TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Annual Meeting and Betty Hill International Forum May 16 - RESERVATIONS HERE
"Restoring American Leadership in Global Environmental Affairs"
IN-LEAGUE at three (3) levels. Click immediately below for direct links...
Direct link to website of LWVUS;
Direct link to website of LWVCT;
Direct link to LWV of Weston:
"KNOW YOUR TOWN" on-line version;
Board of Selectmen minutes and MONITORING;
Guide to Voter Registration and Election Procedures
BUDGET PROCESS PAGE - all over now;
Webpage for immediate previous Local Election (2007) here!
#1 -THE
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF WESTON, CONNECTICUT:
The League
of Women Voters is a three tier organization--local, state and
national.
The Weston League was formed in 1962. For more
information about
what the League of Women Voters in Weston does...webmaster@lwvweston.org
Weston Speak Up was on Feb. 3,
2007 - CLICK HERE TO WATCH
STREAMING VIDEO.
CIVIC AWARENESS:
"OBSERVER
CORPS" ON-LINE:
BACKGROUND RESEARCH ABOUT ISSUES AND ACTION;
The League of Women Voters has
long supported policies and programs that promote quality education as
well as the
health, well-being, and safety of all children. Research shows
that modifying school
start times in accordance with the
biologically-determined sleep
patterns of adolescents is associated with increased school attendance,
higher
grades, lower
drop-out rates, less tardiness, and fewer fall-asleep car crashes by
young drivers. In order to set a high priority on
the
health and safety of Connecticut’s adolescent students and to offer
them the opportunity to learn when they are most alert
and receptive,
the League of Women Voters of Connecticut supports policies and
practices that facilitate the alignment of
school start times with
adolescent sleep patterns. Specifically, we believe that:
-
Adolescent students – in middle school, junior high,
and high school – would benefit academically, socially, and
physically
from starting
school
no earlier than 8 am.
- Public schools in Connecticut – junior high schools,
middle schools, and high schools – should delay academic
instruction
until after 8 am.
- The State of Connecticut should support local
efforts to delay the school start times until after 8 am for adolescent
students through consultation and technical assistance.
- State policies should be flexible enough to allow
variation in local plans to implement later school start times for
adolescents.
Background and Action
No serious bills were introduced in this area in the 2006-’07 sessions. No action was taken...
The
League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization,
encourages informed and active
participation in government, works to
increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences
public policy through education and advocacy.
LWVUS "Mission Statement"
...link
to "Impact
on Issues; Civics
Education Curriculum
Find here a link ("sign in") to e - Newsletter:***
LeaguE-Voice - on-line newspaper - when you visit the link, you can sign up to be on e-info list.The League got started when women got the right to vote--in 1920. Click HERE for link to the whole story!
The "horses mouth" when it comes to non-partisan politics, joins coaltions on subjects such as Campaign Finance Reform...
click HERE to read more...LWVUS CONTINUES FIGHT FOR DEMOCRACY
Other
Issues:
Beginning with ethics.
Taxes;
Regionalism
E - Sources of Information
Open Space
Preservation effort still going strong - LWVCT in Coalition:
Testimony
of Cheryl Dunson, Drinking Water Specialist - Victorious in 2004
Session
with Endangered Lands Coalition!
CGA Public
Health Committee
Public Hearing
March 4, 2004
Support for
SB 465
There are few
government actions more fundamental than ensuring a plentiful and
potable
drinking water supply for its citizens. As far
back as 1956, the
League of
Women Voters
of Connecticut recognized that this most necessary of natural resources
cannot be taken for
granted. We adopted a strong position in support of
policies and
programs that preserve and protect water resources and watershed
lands
and based upon this longstanding position, the League urges your
support
for SB 465.
As Benjamin
Franklin wisely noted “When the well’s dry, we know the worth of
water.”
Recent experience with the frequency and
severity of droughts in our
state
and the
Northeast region
points to the need to maintain sources of supply. Potential
terrorist
actions
against our nation speak against “consolidating” water
supplies;
proverbially
“putting our
eggs in fewer baskets” would make our
supplies more vulnerable to
attack.
Unforeseen public health threats, for example the unexpected and
virulent
SAR
(sudden acute
respiratory syndrome) outbreak, may require an increased need for water
usage. The ability of our state to ensure water for its citizens
will
depend
in no small
measure
upon maintaining our multiple sources of supply that can be called upon
in time of need. SB 465 will give
the Commissioner of Public Health the
much-needed authority to assess the future water needs of the entire
state,
not just the water
company’s service area, before approving an
abandonment
of a surface
water source
and surrounding acreage.
While the importance
of the reservoir forestlands in protecting the quality of our water
resources
is well recognized, equally important is
the role these forested areas
play
in the recharging
of area groundwater supplies for citizens on wells. Reservoir lands are
located in
areas originally conceived as “rural” and now rapidly are
being
developed.
Although the
water utility industry has changed over time, the public interest in
these
water supply lands has not. We ask that the
Committee also take into
account
that
these lands
were acquired from Connecticut’s citizens under the pressure of eminent
domain and
the cost of the land acquisitions were paid for in rates
charged
to water
company customers.
You can't blame a company for doing
business, but the laws that promote
the sell-offs of our reservoir lands need to be changed. It is prudent
and
essential that
the
Commissioner be given the ability to evaluate the long-term needs
of
our state when rendering a decision on abandoning a supply of
water.
Water utilities
were formed for the purpose of selling water, not land. The proposed
legislation
will not affect the companies’ ability to
profit from the sale of
water.
The
League of Women
Voters of Connecticut urges your support of the passage of legislation
that will
permanently safeguard our State’s sources of drinking water
and
protect
the forestlands
that surround them. Please vote yes on
SB 465 “AAC Water Supply
Abandonment.”
Cosponsors as of 3/5/04 of SB 465 “An Act Concerning Water Supply Abandonment”
Rep. Claudia M. Powers, 151st Dist.
Co-sponsors
as of 3/5/04 of SB 371 “An Act Concerning Water Company Lands”
(This
bill calls for a simple change to the rate rule to
award water company
shareholders the majority of the benefits for conservation land sales
that
will protect pristine water company lands,
not for sales that allow for
development.)
Rep. Andrea
L. Stillman, 38th Dist.
Rep. Livvy
R. Floren, 149th Dist.
Rep. Lile R.
Gibbons, 150th Dist.
Rep. Christel
H. Truglia, 145th Dist.
Sen. William
H. Nickerson, 36th Dist.
Rep. Claudia
M. Powers, 151st Dist.
Rep. Antonietta
Boucher, 143rd Dist.
Rep. John Mazurek,
80th Dist.
Other environmental subjects :
Did you miss "Good Riddance Day" 2008? Click here to the Town of Weston website for other regional locations in 2008.
Westonites and others told power company how they feel about overhead proposal...
Link to Sewage Treatment Impact Committee...Item #1 on the November 15, 2001 Referendum provides for funding improvements
to septic fields and a tertiary treatment plant on the Schools campus...safe disposal of household hazardous waste--when April
comes, can "Good Riddance Day" at DPW be far behind?
SCHOOL VOUCHERS...Supreme Court decided last year in favor of Cleveland voucher program...For background, click HERECenterEdge Project HERE ...click on map of Connecticut to get more indepth information used in this study -LWVCT in coalition.
SHEFF
v. O'NEILL - affordable housing - the latest twist!
TERRORISM:2007
2006
2003 agreement; important implications for CT Budget - Office of Fiscal Analysis report HERE.
Affordable Housing land use appeal law changes pass in 2002 "short session" as P.A. 87: http://www.cga.ct.gov/
News of relatively recent use of previously existing law;
For background:July 3, 2000 study of Affordable Housing Land Use Appeals;
Weston's affordable housing challenge...at Conservation; at Planning and Zoning.
AND OTHERS...
F.O.I.
Commission story: long-time leader of FOI retires...e-mail and
voice-mail no longer to be sacro-sanct...the
public's right to know, free speech and how one Town dealt with these
League
matters: click HERE.
ISSUES TO MONITOR:
GUESS WHAT? Campaign
Finance Reform perversity in CT.... The CT Office of
Legislative
Research has published a staff paper regarding public funding of
campaigns: Sources
of Public Funding of Political
Campaigns.
LEAGUE ISSUES...
STATE OF CONNECTICUT PLAN OF CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT 2004-2009
approved in 2005!
What happened and what is expected to happen in the C.G.A.: http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr/
Sprawl/Smart Growth:
"SMART GROWTH/PROPERTY TAX REFORM BLUE RIBBON COMMISSION" FORMED: their recommendation HERE.Like most states, Connecticut is looking for ways to mitigate or prevent the unintended consequences of new developments and
manage the spread of new homes, shopping centers, and office parks in sparsely populated area in ways that do not clog
highways, consume open spaces, spoil scenic views, draw businesses and people from established urban centers, or force towns
to spend more on building new infrastructure.The legislature will again see "smart growth" proposals intended to steer development away from rural areas to already developed
places. It may see bills to limit state infrastructure funds to developed areas; strengthen the now largely advisory State Plan of
Conservation and Development; better integrate transportation and economic development planning; and provide land use
planners with new, more powerful tools to evaluate development patterns.Property Tax Reform
The legislature will again hear calls to reform the property tax system, which critics claim is an obsolete way to fund municipal
services and especially burdensome for middle-income families. Legislators are likely to see tax relief proposals, such as
establishing graduated income tax credits for property tax payments. They may also see proposals giving towns other
revenue-raising options, including charging impact fees for new developments to pay some of the infrastructure costs normally
borne by all property owners.
Smart Growth/ Property Tax Bill does not pass in 2004 Session but parts of it did in 2005...http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr/
Commission proposes tax changes
NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) September 30, 2003 New Haven REGISTER- A commission on property tax reform is recommending
shifting almost $1 billion in education costs from the towns to the state.
Members of the states Blue Ribbon Commission on Property Tax Burdens and Smart Growth Initiatives unanimously adopted its
report Monday. The report recommends the tax shift to reduce reliance on the property tax, which fuels competition between
towns for tax growth, encourages sprawl and threatens the rural character of the state.Separately, the commission recommended that cities and towns be reimbursed at 100 percent for property tax exemptions at a cost
of $250 million. The report further states that there will be little taxpayer support for tax reform unless there is a commitment to
more efficient delivery of services to cut the cost of government.New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr., chairman of the commission, said he was "excited" that the vote was unanimous. "I think
the real job is not to let this get defined as Lets just raise more taxes, but to understand the real issues are the quality of life, the air
that we breathe and the character of our communities."
SSA 02-13,, AAC Blue Ribbon Commission on Property Tax Burdens and Smart Growth Incentives (effective
upon passage [which it did not]):This act establishes a 17-member commission to evaluate smart growth incentives and disincentives. It also requires the
commission to evaluate personal and business property tax burdens among municipalities, compare them to other
states, and study ways to modify the tax and identify alternative revenue sources.The governor, legislative leaders, the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities (CCM), the Council of Small Towns
(COST), the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), and the American Federation of Labor-Congress of
Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) appoint the commission members. They must make all appointments, and the
commission must hold its first meeting, by July 1, 2002. CCM and COST jointly designate the commission chairman
and vice-chairman.The commission's final report, with findings and recommendations, must be filed by October 1, 2003...
REGION...and regionalism:CLICK HERE FOR SUB-PAGE ON REGIONAL PLANS ...AND REVIVAL OF CITIES.
OTHER LWV INTERESTS:
And for Hartford Courant series on the impacts to date of Sheff v. O'Neill, click HERE;
FAVORITE PLACES OF THE LWV OF WESTON:http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/
Go direct to...CT MEDIA CONTACTS (TV & newspapers)
CT RESOURCE DIRECTORY
Best place to understand in depth what is going on during a CT Legislative Session...Office of Legislative Research Internet
Discussions of regionalism - find link HERE.
Interested in N.Y.C. metropolitan area Regional Planning?
Other places to visit: Link HERE - for those who want hands-on volunteering experience!ConneCT - State of Connecticut Website contains, as was said above, links to everywhere you would want to go for Connecticut
- FLASH! WESTON NEWS - look for links to meeting agendas of Boards and Commissions.
- Weston Public Schools
governmental information--also, check out collection of e-photographs of the state...GREAT LINK FOR ALL GOVERNMENT INFO
FOUND ORIGINALLY OFF CONGRESSMAN SHAYS' SITE.
Governor Rell
CT-N;ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION:
Go directly to the Connecticut General Statutes...e-Connecticut General Statutes
Legislature link...
CT Office of Legislative Research: http://www.cga.ct.gov/olr/
CT ETHICS COMMISSION: http://www.ethics.state.ct.us/
CT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION COMMISSION
CT Elections Enforcement Commission: http://www.seec.state.ct.us/
CT Siting Council: http://www.ct.gov/csc/site/default.asp
NEMO
Source for weather reporting: http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/graphicsversion/rbigmain.html
Congress close to home
Patriot Act and League activity
U.S. Department of State, Official Web Site
The United Nations on-lineFor news media links most commonly employed:
Weston FORUM
Westport NEWS is at: http://www.westport-news.com
Connecticut POST is at: http://www.connpost.com/
The Hartford COURANT is at:ctnow.com
Cable News Network (CNN)
More unofficial information ABOUT WESTON, and please note that opinions appearing on this just mentioned Internet link and some
others (non-governmental) found on ABOUT WESTON are not the opinions of the LWV of Weston.
