Ken Dixon's Blog-O-Rama

Gov. Dannel Malloy told reporters this morning that Stefan Pryor’s experience running private charter schools is not in conflict with his role as Connecticut’s top public-education chief. Asked by a reporter if Pryor should recuse himself from issues involving charter schools, Malloy said “Of course not. That’s utterly and fantastically ridiculous… It makes no sense. First of all, let’s drill down to something that most recent writers on this subject have ignored and that is we only have public charter schools in Connecticut. They are public schools. So, in essence what you’re saying is because someone isn’t involved in public schools, they shouldn’t be allowed in public schools.”

The Red Cross rejected Gov. Dannel Malloy’s attempt to give blood this morning in Farmington because of his potential exposure to malaria during that recent unannounced, pre-holiday trip to Afghanistan. “The only reason I knew that is (US Sen) Dick Blumenthal went into the booth before me and he comes out and said ‘you can’t give,’ because he was in the same situation,” Malloy told reporters in the UConn Health Center.

 This from the Judicial Branch:

The special master appointed by the Connecticut Supreme Court will hold a public hearing on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, at the Legislative Office Building, 300 Capitol Ave., Hartford. The hearing will start at noon in Room 2C. A sign-up sheet will be available outside of Room 2C one hour before the public hearing. http://www.jud.ct.gov/external/news/SC18907_010312.pdf

The parties and/or any interested member of the public may present argument to the special master during the hearing. The Supreme Court order directing the special master is at:

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They are called the Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP). It’s bonded money for capital expenditures, paid by taxpayers, targeting towns across the state “to make infrastructure upgrades, strengthen business corridors and local economies, and improve public spaces.” It’s part of the political aftermath of the recent approval of $20 million by the State Bond Commission. In recent days Gov. Dannel P. Malloy has been traveling throughout the state announcing awards. Today his staff issued a release with yet more towns, complete with canned quotes from state lawmakers.  

“Over the past several weeks I’ve enjoyed visiting the small towns across Connecticut that make our state a great place to live,” Malloy said in a statement. “Local leaders have done a tremendous job advocating for their communities and ensuring that these important projects are getting the attention and support they need—and state government has stepped up as a partner in the effort to improve the quality of life for residents. These projects are part of reinventing Connecticut and making us a stronger, highly competitive, and more vibrant state.”

 Here are some of the awards:  

Bethel was granted $500,000 to reconstruct and repave major roads impacted by the Stony Hill sewer extension. This award goes toward a larger project that will cost an estimated $1.48 million to complete.

“I have worked with town officials for several months to get state assistance for the project. The town put in sewer lines to benefit some property owners and a road resurfacing is needed to complete the project. This grant benefits all the residents who travel this road in Bethel,” said Rep. David Scribner R-Brookfield.

 Ridgefield gets two awards.  The first is $75,000 to install a traffic signal at the intersection of Danbury Road and Route 7. This intersection controls traffic for a 322 unit complex including a nursing home, assisted living facility and an age-restricted condo development. The nursing home and assisted living facility average 400 ambulance calls a year and the intersection has become difficult to navigate since the road was widened to 4 lanes.

 The second award, $200,000, will improve safety and traffic flow through the Ridgefield Center Business District. The project calls for reconstructing the 233-space municipal parking lot between Bailey Avenue and Prospect Street. The lot serves 112 businesses and the Ridgefield Town Hall and will be upgraded, landscaped, and lit.

 ”As a ranking member of the state’s transportation committee I know all too well the financial challenges communities have with maintaining safe roads and workable transportation systems.  The STEAP award being provided to Ridgefield will help make the business district more accessible to residents and safer for pedestrians,” said Sen. Antonietta Bucher, R-Wilton.

Sherman was awarded $150,000 to reconstruct two miles of Spring Lake Road.  The project will improve drainage while honoring the provisions of the Scenic Road Ordinance. The road serves 63 properties and many Sherman residents use this road to walk or bike.

 ”Job creation continues to be our goal, and this is welcome news for taxpayers in Bethel, Sherman and throughout greater Danbury,” said state Senator Michael McLachlan, R-Danbury.  “State upgrades to our region’s roadways will not only make our region safer, but they will also help those who work and do business in our towns.  We want to do all we can to make western Connecticut a more appealing place to grow jobs, and these are smart investments.”"

Governor Dannel P. Malloy has released the action plan created by William Hackett, director of State Emergency Management at the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection.

 The proposal came on the heels of the Witt Associates’ recommendations in December. It creates a set of goals to improve coordination and implement it by August. “The unprecedented storms that hit our state last year give us an unprecedented opportunity to design a unified response plan for dealing with an emergency,” Malloy said in a statement.  “While a plan like this will always be updated to meet the needs of an ever changing world, the actions outlined in this report give us some concrete steps that we can begin to take immediately.  I want to thank Bill Hackett and the hard working folks at DESPP for pulling this together. We did many things right both during and after each storm. But when it comes to responding to an emergency, the goal must always be to improve.”

 Malloy said there are three goals outlined in the plan:

• Enhance the existing State Response Framework and local plans to create more comprehensive planning to identify in detail multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional response and coordination actions, roles and responsibilities;
• Improve the quality of communications between local and state governments and utilities during emergencies;
• Increase utilities’ interface with Connecticut emergency management systems.

The DESPP will convene a working group to oversee implementation of the goals and hire an outside consultant that will work with the group.   

The Governor also announced that the Two Storm Panel will present its final recommendations on January 9.

“The magnitude of these storms required us to take both a short and long term view on improving both our utilities and state and local government’s response to emergencies,” said Malloy.  “We’ve already taken action on some of the recommendations in the Witt Report.  I look forward to seeing the comprehensive analysis of the Two Storm Panel, and to continuing to improve our response to emergency situations.”

David Wagner, a painter, is hanging his “life’s work” of historical figures and moments, in the underground runway. This is a Native American scene.

Comptroller Kevin Lembo today says the newest year-end surplus prediction for the fiscal year that ends June 30 has gone up to $83.7 million, up $4.6 million from last month.

 Lembo warns that there are several variables, however, even though his projections agree with the Office of Policy and Management’s (OPM) surplus.

“The good news is that Connecticut is currently headed for a fiscal year-end surplus – but the bad news is that there are several asterisks attached to that number,” Lembo said in a statement. “The health and pension savings associated with the 2011 SEBAC agreement must still be assessed. I am especially concerned that the aggressive allotment reduction applied to the retiree health account does not appear to be fully attainable. Additionally, we await actuarial findings related to estimated pension savings. My office will continue to monitor these programs and overall state spending and savings targets.”