The Berlin
Cit itiz ize en
Volume 15, Number 41
Berlin’s Only Hometown Newspaper
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Local ballot use studied by Secretary of the State
On a roll
By Olivia L. Lawrence The Berlin Citizen
Photo by Matt Leidemer
The Berlin High School girls soccer team topped Plainville, 4-2 in overtime, last week to improve top 6-1-1 on the year. Through eight games, the Lady Redcoats had outscored their opponents 16-4.
Police: Good neighbors best defense against crime
information has to be submitted and reviewed by the court. “We’re in the process of putting it together,” in the case of several more possible arrests, he said. By Olivia L. Lawrence About a dozen burglary incidents spanned The Berlin Citizen the months of July and August. This reOver the summer, local police reported one quired “a lot of effort in the department, we burglary after another all around town: put two extra officers on the bureau to work Meadow Lane, Percival Avenue, Orchard the burglaries,” Klett said. The recent difficult economic conditions Road, Mills Street, Worare likely a factor in the thington Ridge Extension, “The vigilance of a upswing of incidents, he Spruce Brook Road, Mooreland Road, East Berlin. All neighbor helped us get said. In publicizing each of these areas were hit. the burglaries, police Berlin Police Deputy those guys.” Chief John Klett said it apDeputy Chief John Klett asked people to report any suspicious activity, pears there were at least people, vehicles or anythree different groups or individuals operating over the same period of thing else out of the ordinary. That request time. Some arrests were announced recently, paid off. Police received a few calls over the summer, including one that led to big results. several more are pending, he said. “We’re still investigating,” Klett said, adding getting arrest warrents takes time as See Crime, page 17
Burglary rings busted with help from residents
The Nov. 8 ballot will be a straightforward affair in Berlin: candidates for Board of Assessment Appeals, Board of Education, Police Commission and Town Council. That’s it, according to Charles Warner, Democratic registrar of voters. He said that, in an odd y e a r , there are no state or federal offices on the ballot. However, for the first time, in many years, Democrats will top the ballot. That’s because the party of the governor determines the order of ballot, according to Elizabeth Tedeschi, Republican registrar of voters. Between the Rowland and Rell administrations, Republicans held the top spot since 1995. Democratic party Gov. Dannel Malloy took over in January. Warner said that, in general, towns’ ballots and voting records are getting extra scrutiny this year. That’s to make sure there are enough ballots to go around on Election Day. Registrars, in all 169 towns, are now required to submit, to the Secretary of the State, election returns for the past four years for the secretary’s office to analyze. Furthermore, registrars will provide information on how many ballots will be ordered for each voting district. If it’s determined that not enough ballots are being ordered, more must be obtained, Warner said. If a
town’s registrars do not submit this information, the secretary’s office can order the town to purchase enough ballots for all registered voters. These new requirements were put in place after the Nov. 2, 2010 ballot shortage in Bridgeport. In that instance, the Bridgeport registrars ordered 21,000 ballots, although there are nearly 70,000 voters in the city. Registrars stated, in interviews with various news media, that Bridgeport typically had boxes of leftover ballots and that ballots had been ordered based on an average turnout for the previous three elections. In Berlin, registrars held an “order of ballot” lottery Sept. 15 to determine which name got the top spot on the ballot. Town Council candidate Democrat William Watson III was selected. After Watson the order of ballot is Democrats: Rachel J. Rochette, Stephen M. Morelli, Adam P. Salina, and William A. Rasmussen Jr. The Republicans: Eric Buhrendorf, Frances Geschimsky, Charles Paonessa and David K. Evans. Also on the ballot are candidates for the Board of Assessment Appeals (vote for two): Democrats Michael Anderson and Charles A. Frederick; and Republican Karen Maier Drost. For Police Commission (vote for three) are: Democrats Bradford J. Parsons and Ryan T. Zelek; and Republi-
See Ballot, page 3