Hartford, Connecticut, scene, May 4, 2019


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Why Enfield is in trouble? Facts with a dose of sarcasm

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Molly at School Rally People are going after spending in Enfield and trying to dissect it to see where they can find gross mismanagement. Since the Republicans have been in control for all but two of the last 16 years, let's assume that the town's spending is pristine and error-free and beyond reproach—except for the two years when the Democrats were in charge. As we all know, the Democrats dumped money out of the windows of Town Hall. The Town Council Republicans are going to try to set a token reduction in the Mill Rate. To reach that point, they may have to do some problematic things, such as deferring spending on things like police cruiser replacements and equipment generally, putting off some maintenance, and not filling vacancies and laying off where they can, and who knows what else. There's a lot they can't touch, namely contractual salary obligations. But they want to be able to say that they reduced taxes. More concerning will be how much of the costs are bein
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Enfield Town Council's unprofessional action

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  Enfield's Town Council is apparently trying to kill a 70-unit housing project in Thompsonville that the Planning and Zoning Commission approved. The Council's behavior has been egregious and unprofessional in pursuit of that goal. It's doing this in secret and risking a lawsuit for murky reasons. Impact Residential Development recently received PZC approval for this project in a 5-2 vote. It was a remarkable and courageous moment for the commission. But the Town Council Republicans want to block it. They are designing in executive session a way to oppose it. They did not let the developer know of their plan until the last minute. Here's the background The developers plan to build this housing on and near the former Strand Theater site, land which the town had acquired. It combines primarily affordable housing and market-rate units with 70 parking spaces. It faced opposition over concerns about on-street parking. The idea is that since this is a transit-oriented develo
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Voter turnout will be crucial if Democrats hope to retain Enfield's Council majority

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  In the 2021 municipal election, Enfield Democrats won 7 out of the 11 council seats, helped by a voter turnout of about 7,850 -- a substantial 19% increase over the 2019 municipal election. To maintain a majority, the Democrats will likely need a similarly strong turnout on Nov. 7 But the Democrats face obstacles this time because of revaluation. Property taxes increased by around 10% for many.  Meanwhile, council Republicans are leveraging this increase in taxes. They've taken to their mailers, chastising Democrats as having "gone hog wild with taxes and spending." Aside from being false, this criticism overlooks Enfield's underlying issues — issues for which the Republicans, after 14 years at the helm, cannot evade responsibility. You can think about revaluation like Warren Buffett talks about stock market declines: "Only when the tide goes out do you learn who has been swimming naked." It means everything looked good until the market crashes, and then p
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