Matt Lesser ’09 wants you to remember that it’s voting day today. Students can vote 6am to 8pm at the Middletown Senior Center (the big red brick building at 150 William Street), right across the street from Broad Street Books. Don’t forget a photo ID. And please vote… it takes five minutes!
If you really want a ride to the polls, go to the Office of Community Services at 167 High Street at 10:30am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm or 7pm. For the 7pm ride, please meet in lower Parking Lot C (the van will be there by 6:50 so you will not need to wait outside). If you have questions about the election, want a ride at another time, or have problems voting (especially if they tell you you can’t vote) call the Middletown Democratic Hotline at (860) 685 0098.
If you think you might be registered but aren’t sure, email me at matthew.lesser@gmail.com.
There are (not to beat a dead horse) four Wesleyan affiliated candidates on the Democratic ticket:
Matt Lesser, Wesleyan ’09, Candidate for Planning and Zoning, the first Wesleyan student to run for office since the 1980s.
Grady Faulkner, Parent, Candidate for Common (City) Council
Renee Johnson-Thornton, Mellon-Mays Fellowship Coordinator, Board of Education
Bill Boyd, Husband of Prof. Joyce Jacobsen, Board of Education
Four reasons to vote:
- Save the Connecticut River. Currently, storm sewers and sanitation sewers are combined in Middletown, meaning that in heavy rain, raw untreated sewage flows right into the Connecticut River. A sewage bonding issue on the ballot — that city Democrats fought for — would fix this problem, removing a major pollutant from a fragile ecosystem.
- Protect open space. A bond issue on the ballot — again sponsored by Democrats — will raise money to protect farms and open space from sprawl and unwise development. Furthermore, as a Planning and Zoning Commissioner, I will fight for smart, environmentally-conscious growth.
- Fix the achievement gap. Like schools in many municipalities, children from privileged backgrounds score substantially better in Middletown’s public schools than poor and minority students. Renee Johnson-Thornton, Bill Boyd and the Democratic team will fight to fix the problem that other candidates want to run away from.
- Improve Wesleyan-Community Relations. Never have so many candidates from Wesleyan been nominated by a major party. If you vote, you show the city that you care about Middletown, that the Wesleyan community can and should have a voice in the future of this city. Additionally, this is shaping up to be a close election. Wesleyan votes really matter — and could make the difference between a progressive Middletown and a conservative Middletown dominated by special interests.
Justin,I stand by my “rhetoric,” which isn’t exagerated.Turnout in local elections is normally very low, less than half the number who vote in Presidential elections. This year it’s probably going to be even lower because the media has barely covered the race.That doesn’t mean the election isn’t important. Middletown as a whole is a progressive city, not just Wesleyan. There are 3 times as many Democrats in Middletown as Republicans; in 2004 John Kerry won 65% of the vote. But in local elections right wing Republicans sometimes win simply because the rest of us don’t bother to vote. That’s why the race is close this year — there’s no right wing Middletown majority, local Republicans are just pretty good at mobilizing their hard core base.
Justin,
I stand by my “rhetoric,” which isn’t exagerated.
Turnout in local elections is normally very low, less than half the number who vote in Presidential elections. This year it’s probably going to be even lower because the media has barely covered the race.
That doesn’t mean the election isn’t important.
Middletown as a whole is a progressive city, not just Wesleyan.
There are 3 times as many Democrats in Middletown as Republicans; in 2004 John Kerry won 65% of the vote. But in local elections right wing Republicans sometimes win simply because the rest of us don’t bother to vote.
That’s why the race is close this year — there’s no right wing Middletown majority, local Republicans are just pretty good at mobilizing their hard core base.
Aren’t the interests of Wesleyan students just as “special” in Middletown as the “special interests” of businesses, the local chamber of commerce, and community developers that I’m presuming constitute the “special interests” of which this ad speaks?Also, if “this is shaping up to be” such “a close election,” wouldn’t that mean that around half the voting population of Middletown might actually want to be governed by more conservative policies?I understand the value of having a more “progressive” machine in place to further our own interests as an institution, but I think some of the statements made in the press coverage, like this from the Argus:“Everybody understands that if Wesleyan students vote, the Democrats will win,” he [Matt Lesser] said. “If students don’t vote, the Republicans win. The whole city is looking to Wesleyan.”… I mean, how can it be true that the whole city is looking to us to vote in liberals, if the election is going to be so closely divided? The rhetoric seems a bit… uh… exaggerated sometimes, I guess.
Aren’t the interests of Wesleyan students just as “special” in Middletown as the “special interests” of businesses, the local chamber of commerce, and community developers that I’m presuming constitute the “special interests” of which this ad speaks?
Also, if “this is shaping up to be” such “a close election,” wouldn’t that mean that around half the voting population of Middletown might actually want to be governed by more conservative policies?
I understand the value of having a more “progressive” machine in place to further our own interests as an institution, but I think some of the statements made in the press coverage, like this from the Argus:
“Everybody understands that if Wesleyan students vote, the Democrats will win,” he [Matt Lesser] said. “If students don’t vote, the Republicans win. The whole city is looking to Wesleyan.”
… I mean, how can it be true that the whole city is looking to us to vote in liberals, if the election is going to be so closely divided? The rhetoric seems a bit… uh… exaggerated sometimes, I guess.
“Wesleyan votes really matter — and could make the difference between a progressive Middletown and a conservative Middletown dominated by special interests.”Hmmmm…
“Wesleyan votes really matter — and could make the difference between a progressive Middletown and a conservative Middletown dominated by special interests.”
Hmmmm…