Middletown Charter Review Hearing Cancelled

The first hearing on proposed Chater changes was supposed to be Thurs. night. There was no quorum & so no hearing. Showing up were Councilors Mello, Silveira, & Santos. Odd, the prez was not there & was not out of town on business. There were Charter committee members in the audience & a few others.

With the Dem. Town Committee leadership decidely against non-partisan elections, this may well prove to be very interesting topic. Councilor Mello has said in the past that she favored them. Considering that Republican Mello & Barrows ran on the same ticket as Dems Mello, Rodrigues, & Sylvia- it seems as if it's already been there, done that. The local Dem leadership maintains this is not so & it's different now that they are in charge- ??? Revisionist history. Yes, it's nice to have flexible beliefs, standards, & platforms, which may explain the lack of a full slate yet and not much $ in the bank. Councilors Sylvia & Silveira still have not yet been asked to be on the slate. And forget School Committee candidates. With the non-partisan elections for them, they are orphans.


This month has been a killer schedule for the Council with budget hearings, etc. But we don't expect them to have actual lives, right? The next Chater hearing will be Thurs., May 29 at 6. Committee Chair Barbara VonVillas is not happy. Expect to hear more about this.

Kiss a Sailor!

Naval Station Newport is planning on spending a hundred million in various base projects this yr. & next. The large crowd hearing this news stood & applauded. I thought the Guv was going to kiss Command Officer Captain Michel Poirier, after he made the announcement, as well he should.

The C of C lunch today feated the new naval base commander (a former submariner). You'll get all the details on Ch. 10, or Projo, or East Bay papers, etc. later. This was a big deal with the Guv, Lt. Guv Roberts, & Treasurer Caprio there. Sen. Paiva-Weed, Rep., Jackson, & Rep. Rice were also present. No go on Rep. Coaty, Sen. Gibbs, or Rep Long. Didn't see any local elected officials either. The Middletown Econ. Advisory group was a co-sponsor & they were there along with Shawn Brown (interim Town Admin.) & Town Planner Wolanski.

How will this transfer economically to the area is debatable. The new schools that are coming are of short-term duration (the longest is 6 mos.) & few families. Still, we fared better than most (all?) during the recent BRAC. We have a lot of people to thank for this- Sen. Reed & Rep. Kennedy, local Lege leaders, SENEDIA, Keith Stokes (the local point man), and, lest we forget former Sen. Chaffee. Would we have fared so well without a Republican Sen.? Perhaps not.

The economy here is certainly not the worst I've ever seen, but it ain't good. It's been many a year since I've seen real estate so absolutely lousy with no relief in sight. The foreclosures are affecting not just lower priced housing, but more expensive homes. Renters have deserted the area for cheaper areas. This affects almost everyone. Local businesses which have been here for awhile are gonzo. Restaurants are deader than usual. All those anticipated naval contracts are drying up with r&d monies diverted to the War. And if they don't materialize soon, we'll be in for even more closures.

More details on exactly what the future plans are for the base are now being developed by the Admiral of the region. A Contractor's Conference is being planned for Feb. 25 (details later) with many sponsors; including, the C of C & Middletown Econ. Advisory Committee which suggested that the town hire the Mayforth Group for the coming year to advocate for the town (which they are doing quite sucessfully).

So kiss 'em while you can! We love the Navy!