CT Blue

From the Day:

The town’s Representative Town Meeting voted Tuesday night to cut from the 2010-2011 budget any appropriation for the Groton Long Point police force.

Groton Long Point had requested $208,000, about 31 percent of its police budget, and the Groton Town Council included that request in the budget it passed last month. The request was a zero percent increase over the previous year, said Bob Congdon, president of the Groton Long Point Association.

…

The RTM voted 19 to 17 in favor of eliminating the town’s share of police funding. John Scott, the RTM’s finance committee chairman, who introduced the motion to cut the police funding, said the cut was made because Kelly Fogg, chief of the town’s police department, has indicated the town could provide the same level of coverage to Groton Long Point for about the amount the town currently provides, a savings of about $400,000 to Groton Long Point residents.

When I was on the RTM I proposed cutting the GLP Police budget. I got one vote-mine. When I was on the Town Council there was substantial support for cutting the Groton Long Point Police budget, until it came time to actually vote, at which point, support withered. When I ran to keep the seat I was appointed to on the council (the only election I have ever actually won) the Republicans sent this to everyone living in Groton Long Point (I probably would have been top vote getter if they’d sent it everywhere):

I was honored to be attacked, and rather proud of the quote. It would be churlish of me to note that John Scott, now a Democrat, is listed as among the Republicans who pledged to protect the police. In truth, John had nothing to do with the pamphlet and I heartily applaud him for getting this through.

But John is being a bit disingenuous when he says that Groton Long Point residents will get the same level of services if they come over to the town. Who will check to see that their doors are locked when they’re on vacation? Who will make sure that no non-residents park on their roads, or, for that matter, drive on said roads? No, I’m sure what the Groton Town Police Chief meant was that she could provide the same level of services to GLP residents that she provides to other town residents, rather than the gold plated service we town residents have been subsidizing for years.

Am I feeling vindicated? You betcha! Hard times are good for something.

A bit of background for non-Grotonites: Groton Long Point is a rich person’s enclave within the Town of Groton. Most of the homes used to be summer homes, and it made sense, years ago, for the town to give the Association a little money to help with security, since it was actually needed years ago in the winter. These days, it is a year around community, and the subsidy has ballooned from about $6,000 in the late 60s to upwards of $200,000 today. Not even inflation accounts for that increase. The police department is notorious for treating outsiders (read: anyone not from GLP, including us Grotonites who help pay their salaries) like scum and for providing private security services to residents. For years the unwritten agreement was that the town would pick up half the cost of the police force, which of course meant that the GLPers spent twice as much as they would have otherwise, all the while packing Town budget hearings with people demanding low taxes and cuts to the education budget. Now they’ll have to pay for it themselves, or make do with the same level of services the little people get.

Cam Staples has dropped out of the AG race, leaving only George Jepsen and Susan Bysiewicz standing. Unfortunately, for Susan, we also learned today that the Republicans have appealed the trial court’s decision finding her eligible to run for the office, so you might say she is only half standing.

The appeal shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. It’s the logical thing for them to have done. The Connecticut Supreme Court (which I assume will take the case, which might on the first instance have to be filed with the Appellate Court) can expedite the process, but I don’t think they can speed it up fast enough for a decision prior to the convention. That leaves the delegates with a practical problem.

Putting aside ones views on who would make the best Attorney General, you have to consider the fact that there is some legitimate uncertainty about whether Susan is even eligible for the job. Court’s are reluctant to step in on questions of this sort, at least they have been historically, for reasons that are somewhat understandable. On the other hand it is the job of the courts, like it or not, to enforce the law, and it just may be that the court may find Susan’s active practice to have been a tad too inactive.

My bet is that she’ll win, and that it will be decided prior to the primary. The Republicans are apparently banking on the tapes or transcripts of her depositions to do her in, assuming she wins the primary. I don’t buy into that, for the simple reason that very few people will be paying attention to the AG race, and the heavy spending on the Senatorial race (I’ve been saying for months that McMahon will get it, and that now looks like a sure thing) and on the gubernatorial race, will suck the air right out of the other constitutional races. Let’s not forget those races don’t have much air even in those years when billionaires and millionaires aren’t spending money like water. Susan would have to say something a lot more damaging than an admission that she has only been to small claims court to get much attention one way or the other. That’s the way she should want it, of course. The less attention paid to the race, the more name recognition counts, and she has that in spades.

By the way, I’ve spent a lot more time in court than Susan, but I would be the last to say you need courtroom experience to be an attorney general. It’s more important that you understand the legal issues that come before you and are able to get the people working for you to advocate effectively.

All that being said, I’m leaning Jepsen.