Enfield Things

  St. Martha's Pond, Enfield Conn. on Nov. 16, 2024. Impact of drought. If it keeps up water may disappear until the rains return.  

Enfield has experienced a significant and ongoing decline in public school enrollment over an 18 year period. When compared to four nearby towns of similar population size, Enfield and Middletown show the steepest declines. Many factors may be contributing to this trend. These include smaller family sizes, lower fertility rates, job market, cost of living including housing costs, an aging population across the state, and an increase in families choosing alternative education options, such as homeschooling. The data is available at EdSight . The enrollment data only covers the last 18 years. Update : After reading some of the insightful Facebook comments , more data is needed to show how population changes are contributing to the school population decline. The comments about an increase in homeschooling were thought-provoking. I wish there was a way to quantify that shift; I suspect the school district may have some estimates. Enfield has experienced an approximate 8.76% decline in popu

AI generated image by Ideogram.  Enfield is giving itself more power to fine people for "blight" and take their homes through foreclosure. Pay attention, folks, because officials in other communities have abused these laws, and there's no reason to believe Enfield won't do the same. Take grass, for instance. If your grass grows over 12 inches, under the current ordinance, property owners have 30 days to correct blight violations after receiving notification.  However, the town's proposed blight ordinance revision reduces that corrective period to 10 days, giving homeowners less time to fix the problem. Once the 10-day period passes, the town will fine the property owner $100 per day, escalating to $150, until the issue is resolved.  Town officials have also expanded the definition of blight to include inoperable vehicles and neglected vegetation, such as overgrown shrubs and trees. This change could give the town much more power to pressure homeowners. What's

Trump's steady support in Enfield means the Democrats need a strong turnout Vice President Kamala Harris should win Enfield if -- and this is a big if -- the Democrats see a strong turnout. Harris is expected to easily win Connecticut in November over former President Donald Trump. But Enfield is a purple town, where Trump has maintained a solid base of support, making the outcome largely dependent on Democratic turnout. Let’s look at what happened in the 2016 and 2020 presidential races. In 2016, Trump won Enfield, receiving 9,238 votes, and slightly increased his total to 9,298 in 2020. These results indicate that Trump's support in Enfield remains remarkably steady. In 2016, Hillary Clinton received 8,548 votes. In 2020, Biden benefited from a much stronger Democratic turnout. He won Enfield with 11,263 votes—a notable increase of 2,715 votes. Assuming Trump’s base remains steady, Democrats will once again need a strong turnout to win in November. If Democratic voters don’t

Enfield Conn., Middle Road On Monday, the Town Council is expected to form a Charter Revision Commission. What little screaming nightmares will this group deliver? A direct election of mayor There are arguments for this. It might improve elections. We could see mayoral candidate debates, each sharing a vision for Enfield. Someone would now be responsible. Manchester made that change but limited the mayor's executive authority, retaining its town manager, which is probably best. Budget referendums  There's a little support on the council for this, but it would be a disaster for Enfield. Our community is too big and too complex to adopt a system that could lead to dramatic increases and decreases in spending, as polarized special interest groups battle it out. Referendums of this type usually get small turnouts. They also undermine the accountability of elected officials. Hopefully, the charter commission won't push this self-destruct button. Charter in balance The new Charte

Enfield Town Hall, May 19, 2024 The Town Council is scheduled to adopt a budget tonight without a tax increase. The proposed mill rate will remain at 30.56, the same as this year. Despite this, the meeting is expected to be contentious. The Board of Education members will face off with the council in a final appeal, warning of layoffs, increased class sizes, and other problems if additional funding is not provided. The budget vote is expected to split along party lines, with Republicans supporting no change and Democrats seeking an increase. The budget proposal defers capital improvements, including repairs and new equipment purchases for schools, reducing spending by about $1.5 million. The largest offset are new police vehicles at $750,000.* However, this merely postpones costs into the future and is not something to take credit for. This budget will keep Enfield's per-pupil spending on the low end for the state. Enfield ranks low in Net Current Expenditure Per Pupil (NCEP) s