It’s “The ANSONIA EPISODE” of “Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast.”
Mayor David Cassetti joins corporation counsel John Marini and economic development director Sheila O’Malley for a freewheeling conversation on what’s happening in Ansonia.
4 minutes 40 seconds: The Cassetti administration announces a vaccination clinic for people over 75 happening Thursday, Feb. 4 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Ansonia Armory on State Street.
7 minutes 16 seconds: Mayor Cassetti and company talk about the city’s recent bond rating review.
14 minutes: Mayor Cassetti talks briefly about the upcoming budget season.
14 minutes, 55 seconds: The crew talks about a recent uptick in crime, including purse snatchings and stolen vehicles.
17 minutes, 32 seconds: An update on the construction of the new Ansonia Police Department building.
20 minutes, 16 seconds: An update on a mixed-use development project at three Main Street addresses. The development might include a nationally-known eatery.
24 minutes, 43 seconds: O’Malley talks about why it’s important when state and federal officials tour possible development sites in Ansonia (which happened Monday).
29 minutes: The latest on a long-simmering plan to possibly put a privately-owned recreation facility on Olson Drive (if the feds agree to remove a deed restriction on the land it owns)
31 minutes, 40 seconds: The Cassetti administration talks about a plan to change to change the way emergency medical services are provided to residents.
For roughly 10 months, local governments have been conducting the public’s business without actually being in front of the public — at least not physically.
Because of the gathering restrictions birthed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re now in a “Zoomacracy,” a phrase coined by our pals over at The New Haven Independent.
The guests: professor Jodie Gil is an associate professor of journalism, and Dr. Jonathan Wharton teaches political science. Together they wrote “Open Budgetary Meetings Amid a Pandemic: Assessing Connecticut’s Various Pathways to Public Engagement During COVID-19,” which was recently published in THE JOURNAL OF CIVIC INFORMATION.
State Sen. Jorge Cabrera drops in to talk about what it was like to take the oath of office in Hartford Jan. 6 — only to have his day eclipsed by the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol later in the day.
Cabrera talks about the Lamont administration’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, what it will take to bridge the partisan divide, and why he and his fellow legislators plan to stop by Ansonia and Derby next week. Press play to watch.
“Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast” is sponsored by ValleyGivesBack.org.
The guests on this episode of “Navel Gazing: The Valley Indy Podcast,” include:
Please visit ValleyFoundation.org for more information on the fund.
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