Cleone Campbell Post Hageman

Much of my political perspective is due to this woman.



April 29, 1921 - June 17, 2007

Cleone Campbell Post Hageman passed peacefully, Sunday June 17, 2007 at the age of 86 in Southington, CT.
Born April 29, 1921 in Albany, NY Cleone was the eldest daughter of Cleone (Rich) and C. W. Post. She was predeceased by both her brothers Benjamin F. and Richard Post and sister Nancy M. Lange.

Cleone graduated from Albany Academy for Girls and continued her studies at Alfred University in New York State. At Alfred, Cleone studied Ceramic Art. It was there where she met and married L. Coulson Hageman, in 1942. The couple was happily married for 47 years until Coulson passed in 1989.
During those 47 years Cleone and Coulson lived in the Berkshires, Cape Cod, Ohio, Pennsylvania and for many decades in Colorado.

Cleone was a trained artist who had a love for creating, and invested her talents into landscape design and custom home projects. In the Denver metro market, she enjoyed a career as well in retail sportswear where she excelled. Cleone was a member of both the DAR and the Society of Mayflower Descendants.

In 2004 Cleone relocated to Southington, CT to share more time with her family.
Cleone is survived by her children: Douglas C. Hageman (Gail) of Southington CT and namesake, Cleone C. H. Johns of Las Vegas NV, and was predeceased by daughter Nancy S. Flibotte. (Donald R.) She is also survived by grandchildren Christine Bullard (Jay), Susanna Petrovich (Timothy), Mark Johns, Coulson Hageman and two great-grandchildren, Katrina, Luke Petrovich, and daughter-in-law Carol Hageman, as well as numerous nieces and nephews. Cleone will be missed by all who had the pleasure to know and love her.

A memorial service is scheduled in Berlin, CT at Bethany Covenant Church at 11:00 o‘clock on Saturday, June 30. The family will receive friends at 10:00 at the church.

Interment will be in Hyannis Mass at a private ceremony. In lieu of flowers, friends may donate in her memory to the Bethany Covenant Church Scholarship Fund or Friendship #33 AF & AM (Freemasons) in Southington, CT

The family wishes to extend their deepest and heartfelt thanks to the caregivers at Farmington Care Nursing Home for the splendid care and attention provided to Cleone for the past year.

Healy Shows Backbone

In a recent Hartford Business Journal article, Dean Pagani writes that, “Chris Healy may be on the verge of doing something no one else has done in almost twenty years: Make the job of state party chairman relevant”. The revelation comes as a great surprise to some who doubted Healy when he ascended to the post in January, but as each day passes it becomes increasingly undeniable. Other Chairmen have served ably – Chris Healy has been superb.



Long known as a bomb-throwing backbencher in the Republican State Central Committee, Healy’s path to leadership has been a long arc marked by challenges to the status quo and ardent loyalty to fellow party members, punctuated by the perpetual whispers about his alcohol consumption and his penchant for a fight. Chris quarterbacked the Dole Campaign in Connecticut in ’96 even though the conclusion seemed forgone. He was the lead on the McCain Campaign in 2000 and bucked the national trend by delivering the state to McCain despite George W. Bush’s familial roots in Connecticut . And he helped Sebastian Giuliano become a Republican Mayor in Middletown – a phrase that few had ever uttered before 2005.



2006 was a year in which all of the pundits lined up and said that Republicans in Congress were going to be buried beneath a Democratic “wave” of backlash against corruption, Iraq , and out-of-control spending. Despite this sentiment, Healy took on the race of Congressman Rob Simmons, a perennial Democrat target in a fickle district comprised almost entirely of “backwater” Connecticut . With an Irish diligence, Chris guided the Simmons campaign to even on Election Day – in a year in which almost no targeted Republican kept their seat, Simmons lost an election in which 242,000 ballots were cast by 83 votes. Some people will pass harsh judgment and call it a failure. I call it respectable.



With the burn of the narrow loss still painful, it became clear that the Party was going to need a new leader as George Gallo moved on to other things. The Governor lobbied hard to keep Gallo in place – and then as Healy showed some interest in the job, she lobbied to keep him out of it. As the overwhelming will of the committee became apparent, Rell joined him because she couldn’t beat him.



And now Chris Healy has gotten himself in trouble – the recovering alcoholic’s worst nightmare – a relapse and arrest for driving under the influence. To his credit, he didn’t protest, he didn’t attempt to wear his position as a shield; he didn’t shirk from the responsibility that he must bear – for himself. He stood before the members of the State Central Committee and in faith and honesty laid out the situation for people, and answered any questioner’s query. He has nothing to hide. In the world of politics, in which so much time and energy is wasted on the ignoble maintenance of fool’s pride, Healy came clean. He probably could have covered it up – Lord knows there are only two weeks until the Chairman’s election – and he could have gotten away with it. But he chose not to do so. The scrutiny of Chris should be severe – and all should reiterate that driving under the influence of alcohol is a danger to everyone in society. But we need also remember that preaching accountability and responsibility means that you have to be responsible and accountable. The Chairman of the Connecticut Republicans has done that. And Republicans across Connecticut should stick with him because of it.

Governor Rell Signs Energy Bill

Governor Rell Signs Energy Bill But Strikes

Two Appropriations Sections Using Line-Item Veto



Governor Says Eliminated Sections Violate Constitutional Spending Cap



Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced she is signing into law House Bill 7432, An Act Concerning Electricity and Energy Efficiency, but will exercise her line-item veto to remove two sections making appropriations that are not permitted by law.



Specifically, Governor Rell said she was using the line-item veto – granted under Article IV, Section 16 of the Connecticut Constitution – to remove Sections 126 and 128 of the bill. Both sections make appropriations in the current fiscal year that would push state spending well above the limit set by the constitutional spending cap. In addition, the Governor said, it is unwise public policy to make such large appropriations on a bill-by-bill basis, especially without a comprehensive budget agreement for the next two years.



“While House Bill 7432 does little to offer immediate relief to the struggling ratepayers of Connecticut, it will make a number of substantial and beneficial changes to our long-term energy policy,” Governor Rell said. “The sections I have vetoed would appropriate $100 million in the current fiscal year – more than enough to push state spending this year well over the cap. Under law, exceeding the cap requires a declaration of fiscal emergency by the Governor – a declaration that I was not asked to sign and that I am not willing to issue at this time, especially since the bill brings no immediate or emergency relief to ratepayers.



“There are also a number of nettlesome provisions and drafting errors in the bill that cause me concern,” the Governor said. “Some deal with how bond money is distributed among state agencies; others deal with oversight of energy projects and sales tax exemption drafting errors. I want to note these reservations and encourage the Legislature to deal with them in separate legislation during the remaining days of the session. But it has taken two years to develop and pass this legislation and I have no desire to veto the entire bill because of these problem areas.”



Section 126 would have appropriated $95 million to buy back bonds and help restore the funding balances in the Renewable Energy Investment and the Energy Conservation and Load Management funds. Both funds have been tapped in the past to help balance state budgets, depleting the balances in both accounts.



“Replenishing these funds is a worthy goal, and in fact I recommended doing so in my February 7 budget,” Governor Rell said. “But it cannot be done through the means contained in this bill.”



Section 128 would have appropriated $2.5 million for a one-time program to help people who have high outstanding utility bill balances pay off those debts. The section would also have appropriated a total of $2.5 million to help fund and expand Operation Fuel Inc.



“While I am a long-time supporter of Operation Fuel and believe the goals of the bill are laudable, here again the method is unacceptable,” the Governor said. “These goals should be achieved in the framework of an overall budget agreement that spells out the handling of the current year’s surplus and the spending plan for the next two years.”



Among the remaining issues Governor Rell would like to see addressed are provisions in Sections 10 and 78 that would make the Institute for Sustainable Energy responsible for setting a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) exemption applicable to state and commercial buildings. That decision should be made by the Executive Branch rather than an academic institution, the Governor said.



Other provisions that need attention, the Governor said, include sections that allocate bond funds to the Department of Public Utility Control rather than the Office of Policy and Management; the creation in Section 101 of an unnecessarily cumbersome process for undertaking energy projects in state buildings; and effective dates for sales tax exemptions that should be July 1 rather than June 1.



“I am very hopeful that the General Assembly will be willing to work with my Administration to address the remaining concerns about this well-intentioned legislation,” Governor Rell said. “That is why, in addition to sending my signing message to the Secretary of the State, I am writing to all members of the General Assembly explaining my actions and calling on them to do just that before the session ends on Wednesday.”