Woodstock CT Café

Bowman’s comment below “…since the Academy is ostensibly an independent contractor for the town wouldn’t it be unethical for Ms. Wholean’s to accept a trip anywhere from them? That would seem like a huge conflict of interest to me. Now I’m really interested in who paid for the trip.

I probably just am ignorant of what the facts of the situation but here are the ethics guidelines for the state of CT. Granted this is for state employees but I think we should demand that our town officials act with the same level of decorum. Look under the section Gifts for Regulated Donors (Individuals or entities doing business with your state department or agency).

http://www.ct.gov/ethics/lib/ethics/public_officials_guide_final.pdf

From an ethics point of view it would be much better if the town had paid for it if it is a legitimate town interest. The Academy paying for it has the outward appearance of a conflict of interest.”

This is MY House: Part I

I read with disgust the front-page article in the Villager (June 15th) about the Woodstock Registrars not being paid for 60 hours ($900) they billed the Selectmen’s office… which was actually for 120 hours overtime. Elizabeth Brooks and Suzanne Woodward put in this overtime in maintaining the Town’s voter list which involved contacting >4000 registered voters. The Villager article was accompanied by a picture of our three Selectman, D. Mitchell Eaffy, Delpha Very, and First Selectman Margaret Wholean, who purportedly “trudged through a long list of items� at the June 7th BOS meeting.

Eaffy dismissed the request of Brooks and Woodward by saying “I appreciate what you are saying, but this is part of your job.â€? So I guess he didn’t REALLY appreciate what Elizabeth and Suzanne were saying (‘he lied’). Then Eaffy sort of contradicted himself by stating “This is not a volunteer position.â€? The picture of Eaffy and Wholean’s glazed stares into the audience (Delpha’s eyes were shut) prompted me to do a little math on the cost of the Selectmen’s office. Read the rest of this entry »

ConnCan revised some of this data after this article was published although the results are very similar.

ConnCan is a non-profit organization devoted to helping the schools of Connecticut achieve the goal of the law “No Child Left Behind.� One of the services that ConnCan provides is a ranking of all public schools in terms of their status in reaching the goal of this law, as well as a measure of year-to-year progress (gains) in reaching the goal of this law. For the year ending in 2006, the New Canaan public school system was ranked first in achieving the goal of NCLB with 92% students having achieved this goal at the Middle School level. New Canaan was closely followed by Darien, Westport, Sherman, Wilton, Redding, Willington, Simsbury, Ridgefield, and Litchfield – all southwestern Connecticut systems except for Willington.

With all of the attacks on the Woodstock public school system coming from representatives of the Woodstock Academy, CPS, and the so-called “coalition.org�, I was curious to learn how ConnCan ranks the Woodstock public school system among the 169 towns of Connecticut. The Academy does not disclose information to the State or ConnCan because of it’s ‘private’ status.

The Woodstock preK-8 system is ranked 24th in the state in terms of its overall performance. ConnCan provides a simple grade (A down to F) for the performance of each school in Connecticut. Woodstock received an A- for students within goal at the Middle School with 85% (62% state average) of its students within goal for the 2005-2006 school year (12nd out of 134 middle schools for which information was available). Woodstock also received an A- for gains from the preceding school year because achievement of goal rose by 7% (10th out of 134). Read the rest of this entry »

This was in the Citizen Register on January 19, 2007.

“The Gilbert School Superintendent David Cressy, Gilbert Corporation Chairman Steve Sedlack and corporation member Mark Svonkin represented Gilbert in the negotiations. Winchester Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno, Winchester Board of Education Chairman Rose P. Molinelli, board members Ray Pavlak and Richard Dutton, and board attorney Mark Sommaruga negotiated for the town school district.”…

“Gilbert attorney Donald W. Strickland proposed a five-year contract to town representatives patterned after the current contract, except for several key factors.

Gilbert would allow the town to bring the quasi-private school to binding arbitration every year of the contract, if necessary.
“You can go after us every single year,” Strickland said.
Other changes, which were discussed outside of executive session, had to do with setting tuition for all students. The board has been pushing for a more accurate way of counting students to assure that the town is not paying for students who do not end up going to the school (see the “Academy Shell Game” link on the right).
The submission was made based on the belief by Gilbert representatives that dissatisfaction with Gilbert’s tuition and staff costs was the driving force behind the negotiations, which have been ongoing for the past few months. Read the rest of this entry »

“Web anonymity is not about hiding, it’s consumer protection and it’s about being smart.” Anonymous

Rapose, Rosendahl and Higgins were extremely aggressive in their solicitation of signatures outside the polling exit at town hall on June 5th. They challenged a number of those they solicited who passed on signing the petition to explain their refusal, as if remaining silent or declining to sign was somehow illegal. The solicitors’ conduct can easily be viewed to have resulted in a coerced outcome rendering many of the signatures as given under duress and thus invalid. If this petition is presented to the Board of Education, it should be dismissed out of hand as being defective, in that many signatories later complained to have feared being branded as anti-Academy if they refused to sign. That is not a label that many parents wish to risk being tainted with, as the retaliation against the children of parents so labeled is quite well reknown in the Woodstock community. The arrogance of the solicitors of this petition is reprehensible; matched only by that of the Academy Board of Trustees and First Selectman Margaret Wholean. The BOE needs to look beyond the scare tactics of Rapose and Rosendahl and continue their objective consideration of the 9th grade proposal. Comment by ‘Freedom of Thought Chilled’

In 2005 a substantial subset of the population demanded a more thorough investigation of the Board of Ed’s ‘Ninth Grade Proposal’ and that is exactly what we are getting now with the BOE’s current Feasibility Study. Some circulators of the current petition signed the 2005 petition. Perhaps they forgot the BOE was asked to do a better, more in-depth investigation. Oh, how quickly we forget!

The ‘Ninth Grade Proposal’ was unveiled back in the spring of 2005 right in the middle of the budget season in a rather dramatic fashion. I remember sitting, stunned, in the audience as Dr. Baran revealed a complex and nearly comprehensive laundry list of calculations and configurations that could save the district in the neighborhood of $500,000. While the proposal seemed as though it might provide some economic relief, it was obvious from the flabbergasted reaction of the citizens in attendance that this proposal left many unanswered questions. Read the rest of this entry »

The passage of the budget referendum by 133 votes seemed more satisfying this year than the outcome of last year’s budget referendum. Few people probably remember that last year’s vote was 920 YES and 200 NO. Passage of the budget last year by such a wide margin (82% in favor) was probably because the electorate was worn out by the two Prop 46 referendums that preceded the budget vote. Most voters probably felt that Prop 46 had done its job. This year there was the emerging indication that Prop 46 was not enough for the CPS contingent and this was coupled with the usual skepticism surrounding the preK -8th grade education budget.

This skepticism among voters has been largely fostered over the last 14 months by a small group of fomenting naysayers that behave more like anarchists, e.g. the CPS/coalition contingent with their lawsuits, FOI requests, and disinformation. This group may seem larger than it actually is due to their aggressive propagandist approach to the dissemination of inaccurate accusations supported by bogus factoids in the weekly Villager and Shoppers’ Guide and their apparent strategic alignment with the Woodstock Academy Board of Trustees. We estimate that there are probably no more than 50 residents of Woodstock that could be placed in this category. Yet the verbal ear-bashing and visible noise that these people make will sway voters that are naive or just plain uninformed.

We understand the voters’ perceived need to maintain Prop 46 and see no need to pursue that issue especially in light of the passage of an adequate budget last week. In spite of the ridiculous claim by some with a negative agenda that Woodstock is an embarrassment to the surrounding communities because of political fighting, Woodstock has never had the problems in passing budgets experienced by Thompson, Putnam, Brooklyn, and towns further south, and perhaps some of the credit should go to Prop 46 and the debate surrounding its efficacy. Read the rest of this entry »

I went to the “Town of Woodstock official website” to see how they posted the results of the referendum. The Cafe had posted the results at 8:20 PM Tuesday night front-and-center on the home page to satisfy a flurry of visitors looking for the vote. There was no mention of the referendum on the front page of the Town site. I had to dig into the news’ to find the results. Also, on the First Selectman’s page the only entry was one about Ms. Wholean’s trip to Goree Island with the Academy (fascinating, but who paid?). The annual budget referendum is a uniquely important event for Woodstock … so you’d think that the First Selectman would arrange to have the results on the front page.

Then I began to think about who was behind this website. Of course, there’s no secret that it’s Mr. Rosendahl who is also behind that other website that we call CPSacademy dot com. Mr. Rosendahl is also famous for video-taping members of the BOE during their meetings and posting selective video snippets at his other site (why not the Town site?). Also, Mr. Rosendahl placed himself on sacred ground under a canopy within 20 feet of the exit door of the polls yesterday (June 5th, REFERENDUM DAY) to entice or to bother voters (see Chuckles and Bowman’s comments under Bowman’s article) to sign an anti-BOE petition … not a Town Hall function. Ms. Wholean has clearly aligned herself with Rosendahl by co-authoring and helping to get signatures for that petition, and entertaining his presence within the Town Hall building and on Town Hall grounds. The relationship goes further in that Rosendahl is the main architect of the new “official Town Website” a year and a half in the making. Read the rest of this entry »

REFERENDUM DAY results: YES …693 : Vulgarians …560 . The budget passes!
133 more people voted this year compared to last year’s budget referendum which is exactly the margin by which the budget passed.

The beginning of the solution is to create reasonable discussion via the internet – and this forum seems okay. Rather than coordinating schedules for coffee…the internet provides the opportunity to continue a conversation over a period of time which is convenient to both parties. Sure it will be somewhat slow, open to misinterpretation and even at time somewhat uncivil- but that is democracy…but if it is properly utilized…the merit of the best ideas will surface. We should encourage other board members to communicate openly through this forum…it is significantly better than the traditional town meeting…if indeed we had our elected officials present at this site.

It is difficult to “hide� on the internet. Where is our representative Mike Alberts? Wholean, Very, Eaffy? Members of the board of finance? PZC? IWWA? Other members of the BOE? Don’t we have a democracy? These folks often hide behind the guise of “legal� ramifications of their comments on currently active issues- this is fundamentally wrong within a democracy. I don’t have time for coffee, dislike waiting hours at a board meeting to communicate…only to be cut off…or in some cases – actually been stopped from presenting my ideas. Want participation….use the tools that currently exist on an open forum like the internet.

FYI- for those following the Pulpit Rock Road fiasco- some neighbors & I were finally able to purchase the Douglas property Read the rest of this entry »

The last two days have been very busy for the Cafe with over 300 unique visitors and >800 page turns each day

Taxpayer,
While I don’t agree with you, I believe I understand your reasoning. You are certainly right in that putting more control over the Academy tuition process in the hands of the sending towns could result in the Academy being likewise constrained and harmed. But where we disagree is if this is a bad thing.

We both think that Prop 46′s budgetary constraints are hurting the town, we don’t agree on the best way to change public opinion to correct it. It seems to me that everyone loves their vaunted Academy. Maybe if it had to feel the same effects of Prop 46 as the K-8 the citizens would finally stand up and take notice of what it is doing to the town. Maybe then it could be changed and both be “saved”. Maybe a somewhat riskier strategy than others as Prop 46 could remain unchanged and they both be hurt. I’ve found that I generally have a higher tolerance for risk than most people so this doesn’t bother me as I see the chance for success to be much higher than the other options I have been considering. Read the rest of this entry »

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE ON TUESDAY ON BUDGET ‘REFERENDUM DAY’.
Please note that the Villager never bothered to inform the voters that there would be a referendum today. Probably intentional.

Long held with blind loyalty and unquestioned respect, a dearly held and time-honored piece of our history is about to be retired. Actually this valiant, thoroughly misunderstood, completely misinterpreted and most inadequately crafted tool that has enjoyed almost maniacal support through the years is about to be discarded, unceremoniously dumped, jettisoned, cast off, and abandoned with complete disregard by some of its most ardent champions. Dare I speak its name? Only in whispered tones can I tell you of what I speak.

It is Proposition 46 (or 36 if you read the Village Idiot).

All these years we have been lead to believe it has been the Evil Proposition 46 that has been castrating the adequate and sane funding of our small little hamlet. It has been the Evil Proposition 46 that has so constricted our budget that even a coat of paint is billed as an indulgence beyond consideration. It has been the Evil Proposition 46 that has compelled our knowing and deleterious disregard for the safety and health of our citizens and the working environment of our road crew. It has been the Evil Proposition 46 that has so fractured our townspeople, creating a rift that has been near impossible to reconcile. Read the rest of this entry »

It is clear that if the budget referendum fails on June 5, the Board of Finance will direct the Board of Education to cut it’s budget further. It is now clear that the Board of Education’s hands are tied regarding the purchasing of buses. Leasing buses will not accomplish any reduction in education spending due to Board of Finance directives relying upon their new attorney, Mr. Richardson. The Board of Finance has ordered the Board of Education to buy two buses. So, if the NO votes exceed the YES votes at Town Hall on June 5, the Board of Education will have to cut teaching positions, unless they can find a way to recyle pencils and chalk. They’re already using twenty year old textbooks and photocopying other books so there is no spending there to reduce. Maybe the Board of Education could get state approval to just send kids to school for half days for awhile, that would save some money wouldn’t it? Depending upon the severity of additional cuts, one could see the Board of Education revisiting the controversial Grade 9 proposal for next year in order to come within the Proposition 46 limit. Under Propostion 46 oppression, all options to reduce spending, including reducing total Academy tuition, become viable. If the Board of Education sought legal assistance to counter Proposition 46, could anyone really blame them given the nonsensical budgeting strangehold they’ve been trying to live within over recent years? Dr. Lee Wesler has hit the nail on the head.

Dave Hosmer will not take out an ad for at least two reasons. The last time he did advertise his opinion supporting the capital financing/bonding referendum, it was resoundingly defeated, much like he was beaten in his last run to be elected to the Board of Finance. (He ended up being appointed instead of the real winner, Joseph Breen). So, no one really cares what he says or wants. The second reason is that Hosmer would like nothing better than for the budget referendum to be defeated so that he can cut the education budget even further.

The Board of Finance has not advocated for passage of the budget referendum because Shirley Rapose, Russ Dowd and Richard Wisniewski, in addition to Hosmer, would also prefer that the budget fail so that they can cut it some more. Read the rest of this entry »