Dickinson-Zandri: contrast in candidates, campaigns

The “Contrast in candidates and campaigns: Dickinson-Zandri article” appeared on Sunday July 28, 2013.

The jump pages split the article – this link will take you to the story as it appeared on Page One.

This second link will take you to the story as it appeared on Page Four.

This is a very well written and rounded article by the Record Journal’s Andrew Ragali and Jeff Gebeau - it is a must read.

It’s your town – get informed and get involved. – VOTE Tuesday November 5, 2013.

The Comerford Video – Follow up from the RJ story “Wallingford town official advised against showing video of environmental spill”

In a prior post I directed readers to the story regarding “Wallingford town official advised against showing video of environmental spill” via the Record Journal website. I also included the original O’Hare memo so you could see it for yourself.

Below is the four and a half minute video shot by resident William Comerford for your review.

O’Hare memo to wetlands commission Chairman James Vitali

You can read the story regarding “Wallingford town official advised against showing video of environmental spill” via the Record Journal post online. If you cannot access the article please let me know.

Beyond that, this link will allow you to read the O’Hare memo for yourself so that you can draw your own conclusions but the article written by Andrew Ragali of the Record Journal really says it all.

At the end of the day, if there really was “nothing to see” and we should all just “move along” then why NOT show the video? Show it, offer the same explanations as offered in the memo and then go about other business.

The reasons why are simple – there is more to scrutinize.

As quoted from the article “The town was asked by DEEP to stop storing catch basin materials at the facility in 2009, but the practice continued, according to DEEP. The town is required to file a compliance letter with DEEP in response to the June notice of violation”.

There is still more to these stories; stay tuned.

Views differ on government-access tech in Wallingford

As published in the Record Journal on Friday April 5, 2013

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz

WALLINGFORD -

Scott Hanley, manager of the town’s Government Access TV station, said there is frustration among some residents because town meetings are not available online.

Hanley said it would be easier to post video of meetings online rather than producing a disc version for every resident who requests a copy.

In 2009, Hanley posted several Town Council meetings on a blog website — wallingfordgovtv.blogspot.com — that was created specifically for residents who couldn’t attend meetings or watch recordings played on WGTV. After posting town meeting videos from July 2008 until April 2009, Donald Roe, the town’s program planner and grant coordinator, who oversees Hanley’s department, decided the videos should be discontinued.

Roe, along with Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., said that posting videos online was no longer feasible with Hanley’s schedule. At the time Hanley was, and still is, the only full-time employee of the station, which is a town department. In 2009 the town upgraded to a remote-controlled system of four cameras in Robert Earley Auditorium at Town Hall, and Roe said Hanley had plenty on his plate adjusting to the new system.

Almost four years later, Hanley still isn’t allowed to post town meeting videos online, a directive that he said leads to “frustration” for himself and some members of the community.

“It would be easier to put it online than put it on a DVD,” Hanley said. “But we can’t do it. The mayor looks at it like duplication.”

Dickinson said this is true, and that it would add to the town’s expenses if Hanley took time out of his schedule to post videos online if DVD copies are already provided on request. Hanley said the state requires municipalities to make DVD copies available at no cost except for the price of a disk, which he said is 50 cents.

“If the DVD requirement goes away, (Dickinson) said he’d be willing to put it on the Internet,” Hanley said.

“Maybe it will change in the future,” said Dickinson, adding that for now he “doesn’t see it as necessary.”

In Dickinson’s point of view, it’s wasteful to assimilate to every technological upgrade. He said that just because videos can be posted online doesn’t mean it should be done.

“Trying to do everything is counterproductive,” he said. Dickinson said he believes more people watch television, so it’s easier to watch meetings on WGTV “than other means.”

Roe said that much of the reasoning behind keeping town meetings unavailable online “comes down to allocation of resources and the ability to have staff time available to do things.

“I don’t think, at least from my perspective, we have the time to take on a lot of additional activities,” he said. Roe said there are three part-time employees in the WGTV department, but most of their time is taken up working town meetings.

Because it’s a tax-supported entity, “careful decisions have to be made,” Roe said, and there are only so many resources the department has, so putting video online is not apriority.

Hanley said the department hasn’t budgeted for putting video online this year.

“I don’t believe the cost would be that significant,” he said.

Town Councilor Jason Zandri, who is running for mayor this year, said that Dickinson does not want videos of town meetings online because he is “not for open government.”

“They are not for being transparent,” Zandri said.

If meeting videos were online, someone interested in viewing a certain aspect of a Town Council meeting could quickly pull it up online and skip to the exact moment they were looking for, Zandri said. Instead, residents must request a DVD copy and go to Town Hall and pick it up.

Zandri disagrees with Dickinson’s view that not all technology should be adopted.

“If that’s what you said 100 years ago, we wouldn’t have an electric plant,” he said.

Roe said of Hanley that “there’s no technology he doesn’t want to embrace.”

“I know it gets frustrating to him,” said Roe, who added that just because the town hasn’t embraced online video doesn’t mean technology is being ignored. An example, he said, is the remote-controlled camera system at Town Hall.

No pay raise for mayor in Dickinson’s new budget

As published in the Record Journal on Thursday April 4, 2013

Mayor’s aide to earn more in 2013-14 spending plan

By Andrew Ragali
Record-Journal staff
aragali@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2224
Twitter:@AndyRagz

WALLINGFORD - Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. will once again forgo a salary increase and some town councilors are concerned his decision could hurt the town in the long run.

In Dickinson’s proposed $147.94 million budget for the next fiscal year, his salary will remain at the figure he’s taken home since at least 2002 — $73,140. Dickinson, a Republican, has yet to confirm whether he will seek re-election this year.

“I think these are bad times,” Dickinson said, adding that if elected officials take raises, it adds to the argument of bargaining units seeking pay increases. “As a general rule, the private sector has had declining raises while the government is increasing wages. That can be troublesome.”

According to the Town Charter, compensation cannot be changed during the term of the incumbent mayor. Since Dickinson’s term ends after this year, the salary for the next term can be set now.

Democratic Town Councilor Jason Zandri, who is running for mayor, pointed out that under Dickinson’s proposed budget, the mayor’s annual salary will be $300 less than that of Joan Stave, the administrative aide to the mayor. Zandri said the information is in a budget proposal booklet that is not yet available to the public.

Dickinson, when asked if Stave would earn more than him in the next year, said “it’s possible.” He doesn’t see the pay difference as a problem.

“She does excellent work for the town,” Dickinson said, joking that Stave bosses him around most of the time anyway so the pay difference is appropriate.

“She’s a very capable person,” he said. “She’d be embarrassed about this. I certainly feel for her, and don’t want her to be the focus” in any budget discussion.

Town Councilor John LeTourneau, a Republican, said he’s baffled by the fact that the mayor’s aide may make more than the mayor.

“That’s embarrassing,” he said.

Letourneau added that Dickinson doesn’t seek a pay increase because “he feels that’s what the job is worth.” He’s not sure that in the future “more money means a better quality person.”

Zandri said that Dickinson, by not taking any pay increase, is “freezing the pay of the position” and making it unattractive to others.

Town Council Vice Chairman Vincent Cervoni, a Republican, said that Stave’s earning more than Dickinson “borders on inappropriate,” but not because Stave doesn’t deserve to earn what she does. He said the mayor needs to earn more so the town can “allow for some succession planning.” Cervoni said that if the mayor ever stepped down, the town needs to be able to “attract someone of similar caliber” with compensation on par with other municipal leaders in the area. As of 2011, Southington Town Manager Garry Brumback was paid $149,000 per year; Meriden City Manager Lawrence J. Kendzior was paid $139,000 annually; and Michael Milone, Cheshire’s town manager, earned $131,350 per year.

“I would think it’s absolutely unusual” that the mayor’s aide makes more than the mayor, said Quinnipiac University Professor David Cadden, who has worked in the department for entrepreneurship and strategy for 30 years. Cadden said that the ongoing mindset in business is that pay increases and higher salaries at top positions are necessary.

“You need salaries like that in order to attract the best and the brightest,” he said.

That mindset has not necessarily been proven, Cadden said, but a lower than average salary “might be an impediment” to attract other candidates. As the chief executive of Wallingford, just as in any business, Cadden said “a hierarchy must be maintained atoll costs,” and that Dickinson’s making less than his aide destroys that hierarchy.

When Dickinson leaves office, Cervoni said, the town will have to form a plan to incrementally increase the salary of the chief executive.

Drop-off boxes: at police stations or nowhere

As published in the Record Journal Sunday March 31, 2013

By Jesse Buchanan
Record-Journal staff
jbuchanan@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2230
Twitter: @JBuchananRJ

WALLINGFORD - The idea of a medication drop-off box at the police station has drawn opposition from town officials, but pharmacies are also reluctant to host the boxes even if they were allowed to under state and federal law.

Federal Drug Enforcement Administration rules don’t allow pharmacies to take back leftover medicine, according to Marghie Giuliano, executive vice president of the Connecticut Pharmacists Association.

The state Department of Consumer Protection requires that the boxes be located in the lobbies of police stations.

Wallingford Chief Douglas Dortenzio said he doesn’t want the Police Department to bear the cost of hosting a drop box, saying the department can’t be a substitute for responsible citizens. Republican Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. has supported Dortenzio’s position.

Supporters of the box have said the cost is minimal and an easy way to tackle the serious problem of prescription drug abuse.

A founding member of the Coalition for a Better Wallingford, Ken Welch, has advocated for the drop box as a way to counter prescription drug abuse. His partner’s daughter Taylor Short, 20, died in November of an apparent drug overdose.

Welch said he looked into having drop boxes at pharmacies but found it was illegal. He’d like to see it, though.

“I think the industry does bear some responsibility,” he said. “We’re flooding the market with this stuff and there’s no good way to retrieve it.”

Rules on drug returns are being examined, but Giuliano said pharmacies shouldn’t bear the cost of installing and monitoring drop boxes when they’re not entirely responsible for the medications.

“I don’t think it would be fair to put the burden on the pharmacies,” she said. “The pharmacies are selling them, but should it be the doctors? Should it be the pharmaceutical companies who are manufacturing them?

“The end user should be in some way responsible for disposing of medications properly,” Giuliano said.

State Rep. Mary Mushinsky, D-Wallingford, said changing state and federal laws to allow drop boxes at pharmacies isn’t the easiest way to address the problem.

“Whether one group in Wallingford could change a federal law, I don’t know how feasible that is,” she said. “We have to do what’s possible.”

Thirty towns in the state have drop boxes at their police stations, Mushinsky said.

“It seems to be the easier way to go,” she said.

Town Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democrat running for mayor, pointed out the large quantity of prescription drugs collected at the Southington Police Department.

“If Southington in four months collected 400 pounds (of drugs), clearly someone’s using it,” Zandri said.

Volunteers have offered to install the box, and Zandri said police pay related to cataloging the drugs taken in could be donated.

“I’m sure we could fundraise it if this town is so broke,” he said.

Zandri wasn’t aware of any studies that quantify the effectiveness of medicine drop boxes, but said it was an inexpensive measure that could help.

“It probably would be hard to prove anyway,” he said.

Jerry Farrell Jr., a former state consumer protection commissioner, also didn’t know of any data on whether drop boxes have helped reduce prescription drug abuse. The department sponsors drug take-back days on which unused medicines are collected.

Conscientious citizens are likely already disposing of their drugs properly, while those most at risk likely wouldn’t use a drop box, he said.

The “moderately conscientious” would be the ones most likely to benefit from having somewhere to deposit unused medicines, Farrell said.

“I think it’s a good thing to have out there,” he said. “You want to offer people an opportunity to get rid of them.”

“As a culture we need to be doing more of this,” Farrell said.

According to the federal Food and Drug Administration, some drugs should be flushed down the toilet but only if it’s recommended on the drug’s label. If not, drugs can be mixed with something undesirable, like coffee grounds, and thrown away. Drugs can also be brought to drug take-back days, the FDA said.

At some pharmacies, drug envelopes can be picked up that allow customers to mail back unused drugs, according to Giuliano. Drugs containing controlled substances, such as Oxycontin, can’t be mailed back, however, and those drugs are the ones most often abused.

“Certainly we’re all concerned about the excess of medications in individuals’ homes and the potential for drug abuse,” Giuliano said.

She said the best place for drop boxes is in police stations where the boxes can be monitored and secured. Taking drugs back at pharmacies introduces the risk of mixing returned drugs with new drugs, she said.

“What seems like something simple can be very complex,” Giuliano said. “It would certainly be a real cost to provide this service for pharmacies.”

Wallingford Dems question GOP tactic

As published in the Record Journal, Thursday January 24, 2013

By Russell Blair
Record-Journal staff
rblair@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2225
Twitter:@RussellBlairRJ

WALLINGFORD - The Democratic town chairman Wednesday called Republican town councilors “disrespectful” for halting debate during this week’s Town Council meeting without letting a Democratic colleague finish his thoughts.

Republicans invoked an infrequently used rule known as “calling the question.” If two thirds of the council supports the motion — the Republicans hold a 6-3 majority — debate is immediately ended and the pending matter is put to a vote.

Republican Thomas Laffin made the motion Tuesday night after about 45 minutes of debate on a proposal by Democrat Jason Zandri to create a committee to investigate powering town-owned buildings for use as shelters during storms with widespread power outages. Zandri shared his thoughts but deferred to other councilors and expected to speak on the subject a second time. However, Laffin moved to call the question before Zandri’s turn came around again.

“What I find reprehensible and disrespectful is not to have allowed Jason to continue asking questions,” said Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone. “It was clear he was going to ask further questions.”

Laffin said Wednesday that he made the motion after giving other councilors a chance to speak because the debate had strayed from Zandri’s motion to a general discussion about emergency preparedness.

“Nobody was talking about the actual motion,” Laffin said. “They were talking in circles.”

Zandri said he was unhappy he hadn’t received a chance to continue his comments, but he was more upset that the public didn’t have a chance to speak on the issue.

“The Republicans don’t care about what the people have to say,” he said. “Just because it’s proper procedurally doesn’t make it the right thing to do.”

Republican John Le-Tourneau said Laffin’s motion hadn’t suppressed debate. He said the town-owned Electric Division is well known for keeping power running during storms and Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr. said that if the town were to experience a total blackout, crews would be able to restore power to a school for use as a shelter quickly.

“The chances of something catastrophic like that happening in Wallingford is so remote,” LeTourneau said. “We could have sat there all night and talked about hypothetical (situations). It was time to end it.”

But Democratic Councilor John Sullivan said debate was cut short.

“Debate is a part of government we cannot suppress,” he said. “It (calling the question) should be a last resort. It seems the right side of the aisle is using it as a tool to squash debate.”

Avallone, who has been observing the council for about 20 years, said he’s seen more instances of calling the question this term than he has in the past two decades.

“It’s a political move to cut off discussion on issues that are important to the public,” he said.

Laffin said that if Zandri wanted information about emergency preparedness he could have requested it from Dickinson or department heads over the telephone or by setting up a meeting. Zandri said he had talked with Emergency Management Director Ernest Frattini before the meeting and placed the item on the agenda because he believes the town’s emergency preparedness plans are lacking.

Laffin also accused the Democrat, who is planning to run for mayor this fall, of using his seat on the Town Council and the forum the meeting provided for political posturing.

Zandri said he’s a councilor first and a mayoral candidate second.

“I have a job to do on behalf of the people who voted me in and I’m going to continue to do it,” he said.

Gouveia may run for Town Council

Wallingford Democrat last served in ’90s

As published in the Record Journal, Monday December 10, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD — Caught up in a wave of enthusiasm over Town Councilor Jason Zandri’s mayoral bid, fellow Democrat Peter Gouveia last week told the Record-Journal that he is considering running again for the Town Council in 2013.

The 64-year-old retired teacher was last on the council in 1998, when he was appointed to finish the term of Democrat David Doherty, who died in office. He was appointed after he was elected to three non-consecutive terms as town councilor between 1986 through 1995 He’s also the man who nearly beat current incumbent William W. Dickinson, Jr. for mayor —twice — losing by 33 votes in 1987 and 31 votes in 1991.

“I’ve always had it in back of my mind but never really took it seriously about running again,” Gouveia said. He’s been rethinking a run since Zandri announced his interest in being Democrats’ candidate for mayor in 2013. As for why he bowed out of public office in the 1990s, he said he felt he wasn’t having an impact.

“After a while you get frustrated. ... Like Jason, I’m a doer. I like to see things done.”

Gouveia repeatedly emphasized in a phone interview late last week that the decision to run was by no means final because family health issues may prevent him from running. He said he probably won’t make his decision final until the Democratic Town Committee’s nominating convention in early summer 2013.

Democratic Town Chairman Vincent Avallone said Gouveia would be a boon for the party.

“Have anybody like that on your ticket bolsters your entire ticket ... and helps attract other candidates,” Avallone said.

Gouveia was known as a vocal councilor. He often focused on topics of energy, the town’s trash plant and environmental issues, working on hazardous waste collection days in the mid 1980s and publicly faulting the state Department of Environmental Protection at the time for not finding the source of contamination of private wells near Grieb Road and East Main Street. Though he entered the council after the decision to construct the town’s waste-to energy plant, he often expressed opposition.

Gouveia also addressed social issues, calling for state funded AIDS literature to be mailed out to residents in 1987, and opposing town pension investments in companies with South African connections in the midst of apartheid.

“Our town money should not in any way help prop up a regime that promotes racial discrimination,” Gouveia said in a 1986 article in the Record-Journal.

His positions were diligently researched, former councilors of both parties say.

“I don’t think he and I would necessarily see eye-to-eye,” said former Councilor Stephen Knight, a Republican, whose terms overlapped with Gouveia’s in the 1990’s, but “I always found him to be well-prepared for the meetings, that his opinions were based on solid research and thorough study.”

Former Councilor Geno Zandri, a Democrat and Jason’s father, agreed.

“I think he has a pulse for the community,” Geno Zandri said.

Gouveia said he’d be able to devote much more time to research these days. “This time it would be even better — because I have a lot of time on my hands,” he said.

Gouveia retired from teaching in 2008 after 34 years in the Trumbull schools.

Since then he has remained involved on the Democratic Town Committee as its vice president, and is also vice president of the Center Street Cemetery under former Republican Councilor Jerry Farrell Jr. Farrell said Gouveia’s involvement at the cemetery and Holy Trinity Church could help him in a run.

“When you run for office certainly past exposure in these settings (is helpful) you want to know the person more than the party label, all of that is helpful,” Farrell said.

Zandri’s lamppost probe cut short

As published in the Record Journal Friday December 7, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD — Town Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democratic mayoral candidate, said he would drop his inquest into the Electric Department’s recent scrapping of 39 ornamental lampposts after this week’s memorandum from Town Attorney Gerald Farrell Sr. Farrell wrote that the disposal did not violate town ordinances.

“There’s no point in continuing this effort. There’s nothing more to be gained. There’s no way to go back and undo it,”Zandri said, adding that he did not believe Farrell’s report addressed the issue he brought up, but that he didn’t want to pursue a “witch hunt.”

Zandri said though he was abandoning the issue for the moment, he would keep a close eye on how departments dispose of assets.

Farrell’s memorandum was dated Dec. 3 and sent to Zandri, the Town Council and Mayor William W. Dickinson this week in response to Zandri’s request at a Nov. 27 council meeting for a review of how the town’s Electric Division disposed of 39 20-plus-year old ornamental lampposts.

The division sent the old lampposts to a scrap metal dealer with which it has a contract after replacing them with newer poles.

Zandri has said he believes that proper disposal procedure was not followed, and that the poles could have been sold intact for a significantly higher price than the less than $2,000 received by scrapping them. The town has disputed both claims.

In the memorandum, Farrell says the Electric Division did not notify the Purchasing Department before getting rid of the lampposts, but reported afterward that that they had been scrapped. He said that was in line with rules in the Town Charter and in the Purchasing Department.

Farrell cited the Town Charter, which says the purchasing agent has the duty to transfer or sell town assets that are “surplus, obsolete or unused,” with the approval of the mayor. But Farrell indicated that the light poles are none of these, instead saying they are “nonfunctioning equipment,” which “would not fall within these categories.“ He goes on to call the items scrap and lists the town’s purchasing ordinance references for “obsolete, worn out or scrapped” items, which allows the department to simply report items they’ve scrapped, but not field requests for disposal through the Purchasing Department.

But Zandri takes issue with the lights being depicted as “non-functioning” as they were working on the streets before being replaced this fall. The Electric Division characterized the poles as having deteriorating electrical connections, being unsafe to work on, and having bases that had been damaged, but did say they were operational prior to being removed.

“The ruling basically defined what could be done with scrap. It didn’t really answer my question of what should be done with ornamental streetlights,” Zandri said.

When asked about the nonfunctioning designation, Farrell said that the department believed they were scrap.

“In the opinion of the Director of Utilities they were scrap — part of what department heads have is the discretion,” to determine the state of their own materials, Farrell said. “Too often people put things on the surplus list that are total scrap and he wishes they would use more discretion in putting it as scrap — all these broken chairs, and no one really wants them.”

A presentation Zandri made at the Nov. 27 meeting listed the broken furniture from various departments that had made its way onto the town’s surplus list, saying he was surprised that if broken chairs were listed as viable assets to be sold by the town, that working lampposts were not.

Democratic Councilor Nick Econompoulos also took issue Thursday with the designation of the lights as non-functioning.

“The lawyer who is an officer of the court is telling us that the lights are not functional when we’ve already been told by (Public Utilities Director George) Adair that they were functioning,” Econompoulos said. He said that little stock should be put into the opinion on an issue where the town could be in the wrong, by an attorney employed by the town.

Republican Councilor Vincent Cervoni disagreed.

“I think it was pretty soundly written. I think it takes into account all the facts and the reality,” Cervoni said. “I think there’s a bit of an acknowledgement that the entire process wasn’t’ followed perfectly. I think in the end the process was ratified.”

Zandri to town: Don’t be so quick to scrap

As published in the Record Journal Thursday November 15, 2012

By Laurie Rich Salerno
Record-Journal staff
lsalerno@record-journal.com
(203) 317-2235
Twitter:@LaurieSalernoRJ

WALLINGFORD - Town Councilor Jason Zandri, a Democrat, would like to see changes made in how town departments dispose of supplies. In a sometimes heated Town Council meeting Tuesday, Zandri pressed Mayor William W. Dickinson Jr., Comptroller Jim Bose and Public Utilities Director George Adair on the procedures followed.

He used the Electric Division’s recent replacement of 39 ornamental streetlights as an example. Zandri said the department sent the poles directly to a scrap metal dealer with which it has a standing contract rather than reselling them. He said that he believes that, under town ordinances, Adair should have gone to the mayor, comptroller or purchasing agent Sal Amadeo for resale opportunities before choosing to scrap them.

“I thought that the procedure in town was when any asset is to be retired in town it has to go through the Purchasing Department,” Zandri said.

Zandri quoted a town ordinance that says the town’s purchasing agent is required to, “with the approval of the mayor, to transfer to or between departments or agencies or to sell supplies and equipment determined, after consultation with the head of the department, office or agency concerned, to be surplus, obsolete, or unused.”

Adair said the items were not viable assets and did not need to go through that process.

“Given their status, I don’t view these old, taken-out-of-service streetlight posts as supplies, materials or equipment, nor do they really qualify as surplus obsolete or unused. They’re damaged, unsafe to maintain, undesirable and appropriately viewed as scrap,” Adair said. “I don’t think the question quite fits.”

Most of the 39 lights, installed in 1991 in a first wave of streetscaping, were operational, but Adair said they were valueless, with poor wiring and damage to the poles from general wear and tear and snowplows, and were made in a way that wiring at the base could only be accessed in a clumsy and sometimes dangerous fashion. Electric workers had to lift and hold the 50-pound base rather than simply take off a panel, which is the way the replacement streetlights are accessed. “You’re determining that these had no value, I’m just trying to figure out the procedure here. Is it the purview of the department?” Zandri asked, saying he still feels Amadeo should make that call according to the ordinance. And the ordinance should be changed if it’s not viable, he said.

Dickinson agreed.

“The purchasing office doesn’t’ have the expertise to determine a lot of things like that ... You have to rely on the department,” Dickinson said. “We’re talking about something that does not have a functioning value here. We could not do business if everything — all scrap that’s determined to be trash —has to first be discussed with the mayor and purchasing agent. It was never meant to be that.”

Bose acknowledged that there should be more of a paper trail to such discussions by department heads and the Purchasing Department. He said he knew there had been discussions between Adair and Amadeo, but they weren’t documented.

“It’s probably something we’re going to have to improve upon,” Bose said, saying would follow up with department heads. “There’s just got to be something to see if we can document about how we go about the process. ... It could just be a form; we’ll toss something around.” Zandri said Wednesday that he would continue his push to get the process codified, and was planning to move that council recommend the mayor formalize the procedure for these things around the rules in the charter,” Zandri said.

Full HD version of my CNN appearance discussing the first Presidential Debate of the 2012 campaign

My buddy Nick D'Emanuele was able to pull of his DVR my CNN appearance as well as get me a nice clean HD version so with that I am reposting it below

Thanks again Nick D'Emanuele from Endecom Computer Services

Jason Zandri scheduled to appear on CNN's Newsroom with Carol Costello on Thursday, October 4th at 9:30AM

I was contacted by Turner Broadcasting / CNN and asked to appear on CNN's Newsroom with Carol Costello on Thursday, October 4th at 9:30AM as part of the discussion around the Presidential Debate planned for Wednesday evening and the public response to the candidates’ dialog.

As you may know, we are hosting the Public Presidential Debate Watch at Zandri’s Stillwood Inn. It was through the posting of the public event that facilitated the contact and I’m excited for the opportunity.

We have seating for up to 350 people so we are really hoping for a lot of participation and now with this invitation I will be looking for constituent feedback for the discussion the following morning.

We hope you can join us Wednesday October 3rd; the debate starts at 9PM but the facility will be open at 7PM for people to come on down and engage in dialog and discussion.

If you cannot join us but will be watching from home please tune in to CNN Newsroom with Carol Costello on Thursday, October 4th at 9:30AM for the news and review.

 

Swearing in ceremony - Wallingford Town Council Jan 2, 2012

Pictures from the Swearing in ceremony for the Wallingford Town Council can be seen via my Facebook page as well as publicly over on Live.com on my SkyDrive.

Open Mike with Michael Cuomo Wednesday November 30, 2011

From the Open Mike with Michael Cuomo promo: “A very special reminder ladies and gentlemen, that this Wednesday’s guest on "Open Mike" with Michael Cuomo will be Jason Zandri! The show starts at 8PM Live on Comcast Ch18 and AT&T Uverse channel 99 and live on the web at wpaa.tv. Call in (203) 265-6310 to talk to myself and Jason Zandri! Thanks everybody.”

Article posted on Examiner.com

by Maggie DellaRocco – Griffin
Hartford Business Networking Examiner

Wallingford Resident Jason Zandri is running for Wallingford Town Council – 2011

Continue reading on Examiner.com

Wallingford Resident Jason Zandri is running for Wallingford Town Council - 2011 - Hartford business networking | Examiner.com

http://www.examiner.com/business-networking-in-hartford/wallingford-resident-jason-zandri-is-running-for-wallingford-town-council-2011#ixzz1abdYRlCV