congratulations to john phillips who will be the new

west hartford director of public works. i DO have an ulterior motive for saying that though. i have been (as well as a few others i know of) calling the town of west hartford to get a burned out street light replaced on asylum avenue. i have personally been calling for well over two years. YES OVER TWO YEARS (more like 3 or 4 i think). why is it bothering me so much? well i'll tell you. the burned out light in question is right near one of those effing stupid and effing dangerous and effing ridiculous lovely traffic islands on asylum. they should be lit up as much as possible to avoid MORE accidents than they've already caused. soooooooooooooooooooooooo mr phillips how about fixing that burned out light on asylum?

years is way too long to wait to replace a light. and tell whoever answers the phone when we call to stop lying. they always say it's on the list and they'll get to it. must be an awfully big effing list if that light has been on it for over 2 years.

(p.s. seriously though, i'm happy mr phillips got the job. i am glad they promoted from within)

U.S. Navy Veteran Named West Hartford Director Of Public Works

By BILL LEUKHARDT
WEST HARTFORD — - John Phillips, a U.S. Navy veteran hired in 1996 as a public works laborer, will be the new director of public works.

Phillips, the public works department's municipal parking manager since 2004, will replace Dana Hallenbeck, who will retire July 18 to start a new career as an ordained Lutheran minister.

"It was a difficult decision, because we had excellent applicants," interim Town Manager Ron Van Winkle said Monday. "John is an incredible hard-working person and has done a great job as parking operations manager."

The town recruited from within and had seven applicants. The pay range for the director's job is $65,000 to $119,000 a year. Van Winkle said Monday that he has not yet met with Phillips to set a salary.

Phillips, 38, said Monday that he looks forward to the challenge of running the department that maintains roads, supervises trash collection, cuts grass and, in Van Winkle's words, "basically [are] the ones who take care of the town."..........

i grew up in the asylum avenue area

my pops and sister and i still live in the hood. both my sister and i (and, as it turned out SEVERAL other people) phoned the town a day or two after noticing all sorts of spray painted hieroglyphics in the street. one of the words said 'island'. that's when we got the scoop. the town did a traffic study (and if they really did one, i was unaware of it. as i said, i have lived in that hood MOST ALL of my life - and i ain't no spring chicken). that's what they used to say they needed those island for TRAFFIC CALMING. TRAFFIC CALMING?????????????????? all i can see is a giant pain in the ass AND creation of dangerous conditions. the day before yesterday NINE CARS CRASHED INTO THE ISLAND BETWEEN PENN AND CUMBERLAND (i don't know about the other islands). my sister observed ALL but the first crash. the islands were NOT properly marked AND the sun was coming down and in the driver's eyes. just think about what is going to happen in the winter. hey town of west hartford, we're on a budget. WHERE DID THE MONEY FOR THE ISLANDS COME FROM?????????????? did you ask the neighborhood residents if THEY thought the islands were a good idea? one more thing, why, the day AFTER the 9 crashes were west hartford police ALL OVER THE SIDE STREETS STOPPING PEOPLE AND 'HEAVILY OBSERVING' people? why weren't they ON asylum avenue?

it's a stupid effing idea. it's a waste of money. when we talked to people 'in charge' regarding the NINE CARS THAT HIT THAT STUPID MEDIAN, there was some talk of people not following the newly painted solid line down that side of asylum. i am bad at directions. it's the side going from quaker to trout brook. well, the line looks like it was painted by someone on acid. it was NOT done very well.

it's all bullshite. THE TOWN DIDN'T DO IT'S JOB

channel 3 had a camera truck out there late yesterday afternoon. they did a little piece on it but i don't believe anyone hit the island yesterday. that doesn't matter NINE IN THE SPAN OF ABOUT AN HOUR the day before last, IS NINE TOO MANY)
http://www.courant.com/community/news/hfd/hc-whdmedian0912.artsep12,0,6967761.story

West Hartford Officials Defend Medians After 9-Vehicle Crash

By JOSH KOVNER |Courant Staff Writer

September 12, 2008

WEST HARTFORD — - Town officials defended the use of "traffic-calming" measures around town after several cars — heading west into the setting sun — struck the new, granite-curbed medians in the center of Asylum Avenue during rush hour Wednesday evening. Police Chief James Strillacci said he viewed the nine-car crash as more of a construction-zone accident, complicated by the glare of the sun, than an inherent problem with the medians, "bump-out" curbs, chicanes or speed bumps that have been installed, or are being built, on at least 10 streets. These include main arteries like Asylum Avenue, Steele Road and Farmington Avenue. West Hartford is about 15 years and $2 million dollars into one of the region's most extensive traffic-calming programs. Strillacci and Town Manager Ronald Van Winkle said the measures have generally had their desired effect — that of narrowing streets, slowing down cars, and forcing drivers to be more attentive. "Asylum Avenue was a drag strip in the 1990s," Mayor Scott Slifka said Thursday. He noted that commuters and others who pass through West Hartford generally don't like the measures, while residents coping with speeding cars in their neighborhoods do............

hey mayor slifka, i take umbrage with your statement about asylum being a drag strip in the 90s. were YOU there? i was. EACH AND EVERY DAY. it was NEVER a drag strip. where did THAT come from? sure, you're get a speeder now and again. that's the same with EVERY street. let's take a side street for example. let's take ummmmm let's say MAPLEWOOD. there are far MORE speeders on THAT street than asylum. maplewood, a cut through street for farmington ave or quaker or boulevard.

hey mayor slifka if i asked the town for the traffic study justifying the islands would you furnish me with one? OR, would i have to get an foi request?
am i pissed? yes i AM pissed (but my sister is even MORE pissed if you can believe it)

picture: The newly installed granite median on Asylum Avenue in West Hartford may be a factor in the nine-car crash on Wednesday. (LORETTA WALDMAN / HARTFORD COURANT / September 11, 2008)

do you know what i have to say to the town of west hartford?

luuuuuuuuuuuccccccccccccccccyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy you have some 'splainin' to do!!!

yesterday my sister pointed out to me some spray painted writing in the road. it was done either friday or yesterday morning. it says 'raised island' or something similar.

i phoned the town this morning and spoke to a VERY nice man. turns out they ARE going to put FOUR islands on asylum avenue between steele road and trout brook. i asked why. i was told it was for traffic ease. i am going to ask the town if i can see the traffic study on this. i drive on asylum EVERY day. not just five days a week EVERY day. between steele and trout brook. the ONLY thing that even resembled any kind of 'traffic study' was one of those light up signs that tells you how fast (i.e. how many miles OVER the speed limit) you're going. that was only there for a few days. i sure hope that wasn't their 'study'. there was NOTHING else. nada. zip. well nothing i'm aware of. that's why the town is getting ANOTHER call from me tomorrow. i'm going to ask to review that traffic study.

• i asked WHO was going to pay for these traffic islands since the town is on a budget. well i guess it's in the budget. who knows? i didn't get a real answer. that was NOT the fault of the person i spoke to mind you. he was as helpful as he could be. nice too. how the heck are we going to fund these traffic islands (which NO ONE i talked to who lives in the area is aware of. they were actually SHOCKED about it) when we're on a WICKED TIGHT BUDGET. taxes are up and the citizenry is up in arms over that. (well not the taxes so much as the assessments. it all boils down to we're getting our asses nailed)
• they did mail letters out (smartly so i think. they knew EXACTLY what they were doing) telling us the gas company was going to be doing some road construction. what they forgot to add was, THEY WERE GOING TO BE DOING SOME CONSTRUCTING OF THEIR OWN ONCE CNG WAS DONE. so west hartford, you weren't going to TELL US about the islands? we were supposed to wake up one morning and see them? hmmmmmmmmmmmmm
  

there is NO NEED for those traffic islands on asylum between trout brook and steele road. the construction done a couple of years ago (adding those two lanes on either side of the street. for parking and what not) did the trick. not much speeding (unless it's 2 am - then everything goes). it does get rather congested in the evening rush hour though. how would traffic islands ALLEVIATE THAT? (answer=they wouldn't)

expect my call in the morning