Saturday, March 7, 2009

Ethics code a must but 14 pages is a burden - The New Britain Herald (newbritainherald.com)


Ethics code a must but 14 pages is a burden - The New Britain Herald (newbritainherald.com)

46 comments:

  1. How about enforcing the current law is a must--expel Catanzaro like the law currently mandates!

    What good is another law that the Marxist council Democrats will ignore when it suits their fellow comrades?

    ReplyDelete
  2. New Britain Alderman Phil Sherwood has proposed strengthening the city’s ethics code by adding to the ordinance on disclosure of financial interests, thereby providing information that would point to any potential conflict of interest:

    There's a real joke, must be Sherwack needs to find more conflicts of interest to ignore, as if his comrade Catanzaro hasn't given him enough conflicts already?

    ReplyDelete
  3. How about a $10 per day fine per conflict of interest for as long as each conflict of interest exists? That would bankrupt Catanzaro. He would probably have to sign over his city pay check.

    ReplyDelete
  4. According to phil, each city employee affected by the Ethics legislation must read the document and be conversant with its demands. Consider that in light of who currently sits on the Council; will Council members and others be quizzed on the contents?

    WHO IS GOING TO EXPLAIN THESE NEW REGULATIONS TO THE 13 MUSHROOMS ON THE COUNCIL? HOW MANY OF THEM HAVE THE BRAINS TO READ ROAD SIGN, NEVER MIND A COMPLICATED SET OF ETHICS REGULATIONS?

    ReplyDelete
  5. More rhetoric from "the boy."

    ReplyDelete
  6. James H. Smith, a past president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors who began his career in Connecticut covering Bristol, has been named executive editor of The Bristol Press and The Herald in New Britain.

    Jim Smith brings substantial experience in serving community needs, and he will set new standards for journalism in the communities we serve, said Press and Herald Publisher Michael E. Schroeder. He will be heading a team of driven, professional writers and editors into a new era.

    I am utterly thrilled to join Mike Schroeder in his effort to make these newspapers the best they can be, said Smith. The staff knows the cities and towns and is dedicated to covering them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MUST WATCH

    ROCK AND ROLL NEW BRITAIN

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7WZVPAn6m0

    ReplyDelete
  8. WHO IS GOING TO EXPLAIN THESE NEW REGULATIONS TO THE 13 MUSHROOMS ON THE COUNCIL? HOW MANY OF THEM HAVE THE BRAINS TO READ ROAD SIGN, NEVER MIND A COMPLICATED SET OF ETHICS REGULATIONS?

    we know Catanzaro can read a restaurant menu!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Truewothy, Bielinski, Collins, Hermanowski. The silence is deafening.


    cricket, cricket

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous said...
    James H. Smith, a past president of the New England Society of Newspaper Editors who began his career in Connecticut covering Bristol, has been named executive editor of The Bristol Press and The Herald in New Britain.

    Isn't James Smith, Frank Smith's brother?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Introduced by: Senator Edward Meyer (D), 12th District, State of CT- Senate Bill 339.

    AN ACT CONCERNING MUNICIPAL CODES OF ETHICS.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened: That the general statutes be amended to require each municipality to adopt municipal codes of ethics and that such code be consistent with a minimum number of state-mandated provisions.

    Statement of Purpose: To promote ethical conduct in local government.

    ReplyDelete
  12. A Sign of The Times In The U.S.A. Job Market...

    One janitor job draws a crowd of 700 hundred applications. The evidence of the slumping American economy is stacking up at a school in Massillon, Ohio, that has nearly 700 applicants for one open janitorial job.

    The full –time position at Edison Junior High School in Massillon, Ohio pays $15 to $16 an hour plus benefits.

    ReplyDelete
  13. NEW BRITAIN — A proposal by an employee of the city’s finance department to stop publishing bid invitations in local newspapers was unanimously defeated by the Common Council’s Committee on Administration, Finance and Law.

    New Britain Purchasing agent Jack Pieper initiated the conservation proposal as a way to save the city money. We scrutinized the budget and what we found was a way to save the city approximately $8,000 a year, Pieper said.

    Pieper stated that the city already puts advertisements on the state’s Department of Administration Web site and the city’s Web site and also mails out notices.

    We’re finding that newspaper ads are no longer an effective way of getting our bids out there to notify suppliers, vendors and bidders, he said. Everything has gone Internet.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous said...
    "Trueworthy, Bielinski, Collins and Hermanowski. The silence is deafening. cricket cricket"

    ANONYMOUS SAYS:

    THAT MAY BE TRUE RE THE ETHICS ISSUE. ON MOST OTHER ISSUES AT LEAST 8 OF THE DEMS ARE USUALLY MUT. SOMETIMES THEY ARE GIVEN A MENIAL TASK TO PERFORM. WATCH THE MEETINGS.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The election of Barack Obama and the fear of his across-the-board tax rate hikes on capital gains, dividends, and small businesses have created the most bearish policy environment on Wall Street since the late 1970s.

    Investors are forward-looking and they are seeing a tsunami of anti-growth policies.

    The proper response is to sell while you still can -- and that is what investors have been doing en masse. Sell...Sell...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous said...
    Truewothy, Bielinski, Collins, Hermanowski. The silence is deafening.

    Trueworthy and Bielinsky...their silence is deafining???
    I'll be laughing at that one the rest of the month!!
    The way they ramble on and on is hysterical...they bore us right into the twilight zone!!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Why are they waisting our time with a new law when they refuse to enforce the current law? Have they impeached Catanzaro yet as required by the charter?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Anonymous said...
    By the way, word has it that catanzero was on another "vacation trip" for HRA funded with public funds, i.e., HRA Funds. How about that one Phony Phil.

    How about it Mr. ethics Czar Sherwack?

    This is just further proof what a phony you really are!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous said... I'll be laughing at that one the rest of the month!!
    The way they ramble on and on is hysterical...they bore us right into the twilight zone!!

    You might think that in between the incoherant rants and frivolous postering that one of the senior democratic council members might find a few minutes to comment to the Herald about proposed changes to the city charter.

    Since Alderman Trueworthy is the majority leader and was chosen by his party to organize the passage of legislation, set party strategy, control the legislative schedule, and be the party's chief spokesman. I thought he might have something to say. As Mayor Pro-Tempore Alderwoman Bielinski must have a opinion. While Alderwoman Collins is monitoring and securing votes for legislation while performing her duties as Majority Whip I thought she might find time to share with constituants how legislation as important as changes to the charter is progressing.
    But instead Instead citizens who tune into the council meetings hear about how loved former Herald staff writer Rick Guiness is.
    Or if you read the Herald you only here from freshman Alderman Sherwood and Gerratana.

    ReplyDelete
  20. The liberals are great at passing laws that go unenforced. This is just like the gun laws. They pass all kinds of criminal laws that the liberal judges ignore, and the liberal solution to the problem is to pass even more gun laws that the liberal judges will inevitably ignore.

    They currently have an alderman who has publicly committed an ethics violatiion that is so serious that the city charter calls for his removal from office. Instead of performing their sworn duty and removing him as the charter mandates, they are running around trying to pass more ethics laws as a smokescreen for the current situation where they simply refuse to uphold the law as they are sworn to do.

    Is this not unethical behavior on behalf of the 13 Democrats on the council? Shouldn't all 13 be removed from office for dereliction of their sworn duties?

    Where is the attorney general or even the state's attorney to investigate this situation? Some of this stuff certainly seems criminal in nature. Will it take intervention by the feds to straighten this mess out?

    Someone should share the federal laws pertaining to "political corruption" with the 13 Dumbocrats. Perhaps former Governor Blagovich, or Mayor Kwalmy Kilpatrick (2 famous democratic leaders) have a spare copy they can share?

    ReplyDelete
  21. Chairman McNamara (Little Mac) sent this notice to all local Democrats, I think he is bragging that Bozek is eminently more qualified to be the Democratic candidate for Mayor over their number one contender, Alderman Cantazaro:
    The campaign of 2008 Republican State Senate Nominee Tom Bozek has been cited for violating state campaign finance laws on proper attribution of solicitations, reporting expenses and accepting a contribution from a member of a lobbyist's household.


    Sounds like Little Mac found his candidate.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Whatever happened to the consitutional prohibition on ex post facto laws? The courts have ruled that this very provision prohibits passing a pay increase mid term and is why elected officials have to wait until the next election for the pay increases to take effect, but these power hungry liberals believe they found a way around the constitution simply to apply a new set of rules against 2 elected officials? We all know that these same new rules will be ignored by the 13 Marxists that are currently on the council--you know the ones that the constitution doesn't apply to?

    You wonder why we have so many problems in New Brtiain? Just look at what these council Democrats waist your time and money arguing over, all under the stewardship of Little Mac--the supreme leader.

    If they would lead by example and enforce the existing ethics laws, then we might believe that the efforts to revise the ethics laws are genuine, but when there is such a blatant violation committed in their presence that mandates the removal of office of one of the aldermen, and they publicly refuse to perfom their sworn duty, then who's fooling who.

    This is just another phony smokescreen meant to take attention away from the real law violator among them, and all led by phony phil.

    Don't let these Marxists get away with taking your attention away from the real issue. Catanzaro arrogantly broke the law--a violation for which the mandated punishment is expulsion from the council as mandated by the city charter.

    Call your alderman and tell him or her, that Catanzaro must go and he must go now!

    Let's try something new like enforcing the existing law!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Wouldn't a prudent person wait for the final version of the new state law so we could write one new ordinance and not have to run around like chickens with our heads cut off and make all kinds of changes to comply with the new law once the state finally passes it?

    Just another example of Sherwood's youth and inexperience!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Senate Ethics Bill 339 by State Senator. Edward Meyer, (D), 12th District, would require 169 municipalities like New Britain to adopt codes of Ethics that are consistent with a number of state-mandated provisions...

    On 1/22/2009 the State Ethics Senate Bill 339 was Referred to Joint Committee on Government Administration and Elections...

    Some time in November 2009 the final draft of Ethics Bill No. 339 affecting 169 towns and cities will surface for a final vote with required number (?) of state-mandated provisions... and then the defendants- the town clerk, registrars of voters, selectmen and councilmen and the secretary of the state of CT will voice their concerns...

    ...because in year 2010 the U.S. census surfaces and then the Connecticut Constitution (Article 3, 6) requires that the districts of the General Assembly be reapportioned decennially stemming from the actions of the 2010 census!

    ReplyDelete
  25. New Britain Common Council Administration, Finance and Law Subcomittee: The Administration, Finance and Law Subcomittee meets on the First Wednesday of every month at 7:00 pm in Council Chambers at City Hall.

    Nine (9) Subcomittee Members:

    * Tonilynn Collins, Chair
    * Gregory Gerratana
    * Lawrence J. Hermanowski
    * Michael Trueworthy
    * Louis G. Salvio
    * Shirley Black
    * Suzanne Bielinski
    * Phil Sherwood
    * Eva Magnuszewsk

    QUESTION: How many meetings has the Chair-person Tonilynn Collins missed! And whom is the Acting Chair!

    ReplyDelete
  26. The real question is whether Adam Plutos ever found his Chinese hot dogs? We really want to know?

    ReplyDelete
  27. hey adam, what do you put on a chinese hot dog? soy sauce? duck sauce? lead paint? what?

    ReplyDelete
  28. what a bunch of losers. it'd be funny if it wasn't our money they are a wasting

    ReplyDelete
  29. I have and Ethics Complaint. Every
    morning this week the City of NB has run several TV ads promoting the Easter Breakfast this coming Saturday at the Stanley Golf Course. This is a nice Park and Rec event and I understand that nobody reads newspapers anymore BUT enough is enough! How much are
    these ads costing taxpayers! Are we seeing ANY OTHER city or town running TV advertising? Is the City Of New Britain experiencing a budget surplus that we can spend this money? Winter Carnivals, Bunny Breakfasts, Summer Carnivals,
    Fireworks with festival all day,Board of Education Full Color
    Magazine mailed to every student's house, when are we going to see cuts in consideration of this economy? I don't want to hear it when the Mayor and his baffoons come looking for property tax increases. It is all un-ethical wasteful spending.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Anonymous said...
    I have and Ethics Complaint. Every
    morning this week the City of NB has run several TV ads promoting the Easter Breakfast this coming Saturday at the Stanley Golf Course. This is a nice Park and Rec event and I understand that nobody reads newspapers anymore BUT enough is enough! How much are
    these ads costing taxpayers! Are we seeing ANY OTHER city or town running TV advertising? Is the City Of New Britain experiencing a budget surplus that we can spend this money? Winter Carnivals, Bunny Breakfasts, Summer Carnivals,
    Fireworks with festival all day,Board of Education Full Color
    Magazine mailed to every student's house, when are we going to see cuts in consideration of this economy? I don't want to hear it when the Mayor and his baffoons come looking for property tax increases. It is all un-ethical wasteful spending.

    WHERE'S PHONY PHIL THE CZAR OF ETHICS ON THIS ONE, OH THAT'S RIGHT HE MUST HAVE VOTED FOR THIS NONSENSE.

    EASTER BEING A RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY, WHAT HAPPENED TO THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE?

    IS THIS QUITE ETHICAL MR. SHERWACK?

    SHAME, SHAME, SHAME MR. CZAR.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anonymous said...
    I have and Ethics Complaint. Every
    morning this week the City of NB has run several TV ads promoting the Easter Breakfast this coming Saturday at the Stanley Golf Course. This is a nice Park and Rec event and I understand that nobody reads newspapers anymore BUT enough is enough! How much are
    these ads costing taxpayers! Are we seeing ANY OTHER city or town running TV advertising? Is the City Of New Britain experiencing a budget surplus that we can spend this money? Winter Carnivals, Bunny Breakfasts, Summer Carnivals,
    Fireworks with festival all day,Board of Education Full Color
    Magazine mailed to every student's house, when are we going to see cuts in consideration of this economy? I don't want to hear it when the Mayor and his baffoons come looking for property tax increases. It is all un-ethical wasteful spending.

    March 10, 2009 7:32 AM:

    Maybe Little Mac is going to be wearing the Easter Bunny costume and that is why they are pushing this event so hard?

    ReplyDelete
  32. How does someone who claims to be the champion of ethics sit there and allow a fellow alderman to publicly commit a violation that is so severe that the charter mandates that he be removed from office for his offense and then vote with him, and fail to take action as required by the city charter?

    If he were the champion of ethics as he would have you believe, then he would be leading the charge to remove Catanzaro from office, but instead you get nothing but subterfuge to draw your attention from the real issue of this unethical conduct.

    Phil, the more you talk, the more the public finds out what a phony you are!

    Keep talking you phony.

    ReplyDelete
  33. will Adam be handing out his hot dogs?

    ReplyDelete
  34. Good point about the Easter Bunny
    Breakfast being a religious holiday. In my furor I didn't even
    consider it. The TV advertising is only directed to a certain christian segment of New Britain's
    population. I would love to know
    how much each 30 second TV ad is costing. Do you think WVIT is cutting the city a deal? Doubt it.
    Who suggested and approved this spending?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Anonymous said... I don't want to hear it when the Mayor and his baffoons come looking for property tax increases. It is all un-ethical wasteful spending.

    The city charter says.......

    §4-2 Powers of the Common Council1
    (b) to establish and maintain a budget system including but not
    assessment, levy and collection of taxes for general, special or
    purposes in the manner prescribed by law, and to adopt the capital
    budgets of the City and the Board of Education in the manner prescribed
    and this Charter and the operative Ordinances adopted hereunder.


    To steal a line.. are any of the spores listening?

    ReplyDelete
  36. Anonymous said...
    Good point about the Easter Bunny
    Breakfast being a religious holiday. In my furor I didn't even
    consider it. The TV advertising is only directed to a certain christian segment of New Britain's
    population. I would love to know
    how much each 30 second TV ad is costing. Do you think WVIT is cutting the city a deal? Doubt it.
    Who suggested and approved this spending?

    Where is ethics Czar Sherwack to address this, or is he still hiding from sitting there and watching Catanzaro commit an ethics violation in front of him and then refusing to perform his sworn duty and expel Catanzaro from the council like the city charter mandates?

    What has the city come to when the ethics Czar himself participates in such seriously unethical behavior???

    ReplyDelete
  37. Anonymous said...
    If the mayor is so reliable, why hasn't he done anything to start the process to remove Catanzaro from office?

    Catanzaro violated the city charter at the council meeting, in front of 14 other members of the council and the public when he spoke on, and then voted on his own ethics violation issued by the Ethics Commission. The city charter mandates that if an alderman votes on or speaks on his own issue, he "shall be subject to expulsion."

    The entire incident was video taped and even televised, and he is even arrogant enough to admit that he spoke and voted on his own issue to two newspapers. He commented that if he didn't vote on it, he couldn't speak on it, but both activities are direct violations of the same article of the city charter.

    Since the rest of the aldermen are not willing to fulfill their sworn duty by removing this miscreant from office, it is about time for the mayor to do something to rectify this situation.

    Perhaps it is time to bring in the state to investigate the rest of the city council for failing to perform the duty for which they swore an oath to perform.

    Do you remember that oath Mr. & Ms. Aldermen? Support the constitutions of the United States, the State of Connecticut and the Charter of the City of New Britain?

    How about the part about performing your duties to the best of your abilities, so help you God?

    Sound familiar?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous said...
    For: " Anonymous said" from Anonymous also says;

    Consider this; What do you suppose McNamara The Lesser, or Sherwack, or Truebabbler would say and do if the Mayor, Salvio or Bernacki introduced a resolution to remove Alderman COI (Conflict of Interest) Catanzaro from the Council? Sherwack would love it! It would get the Dems off the hook and then they could squash the motion. Then the bloggers would start all over again and ........

    Considering that Catanzaro committed an offense that is mandated by the charter that he be removed from office and did so in the presence of the 13 Democrats, we would then have the ability to bring an action against the Alermen who voted against his removal for dereliction of their sworn duty.

    Let's recap:

    1...They each swore to uphold the charter of the City of New Britain.

    2...Catanzaro committed a violation of the charter which dictates that any alderman who violates this section shall be subject to expulsion and did so in front of each and every one of them and in public, on video tape and also televised, so how can they deny it happened. He even told reporters that he voted on his own ethics violation so that he could speak on his own issue, a separate violation of the charter for which expulsion is also the penalty.

    3...any alderman who votes against Catanzaro's expulsion is violating his/her own oath of office to uphold the Charter of the City of New Britain and should be the subject of their own case for removal from office.

    If they continue to refuse to perform their sworn duty, we will need to turn to the State of Connecticut for assistance in removing them all from office.
    They seem to think they are untouchable as if they are in some exclusive club, but the taxpayers and the voters have a right to expect them to obey the law--especially when they swore an oath to do so.

    What these Democrats have apparently not learned yet, is that no one is above the law and maybe we need to solicit some help from state officials to teach them that very important lesson!

    ReplyDelete
  39. The Homeland Security Director has repeatedly stated that there is no violent threat to the US caused by the Mexican drug cartels but if this is true why is the mayor of Cuidad Juarez Mexico living here in El Paso Texas??? For anyone who hasn't been here the city of El Paso and Cuidad Juarez are only separated by a chain link fence like you might find at a school yard.

    El Paso as a 'safe zone' for the Juarez mayor?
    by David Crowder
    Posted on February 26, 2009

    The El Paso Police Department has backed away from a story in the El Paso Times that Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz has moved to El Paso after threats against him and his family.

    But people who have ties in Juarez say Reyes has long lived in El Paso and that he has come under criticism in Juarez for doing so.

    So they say has Juarez’s previous mayor, Hector Murguia, and property records show that both men have owned houses in El Paso since the 1990s.

    “Reyes has been living here, and so has the last mayor,” said an El Paso woman with contacts in Juarez who asked not to be named.

    ReplyDelete
  40. Speaking of ethics, How is Chris (I didn't think I was getting a deal)Dodd doing these days?

    http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-dodd0310.artmar10,0,4641659.story

    It seems some guys always get the good deals!

    ReplyDelete
  41. What happened to the transparency in government we were promised when the President is signing $400 billion spending bills in secret with no cameras allowed?

    It appears that even he is ashamed of the ridiculous spending bill with over 9000 earmarks, especially when he promised to end the earmarks.

    ReplyDelete
  42. I haven't seen the TV ads announcing the promotion of the Easter Breakfast being held this week at the Golf Course. Could the Parks and Recs requested the TV stations make this in the form of a news story, similar to a press release in the newspapers?

    ReplyDelete
  43. Phil how do you get a good vote rating on ccag web site? could it be from the donations taken at Alderman Trueworthys fundraiser?

    Listed as attendees at party

    House Majority Leader Chris Donovan
    Sen. Donald DeFronzo; Rep. Betty Boukus; Rep. John Geragosian
    Rep. Tim O’Brien; Rep. Peter Tercyak

    rating on ccag site

    DeFronzo, Donald J. 83%
    Tercyak, Peter A. 100%
    Boukus, Elizabeth A. 80%
    Geragosian, John C. 100%
    O'Brien, Tim 100%
    Donovan, Christopher G. 80%

    ReplyDelete
  44. How many personal issues or special deals did Catanzaro vote himself into at tonight's meeting?

    ReplyDelete
  45. Shall we call this the Catanzaro Law?

    City of New Britain Charter, Section 4-7:

    …No member of the Common Council shall be heard to speak upon, nor shall be allowed to vote upon, nor shall be appointed a member of any committee to consider, any matter in which the member has a direct pecuniary interest. Any violation of this provision shall be grounds for expulsion of any member violating the same….

    ReplyDelete
  46. LOU SALVIO SAYS...

    Why did the NB Council Democrats remove the provision in their "Ethics" ordinance that would have required all those affected by the ordinance to tell the citizen voters of the City where they live?, i.e., their primary residence ? Could it be that some Democrats don't own any kind of property on which they pay NB taxes?

    Hmmmmmmmmm!

    ReplyDelete