Woodstock CT Café

It’s 9:20 AM Saturday Morning (Pacific Time) and . . . . . . .she’s ARRIVED!!!!
Becki landed in the driveway at mom’s in more yellow than the sun offers this morning, (her outfit is sunny.)
Mom pushed Rob out of the way to get to her, and everything is smiles.
After a good cup of coffee, I’m sure she will post, as THIS hotel ALWAYS has internet access.
Stay tuned. Sister Barb

The Golden Gate Bridge over the entrance to San Francisco Bay with San Francisco in the background. Burlingame is just south of SF.

Days Six and Seven are available below. On Day Seven made it to Reno NV Friday night (6/27) but no computer hook-up. Just drove by Donner Lake at 5:45AM this morning (6/28) and the sun just popped up from behind. Now down the Sierras to home in the SF Bay area.  

Today, Saturday the 21st at 6:03am, Becki took off for California by car to spend a month with her family and friends who live in the Bay Area peninsula south of San Francisco. Before moving to Woodstock at the beginning of 1996, Becki lived nearly all of her first 40 years in the Bay Area, and she has returned home every year except last year. We decided that, in spite of the cost of gas, driving was preferable to the hassel of flying and renting a car in California. When I compared the cost between flying and driving, there was no difference. We decided that driving was more flexible and this will allow her to stop and visit friends along the way as well. We’ve driven across the country and back several times and have always enjoyed the trip.The Cafe will chronical Becki’s trip with Y-Fi reports. She will not take the most direct route as can be seen by the map below.  Bus

Bus Driver’s Holiday 

Day Seven – June 27, 2008 – Rock Springs, Wyoming – Approaching the Final Frontier

I’m up early and on the road after fueling and picking up a latte. Today is going to be a long haul. I’m aiming for Fernley, Nevada. The traveling is starting to catch up with me, though I’ve been careful to get enough sleep and keep the meals light.

I have a portable refrigerator that runs of the power port (everybody used to call them the cigarette lighter socket). I keep four 20-ounce beverages, acouple of ½ cup chopped fruits, a bag of baby carrots, a zucchini and a couple of wet wash clothes in zip lock bags. I also keep my Blistex in there so it doesn’t melt.

Garamina is mounted on the dashboard and also plugs into the power port. I have a three-way splitter so I can run things simultaneously. Then I have an oscillating fan that uses the third port in my splitter. The air-conditioning doesn’t work because it was going to cost $1K to fix. That’s why the oscillating fan has been whispering sweet nothings in my ear for the last several days.

The air has been murky since I left Connecticut. For the most part that has been because of the humidity. The haze has cast a pall on many of the lovely vistas I was hoping to enjoy. I started taking pictures out the window along the way. I’ll have to set up my Mac to see what I’ve got. I’ll set up a Picasa Album on Google so you all can look at what I have (if the pictures are worth sharing). Read the rest of this entry »

From ‘Cheerleader’: Over the past four+ months I’ve seen a Planning and Zoning Commission that has listened carefully to all material presented on this application. They’ve asked questions and given fair chance to all to express opinions. A read through the minutes from the May 15th meeting will illustrate the depth of their considerations in discussing this proposal.The job of PZC isn’t to rule based on the projected obvious high cost involved in developing a large tract of wetland nor is it to consider the relatively few students who will ultimately benefit from this development. The task in front of PZC is to deny or accept this application on it’s merit as a complete proposal that is in compliance with the regulations for Special Permit. Additionally, PZC is mandated to safeguard the good health, safty and welfare of ALL Woodstock citizens through their deliberations toward denying or approving all applications that come before them.

Tonight at 6:30 pm, June 26th, Woodstock’s Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a site walk of the area for the proposed expansion of Woodstock Academy athletic fields. If you want to participate in this site walk you must be at the town hall by 6:30 pm for roll call. The site walk will begin at the town hall, proceed to the site and return to the town hall where there will be a final public hearing on this application.

If you are interested in any aspect of the Academy’s proposal for expansion — attendance at the site walk will add important information and give greater understanding of the scope of this project.

Please, read the following instructions for a site walk before participation. Instructions are given by Delia Fey, Town Planner.

Procedure for scheduling a Special Meeting for a Site-walk and continuation of Public Hearing when no additional PZC meetings will be held between the site-walk and end of the timeline on the application:
 
The entire meeting needs to be recorded as minutes will need to be done.  Everyone needs to stay as one group and not have individual conversations. 
 
The Site walk will need to occur as a Special Meeting, starting at the Town Hall where the call to order and roll call will take place.  The site walk can then proceed to the site. Read the rest of this entry »

Does Mr. Rosendahl actually think that there is such a thing as ‘long range’ planning in a town that has a regressive spending cap in a world of ever higher spiraling prices for everyday items? Oh by the way Mr. Rosendahl, we were unable to repave our back lot at the middle school until the insurance company threatened not to cover any liabilty if we didn’t (even though it had been included and then cut. So much for long range planning. from ‘Bus Driver’

I have seen you in action at the BOE meetings and so far you have tried to spread misinformation just as you are now. You do not want to listen to what your administrators are telling you. You have your own agenda and seem to want to embarrass and discredit the superintendent any way you can. You seem to want to listen to the CPS people who really do not know what is going on in the school system and make up stuff as they go along. Shame on you for pretending you want to work for the school system. If this is what you think is helping the children in Woodstock, you need to go back to school. And by the way, for an educated person, your writing skills are rather poor. from ‘graylady’ to Rosendahl

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:22:11

(1)    Times are bad people are losing their jobs  – gas is on its way to $5.00. The only thing townspeople can have input on is this vote.

(2)     Most of our citizens are not upper management or owners of manufacturing plants they are wage earners of less than $60,000 and have not had a raise in years yet alone a  4% yearly raise.

(3)    Do townspeople trust the boards? Have the boards earned the peoples trust. Do board members mislead the townspeople as private citizens for their own agendas?

(4)    Did both parties overwhelmingly vote in November for change? Did they vote for change two and half years ago, when we got our tails handed to us?

I saw this coming (the economic down turn) but did not think it would hit till next year. I stated this at my board meeting and pointed out that when deep real cuts would need to be made the BOE had to have trust of the townspeople.

To steal a slogan  from Microsoft the message we need to send  is DO MORE WITH LESS because that is what most of us will have to do.

But what did we do?  The selectman asked for 125K for the revaluation. Then the BOF went to the limit of 46 and with 250K added for the revaluation which was not required. The newspaper reported that the BOF chair stated the 250k was the request of the Selectman (this might have been a mistake by the reporter but no one corrected it). 

A BOE member mislead the public in stating that the overestimate in student tuition happened only one year and then a few days later not only  admitted it was two years but how the money was spent.

My point the townspeople of Woodstock do not get a clear message, this leads to mistrust. Read the rest of this entry »

PRESS RELEASE
The Woodstock Board of Education extends a thank you to the 680 voters who supported the Woodstock Education and Town Budget on June 24, 2008.

The Woodstock Board of Education encourages community participation in our Board Evaluation and Long Term Planning Meeting, to be held at our regular board meeting on Thursday, June 26 at 7 p.m. at Woodstock Middle School.  Please join us and share your thoughts and suggestions.

Dustin’s article in the Norwich Bull on the referendum outcome.

This author may have no knowledge on what’s going on in Woodstock. This was posted as a comment. Since it was posted, we are publishing it without further comment. We would like to encourage outsiders to comment on the affairs of Woodstock. Admin

This year’s local-budget battles featured some of the most bitter fighting in recent memory. And the spring of ’09 will likely produce even nastier conflicts, given the “vote yes” lobby’s inability or unwillingness to accept two simple yet incontrovertible facts.

The first is that Connecticut taxpayers spend bushels of money on the state’s government schools. The second is that the return on this “investment” is poor.

The numbers on spending are stunning. Several years ago, a legislative investigation found that between 1981 and 2001, Connecticut ’s government-school expenditures, adjusted for inflation, more than doubled. Enrollment growth was less than 10 percent.

The teacher-student ratio in Nutmeg State government schools is lower than the national average. The share of non-instructional staff in the system is high — 13 percentage points above average. And with educrat earnings and benefits in the exosphere, spending per student ranks near the top. (Only New Jersey and New York spend more.)

It’s likely that many “do it for the children” activists aren’t aware of these figures. A recent opinion survey discovered that Americans have little understanding of how much revenue funds government-run schools. The average answer to pollsters’ query about per-pupil spending in respondents’ local districts was $4,231 — less than half the accurate sum. In addition, respondents underestimated average teacher salaries in their states by over $14,000.

Researchers William Howell and Martin R. West concluded: “Americans think that far less is being spent on the nation’s public schools than is actually the case. The vast majority of the public thinks we spend amounts that can only be described as minuscule, and almost 96 percent of the public underestimate either per-pupil spending in their districts or teacher salaries in their states.” Read the rest of this entry »

Cafe’ers are streaming through the Cafe a few a minute, and even Wetzel is contrite. A nice victory for Woodstock.

It would be very interesting to know more about the voter turnout for the two referenda. The total turnout was very close. Did folks change their votes due to the cuts that were made? Did some voters who voted no at the 1st referendum stay home, and some voters who skipped the last referendum show up to vote yes?

In any event, I’m glad the budget passed. For many folks, the increase means somewhere in the neighborhood of a $100 increase. Given the rising energy costs the Town (and the taxpayers) faces, that seems more than reasonable.

Mr. Wetzel, in a recent response to me noted “Dear JK, anyone who lives in Woodstock for a period of time realizes that our local politicians are questionable at best. The local group who is just a special interest group for the educational system have lost total credibility over the last 4 years due to the behavior of this BOE. Anyone who has had children go through the local school system and then go on to the Academy, knows the shortcomings and problems of our K-8 system. Unfortunately, this special interest group continues to clutch to their misguided belief that Woodstockers are ignorant and stupid. They are who are on trial here and must answer questions about how and where they spend the taxpayers money. They believe by attacking me and people like me who question this system is the solution to their situation. This is untrue and they will not succeed. Unfortunately, the poor kids in our K-8 system continue to receive a mediocre and expensive education and nothing seems to change.”

While I appreciate that he refrained from name-calling, I’m disappointed that he didn’t include facts. I could be wrong, but it sounds, just based on this and previous posts, that other elected officials didn’t agree with him when he was in office, and he took their opposition to his opinions too personally. Read the rest of this entry »

We elected the people who put this budget together. So why wouldn’t we support them?

The polls were busy at 5:30PM so the pink arrow could turn upward to match or exceed the June 3rd vote.  The vote was announced at about 8:10 and the Cafe posted the outcome at 8:17PM. The pink arrow did not turn upward. 

“Shall the Town of Woodstock approve the proposed budget of the Town of Woodstock for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, in the amount of $21,054,813 as has been recommended by the Board of Finance and to appropriate said sum to meet the recommended expenditures?”

Voting on June 24th:

Ballots Cast Voting YES …680

Ballots Cast Voting NO …646

A 27.6% TURNOUT

Voting on June 3rd:
Ballots Cast Voting YES … 530
Ballots Cast Voting NO … 864
a 29% turnout

We elected the people who put this budget together. So why wouldn’t we support them?

I am reminded of Kevin Ford’s past comment here at the cafe that the questions posed at meetings by CPS are not easily answered with off-handed retorts. Many times, there are intricate issues which must be reviewed before answered off the cuff.Still, I agree with Atticus (under “The Aliens Among Us” ) that unless and until our elected officials confront these issues in many venues (public meetings, the cafe, Shopper’s Guide, Villager, and perhaps even lawn signs/billboards of their own if that’s what it takes) head on, the lack of counter-arguments and information to counter CPS charges is what allows the CPS claims and charges to persist. Apparently, there are more than a few people in town who support CPS positions and, hearing and seeing no response to the CPS message, conclude that there is no reasonable response, otherwise it would be provided to them. Conclusion: CPS must be correct.

The Cafe has entertained discussion and vetting of many issues and has helped me gain a more thorough understanding of all sides, for certain. But, let’s face it, not every voter in town has discovered the Cafe yet. If the daily visits average 600 unique visitors per day (assuming it’s roughly the same 600 residents day in and day out), that’s a drop in the bucket compared to the few thousand registered voters in town. How do you reach the rest of them so they can also see, read, and debate both sides of the argument and decide for themselves which position they believe and support? I’m not downing the Cafe here. I’m sure 600 is immense progress versus not reaching even those 600 (including myself) only a few years ago, before the cafe existed. I just think that more voters must be reached. Maybe a lawn sign campaign of billboards promoting the Cafe website? Maybe if people see mysterious signs pop up all over town, they’ll wonder what this cafe thing is and go online to check it out. Then, I would have a front-and-center article here for new ‘newcomers’ that summarizes the situation so they can get the message in a minute or two of quick reading as to why it’s important to come here and participate with their neighbors in discussing the issues that affect us all. People are short on time these days and not everyone is even interested in politics when they’ve got work stuff, and shuttling kids to activities to worry them. Read the rest of this entry »

I watched the 2008 version of Michael Crichton’s first book ”Andromeda Strain” on A&E Saturday night thinking that I was in for a great Sci-Fi flick. I had read the first version in 1970 while I was completing my Ph.D. in grad school. The movie that came shortly after was a pretty good B-movie. I was very disappointed, though, with the 2008 version. About half way through the movie my mind was wondering creatively in many directions around the concept of Andromeda Strain because the movie had become tedious, and so I gave up on the movie.

My thoughts wandered between the past and the present in Woodstock. The past had to do with the impact of Andromeda Strain on my field of genetics in the 1970′s, and the present had to do with our own home grown version of Andromeda Strain here in Woodstock. The two came together because in the ’70′s “Andromeda Strain” became a touch phrase for impending disaster caused by an improbable, or even extra-terrestrial, pathogen. Today in Woodstock we have a group of hysterical sociopathic men attempting to take control of the future of the town and damage the town irreversibly, more in the fashion of the “The Night of the Living Dead.”

To fuel the fears of disaster in earlier years, there was the mysterious appearance the human immunodeficiency virus HIV - a kind of Andromeda Strain in the early 1980′s; and before that it was recombinant DNA, the Andromeda Strain of the 1970′s, that was going to wipe us all out because of a mistake in the lab. There was even an abberant theory that the Federal Government had doctored a hepatitis vaccine with HIV to wipe out gays. Now in Woodstock we have the abberant self-deluded claims of conspiracy and waste by a few hateful people that are attempting to undermine our educational system. Our youth are the ones who will be irreversibly damaged by these continuous attacks, not the perps and the unengaged residents – the consequences of the activities of these few will affect only children.

I think of the nonsense perpetrated by the CPS Fraternal Order of Police (‘Webpolice‘ included) Read the rest of this entry »

Richard Foye talked (or should I say whined) about his duplicitous attempts to be neighborly to residents on the Hill at the last Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. Meanwhile PZC appears to have no interest in protecting the properties of the residents on the Hill…and also perhaps no guts. It also may be that PZC has no ability given the way zoning regulation was squashed at the last election. Many of the current people on this Commission have a vested interest in preventing any zoning regulations. This commision probably views the Hill as fair game for the Academy (pardon the pun). Sadly, the only way to deal with the Academy’s expansionism is to get a good lawyer and challenge the Academy … and anyone else who is culpable in court.

Here’s another example of Foye’s kind of ‘neighborliness’ in the absence of zoning or zoning enforcement (which is it). I have driven by this scene below on Perrin Road just south of Route 171 a number of times and watched this situation develop over the last few years. I have often wondered ‘How could this be?’ I finally stopped and took these pictures of this third world ‘neighborliness’ … remind’s me of a scene out of BORAT.
Read the rest of this entry »

We elected the people who put this budget together. So why wouldn’t we support them?

“In addition to not paying much or anything in property taxes or income tax, families in the HPS (Hartford) school district receive $14,590 per pupil!! What does Woostock spend? About $7000-8000 per student. Keep working Woodstock and paying your taxes, the people in Hartford need your money. Now for $14,590 per pupil spending one would expect stupendous results. I mean imagine what we could do with this kind of money!” from ‘Wake Up Woodstock’

Wow, after teaching for 2 years in an inner school in Boston, it continues to baffle me how entitled people in these rural neighborhoods seem to think that poor people are “living off of our wages”.

People in the inner cities are living in abysmal conditions, are poorly educated, and are racially discriminated against. The welfare state is actually a new form of slavery in my estimation. Our tax dollars pay to keep an eye on poor minority families, putting most kids on legal probation by the time they turn 16, putting single mothers on DSS watch lists, and imprisoning young fathers.

It is kind of hard to focus on your education when you are living in a government sanctioned war zone. We learn solid values from our parents. Many of the parents in these communities were children themselves when they became parents. Grandparents are often raising their grandchildren. Families who succeed in surviving traditional public schooling in Hartford, Boston, and Bridgeport are heroes.

The real enemies to our school funding are the wasteful bureaucracy that exists in Urban education. Money is spent on useless projects that do nothing to improve instruction, reduce drop out rates, or remediate kids who struggle early in their educations. Veteran teachers waiting for retirement read newspapers during class while students brains’ stagnate. Parents feel trapped and intimidated by bullies both in the school administration and in the communities. Money is bleeding from school budgets into the pockets of corrupt administrators. Teacher unions blame students, families, and the administration alike to protect teachers who are not subjected to any significant performance evaluations themselves. Read the rest of this entry »

For two-and-a-half years the Cafe has strived to be as good as the Villager in providing entertainment to Woodstock. We started with our own “Pet of the Week” Gizzy Do. We now offer our very own Woodstock-pertinent CROSSWORD PUZZLE for those dull moments when you have nothing else to do. We will provide the correct answers at the bottom of this puzzle after you have had time to deal with this challenge. This is also a good way of testing your Cafe IQ. If you send us your answers (woodstockctcafe@gmail.com ) before we post the answers, and get the answers correct, we will send you the prize of your choice – either a You Moron! cap, coffee cup, baby bib, or thong He He.

If you click on the image of the puzzle, you will be able to print the puzzle only. Good luck. Here are the correct answers:

ACROSS:
1. Academy administrator who doesn’t know MATH
4. What the CPS website speaks
6. Livernois’ status food
10. CPS FOI litigant
11. Senile demented accountant
13. Football bozo
15. Taylor Brook inhabitant
17. What football players do
18. Anti-CPS pet of the week

DOWN:
2. Salty farm
3. Another name for the Town Hall
5. Passive aggressive First Selectman
7. Chief Canine Officer (CEO)
8. Average local high school
9. ‘Drunk’ with power on the Hill
12. Rated poorly by her students
14. ‘I don’t read the Cafe either’ facial expression
16. Advocate for a local keystone cop

Re the Thimble Cottage Barn: “What a great store! I just love bragging and telling everyone about your new store! The items are very fairly priced and a great selection. Keep up the good work!” Kathy Darras

Mr. Wetzel is a proponent of innuendo, name-calling, scare tactics, exaggeration…the list goes on.

I could ask Mr. Wetzel where the fat is, but he’ll only reply that he’s beaten people like me before and he’ll do it again. Just don’t ask him, Mr. Richardson, or CPS for demonstrable facts.

Mr. Walker made a questionable political move  in putting a raise for himself and others in the proposed budget. On the other hand, I don’t believe he could easily support a family on the pay that he is receiving.

Mr. Wetzel and the CPS Mafia, the anti-education citizens, the citizens for crippling a town,  point at any increase and scream “see, see, look they’re robbing us!!” I can use smear tactics too

Again I’ll please ask them to quote an actual fact or two. A typical reply will lack factual information, but will mention that there is no transparency, and no responsibility, and they’ve scared folks into voting down budgets before, and they’ll do it again. I hope the last part will not happen.

I know that energy costs are going up. I’m struggling to meet heating and gas costs. Read the rest of this entry »

“…the most clear and instructive statement of the evening was the statement by the president of the Academy Board of Trustees that the Board of Trustees is very cognizant of the needs of “its” students. It is interesting that the Academy Board of Trustees and Headmaster Foye can be neighborly when they want something from the neighbors, but the thought of being neighborly with another local educational systems is beneath them. I guess being neighborly is only an exercise or minor annoyance on the way to getting what one wants. Cooperating with another educational system is unnecessary when holding all the cards.”

I stopped in for a bit of the Planning and Zoning meeting tonight for the consideration of the expansion of the Academy’s Bentley Complex. I was impressed with the turnout, though not surprised. There were at least eighty cars in the parking lot at the Town Hall. People were lining the walls of the room and spilling out into the hall. There was also a constable on duty.

I arrived a little late and the Planning and Zoning Commission was already hearing public comments. There was a parade of speakers voicing their concerns or support. The room seemed to be weighted on the Academy side of the matter. For the most part behaviors were held in check, though Chairman Dickenson had to caution the room more than once as to the inappropriateness of applause.

Some of the comments surprised me. Some of the comments could have been taken nearly word for word for the impassioned pleas of parents trying to preserve this or that program at Board of Education meetings. Now, however, it is the essential nature of athletics to a complete educational experience that is being touted. One commenter, a life long educator, passionately exhorted the Commission to approve the project if helps even a few children stay out of trouble. Another life long resident supported the project as well for the promise of it giving our young people something to do – idle hands are the devil’s workshop. One commenter noted that in 300 years no Yankee has ever built anything on that site and there probably was a pretty good reason why. That same commenter again offered the Academy land in Pomfret for their fields. One commenter needed two turns at the lectern to voice her support, adding that these fields will benefit the entire community, that it is for the good of the children and she and her family will have access to recreational facilities instead of waiting for the town to build them for the community. Another commenter pointed out that the Academy does have fields, that this is an expansion of facilities they already have, so the students are not being denied an athletic facility if the Commission denies the application. Yet another coach commented that football is a costly sport and in lean times is a major draw on education budgets. One of the commenters noted appreciation for the proposed site of the tennis courts being modified by the Academy. We were assured several times, from both Mr. Foye and Mrs. Fredrickson that lights are not in the plan. Read the rest of this entry »