Saturday, November 25, 2006
Apologies for the delay between posts. During Thanksgiving thefederalist is too busy with family, food, and football to worry about blogging, and I would hope the same goes for all of you.
Anyway....
While our eyes have been focused on the national arena, the winds of change have blown through Darien politics. Peter Hovell is out as chairman of the Board of Finance. Mr. Hovell was a prominent member of the Darien Republican party, and a major power player at Town Hall. How did he find himself on the outside looking in?
From what thefederalist sees, there are two possibilities. The first is that the other members of the Board of Finance had just had enough of their old leader. The vote to remove him from his leadership position was rather one-sided. While this incident was clearly a negative for the former chair, the uniting of Democrats and Republicans on the BOF for a common cause could be a sign that further inter-party unity is on the way.
However, one cannot forget the RTC. I don't care if what I'm about to say is polite or not: Peter Hovell was a Donald Rumself-esque thorn in the side of the RTC. He was one of the cornerstones that the 2005 Young campaign was built on. He was also the man who predicted that the town would find itself in the middle of a financial storm during First Selectwoman Klein's time in office (in case anyone is interested we now have a surplus). Was Mr. Hovell's prediction simply wrong? Or was this warning simply a scare-tactic to further his own political interests?
There are some good people on the RTC, and perhaps Jack Orchulli is one of them. As the leader of the RTC, Mr. Orchulli very well could have seen the harm that Mr. Hovell was doing, not only to his party, but to the town as well. Mr. Orchulli is not an idiot, and he could have corralled the Republicans on the Board of Finance to vote Mr. Hovell out.
Note: thefederalist knows none of this to be absolutely true. This is only speculation, and I'm only human. For all we know Hovell could have just been tired of the job and told the members of the BOF to kick him out!
Before the weekend break, a definition:
Abstain-to refrain deliberately from an action or practice
While the subject of "Beach-Chair-Gate" has been beaten like a dead horse, there is something aside from the utter stupidity of that debate that bothered me. As we all know, Selectwoman Young took issue with a set of gifted chairs due to a "safety issue." While this might seem ridiculous to most, Selectwoman Young seemed very adiment about these safety concerns, which brings me to my question: If Selectwoman Young felt so strongly that the safety of our community would be put in jeapordy by these chairs why didn't she vote against them? While her stance against the gift seems silly, it is her decision to abstain from the vote that should be of greater concern.
A final word: Congradulations to the 2006 Darien Football Blue Wave. While the season ended on a low note, watching the Boys in Blue go 4-0 earlier this year and play toe to toe with some of the best teams in the state was great. In fact, the Blue Wave wasn't eliminated from state playoff contention until they lost to Greenwich, which was the second to last game of the season. The Blue Wave also scored more points against the Cardinals than any other team in the FCIAC...not bad for a team that admittedly struggles offensively. In my opinion, the Darien Football Blue Wave was 2-3 games better than their 5-5 record.
Anyway....
While our eyes have been focused on the national arena, the winds of change have blown through Darien politics. Peter Hovell is out as chairman of the Board of Finance. Mr. Hovell was a prominent member of the Darien Republican party, and a major power player at Town Hall. How did he find himself on the outside looking in?
From what thefederalist sees, there are two possibilities. The first is that the other members of the Board of Finance had just had enough of their old leader. The vote to remove him from his leadership position was rather one-sided. While this incident was clearly a negative for the former chair, the uniting of Democrats and Republicans on the BOF for a common cause could be a sign that further inter-party unity is on the way.
However, one cannot forget the RTC. I don't care if what I'm about to say is polite or not: Peter Hovell was a Donald Rumself-esque thorn in the side of the RTC. He was one of the cornerstones that the 2005 Young campaign was built on. He was also the man who predicted that the town would find itself in the middle of a financial storm during First Selectwoman Klein's time in office (in case anyone is interested we now have a surplus). Was Mr. Hovell's prediction simply wrong? Or was this warning simply a scare-tactic to further his own political interests?
There are some good people on the RTC, and perhaps Jack Orchulli is one of them. As the leader of the RTC, Mr. Orchulli very well could have seen the harm that Mr. Hovell was doing, not only to his party, but to the town as well. Mr. Orchulli is not an idiot, and he could have corralled the Republicans on the Board of Finance to vote Mr. Hovell out.
Note: thefederalist knows none of this to be absolutely true. This is only speculation, and I'm only human. For all we know Hovell could have just been tired of the job and told the members of the BOF to kick him out!
Before the weekend break, a definition:
Abstain-to refrain deliberately from an action or practice
While the subject of "Beach-Chair-Gate" has been beaten like a dead horse, there is something aside from the utter stupidity of that debate that bothered me. As we all know, Selectwoman Young took issue with a set of gifted chairs due to a "safety issue." While this might seem ridiculous to most, Selectwoman Young seemed very adiment about these safety concerns, which brings me to my question: If Selectwoman Young felt so strongly that the safety of our community would be put in jeapordy by these chairs why didn't she vote against them? While her stance against the gift seems silly, it is her decision to abstain from the vote that should be of greater concern.
A final word: Congradulations to the 2006 Darien Football Blue Wave. While the season ended on a low note, watching the Boys in Blue go 4-0 earlier this year and play toe to toe with some of the best teams in the state was great. In fact, the Blue Wave wasn't eliminated from state playoff contention until they lost to Greenwich, which was the second to last game of the season. The Blue Wave also scored more points against the Cardinals than any other team in the FCIAC...not bad for a team that admittedly struggles offensively. In my opinion, the Darien Football Blue Wave was 2-3 games better than their 5-5 record.
# posted by thefederalist @ 3:00 PM 
Comments:
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Something I forgot-->If you're interested in reading a great blog about FCIAC football thefederalist suggests http://fciacfootball.blogspot.com
This is by far one of the best local blogs on the internet.
This is by far one of the best local blogs on the internet.
For someone who acts as though they are perceptive and smart--you undermine your own image by suggeting that Susan Young made an enormous issue about the safety of chairs.
There was a point made --about the process --and then Klein ridiculed the objection --and then it mushroomed as so often those things do.
If you would be upset about my talking on a cell phone in a noisy restaurant and I asked you what does it matter to you? You would say its loud and obnoxious--but in fact, so too would many other patrons be--its just that when you object to something --you need to justify that objection with a more rationale reason, other than the petty one that actually exists.
The safety thing came up---and now its as though she is dogmatic about it. She wasnt.
In my eyes, she was challenged about the issue and didnt want to back down.
This is more of an RTM thing than the charge of the executive body of our government- I think was the point.
Now, however, it has become ammunition to ridicule. And we all know how eager certain types are to ridicule. It's a hobby.
Not so dissimilar to John Kerry's flub. I think--in the end --it was clear that the guy had no intention of saying what he said--but people used it. I say--great--it only exposes your own stupidity if you actually think that this is what he/she meant--and its sad if thats what you have to hang onto.
In that case a fledgling Republican National Party. In this case Klein supporters. I mean--get real. Neother are that big of a deal.
There was a point made --about the process --and then Klein ridiculed the objection --and then it mushroomed as so often those things do.
If you would be upset about my talking on a cell phone in a noisy restaurant and I asked you what does it matter to you? You would say its loud and obnoxious--but in fact, so too would many other patrons be--its just that when you object to something --you need to justify that objection with a more rationale reason, other than the petty one that actually exists.
The safety thing came up---and now its as though she is dogmatic about it. She wasnt.
In my eyes, she was challenged about the issue and didnt want to back down.
This is more of an RTM thing than the charge of the executive body of our government- I think was the point.
Now, however, it has become ammunition to ridicule. And we all know how eager certain types are to ridicule. It's a hobby.
Not so dissimilar to John Kerry's flub. I think--in the end --it was clear that the guy had no intention of saying what he said--but people used it. I say--great--it only exposes your own stupidity if you actually think that this is what he/she meant--and its sad if thats what you have to hang onto.
In that case a fledgling Republican National Party. In this case Klein supporters. I mean--get real. Neother are that big of a deal.
# posted by 
: Monday, 04 December, 2006
: Monday, 04 December, 2006
See you next october federalist when you attempt to distort information to further the Democratic cause.
Until then--keep disparaging Republicans!!
Cheers.
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Until then--keep disparaging Republicans!!
Cheers.
# posted by : Sunday, 17 December, 2006
: Sunday, 17 December, 2006 << Home
