Woodstock CT Café

As you may have heard, Verizon is proposing to construct a 150 ft tower in West Woodstock near Black Pond. I’m trying to bring this to everyone’s attention as I think the tower placement is poor and near too many homes plus it’s just not needed.

I’ve created a website to try and garner support against the proposal so the town and sitting council understands how some of us feel.

www.nocelltowerinwoodstock.com

Thank You,
Randy Esposito

A Small 100-Foot Cell Tower

If we can get good results while spending less than most other towns, I’d say this urgency by the “spender bees” to increase taxes proves that Ernie Wetzel is correct. It also proves that most of the voters in town agree with Ernie and CPS. The silent majority is still there, Chuckles. They ain’t going away and they’re not sleeping, either. I wonder, Chuckles, if you make your living in some aspect of the real estate industry

As I’ve said before, there are many who feel that we have to spend more on our educational system simply because it would create the illusion that Woodstock is an “uppity’ place and, therefore, a place where property values remain high. I’ve heard a number of people express that sentiment over the years. Included in that group is a prominent member on the BOE, a current member and a former member of the PZC, among others. These are people who really don’t give a damn about the educational system in town; if they do, it’s a secondary concern. They care more about the investment in their property turning over the required cash for a cushy retirement when the time comes. Funding the educational system to the max- and then some- is just a convenient way to assure the image of Woodstock remains favorable in the eyes of potential McMansion builders which, in turn, keeps property values high. Of course, those involved with promoting real estate sales and development go hand in hand with the investors. They all present a very strong lobby, especially when the governing boards (especially Wetlands and PZC) are filthy with their presence. Read the rest of this entry »

Meghan Says:

Ernie, Just what was it that being designated an ex-officio got you? As I remember it ,nothing! You only further dug yourself into the ‘ I’m against everyone and everything’ trench that you continue to reside in.
Claiming that anyone made a statement about taking over the Academy is easy, you hear it at any meeting regarding the BOE / BOT talks, you hear it at the annual budget meetings. We’ve heard it around town for the past 20+ years that we’ve been involved through our children. This isn’t a “new” idea and it certainly can’t be attributed to any one person. You also would like the people that don’t know to believe that Mrs. Rich was on the BOE at one time or another. You know that’s not true, she has never been on the BOE. That just happens to be another point that you never were able to win.
For those that aren’t aware, when Ernie was First Selectman he tried to have the elected positions of Treasurer and Tax Collector made appointed. Why? Because he (First Selectman) had no ability to manipulate or control elected officials and they (Rich / Garceau) wouldn’t dance to his tune. What was his tune? To get into the books and see how much was actually available? It just so happens that it’s the exact same tune that Margie is attempting to play now. Gee, I wonder how that could happen and why? (Pssst, hint: ACADEMY) As with almost everything being driven, to the Academy for the Academy, by the First Selectman / Headmaster position it only brings up more questions. I’m not sure we will get the correct answers though. We probably will get answers but from an extremely slanted perspective.

Wetzel Says:

Talking with Joe Breen and Barbara Rich on this website is just so enjoyable. Read the rest of this entry »

See “Woodstock Academy Football Gets Started” – a retrospective article in the Key Smile Article section.

For other articles by John Leavitt relating to high school education, see “My Son’s Vallydictorian Speech” and “Friday Night Lights” located in the Key Smile Article Section.

When I look at the 4 candidates for First Selectman I can easily conclude that I am the only pro-education candidate.

• I believe that investment in the education of our 1900 children (school age and younger children) is an investment in their future well-being;
• Ultimately this investment is an investment in the well-being of our community;
• I believe that our teachers and mentors (K-12) have significant beneficial impacts on the children of Woodstock just as they did for me;
• This being said, fiscal responsibility and transparency are absolutely essential to earning respect for the education system from the residents of Woodstock;
• Regarding the Academy, I strongly support the position that sending towns should have better representation on the WA Board of Trustees (representation through the school boards, not handpicked residents by the Academy);
• Better representation will help to create a better partnership between the Academy and the sending towns; and
• This improved partnership between the Academy and sending Towns, rather than the current adversary relationship, will ultimately benefit and strengthen the Academy both in fund-raising and scholarship.

John Leavitt Read the rest of this entry »

The article “It gets Worse” has been moved to the right entitled “JL on Arbitrary Pay Raises for the Town Hall Leadership.”

Thompson budget passes 693-634 on the forth attempt, without the Town Trooper in the budget. A petition is circulating to bring back the trooper.

So technically WPS doesn’t meet the 20 student sub-population within one school building threshold of the federal mandate. The meaning of this federal mandate is unclear and there is an effort to clarify it, but as it stands, nobody is entirely clear about it. What is clear is that all the students MUST be tested and, by the second year, their testing results do count. We must assume therefore that at best each of those ‘17’ (not quite 20 and certainly not all from the same native language) will be required to test in all subjects this year and their results WILL count.

So, from one perspective it can be said that this $11,000 (.07% of the BOE budget) for ELL (English Language Learners) is not mandated. However, the NCLB requirements are another threshold that we don’t want to cross either. So, from another perspective, the ELL position could be very helpful in staving off being classified as a district that fails to progress.

These conversations can be helpful in trying to understand how many different aspects are involved in considering the parameters of providing for our children’s education or playing over every possible scenario of the impact of any detail. But, I don’t think anyone fully understands the full breadth of what is entailed. Read the rest of this entry »

See article in the Norwich Bull by Dustin Racioppi on Ms. Wholean’s decision to primary for the First Selectman’s office. I was contacted by Dustin mid-day on Tuesday and left with the impression (from talking to Dustin) that the article was to be focused on Joe Breen and the flight of DTC members. The article was clearly planted by a faction backing Ms. Wholean that wished to present only their side. – John Leavitt

Your response to The Cheese’s post is another example of the double standard that you apply to your postings here. You claim that he is drunk (are you going to hide behind the excuse that you attempted humor with the “whine” remark?) When you perceive you’ve been called a name or view an attack on your argument that has merit, you resort to name calling. Quite understandable from one who has admitted to paranoia. Boy are you sensitive … make sure you stay on your meds.

The first and fifh sentences of Cheese’s post are consistent as to your failure to admit the dual role of the BOE. What is clear in you numerous postings here is that you believe BOE’s obligation to the state in its dual role is subordinate to its obligation to the locality. Your belief is contrary to law.

It’s quite reasonable for Cheese to make the statement in his 8th sentence you quoted because Stranded made the following statements in his article: “bear in mind that these percentages are calculated against an ever growing allocation, so that the real dollars continue to soar” and “the BOT are embarassing themselves with this shameful campaign of bullying the BOE into agreeing to a contract that is clearly at the expense of the K-8 system” and “I for one applaud the BOE for its tireless efforts to search through every legal nook and cranny and under every rock (especially those that the CPS crowd seem to slither under), to find an equitable solution to our current educational funding crisis.” Apparently you didn’t read Stranded’s article or you could see how Cheese’s view of Stranded’s belief is fair. Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you that are interested in having access to the Special Acts and Ordinances of the Town of Woodstock, they can be found on the town website (http://www.woodstockct.gov/) under Offices/Depts tab, select the Town Clerk page, then select ‘Forms’. You can download either a word document or a PDF document. In the PDF form the document is 95 pages. Our thanks to Bet Zimmerman (and the rest of the website committee) for their efforts in making our town website a functional research tool. – Becki Leavitt

Nora Valentine ‘asked’ that we correct the website reference in the block quote below (e.g. noravalentinegitmeelected.com). The correct address for Ms. Valentine’s website is www.valentineforfirstselectman.com. Apparently, Ms. Valentine didn’t ‘get’ the humor that was intended . We’d also like to correct the suggestion that Ms. Valentine is offering ‘boycott the Cafe‘ T-shirts and coffee mugs , though she did offer us advice regarding possible litigation. We’ll have to look into a different vendor for the T-shirts and coffee mugs - Admin

Nora Valentine has announced a boycott of the Cafe at her campaign website, ‘noravalentinegitmeelected.com’. I guess the Cafe is doomed . You’d think she could at least send us one of those ‘boycott the Cafe‘ T-shirts or coffee mugs. Admin

It sounds suspiciously like Ms. Valentine was threatening the Cafe (admin) with legal action (presumably libel) because of your humorous comment about her. I suggest that she may want to consult with a lawyer to discuss the legal ramifications of having stepped into the public area and making herself a public figure. If she does not want to deal with the implications of being a public figure she may want to reconsider if she really wants to run for the position of first selectman.

Since she has in fact stepped into the political arena, if she wants to bring suit for libel she now must look at more than providing evidence that the published information is factually untrue and that she was in some way damaged by it. She would have to show actual malice on the part of the cafe administration by personally writing and publishing it. Actual malice is difficult to prove.

Political Humor also has a strong foundation in case law. For example I could publish a political cartoon depicting Ms. Valentine and the Republican elephant in a compromising position. As long as the cartoon could not reasonably be interpreted as stating actual facts about a public figure such as her I would be protected in a legal sense. Read the rest of this entry »

The Norwich Bull has an extensive article on the pros and cons of having a Resident State Trooper.

After reading the front page article of the “Pillager� on Friday regarding the most recent negotiating session between the BOE and the Academy BOT, I couldn’t help but think back to my previous posts on this subject in the Cafe. That is, that the BOT has been negotiating in bad faith for months now with respect to a new contract with the BOE. It is crystal clear to me now that the BOT has no intention of negotiating a contract anytime soon with this BOE as it is presently constituted. They seem to be willing to stall, knowing that the court of public opinion is largely in their corner (for God knows whatever reason!) It is now clear that they are banking on the fact that no new contract between now and the November election continues to fuel the bad will multi media campaign that they have been relentlessly perpetrating against the BOE over the past few years, all with an eye towards populating a new BOE with one that is more willing to capitulate to their will.

Why else would they decide after months of negotiating to pull out a proposal at the 11th hour for a “trialâ€? three year period where capital expenditures will be allowed to grow by as much as 15% per year when the largest capex investment has never exceeded 13%, and that the increase over the past five years or so has approximated no more than 6%? Also, bear in mind that these percentages are calculated against an ever growing allocation, so that the real dollars continue to soar. Read the rest of this entry »

It gets worse.

I was appalled when I turned the page on this years 2007-2008 Town operating budget. I decided to look at our First Selectman’s salary after reading Dave Babbitt’s (First Selectman of the Town of Thompson) complaint in this week’s Shoppers Guide (see “JL on First Selectman’s Salaries” at the right).

I was already aware of the fact that Ms. Wholean had given herself an 8.92% raise – an even $4500, not $4496 or $4503. I’ve been continuously employed since 1966 and the raises that I received were usually a rounded percentage like 3% or 4% or maybe 2.5% (in tough years) except when I took new positions or jobs at higher levels with increasing responsibilities.

In government there can be no question that an 8.92% raise is out of order. The notion that higher pay attracts more qualified, altruistic candidates to run for office is a foolish thought given who’s available to run for office in Woodstock.

If one turns the page from the Board of Selectmen’s budget, one finds that the new Tax Assessor’s salary underwent a 9.52% decrease presumably because he was considered ‘entry level’. Does this mean that if there is extra cash because of this it should be destributed to the others?

On the next page, one finds that the Tax Collector recieved a 9.88% raise – another $4500 even. On the next page one finds that the Town Treasurer received a 9.88% raise – another $4500 even – and a new assistant was hired at $39,530. On the next page one finds that the Town Clerk received a 9.88% raise – another $4500 even. The new Town Planner’s salary was bumped from $47,866 to $56,909 in the 2006-2007 budget – a $9053 raise which amounts to a 19% raise even though this was this individual’s first job out of college (isn’t this “entry level”). This year she did not receive a raise and her salary was reduced marginally by $749. All union staff appear to have received a 4% raise. Read the rest of this entry »

How can anyone sincerely have mixed feelings about this issue? Can one be serious in saying that the First Selectman of Woodstock’s position should be compared to a similar position in the private sector (presumably a CEO)? What exactly are the job duties of the First Selectman in Woodstock that would warrant this unjustified pay increase and/or make it comparable to a top position in the private sector? Has anyone seen Wholean lead us in a new direction? Has she demonstrated astute managerial skills or superior financial ability? Which of the town’s numerous problems has she solved while being in office for nearly two years? The salt shed? The lack of a reasonably functioning town website? Improvement in the towns recreational programs? Better relations with the other town boards? Other selectmen? Other town departments? Town employees? Established a clear vision and direction for the town? Addressed the difficulties of Prop. 46 in a revaluation year? Obtained any benefits from higher level Democrats in government? Still having those mixed feelings? Read the rest of this entry »

“…purification of individual genes would permit investigation of their mechanisms of transcriptional control and expression…”

It was Garret Ihler in Charlie Thomas’ lab at Harvard in 1968-69 before the advent of recombinant DNA. The paper, appropriately titled “Isolation of Pure lac Operon DNA”, was published in Nature (vol. 224 pages 768-774) in 1969.  This paper, certainly, was fresh in the minds of Dan Nathans and Hamilton Smith a few years later as they developed restriction enzymes to cut and paste defined DNA fragments (Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1978). Ihler’s work started molecular biologists thinking of the benefits of molecular cloning of recombinant genes. Although lac is an E. coli (lactose) operon consisting of three structural genes (encoding the enzymes required for metabolism of lactose), lac is a single transcriptional unit with one promoter and two regulatory domains (for the repressor and operator). Ihler’s paper points out that purification of individual genes would permit investigation of their mechanisms of transcriptional control and expression. To put this event in perspective, the hottest area of genetics at that time was transcriptional control in E. coli with the discovery of sigma factor and investigations into the mechanism by which RNA polymerase transcribed genes. A few years later we would be able to cut genes with restriction enzymes and paste these genes with a ligase into vectors that could be used to transfer genes into cells. Nathans and Smith’s work allowed Paul Berg to put the E. coli gene gpt (encoding guanine phosphoribosyltransferase) next to the SV40 promoter to correct the genetic defect for Lesh-Nyan Syndrome (Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1980). I benefited from all four of these developments because through their work I had the incentive and was able to clone the human beta-actin gene in December of 1982 and characterize its function in recipient cells using Paul Berg’s vector. Garret Ihler’s work and his mentoring instilled in my mind the goal and benefits of purifying a gene. There is more to the story of Garret Ihler’s accomplishment.

If you look at the 1969 Nature paper, you will find that it has 6 authors – Shapiro, MacHattie, Eron, Ihler, Ippen, and Beckwith. If you look at the acknowledgement at the end of the paper, you will see that Garret Ihler was actually a postdoctoral fellow in Charlie Thomas’ lab and that Thomas’ grant supported the work. In fact, the lac operon was isolated and purified in Charlie Thomas’ lab (noted for DNA replication research) by Garret Ihler. Picture the group in Beckwith’s lab pondering the prospect of isolating a pure gene but not knowing how. Shortly afterwards Karin Ippen takes a stroll across campus with Ihler describing to him the issue of the day in the Beckwith lab. Picture Ihler enamored with Karin Ippen (the feeling turned out to be mutual). He was also clever especially with lambda transducing phages – these phages with the transduced lac operon had been isolated in the mid-1960’s. In fact Ihler could take these phage strains “off the shelf” at a moments notice with the lac operon inserted into the lambda genome in opposite directions. Shortly Ihler had thought of the solution for the Beckwith lab with Ippen as his audience. He had the tools at his fingertips – the strains of transduced lac, a reliable exonuclease, and a method of separating and purifying each DNA strand from the lambda double helix. Nevertheless, he offered the idea to Ippen who took it back to the Beckwith lab; subsequently, she was pushed aside by the aggressive members of the group. So Ihler decided to act quickly. He grew up two transducing phages each with the lac operon in opposite orientation, he separated the DNA strands using poly-UG, and then hybridized the two opposite strands. He isolated the “heavy” DNA lambda phage strands (higher poly-UG binding strands) from two different phages each with the opposite lac orientation. When preparations of the two heavy strands were allowed to hybridize only the lac operon sequences could hybridize – the two strands were complimentary only in this part of the phage genome because the flanking lambda DNA sequences of the hybrid DNA were from the same heavy strand of the lambda genome and thus homologous, not complimentary sequences. Ihler nibbled away the lambda DNA “tails” with an exonuclease and precipitated the remaining DNA to yield a pure DNA fragment encoding the lac operon. Today this seems quite a simple experiment, but in the context of the late 1960’s it was a clever experiment with a conceptual pay-off. What happened next poisoned the environment for molecular geneticists especially in the Boston area.

Beckwith took this work and euphorically ran with it. Four co-authors from the Beckwith lab were added with trivial contributions and the paper was published. Beckwith scheduled a news conference basically to take credit for the work much to the embarrassment of Ihler. He used this news conference to belittle the accomplishment and he used this platform to express his personal political agenda which had no connection to Ihler’s work. Surprisingly, the tone of this press conference is preserved in a paper by Beckwith published a year later (Bacteriological Reviews 34:222-227, 1970) where he underplays the role of Ihler – he contributed “a critical idea”. When I read the final section of this paper I could only conclude that Beckwith was deluded by his perception of self-importance. This paper can be found on the internet for anyone wishing to read it along with Ihler’s recounting of the story at http://mbch.tamu.edu/ihler/  . Luckily for me, Ihler took a faculty position at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, and earned his M.D. at the same time. He and Karin married while I was finishing up my Ph.D. He later became an esteemed Professor at Texas A&M noted and especially appreciated by medical students for his stimulating lectures. Karin also developed a productive research program as a Full Professor of Microbiology and Genetics at A&M. Sadly Karin died of breast cancer in 1995 with Garret at her side. Her presence and work has been memorialized through the annual Karin Ippen-Ihler Lecture Series at A&M.

Ihler was probably correct in his belief that Beckwith’s press conference led to misplaced fears and “widespread attempts to regulate cloning and gene transfer”. It did not help that Michael Crichton published “Andromeda Strain” in the same year. Fortunately, all of this concern fell by the wayside 13 years later when I was doing this type of work. But now we are experiencing the same hysteria over stem cell research.

John Leavitt

Garret Ihler

This isn’t about open space as much as it is about tax dollars and the misuse of or incorrect designation of property as PA-490.

Property that has been designated as an approved building lot or sub-division is now an approved building lot or sub-division, not a farm. Property that is associated with a manufacturing facility and is used as a recreation area isn’t a farm. Property surrounding a home that is used for motorbike riding and a big pretty lawn isn’t a farm.

Some of the same people paying as little as $35.00 per year tax an a 5 acre building lot are also the same ones with vehicles registered in other states. They pay NO tax to Woodstock, Ct. on them. Of course they claim they are registered to their business in another state but they are really housed and used in Ct. and specifically Woodstock, Ct., daily. This type abuse makes a significant difference in the grand list when it’s all added up.
Read the rest of this entry »

There was a rather strange ad in yesterday’s Shopper’s Guide on page 61. The ad was placed by Dave Babbitt, First Selectman of the Town of Thompson, a Town of greater industry and crime, and a near equal population compared to Woodstock. Babbitt has voiced frustration over the struggle to pass the Thompson budget and apparently is responding in this ad to criticism about his proposed salary of $49,348 for the 2007-2008 fiscal year. The ad reads as follows:

“Thompson Voters:These are the facts on the 1st Selectman’s salary:
2003-2004 – $44,973
2004-2005 – $45,957 (2.2% raise)
2006-2007 – $47,795 (4% raise)
2007-2008 – proposed $49,348 (3.2% raise)

Selectman Babbitt is currently making $2,822 more than the previous 1st Selectman. He works full-time and represents the Town of Thompson at many functions outside of the business day. All other comments are either misrepresentations or fabrications.
Sincerely,
David Babbitt, 1st Selectman
Town of Thompson
Paid for by Dave and Peg Babbitt, Thompson CT”

While I am sympathetic for David Babbitt, I would not place an ad like this in any publication. This ad has a kind of UP YOURS tone which probably stems from Babbitt’s frustration with voters who just vote NO for whatever reason. Also, it did not help his plea to speak in the third person about himself and then sign the ad with ‘sincerely’ (small point). Read the rest of this entry »