Windsor Democrats

After 30 years Windsor will finally have a majority House District.  The Redistricting Commission adopted a plan November 30 that gives back to Windsor the ability for the town to be truly represented in the Legislature with a State House district that has a majority of Windsor residents within its borders.

Windsor was politically punished in the 1981 redistricting cycle and banished to political Siberia as it was carved up into 3 State House districts none of which had a majority of Windsor residents included in the district.  The nasty punishment of this political retribution has been overturned by the 2011 Redistricting Commission as they created a new district boundry for the 5th House District that includes the north end of Hartford and the southern half of Windsor. Windsor will have a majority position in that district.

The town will now have a somewhat more complicated position as it moves from 3 State House distrits to 4– 5th, 15th, 60th and 61st. The previous 3 districts will have smaller portions to accommodate the larger portion in the new 5th.   But the new 5th District affords Windsor its rightful and better opportunity to have a local Windsor person elected in the district.  People from Windsor, since the invention of CT in the 1630′s, have played a role in shaping and deciding the focus and direction of the state.  That role was stripped away with the retirement of Ruth Fahrbach in 2009 – A 375 year streak of windsor inclusion in state legislative decisionmaking was ended as a consequence of the political hacksterism that was inflicted on the town in the 1981 redistricting carve up of the town.

Fairness and district justice has been restored – and it took a good deal of effort.

The Windsor Democrats were leaders in the charge for that change. The Town Committee endorsed and allocated resources to support the new district fight.  The Town Council made a majority district for Windsor a legislative priority.  People testified at hearings, wrote letters, contacted legislators and made it a high profile media issue.  Leo Canty WDTC Town Chair invited comments and suggestions and developed a proposal that was submitted to the commission in August - much of which ended up in the final district plan that was approved November 30.

Bottom line – all the aspiring politicians who knew the process left them out and saw no fuure prospect for legislative election for the last 3 decades  are now free to compete in a district that will very likely elect a Windsor Democrat to the State House of Representatives to be sworn in January of 2013. 

Interested politicos start your engines – The race to continue the slightly interrupted commitment to be apart of Windsor’s 375 year historical contribution to our state is about to begin – anew. 

This is truly a BIG DEAL – We’re back in the game – let’s get to work.

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Voters made their choices on Tuesday November 8  and put the Democratic Team back to work.   There is a lot to do and we are confident our Town Council, Board of Education and Constables are up for all the challenges ahead.

Add to those challenges a dose of civic duty and igniting some democracy.  An 18% turnout is about as low as it’s ever been – 82% of the voters opted not to participate.  That really needs to change. and We will work on that.

Mean time – managing the after effects of a lousy economy – making sure our kids have good schools and our seniors have appropriate services – police, fire, roads and making sure we keep the great service structure that helped get us through the after effects of Storm Albert are all on the list.

Let’s get going – we all have a lot to do to make Windosr a better place to live, work, grow and prosper.  And thanks to those who understand it all starts with picking the right leaders with a good plan and commitment to make it all work…for all of us.

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This will be an election for the records.   Turnout for municipal elections is often embarassingly low – but with power outages and a big chunk of campaign time lost – who knows what will happen on Election day.

The last bit of effort has been focused on reminding people to vote – and DEMOCRATS ARE ON ROW A for the first time in 20 years, adding to the drama of the outcome.

Polls are open 6am – 8pm – all locations have power and will be open for the voting buisness.  Need a ride or more info call 860-794-6075

Need candidate info – plenty right here – just click away at the pictures and links

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What a rough week for everyone! Never before have we faced such inconvenient, widespread, life threatening and sustained power outages. It’s times like these that show us how well local government can perform, when it’s needed most.  And, Windsor Town Government has performed admirably.

It didn’t happen by accident.  Deliberate decisions by the Democrat-led Town Council over the years focused on preserving services in our town. While some may chant “Cut, Cut, Cut”, the Democrats strongly believed that keeping the right level of public employees on the job working on critical programs and services helps improve our quality of life in town, and in situations like these, critical in preserving life in our town.

Anyone who may have observed first hand the 24 hour operation at Town Hall would have seen our employees and volunteers as the first resource for Windsor residents needing to report downed power lines, blocked streets, or needing information on where they could buy gas, or groceries, or if the schools would be open. Our police and fire departments were fully activated to keep us safe. Our public works crews did a great job clearing the public streets so power line work could start. And over at LP Wilson Community Center, our shelter was set up to care for hundreds of our neighbors, particularly our more vulnerable elderly population. Our Social Services staff actively contacted residents they felt were the most vulnerable to check on their safety or arrange to bring them to the shelter. That shelter was staffed with our employees and other volunteers around the clock. More than 250 people have routinely stayed the night. 3 meals a day was served to upwards of 400 people. The food was provided by the Board of Education, and some of their staff was critical to the smooth functioning of the shelter.

We can be very proud and impressed with the patience and composure of our residents, and with the focused dedication of our town employees. Our town government could respond effectively because, despite tight budgets, the Town Council did not pursue layoffs. Local government is about people, whether it’s the teacher who educates our children, the cop patrolling our streets, or the public works crew clearing and plowing our streets. They aren’t driven by profit, but by service. That’s what local government is.

Windsor Democrats highest priority remains preserving services in Windsor. I hope we are not tested like this again, but we should all feel confident that our local government can rise to the occasion, because we DID NOT cut away its ability to do so. The municipal election will be held as scheduled on Tuesday, November 8th. All polls will be open from 6 am to 8 pm. For more information or a ride to the polls you can call 860-794-6075

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Click on the left hand column candidates and you can find out what the Town Council democrats have to say and go over to the right side and hear from the BOE Team members.   Each candidate recorded a minute or so for webb site use offering a comment about them, the issues, where we’ve been or need to go.

The election is coming up fast – November 8 is closing in.  Most people don’t vote because, as they say, are not familiar with the issues or candidates.  Here’s your chance to find out more – Got a minute – click away – got a few more minutes – become better informed. 

If you only have ONE rock and roll dem minute – click here 

But – if you do have some time to read about and learn more about all 12 of the ROW A Democrats – go here

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The local election season brought one of the few venues for everyone to get a glimpse of the candidates running for office in Windsor – the LOWV Candidates Night forum.

If you were wondering about who’s in the race to get elected so they can make the town work better and do what they can to improve our quality of life – and you missed the candidated night on WIN TV – here’s the link to the video – check it out –

http://windsor-ct.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=117

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Windsor democrats and a big crowd of friends and supporters enjoyed the food – the friends and an evening on the river at the Windsor Riverside 1-5-9 on Monday Oct 10..

The Fall fundraiser drew the crowds (and the contributions) that will help support the ROW A DEM TEAM for the November election.

No speeches ( well, except for a quick one from US Senator Dick Blumenthal) and a few (too many) words from Town Chair Leo Canty, filled the incredibly brief program for the event.

Senator Blumenthal with Dems Fundraiser event organizers Florence Barlow and Vivian Cicero

The rest of the tme – participants had a great meal and visited with friends and chatted about many things …including politics.

Event organizers Flo Barlow and Vivian Cicero – along with many others got their own photo with the Senator – note the smiles.

The Senator got to say hi to Windsor and urge everyone to make sure we all send him our input on the big issues he gets to vote on – complaints, sure – but more importantly, make sure you contact him to add your voice to the things you support – with him – …Social Security, jobs, environment and others.  He can make the case for the things you want when you make sure your voice is heard.  That’s how it works – in Washington and as importantly in Windsor – make your voice heard – everywhere.

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1991 – 55% turnout in CT local elections
2011   35-40% state-wide will be deemed a “good” turnout   – out of 2.15 million CT voters
             many small towns have 50-60 even 70% turnout – big cities have less

USA spends a $bilion a week advancing democracy and the right to vote in the middle east
     It’s working – Saudi Arabia just announced – it’ll let women vote —- in local elections —-in 2015….. WOO HOO
            maybe we need to be spending some of that cash advancing democracy here at home

32 coumtries around the globe have “Compulsory voting”  12 countries enforce the rule and have  penalties – Australia for example, in some some states levy a $20 fine for skipping out on voting in local elections without a good excuse- “Krikes your honor..my dog Brisbee aite my voter ID card”….  “Lame excuse mate…that’ll be $20 – pay up….next…”

So why don’t people vote – disenchantment—indifference –satisfaction??? New Gallop poll says 65% of people HAVE confidence in local politicians – is everything so good we don’t need to pay atention of vote?  

 83% have NO confidence in Congress – that’s ony 535 of the 500,000 elected officials in the USA 

Who votes?   The – smarter/more educated …. richer …genetically disposed(family voting) …older…closer to  union household – you are,  the more likely you will vote.

Let us know why you DON’T/DO vote – — – for factoid purposes

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Do you vote in local elections – most people don’t – as many as 65% or more voters skip out on this part of our democracy – Why is that?  Are you with the majority or minority on this one? -  Either way – let us know why    Take the Dem poll – pick either one -

Why DON’T you vote                              OR                     Why DO you vote   

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Check out the profile

2011 ROW A DEMOCRATIC TEAM

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