Sledgehammer Jewelry Heist In West Hartford

Hartford Courant -

Police are searching for three men who robbed Lux Bond & Green jewelers on Lasalle Road this morning.

Police say the men smashed at least one display case in the store, possibly with a sledgehammer. Police did not know exactly what was taken.

The incident was reported at 11:41 a.m. Customers were in the store at the time, but no one was injured.

They fled in a dark Nissan Maxima with New York plates EYD 2881.
Police have left the scene, but the store has closed for the day.
Employees could be seen inside, vacuuming broken glass from a number of display cases that were smashed near the front of the store.

A real estate agent at the Coldwell Banker branch on Lasalle Road said she saw a black car parked illegally in a crosswalk before the robbery and had considered calling police.

The woman, who asked that her name not be published, said car was angled so that it was pointing toward the street — not toward the buildings, as cars are usually parked along Lasalle Road.

The woman said she left work shortly after the robbery and saw a sledgehammer on the street near where the black car had been parked.

Guess the woman at Coldwell Banker should have called the cops after all.
They could have at least given the car a parking ticket.
Might have been a good reason to use the SWAT Team equipment too.

Good thing no one was hurt.

Referendum Unofficial Results

The people have spoken.

WHFirst did a good job getting out the vote with the help of the Superintendent's robo calls, and the PTO's, and organized union labor's help.

Now... let's tackle that $12.5 Million dollar deficit we are facing for next year's budget!

Do you suppose the union that supported this budget increase will be willing to make concessions on their next contract negotiations?

Budget Referendum Today - June 15

Some things to consider:

The Current Mill Rate for West Hartford is 38.38
It's one of the highest Mill Rates in the state.
We have a property revaluation coming up in 2011.

According to presentations by the West Hartford Superintendent of Schools:
In the past 10 years, the BOE budget has risen 61% (this year 4.3%)
In the past 10 years, Education Salaries have risen 35% and Benefits by 179%!!
In the last 4 years the BOE has only cut 6.3 certified staff positions out of 820! and recent “Cuts” that Ms. Fleischli speaks about in the video above, were made to vacant/unfilled positions.
Each school gets about $80,000 of discretionary spending with no traceable budget.

In the Town Manager's 5 Year Projection of Revenues, Expenditures and Financial Imbalance for West Hartford – The Budget shortfall for 2010/11 is already $12.5 million!

West Hartford is using more one time revenues for FY 2010-11 than other towns allowing it to propose a higher spending increase but lower tax rate increase than the typical CT town. (One time revenues are things like Federal Stimulus money and legal settlements)

The median spending increase for the 153 CT towns that have adopted budgets to date is 1.41% The Board of Education median spending increase is 1.58% for those towns. West Hartford's Board of Education spending increase is a little short of three times as much as the median education spending increase of adopted budgets through 6/11/2010.

We all can agree that we live in a great town.

We need to make sure that Town spending is sustainable, and that taxes are kept reasonable and affordable. We aim to keep the demographic diversity that we have in town.

Aren't YOU concerned about the deficit we are facing next year?
Shouldn't we do something about it today?

Celebrate! West Hartford

June 12 and 13, 2010
West Hartford, Connecticut

West Hartford's 24th annual celebration
Free Admission - Rain or Shine

Attracting well over 30,000 people each year, Celebrate! also provides festival attendees with a wide range of wholesome family activities – an award winning juried arts & crafts show, great food, entertainment, games, rides, a certified 5K road race – as the saying goes, "something for everyone".

The event offers civic, service, sports, schools and charitable organizations a way to increase community awareness and an opportunity to raise funds for their worthy causes.

Looking forward to kettle corn, crafts, and just generally seeing people from around town. Let's hope the weather co-operates. Have Fun!

June 15th Referendum Absentee Ballots Available

Absentee Ballots for the upcoming Referendum on June 15th are available in the Town Clerk’s Office, Room 313, Town Hall.

Due to the limited time-frame, State Statutes do not allow Absentee Ballots to be mailed, so you have to go get them in person.

The Town Clerk’s office is open
Monday and Wednesday 8:30 – 4:30 p.m,
Tuesday 7:30 – 4:30 and
Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.;
Closed Fridays. (mostly because we need more money for the schools and can't afford to keep the Town Clerk's office running full time these days)

Kevin Sullivan On The Property Tax Burden

"By any measure, Connecticut has one of the worst property tax burdens in the nation, routinely much higher than national average. With a state income tax that hits lower- and middle-income wage earners the hardest, over-reliance on property taxes adds immensely to the overall unfairness of tax burdens in our state. Property taxes perversely undercut "smart growth," drive expensive sprawl and foment no-win competition for development among cities and towns." - Kevin Sullivan

Kevin Sullivan, Former CT Lt. Governor and current vociferous critic of the West Hartford Taxpayers Association, wrote an editorial this past January which, certainly applies to our own town government. He apparently should re-read it in earnest.

It's easier to argue for sacrifice when it's not just everyone else's pain. Cut from the top. Reduce administrative costs, cut layers of political appointees, roll back top salaries, cut perks and consolidate agencies and services. We don't need nearly 200 agencies, boards and commissions along with all the commissioners, deputy commissioners, assistants and directors. Local governments and school districts also need incentives or even mandates to consolidate services.

Next, cut from the bottom. Eliminate or suspend programs, services and tax breaks that do not have a general public benefit or show no substantial return on investment. Millions of dollars are buried deep in the budget and state tax code. ...

Raise taxes last, if at all. Taxes take money from consumers and investors, who prime economic recovery. Higher taxes and fees or higher local taxes (for costs passed along by the state) always fall unfairly on middle- and lower-income families.
If any tax increase is needed, be sure it's fair in terms of ability to pay. And for every dollar raised in taxes there should be a dollar cut in state spending.

Then, make sure the savings and revenues are real. Don't count on some other level of government to fix it (hoped-for bailouts) or eat it (more burdens on local property taxpayers). Don't pay for today's problems with tomorrow's dollars through gimmicks like early retirement that cost more over time. Tap the rainy day fund and, with interest rates low, some deficit financing makes sense.

Connecticut's structural budget crisis is not going away soon. Even when revenues recover, the deficit will remain and the gap will have grown.

... And we, the people, should demand results and then support those who step up to make hard choices.

Perhaps we should take his sage advice.
The again, the Former Lt. Governor should really listen to his own words before going off and saying another increase in our Town taxes is now justified because Kiplinger "hearts" West Hartford.

Cut from the top, cut from the bottom and raise taxes LAST, if at all.

For every dollar raised in taxes there should be a dollar cut in spending, etc. etc. etc.

Hey Kevin.. those were your words.. but maybe you really didn't mean them after all.


So where exactly ARE the Board of Education's spending cuts?
(Silly taxpayers ... they are the Board of Education, they don't have to make any real reductions)



Post Script: Based on some of the more recent web reviews (from 2009) of his Children's Museum which he has headed since 2007 - maybe Mr. Sullivan ought to keep his focus there instead of weighing in on other issues. Just a thought.