The budget season is now officially upon us as Director of Public Works, Hal Alvord, previews his presentation to the public works committee of the common council. From the Hour:

To alleviate flooding, Director of Public Works Harold F. Alvord is asking to sink an additional $1.95 million into drainage maintenance during the fiscal year starting next July 1.

Tonight, Alvord will brief the Common Council’s Public Works Committee on his 2008-09 operating budget request. At $19.6 million, his submitted budget is up nearly 20 percent from 2007-08 spending.

Much of the additional $3.3 million is targeted toward dredging and cleaning drainage pipes.

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Derek Slap, communications director for the Senate Democrats in Hartford summed up the reaction to Monday’s letter issued by the former State Senator Lou DeLuca, “The Senate taking guidance from Mr. DeLuca on ethics would be like Dick Cheney teaching classes on hunting safety.” What prompted this rebuke is another one of those incidents about the political log rolling that goes on in Hartford.

Democratic State Senator Thomas Gaffey, he of the all important ECS money allocation decision committee, is dating the associate vice chancellor for government relations and communications of the Connecticut State University System, Jill Ferraiolo. You know, the same state university system where the Democrats couldn’t override the overall bonding package because another state senator, Joan Hartley, cited the unusually high funding allocation.

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