?

Recently, the secret society known to a few as the Citizens for Over-Spending and Taxation (COST) with about 200 members, was exposed by a series of Pewlitzer Prize winning articles and comments posted at the Café. For decades the CPSers have been warning the Town about tax and spenders and now we know what they have been talking about. Once again the Café has scooped the Villager in reporting this landmark story. The leaders of COST have now been forced to come forward with their platform for the 2008 fiscal year. In a month or two, we are told, COST will step forward with their candidates for the coming election next November.

Quite by accident (literally), a draft of the actual budget for the COST platform and program was discovered left on the Java Jive restroom floor by a Café reporter who recognized one of the leaders of COST exiting the bathroom with a rather relieved look on her face. Clearly the ambiance of relief had left the COST leader in an Alzheimer’s moment. COST leaders are easy to spot because the males rarely appear in public in anything other than tweed three-piece suits with pocket watches and top hats, and the females generally wear blue or red pant suits or skirt suits and are stylishly adorned with jewelry, fancy purses, and chic hair styles.

The COST platform includes raises for all, and a fully funded Town web site, animal control program, K-8 sports, new cars for official Town business, Town planning, a ‘shitter’, new well, lounge and kitchen for the Highway Facility and crew, more systemic Dial-a-Ride service, weekly removal of road-side trash, stipends for members of the BOF and BOE, three shiny new school buses (not from the Philippines), a full-time Town policeman, a new soccer field, remediation and replacement of the salt facility, a national advertising program to recruit new residents to raise the grand list, funds for lawyering and litigation over Prop 46 and PA 490, cable-televised Town meetings, creation of restricted funds for fixed assets, purchasing of property, and the funding of a new high school. In addition, COST will continue to fund the basic Town operating and education services that we have all become so accustom to.

COST officials suggest that those who wish to support the COST Party wire their donations to Swiss Bank account # 06281.

Jennica Heifer, Ace Reporter for the Café (former Villager reporter)

COST budget for 2008 fiscal year: Read the rest of this entry »

I agree with all of the article “The Scandal in Woodstock” (by Becki Leavitt), except for the sentence:

“The cost of continuing to pretend Prop 46 works is on the verge of bankrupting us financially. It has already bankrupted us morally.”

The needed items for this town should be done (approved). Now the question remains, “How ?”

What I have noticed in my 47 years as a town resident is there will be always two extremist groups in town , the tax and spend group and the no tax and no spend group.

Only the names change every decade.

Yes! I was around in 1979 when the original vote was taken back then. It was called Prop 23. I did vote in the affirmative for it as did others.
Is it still a viable law? Yes!
It controls one extremist element.
Are other funding options needed to address the other problems in town? Yes!

At the time the extreme group in control was the tax and spend group. It was exactly the same as it is now… two sides exchanging misinformation. It was a volatile time. Some things never change.

Enough history. Now how to make the financing happen. First, I think the Bonding issue was a step in finding a solution to keeping the towns both “extremist idelogies” true. I did not vote. I really don’t care… to be honest. This town does not have many options for (raising) extra money for the needed Capital Expenses that are part of the infrastructure.

Without the Capital improvements we are digging a deeper hole that will lead us to someday being another Waterbury where the State will bring in the “Big Guns” to lead us out of bankruptcy. It won’t be pretty. But at the same time the leadership of this town has to change, not the names but the “thought process”.

With the majority of the Grand List being directed to BOE that does not leave a lot left over for the other things in town.
What to do?????

My opinions as I see them.
1. There are some people in town that I know personally have become very wealthy from the resources that this town has provided. Whether it be land, people, or experience. Why not donate some equipment, materials or money back to the town?

2. Bake sales? How corney?

3. Repeal 46? Ain’t gonna happen.

4. How about a two or three year moratorium on Prop 46?
This would allow the necessary time to get enough cash to pay the necessary bills? Keeps both sides happy. Could both sides agree to that?

5. How about saving the cash that would have been spent financing the bond and put it aside until we have enough cash to buy the items?

These are a few options as I see them.
BTW, I don’t hide behind a dumb screen name.

Until somebody steps up to the plate and funds televised meetings where you can see the ineptitude of some of the people of the various boards and the reporting isn’t done exclusively in the print media, folks will never be able to make a informed decision. The message will never get out, no matter how many committees you have for input. Remember the old adage “A picture is worth a thousand words.”
And if the elected officials are that (far) out of touch with the pulse of the people that they need a committee to inform them, they aren’t getting around enough or (they are) stuck with their heads you know where – at the next vote, (it is) time to remove them. (This paragraph was added to this article from a comment posted by Jeff under the “…Victory Over Extremists” article. Admin)

Jeff Kupiec

The Iraq Study Group has done to the Bush administration and the Congress (who gave their vote of approval for the war) what is now also needed in Woodstock. Our Town is in the midst of crisis stemming from mismanagement of our infrastructure and a nearly complete void in dissemination of information resulting in a collective misunderstanding of Town affairs by a majority of the electorate. The recent articles on the Town Highway Facility, management of “animal control�, the salt barn fiasco, attempts at Pulpit Rock over development, and the recent failed referendum have exposed the pervasive degree to which our Town Hall and its municipal Boards have either been incompetent, ineffective, or rendered helpless.

When the electorate is uniformed then it becomes easy for fringe organizations like the CPS rabble to persuade the suspicious electorate to their point of view with repeated dissemination of disinformation. After all, we are a Town with no functional web site whose officials make no attempt to communicate the key issues at hand to the electorate. To overcome this problem authors at the Café began proposing the use of an independent ad hoc committee or a commission to advise the Town officials and the electorate on how to address our municipal difficulties (see “To the Board of Educationâ€? published at the Café on March 21st and then see “Citizen Asks for an Independent Commission, published at the Caféâ€? on May 16th). Please note that both proposals emphasized that the individuals selected to form such a commission should be from outside of the municipal office holders and Board members that have participated in bringing the Town into its current state of affairs. Indeed, a recent commenter (Nameless Blameless) pointed out “If (they) had great ideas, (they) would have already offered them.” The reason commission members should be composed of “independent” individuals is so that their voice will not be perceived as representing a political bias in the community and their opinions will be respected by a majority of the electorate (republican, democrate, independent, and others). Unfortunately, in formation of the currently active MFATF committee, our current First Selectman ignored this important feature in forming her committee (that includes 2 former selectmen, former municipal board members, a party chairman, and a spouse of a building contractor) and then even failed to consult with this committee on important financial matters such as the structuring and efficacy of the most recent referendum.

A year from now Woodstock will elect new Selectmen and members to important municipal boards. I would like to see candidates that embrace the idea of having truly independent commissions available for consultation (advice and consent) on any or all municipal matters to aid these leaders with alternative perspectives and understanding of the complex issues. In this context I took the liberty of copying the May 16th article cited above into this statement for the Café readers (the citizen author of this article remains unknown). The statement below is as valid today as it was in May. Read the rest of this entry »

“We are the scandal!”

I just went up to the Town Highway Garage to talk to Dwight, the foreman. I wanted to go to the source to get some insight about the salt shed controversy. Well, it’s not really a controversy because I think just about everyone agrees that the salt shed needs to be replaced. Yes, there is now a blue tarp that has been hung across the opening of the salt shed. It was constructed to protect the salt from precipitation. So, one might call it a cover-up, but certainly not in a brewing scandal kind of way!

I learned that not only has the Bennett’s deep-water well supply been contaminated, but so has the well at the Highway Facility. The salinity level at the Facility is even higher than the Bennett’s and approaches the salt content of sea water. Our town road-crew has to drink bottled water too and the wear and tear on their skin from repeated hand washing with salt water, especially in the cold weather, raises issues. The wells from County Road through the three Bennett home sites have all been tested and are monitored. The Bennett farm deep-water well, the deep-water well at the garage, and another well nearby are showing contamination. The nearby well (I believe this home is across the street from the garage), while showing salt content has not surpassed restaurant standards. The Bennett’s shallow well is showing some signs of increased salinity as well. My understanding is that there is no danger to the swamp or Taylor’s Brook.

I did clarify that this contamination is through the aquifer and not from road run-off. This means refraining from salting the nearby road would not be a solution. Since the aquifer is contaminated, engineers will need to drill several test wells to find a new water source in a different aquifer. There is surface contamination of several different chemicals but the clay soil at the town garage isn’t letting it spread (finally, I’ve heard of a good facet of clay soil!). Read the rest of this entry »

see the NEWS FLASH below.

The Towns of Tolland, Mansfield, and Coventry all have a Council-Manager form of government. Seven to 9 Town Council members are elected biennially. This council is the legislative/policy making body. The Council provides the oversight and leadership (what a novel concept) required to establish policies that guide the direction of the town in the most cost effective manner. The Council in Mansfield has 3 standing committees; Committee on Committees, Finance, and Personnel. Ad hoc committees are also appointed as needed and report to the council. It seems to me that inter-committee communication, which is sorely lacking in Woodstock, would be greatly facilitated in this model. The Town manager is appointed by the town council to serve as CEO of the town as well as serving as the Director of Public Safety, the Personnel Officer, and the legal Traffic Authority (wow!) The Town manager attends all Council meetings and has a right to full participation except for the right to vote (power to the people! ). Read the rest of this entry »

NEWS FLASH! (7:30 AM Dec. 6th) There is now a large bright blue tarp hanging over the front of the white salt compartment of the salt barn obscuring its contents… is this not a COVER UP?

Read the plight of another farm contaminated with road salt. Also, see the citation in the comments on ferrocyanide anti-caking agents.

When does the seven years of bad luck begin?

Today, Sunday (Dec. 3rd), I took a guided tour of the neighborhood of the Town Highway Facility where the infamous salt barn sits. The purpose of this excursion was to actually witness the site of salt-seepage first-hand. We took the scenic route over Pulpit Rock Road past Loftus’ house, then past Ken Rapoport’s property at the top of the hill, then past Sheldon’s illegal rock wall (“cease & desist�), then down the hill to Taylor’s Corner, over Taylor’s Creek, and onto Route 171. About a half-mile from the apex of Pulpit Road Hill (Ken’s place), we took a right onto Coatney Hill Road that tends to curve to the right overlooking a marsh between Pulpit Rock Hill and the Bennett properties. You can’t see Ken’s house through the woods on the hill but you can figure out its location because there’s a cluster of tall pine trees at the top of Pulpit Rock Hill that probably mark Ken’s property. As we passed the Bennett farm on the right of the road, we had driven in what seemed to be a semi-circle around the Pulpit Rock summit so that we remained at a distance of probably three-quarters of a mile as the crow flies from the top of Pulpit Rock Hill.

As I had salt and corrosion on my mind, I wondered if salt water could flow from the Bennett farm down into the marsh and then find its way into Ken’s vernal pools and Taylor Creek. Next to the Bennett farm is the Town Highway Facility.

As we drove in I was greeted by seven trucks parked neatly in a row, all with shiny orange paint jobs. I learned that these trucks are routinely pressure sprayed clean after they are used to ‘preserve’ them. These trucks were lined up in parallel with the fronts of the trucks hanging out into the open from under a rickety porous garage with eight parking places. The appearance of this facility reminded me of Appalachia. When I drove around this ‘garage’ facility that was open on three sides I noticed corrosion on the side of the dump-body of the truck that was closest to me. Read the rest of this entry »

Watching the referenda come and go and listening to people complain about them has raised the question in my mind as to whether the leadership of the town has any idea how to conduct a referendum. To have such an important referendum as the proposition on Tuesday fail with only a 20% turnout of which only 1/3 of the voters where in favor, seems to me unthinkable. The worst part of this is that a small minority of citizens who have been attacking the town of Woodstock for years perceive this defeat as their victory and a validation of their position against the school system and sensible services that the town must provide. You don’t have to be a political guru to know that it is easier to kill a proposition than it is to pass one… especially if it involves taxpayers money.

In reading commentary on many issues both at the Café and in the Villager for the past year, I am very aware that doubts have been raised about the performances of elected officials and their motivations in Town. The organization known as ‘Citizens for Prudent Spending’ has attempted to scuttle referenda by exploiting these doubts. However, I give the voters of Woodstock much more credit for their positions on these referenda than to just suggest that they have been persuaded by CPS rhetoric. The fact of the matter is that this last referendum was poorly structured and amateurishly presented to the voters such that “doubtâ€? won this referendum. The winning votes came from the vast majority of abstainers supplemented with a lower percentage the NO voters. I believe that the level of influence of the CPS organization in Town IS A MYTH. In my best estimation, the CPS organization numbers no more that 300 and probably much less than that when it comes to active goose-stepping members. Read the rest of this entry »