With Election Day just around the corner, I am struck by an overwhelming feeling towards the local Middletown elections that can best be described as 'Meh'. 😕😕😕 Now anyone who knows me, knows I have a long held aversion to emojis, mostly because I am not a 9 year old girl. But, in this case they may be on to something because everything about these elections leave me with the urge to just not give a shit. (Yeah, I know I cursed, you're an adult, you'll live.) And yet, I am always the overexcited cheerleader touting the importance of voting in every election. So, I'm going to take you through my thought process on why I am so very Meh 😕😕😕 and how I plan to motivate myself this election cycle in Middletown and hopefully inspire a few of you to go from 😕😕😕 to 😍😍😍 when it comes to voting in our local elections this year. (Okay, I'm done with the emojis now, because I am dangerously close to kicking my own ass.)
This year there are 2 local races, although I use that term loosely, as there is literally no competition for the 3 Board of Education seats and the contender to unseat the Township Committee Incumbants has about as much of a chance of winning as I do for winning a Pulitzer Prize for penning this emoji-ridden blog. 😉😉😉 (Yup, I lied about being done with them).
Running uncontested for the Board of Education is John Little, Mike Donlon and Leonora Caminiti. And let me start by saying I couldn't be happier to congratulate John Little and Mike Donlan on their win and I look forward to their thoughtful insight and measured decisions for the next three years. I may not always agree with every decision they make, but I know they are made with due diligence and a deep commitment to what is best for our students and our residents. No matter who was running against them, they would always have my full support and I will be voting for them enthusiastically.
That said, there are some incredibly important decisions to be made over the next few years in the Middletown Education system. And while I am a huge proponent of Strategic Planning involvement, nothing takes the place of becoming a BOE member and making the tough decisions for our community. Middletown in on track to lose over 9 million dollars in state aid over the next 5 years, and that's excluding any capital expenditures. And that means cuts...and lots of them, in areas that could be anything from teachers and administrators to class offerings and sports expenditures. I have been around long enough to know that some areas of Middletown feel consistently underrepresented and yet, we have 3 three-year seats on the BOE running uncontested.
Believe it or not, running for BOE is ridiculously easy. You need to be a Middletown resident. You need to be able to read and write. And you need 10 signatures from registered voters who would vote for you. They can actually be your mom, dad, husband and 18 year old child. This is not hard stuff. It's too late for this year, but next year you have 3 more seats up and every single one of them is from the same small section of town. Personally, I like them enough, but we don't get honest debate and input when the election process is over before it starts.
Now for the Township Committee... Republican incumbents, Rick Hibell and Kevin Settembrino, are up for 3 year terms. The Middletown Democrats originally gave us Sean Byrnes and Jeanna Sager as their candidates, but Sean Byrnes has since withdrawn his candidacy following a hot mess of a video that surfaced starring Jeanna Sager that could feasibly be entitled 'How to Lose a Middletown Election in 90 Seconds or Less.' The Democrats swiftly withdrew their support of Ms. Sager. There's a whole diatribe to be written here on whether you think the Democrats threw in the towel too soon or should have vetted their candidate better, but for the sake of brevity, I'll just say this; I adore Sean Byrnes and think he would make an incredible Committeeperson and I also fully respect his decision to pull out of the race. He understands our town and the reaction people had to that video. He is still on the ballot, and although he has publicly withdrawn, he's still my choice.
This may be controversial, but good for Jeanna Sager for continuing her race without the Middletown Democrat's support. I am beyond mortified she thought that anything she said in that video was helpful in any way, but hey, if those are your beliefs about what would be best for Middletown, then hey, You do You boo😜😜😜… I couldn't vote for you, but that's democracy in action.
To summarize, congratulations to Rick Hibell and Kevin Settembrino on their win November 5th. It's appalling to me that we have a Township Committee that hasn't had a single dissenting vote in over 10 years, refuses to have meetings made public by videotaping or live streaming and hasn't hadn't an honest debate publicly among themselves in a decade, but apparently, complacency seem to be the norm in Middletown when it comes to government....And yet....
IT DOESNT HAVE TO BE! Stay with me here. What if we get out and vote anyway. What if we band together and send a message to the BOE and the Township Committee, as well as the Middletown Republicans and Democrats that this isn't good enough. and here's how...
I am asking all the Middletown voters to go out and vote for who YOU would like to see in office. Not based on what letter is after their name, but by who you think represents our ideals and beliefs. Vote for your favorite teacher or principal (#Olausen2019). Your neighbor who shovels the snow in your driveway and brings you soup when you're sick (#Woods2019). Your friend who started a nonprofit (#Giaimo2019). The parent who runs the PTA (#wenzel2019 😎😎😎). The senior who fights for lower taxes (#Thielle2019). The Volunteer who runs recreation basketball (#Davis2019). WRITE-IN votes are counted! They are a legitimate way to protest against complacency. And although, we will still be congratulating the incumbants, they will see the percentage of write-ins and know that we want better. We deserve better! We are better!
Oh and just one more teeny, tiny, small thing... Get off the Middletown Facebook pages with your complaints and RUN, damn it. Run as a Democrat. Run as a Republican. Run as an Independent. But if you think you can do it better, and your point of view is undervalued, Run for office. It's easier than you think and it's harder than you think. But, as someone's who has run for both offices, it's also far more rewarding than you can ever imagine. I have made friends and friendships of which I could never put a value.
I will make two promises to you from the bottom of my heart,if you choose to run in 2020 for either Board of Education or Township Committee... First, I will help you with any paperwork or advice you may need to start the process and Second, and (arguably) more importantly, I will never blog with Emojis again 😏😏😏....Please share and help Keep Middletown Informed.
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