Woodstock CT Café

I actually think the Repubicans took good care of this town for a very long time – about 300 years. And it shows – the town is beautiful and institutions like the churches and civic groups like Roseland Park, Woodstock Fair; Woodstock Academy, etc. are great. In many ways the town is a model of Republican governance.

And I think the longstanding farm families have a sense of stewardship for the town and the land that is honorable, and also consistent with their economic interests. These major landowners controlled the town’s public and civic institutions for an extremely long time. Whether you call it the “Manure Mafia” or the “Landed Gentry” these were basically the people who had most at stake in the management of the town because they owned its primary economic asset – the land – and controlled its primary industry – agriculture.

If we could go back to the good old days I would be all for it. But this model worked while the town was growing very slowly – and that is not the basic reality we are facing. And this is where for the sake of the town the Repubicans need to adjust and help develop the capacity of our local governmental institutions that have the tools available to manage the town’s growth. Like creation of the public education system, for example. Read the rest of this entry »

Ernest A. Wetzel endorses Rosendahl. see his comment below

… Steven Rosendahl is endorsed by CPS … Preston Shultz, Citizens for Prudent Spending (Shopper’s Guide)

When you go to the Republican Town Committee Website, page down, and click through to learn more about their slate of candidates, you are given the message “Under Construction” and “Stay tuned – Candidate information will be posted soon.”

I’m not sure if my focus is on Rosendahl or the Republicans. I have concerns about Rosendahl because he has a long track record of being antagonistic toward the Board of Ed. His performance the other night at the Middle School debate certainly convinced me that his position hasn’t changed. If anybody actually has researched the information he referenced, it is obvious that he has a skewed perspective, little ability to discern relevant information, and no inclination to question his position.

The sweet story about his son’s recent successful ‘global’ competition for a job took up a lot of time and, while being used to ‘validate’ the excellence of the ‘Academy experience’, was just another subjective testament. It is not at all unusual for individual children to excel in mediocre systems… its called a ‘bell curve’. I don’t think Rosendahl’s motivation is about education. I think it is about landing a perch on a board that he has been in direct opposition with for many years. I think he is looking forward to being the obstructionist. I suppose there is some usefulness in the devil’s advocacy, but deliberately trying to throw a wrench in the gears of a town board doing the business of the taxpayers and the state is not a position I can support. Read the rest of this entry »