Ken Dixon's Blog-O-Rama

 Times are bad in the state, so what better thing to do for the Connecticut State University System to do than raise tuition prices $477 for commuters and $950 for live-ins? This comes on the heels of another tuition hike that was voted in April.

“I am deeply disappointed at CSU’s decision to raise tuition at this point in time,” Gov. Jodi Rell said in a statement. ” CSU is facing difficult fiscal challenges just like the rest of state government, but I am not convinced that university administrators have looked deep enough and hard enough for savings.”

Three Bridgeport properties are among dozens of items that the state wants to sell to get some cash for its budget crisis.

Here’s Gov. Rell’s news release, but don’t bother clicking on the links:

            Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced the first round of state assets to be offered for sale in an effort to meet budget requirements and reduce the current budget deficit – a list that includes the Seaside Regional Center in Waterford and the former Nathan Hale Hotel site in Willimantic.

            Other surplus properties the state plans to sell include a building at 7 North Street in Litchfield, the Bristol Armory and numerous small plots owned by the Department of Transportation (DOT).

            The budget approved by the Legislature in September calls for raising $15 million from the sale of state assets in the first year of the budget and $45 million in Fiscal 2011. The budget does not identify the properties to be sold, leaving it to the Rell Administration to develop a list of surplus assets.

            “This is a chance for the state to realize much-needed revenues and for residents, developers and others to buy prime property and other assets,” Governor Rell said. “These properties range from an outstanding waterfront location to dozens of spots owned by the DOT across the state. We must do all in our power to meet the goals of the budget and reduce the current-year budget deficit. Selling these parcels will bring in cash for the state without adding to the burdens on taxpayers or employers.

            “The new budget passed by the Legislature has been in effect just a few short months but is already millions of dollars out of balance,” the Governor said. “My hope is that these asset sales will help prevent that problem from growing any worse – and perhaps even help to turn it around.

            “This is only the first list of assets we intend to sell,” Governor Rell said. “We also have a special Web site – www.ct-surplus-property.com – where people can get all the details on the property, including information on how to make a bid. As we complete the appraisals and other technical details necessary to make additional state-owned assets ready for sale, more properties will be coming on the market in early 2010.”

            The first list of assets to be sold includes:

• Seaside Regional Center, Waterford: Originally opened in the 1930s as the Seaside Sanitarium, it was reopened in 1959 as the Seaside Geriatric Center and redesignated in 1961 as the Seaside Center for the Mentally Retarded. Closed in 1996, it is a beachfront property near New London on Long Island Sound. 
• Nathan Hale Hall (formerly the Nathan Hale Hotel), Willimantic: The building was built as a hotel in 1926 and converted to a college dormitory in 1969. It has been closed since 2001. 
• 7 North Street, Litchfield: This building is known as the old Litchfield Jail. Portions of the structure date to 1812. 
• Bristol Armory, Bristol: Built in 1928, this is one of nearly 20 armories located around the state. The Military Department has indicated that as a result of its budget reduction plan and current force structure it no longer needs this armory.
• DOT properties: The DOT has identified more than 40 parcels of land – ranging from more than 2 acres in New Milford to as small a plot as 0.12 acres in Montville – that it is ready to sell. Additional parcels of DOT-owned land are expected to be offered in future rounds of asset sales.

            Last week, the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) auctioned off surplus state heavy equipment, raising $432,900 on the sale of 202 items. The largest sale was a John Deere 544E Loader, which brought $17,750. In 2009, DAS has also five auctions of surplus automobiles, raising nearly $2.6 million.

            A list of DOT properties to be sold is attached.

ANDOVER

Hebron Rd – 1.17 acres

BLOOMFIELD

Albermarle Road – 0.58 acres

Albermarle Road – 0.48 acres

Central/Asher – 0.13 acres

Central/Gorham/Asher – 1.14 acres

Charter Avenue – 0.14 acres

Charter/Central/Asher – 0.44 acres

Charter/Central/Asher – 0.76 acres

Douglas Street – 0.25 acres

Gorham/Hillcrest/Asher – 0.45 acres

Gorham/Hillcrest/Asher – 1.39 acres

Hillcrest/Asher/Taft – 0.48 acres

Hillcrest/Asher/Taft – 1.28 acres

Maplewood Avenue 0.15 acres

Taft/Asher/Albermarle – 0.60 acres

BOZRAH

Bozrah St Ext – 0.27 acres

Bozrah St Ext – 0.54 acres

BRIDGEPORT

Daisy Court – 0.07 acres

Myrtle Ave – 0.18 acres

West Ave – 0.21 acres

COVENTRY

Route 31 – 0.63 acres

DERBY

Division St – 0.20 acres

DURHAM

Route 77/Mica Hill – 0.52 acres

EAST HARTFORD

North-East Side of Route 2 – 1.65 acres

North-East Side of Route 2 near Willowbrook – 0.21 acres

FAIRFIELD

Route 59 – 0.15 acres

FRANKLIN

Route 32 – 0.20 acres

Route 32 – 0.50 acres

GREENWICH

Ferris Dr – 0.54 acres

GRISWOLD

Route 630/Preston Rd – 0.23 acres

GROTON

Route 184 – 0.31 acres

HADDAM

Old Chester Rd – 1.37 acres

LISBON

Route 138 – 0.31 acres

MILFORD

1080 Bridgeport Ave – 0.46 acres

2 Pearl Hill St – 0.15 acres

North-East Side of Clark St – 0.44 acres

MONTVILLE

Route 32 – 0.12 acres

NEWINGTON

Maple Hill Ave (east side) @ Robbins Ave (south side) – 0.49 acres

NEW MILFORD

376 Danbury Rd – 2.18 acres

NORWALK

Route 7 @ Elm St - 0.09 acres

Martin Luther King – 0.13 acres

OLD SAYBROOK

Essex Rd – 0.65 acres

PRESTON

Route 2/Ross Rd – 1.92 acres

PUTNAM

Sayle Ave – 1.80 acres

SOUTHBURY

Oakdale Rd – 0.16 acres

SOUTH WINDSOR

John Fitch Blvd – 0.04 acres

THOMPSON

I-395 – 0.54 acres

TRUMBULL

Route 8 – 0.35 acres

Route 111/15 – 1.66 acres

VERNON

Route 30 – Hartford Tpke – 0.57 acres

WATERBURY

Austin Rd – 0.11 acres

WATERFORD

Dayton Rd – 0.32 acres

Vauxhall St Ext – 0.14 acres

WINCHESTER

461 North Main St – 0.33 acres

WINDSOR

Lee Lane – 0.36 acres

Gearing up for the special session next week to deal with the nearly $450-million budget deficit, social service providers from throughout the state decsended on the Capitol today in a public hearing from hell. One after another, people (there are about 300 signed up) are saying targeted cuts would cut into the bone of crucial services. Then there’s the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities, which wants to head off Gov. Rell’s proposed $84-million cut to aid to towns and cities.

Jim Finley, executive dirctor of the CCM, in his prepared remarks, urged the rejection of any slashes to muny aid. “Cuts in aid to towns and cities would equal increases in property taxes,” Finley said.

The Blogster appreciates those massive, expensive highway signs that during snow storms alert us to “slippery conditions possibe,” or even the occasionally helpful alert to a crash a few miles up the road. But this week’s blitz to highlight teen safety (My favorite, of course, is “Hang Up and Drive”) seems a little misplaced. From whom are they learning their bad habits? It’s not the DMV inspector who tested them on parking during the driving test. After another morning drive on I-91, when the Blogster yet again proved that 65 mph is a hindrance to traffic flow, I got to the final red light before the Capitol. The car along side me at the light was operated by a woman of a certain age who, of course, was so important, she just had to be on her mobile phone.

In one of the more bizarre political announcements the Blogster has covered, Greenwich millionaire Tom Foley, the former ambassador to Ireland, seized the opportunity to fill the GOP void left by Gov. Rell, but declined to articulate why. Perhaps he can stop the sectarian violence in northern Connecticut. After first blowing off reporters’ questions in the minuscule meeting room in the Hartford Hilton, he then dodged around reporters massed around him in the hallway. Hello! Who told reporters to come for an announcement? We didn’t just arrive to run his amorphous little speech that was read off several pages of script at the podium before about four dozen supporters of his new GOP gubernatorial bid. He wants to be governor. He intimated that he’ll use his own millions of dollars. Yet he declined to talk about policy until he develops position papers. Wow. There’s a lot to be said about fresh faces in politics, but if you want to run for governor, shouldn’t you be able to vamp before reporters for five minutes on the day you announce?

It sure looks like Tom Foley, the Greenwich millionaire, is abandoning his U.S. Senate bid for a run at the governor’s office. The Republican has scheduled a 12:30 news conference in a downtown Hartford hotel to make a major announcement. His Web site leaves little to the imagination:“Last spring I entered the race for the United States Senate because I wanted to serve the people of Connecticut. Recently, the political landscape in Connecticut has changed. We no longer have an incumbent Governor seeking re-election. I have had a number of conversations with people who are encouraging me to consider running for Governor because they believe I could better serve Connecticut today as Governor than as a Senator.”

The Blogster wants to know the difference between “gumba” and “paisan” and the relative appropriateness of using the Italian words for “friend” to describe Lt. Gov. Mike Fedele’s use of another Italian-born executive during today’s CBIA function. Giovanni P. Tomasi, CEO of RSL Fiber Systems, LLC, which moved to Connecticut from New Hampshire was introduced by Fedele as an example of the type of industry that he wants to attract to the state.

“I would love to be able to stand up here today and say that I spoke to Bill Gates and Microsoft is moving here next week with 50,000 jobs, but I can tell you that if you elected me as your governor, that I will bring 1,000 Giovannis to Connecticut, that I will make that the cornerstone of my job. I will be the economic-developmen-job-creator-cheerleader of the state,” Fedele said.

Tomasi subsequently endorsed Fedele right then and there.