Today Is Devon Day, Come Show Your Support

Devon Day is a truly unique experience. Every year we gather to celebrate this great community with all its rich culture and history Devon has to offer. This year we are celebrating our 6th annual Devon Day festival. Events will be filled with fun, excitement and enjoyment for all ages! Join us on Sunday, September 13th between the hours of 11:00 am and 7:00 pm at Grove Circle Park. There will be music, food and smiling faces all around as we join together to celebrate Devon.

Devon Day Website is www.devonday.com

Charles R. Iovino Rests In Peace

For those of you who might have missed it, I want to bring to your attention that Charles R. Iovino passed away on September 5th in Peabody Massachusetts at the age of 99.

While many of you may not know Mr. Iovino, he was the Mayor of Milford back in the late fifties and early sixties. While being the Mayor is significant in and of itself, Mr. Iovino was the very first Mayor of Milford and won not as a Republican or Democrat, but as a write-in candidate and he won overwhelmingly. His winning was a first in Connecticut as an Independent candidate.

Although I never met Mr. Iovino, he was/is an inspiration to me as I know an Independent candidate here in Milford can win just as he did back in 1959. His commitment to the City and not the political parties is my inspiration and I am truly sorry that I never had the opportunity to thank him for his leadership and commitment to the Milford community.

So, in this little way with this formal notification I wanted to say “thank you” Mr. Iovino for not only your inspiration to me, but more importantly for the years you served as one of Milford’s wonderful Mayors. May he rest in peace knowing that he has served us well.

From a very grateful citizen, an appreciative Independent Party, and a thankful community to have had the likes of Charles R. Iovino serve as our Mayor. I send our condolences to the Iovino family.

Peter L. Spalthoff

Independent Party Candidate for Mayor

Firemans Muster Draws Large Crowds

The 38th annual Antique Fire Apparatus Show will be back in town today, with a variety of firefighting competitions, children’s activities, antique firetrucks, a flea market, refreshments and much more.

Organizers said the show is the biggest of its kind on the East Coast, attracting more than 6,000 people each year.

Admission is free. Proceeds from entry fees and food sales benefit Camp Happiness, which offers programs for children with special needs.

The event will kick off with a flea market at 8:30 a.m. at Eisenhower Park with a plethora of authentic fire gear, memorabilia and clothing.

“There are treasures here for everyone to find,” said muster Chairman Vaughan Dumas. “You don’t have to be in the fire service to enjoy this shopping experience.”

Kids will get to participate in a fire simulation with a working firehouse. There will also be a large moon walk, a fun house and a 55-foot crawl-through caterpillar. Educational programs on fire and disaster preparation will also be featured.

“It’s a great family day,” said muster Co-Chairman George Ambriscoe. “In fact, many of the teams that participate in the competitions and bring antique firetrucks come with their families.”

Fire departments from eight states will be represented in the competitions starting at 10:30 a.m., which include a “Save the Baby” ladder climb and a lakeside draft for antique pumper trucks.

“Muster competitions began years ago as friendly rivalries between neighboring fire departments to determine which company had bragging rights for the best firefighting skills,” Ambriscoe said. “These are exciting action demonstrations of skills that really save lives.”

More than 25 teams will compete in the tug of war, midnight alarm, water barrel blast, arena pumping and bucket brigade competitions.

The Female Firefighters of America will come to the event to sign copies of the 2010 Female Firefighters of America Calendar and participate in the competitions.

“We think we look just as good whether we’re in bikinis or bunker pants, but best of all the profits from our calendar sales go to a great cause, the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Burn Center,” said Laura Kupinski, coordinator of the calendar program and a paramedic with the Metro Dade Fire Department.

Charlie Sheen Requests 9/11 Meeting With President Obama

Actor Charlie Sheen has followed up on his “20 Minutes With The President” letter by directly addressing President Obama in a You Tube clip to request he use his executive power to reopen the investigation into 9/11 and its aftermath.

On Tuesday, Sheen published a fictional account of a meeting with the President on radio talk show host Alex Jones’ Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com websites in which Obama was confronted about what Sheen alleges is a cover-up surrounding 9/11. In his letter, Sheen requests a real meeting with Barack Obama.

Now Sheen has taken his challenge a step further by appearing in a You Tube video that asks Obama to “be on the right side of history” by reopening an investigation into 9/11, while highlighting that the majority of the 9/11 Commission members have publicly dismissed the official government version of the attacks as a deception, with former Senator and Commission member Max Cleland labeling the government response to the Commission’s questions as “disgusting” and “a scam”.

Sheen highlights several issues in the video, including the unexplained collapse of WTC 7, a 47-story building that was not hit by a plane yet collapsed in free fall fashion into its own footprint within 7 seconds later in the afternoon on September 11. He also cites multiple reports from firefighters, police, first responders and others who were at ground zero and who all described explosions before the collapse of the twin towers and Building 7.

He also discusses how former FBI translator Sibel Edmonds broke her gag order to go public with the revelation that Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were working with the U.S. government right up until the day of 9/11.

Sheen also demands to know why NORAD’s standard operating procedure was not followed on 9/11, allowing the hijacked jetliners to find their targets, asking, “Where were the planes?”

Sheen expresses his hope that President Obama has read his letter, adding, “We have questions Mr. President, lots of questions….people of the United States and the world demand the truth sir,” adding that Obama has the power and the responsibility to initiate “a truly independent Congressional investigation into the events of 9/11 as well as its aftermath.”

“We want our country back Mr. President, therefore I’m not just calling on you I’m calling on your team, I’m calling on each and every American citizen to wake up, stand up, and demand the truth,” states Sheen in the video.

Dick Sieron Board Of Education Candidate District 5 Comments

Recently I knocked on a number of doors, introducing myself as a candidate for the Milford board of education, I was amazed at the response. Nine out of every 10 persons I talked to were fed up with our schools and eagerly invited me into their homes for discussion. The one out of ten who refused to talk to me did so because, when they found out I was a member of the Milford Independent Party, they said that they were either a Democrat or a Republican and would not vote for me. Isn’t it astonishing that the Milford government web site board of education page lists one school board member as the “Chairman of the Majority Party” and another member as the “Chairman of the Minority Party.” Newspaper articles also refer to those certain school board members by those same titles.

I submit that the practice of politics in our school board is outrageous. The Republicans and Democrats are incapable of thinking beyond party politics. George Washington, (in his farewell speech,) said to beware of political parties because they represent the will of those parties and not the will of the people. When there is disagreement among school board members, voting is often along party lines, as though no one is capable of critical thinking.

The Milford Independent Party is offering candidates based on their abilities, not party patronage, and will not base any decisions along party lines.

I have talked to a number of Milford school teachers and every one I have talked to so far has been angry with what goes on in our schools. It is amazing that their anger is not reported in the media. At one home that I was invited into, a teacher did not even give me a chance to speak first. He informed me that they were forced to teach their students WHAT to think and not HOW to think. He said they were forced to spend all their time giving the students the “No Child Left Behind” tests and over-teaching those tests, leaving them no time to teach anything else.

Our schools will lose millions of dollars from the state if they do not give the NCLB tests. The State of Connecticut gets those millions of dollars from the Federal government. The federal government is forbidden by the Constitution from having anything to do with education at the state and local level. That is the sole province of the States. And so, big brother gets his nose in the tent through the back door. The dollars are paid by the taxpayers in the first place and everyone knows that the closer you get to the local level, the more wisely the dollars are spent. The federal government has no monopoly on brains and common sense. The only monopoly they have is on corruption.

Tax wise, we are one of the wealthier towns in Connecticut. The mall and all the commercial businesses on the Post Road and other business centers bring in large tax revenues. We spend well over a hundred million dollars each year on our public schools, what do we get for that money?

Statewide, Milford’s highest ranked (CAP tests) elementary school in 142nd place and the lowest ranks 285th (among 544 elementary schools). Foran High School ranks 94th in the state (CAPT tests) and Jonathan Law ranks 119th (among 171 high schools). One of our elementary schools recently dropped 48 ranking positions from 2008 and another school an incredible 85 ranking positions. Foran dropped 15 ranking positions and Law dropped 10. Our school board should be in “crisis mode,” but nobody seems to be awake or aware.

We pay our superintendent of schools Apx. $185,000.00 p/y and all he seems to be able to do is find himself mentioned in a scandal appearing on the front pages of the newspapers. Incidentally, school Superintendents should not be close friends with members of the school board. A board member cannot make objective decisions about the performance of a close friend of the Superintendant.

I have nothing to fear making the above statements. I have lived in Milford for 15 years and raised a family elsewhere. I am not a member of any union, nor do I own a business. Education in our country is in an incredible state of decay. Our grandparents were far better educated then today’s younger people.

If elected to the Milford school board, I promise the following;

I will ask tough questions and demand major reform.
I will report regularly to the press as to what happens at board meetings and how the board members vote.

Dick Sieron
Independent Candidate For Board of Education
District 5

Mirror Published Wrong Bulk Trash Pick Up Date

The Milford Mirror erroneously published the 2008 bulk trash pickup schedule in this week’s paper. The correct dates for bulk pickup in September are as follow:

If your trash is picked up on Tuesday, your bulk trash pickup will be Sept. 16.

If your trash is picked up on Thursday, your bulk trash will be picked up Sept. 23.

If your trash is picked up on Friday, your bulk trash will be picked up Sept. 30.

Monday’s bulk trash pickup has already taken place.

Look to next week’s Milford Mirror for a printed version of the 2009 bulk schedule.

Lessons Learned From The Cadley House Debacle

There are many lessons to be learned from the Cadley House debacle. At the very least, I hope we have learned to never again empower one person alone with the authority to determine the fate of a historically significant Milford property.

In their resolution, the board of aldermen handed the Mayor the authority to purchase and then sell the historic Cadley House. That authority granted the Mayor power over the transaction and even over building refurbishment, like selecting the exterior paint color. It seems that the aldermen’s intent was to preserve and protect the house, while entrusting this responsibility to the Mayor. However, the process followed by the Mayor was the opposite of what the aldermen envisioned.

The Mayor used the authority to have the historic house demolished, and then sold the house to a developer who had a new home built on the site.

Though possibly well intentioned, the results of the Mayor’s actions have raised many questions about the process. In the future, I would like the fate of our historic properties-whether to demolish, purchase, sell or renovate-to be resolved in accordance with city ordinances and with greater input from our City Historian, whose responsibility is to preserve Milford history. By doing this, the Mayor will not be alone in making the final decision concerning our historic properties, but rather consult and receive input from those that know more about the processes and the historic item.

As your Mayor, I will ensure that this practice is strictly adhered to so that the Cadley House debacle will never be repeated.

As Milford is the 6th oldest City in the State of Connecticut, we need to be more considerate of the historical property that we have, and we certainly need to be even more considerate in the way that we handle our historical property. Once we lose a historical piece of property, we lose it forever.

Peter Spalthoff