Comments on: Should City Council Get Paid? Plus: McKinney’s Out, Russo Eyes Congressional Run

By: Mojo

Mojo — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:33:34 +0000

*** The stipend amount is more than sufficient ($9,000 a year); however it should not be taxed. To receive a $1,800 check after taxes but be responsible for $2,250 worth of spending receipts each quarter is stupid. If you’re doing your job as a council member & don’t have a city job or good paying job to cover the expenses @ times, it can be a bit harder on the wallet if you choose not to take the stipend. It’s up to the individual council member to decide, people on the outside looking in really don’t have a clue just how useful a little extra money can be in keeping touch with your district, special classes on new streamlined techniques in government in general, and @ times opportunities to see how new things are working in other urban cities which maybe also be experimented with here in Bpt. However, I stress the fact “if using your stipend wisely,” these things can be very helpful but there are those that use their stipend for personal use and fail in turning in any receipts which ends up putting a negative look on the entire process. *** A 4-year term for mayor is needed in cases where the city is as large & has many issues as does Bpt. A mayor cannot really concentrate on too many city issues if after a year & a half they must begin to prepare for another election. However, a recall act should be in place to handle problems such as the past Ganim issues, etc. *** I’m fine with 2 council persons per district, however sometimes having all members from the same party can be counterproductive. So I believe that 10 seats total, covering each district should be endorsed for council by the Dem. & Republican parties; 10 Dem. seats & 10 Repub. seats. With the normal primary procedures for other Independent or non-affiliated parties to be able to run also. This would really spice up the local primaries & hopefully make the local town committees think twice about who they give the one endorsement to, who could be beat by an independent candidate if not doing their jobs! Would be quite interesting & hopefully get rid of some of the dead weight on the council. *** And last but not least, the Dem. party did not back T. Mulligan the way they should have but instead just threw him to the dogs, sink or swim. They were more intent on getting votes lined up for the D.T.C. chairman’s pick as I remember. T. Mulligan was & still would be a good choice for state senate. I volunteered time towards his campaign & would again if asked. That’s the type of person we need in the State Capitol not like what’s up there now! ***

By: donj

donj — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 02:45:53 +0000

Joel Gonzalez

I agree we can’t have another d stef run as gov. Malloy would be perfect reason Himes could keep the Stamford numbers too. My vote goes Malloy’s way. But if Dick is at the top I think he could beat Rell. Dick has the name recognition and could easily win. There are more democrats in the state then ever. I feel that Malloy might have a shot but Dick would be a heated contest.

By: Joel Gonzalez

Joel Gonzalez — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:52:48 +0000

The outcome of the Himes race in 2010 will depend on WHO eventually end up being the Democratic Governor candidate. Remember when I told you about the reports from my pOIBlitical spies at Mario’s? They reported that Blumenthal is considering a run against Dodd. Dodd is not doing good on the poll side. My newest Facebook friend Amann and other dems are lining up for a shot at the Gov. post. It’s too early to tell. But I have noticed that “Dick” has been sticking his head into lots of issues lately and seems to be taking advantage of the free press opportunity that being Attorney General provides. Lennie, why don’t you do your job, squeeze the Dick and see what you can get out of him.

By: marlys

marlys — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:18:29 +0000

I missed your comment re: 20% earlier; and you’re right about that–I don’t know where the 24% came from.

By: marlys

marlys — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:15:46 +0000

No, we don’t know each other. I’ve met him, though, and the words “snake oil salesman” came to mind.

I just read an awful lot about Rob Russo on the blog, and from where I’m sitting he looks like the least serious political figure in the entire city.

He could be a Democrat and actually serve in something–I think he’s maybe too conservative but at least we’d have a meaningful debate about it. Or he could be the RTC chair and build up the party, which means he’d become newsworthy again sometime around year 2025.

By: marlys

marlys — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:01:10 +0000

His family lives in Fairfield, I think. Rob lives right across the street from Fairfield (on Brooklawn).

That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t care about Bport, but there are Democrats more conservative than he is in town, and if his priority were to get things done in government instead of prop up the old cadaver of the local GOP he could definitely go that route. Perpetually running for any office without a Republican candidate doesn’t make him look dedicated, it makes him look like a hack.

By: marlys

marlys — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:54:12 +0000

Don, you and Lennie are right about Shays at 20 townwide; I don’t know what happened but maybe I added some Darien in there by accident (next town on the spreadsheet).

Anyway I think it’s good that we’re all digging in on the numbers, because the short versions of campaign stories (like “Himes won because of Obama”) hide more detail than they give. Why a candidate did surprisingly well in this part of town or poorly in that part of town is going to have a pretty interesting story behind it, one that one of the politicos around here probably knows.