Political foes are easy pickin's

Anyone who watches the annual budget process in Winsted knows there is a dedicated contingent of townspeople who rally consistently each year in opposition to the budget, peppering the air with rhetoric about skyrocketing property taxes and unsustainable school-budget increases. But this year, there are some new faces in the mix.

If you haven’t noticed yet, it’s local Republicans who are making noise about the budget this year, particularly Selectman (and former mayor) Kenneth Fracasso, who has complained loudly at recent meetings that the school budget is out of control, that the administration is greedy and incompetent and, most recently, that Board of Education members ought to be held liable for any expenses that exceed the school-budget line item.

The anti-schools message represents a change for Republican leaders, who have a history of supporting budget increases, both in the kindergarten to grade eight school system and at The Gilbert School, not to mention on the municipal side of the budget. So what is the noise all about?

Yes, it appears Fracasso is already campaigning for the 2010 town election, identifying the school system as an easy target during a lean budget year. Fracasso essentially called Superintendent of Schools Blaise Salerno a liar Monday night when he said he expects the superintendent to spend “every last dime� of federal stimulus funds that Salerno offered to return to the town. He also suggested that the Board of Selectmen should consider suing individual members of the school board personally for overspending this year’s budget.

Town Manager Wayne Dove reminded Fracasso that an audit had been done on this year’s school budget and that school officials have provided their best estimate of where the budget will be at the end of the year. It was a gentle reminder to Fracasso to show school officials a bit more respect.

But when it comes to suing the school board, selectmen would be wise to consider the fact that they are ultimately responsible for all of the town’s finances and could easily find themselves the defendants in a countersuit if they chose such obnoxious legal recourse.

Fracasso is a businessman, and he knows nobody is suing anybody, but it’s clear he’s comfortable berating the school system to score political points. The source of the former mayor’s anger is more likely the sting of his party’s defeat last year at the polls.

It would serve townspeople well to recall that recent problems in Winsted’s schools, including an exodus of affluent taxpayers, began back in the 1990s when — you guessed it — people started attacking the school budget.

Latest News

Bobbie C. Palmer

LAKEVILLE ­— Bobbie C. Palmer, born in Lakeville on Jan. 13, 1948, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2024. He is survived by his loving wife, Marva J. Palmer, son Marc (Sandra) Palmer, daughter Erica (Fleming) Wilson, two grandchildren, Andrew Yost and Ciara Wilson, and two great grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents Walter and Francis Palmer and four brothers; Henry Palmer, William Palmer, John Palmer and Walter Palmer Jr.

He leaves behind a legacy of love, kindness, and laughter that will be cherished by his family and those closest to him.

Keep ReadingShow less
Finding ‘The Right Stuff’ for a documentary

Tom Wolfe

Film still from “Radical Wolfe” courtesy of Kino Lorber

If you’ve ever wondered how retrospective documentaries are made, with their dazzling compilation of still images and rare footage spliced between contemporary interviews, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, offered a behind-the-scenes peek into how “the sausage is made” with a screening of director Richard Dewey’s biographical film “Radical Wolfe” on Saturday, March 2.

Coinciding with the late Tom Wolfe’s birthday, “Radical Wolfe,” now available to view on Netflix, is the first feature-length documentary to explore the life and career of the enigmatic Southern satirist, city-dwelling sartorial icon and pioneer of New Journalism — a subjective, lyrical style of long-form nonfiction that made Wolfe a celebrity in the pages of Esquire and vaulted him to the top of the best-seller lists with his drug-culture chronicle “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” and his first novel, “The Bonfire of The Vanities.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Art on view this March

“Untitled” by Maureen Dougherty

New Risen

While there are area galleries that have closed for the season, waiting to emerge with programming when the spring truly springs up, there are still plenty of art exhibitions worth seeking out this March.

At Geary Contemporary in Millerton, founded by Jack Geary and Dolly Bross Geary, Will Hutnick’s “Satellite” is a collection of medium- and large-scale acrylic on canvas abstracts that introduce mixtures of wax pastel, sand and colored pencil to create topographical-like changes in texture. Silhouettes of leaves float across seismic vibration lines in the sand while a craterous moon emerges on the horizon, all like a desert planet seen through a glitching kaleidoscope. Hutnick, a resident of Sharon and director of artistic programming at The Wassaic Project in Amenia, New York, will discuss his work at Geary with New York Times art writer Laura van Straaten Saturday, March 9, at 5 p.m.

Keep ReadingShow less