Real Hartford

State Senate: First District Primary

On Tuesday August 12th, Hartford and Wethersfield registered Democrats will get to select between Ed Vargas and John Fonfara (incumbent) in a primary. I’ve been a little allergic to politics lately (but I’m getting over it), and have not been paying much attention to either candidate. Yesterday, I received a very polite phone call from the Fonfara campaign. The woman on the phone was enthusiastic and informed, which did not influence my decision, but was a nice change from the usual campaign calls from jaded and tired-sounding volunteers.

How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part One

The Syracuse Cultural Workers created a poster which I’m sure many readers have seen before, but which I feel compelled to discuss regardless. The items in bold are on their list of ways to build community, and my comments are in a regular font.

Think of no one as “them”: Creating categories based on difference allows individuals to more easily justify the unjustifiable, to excuse the inexcusable. The result? When some kind of crime or wrongdoing occurs in an certain area or to a person who belongs to a different group (race, class, sexuality, ability, gender, religion, political affiliation, you name it…), it is not thought of as something that might concern all in society. Thus, it’s remains to be addressed in a productive way. The “answer” goes something like this: “avoid Hartford,” “bulldoze it and start over,” “more prisons,” “send criminals/undesirables to Springfield.” Those sentiments are not productive by any stretch of the imagination.

Don’t confuse your comfort with your safety: In my walks to work, I have felt discomfort. In my old neighborhood, I would pass a homeless shelter and park where people who were basically up to no good, or had no other place to go, would congregate. Even with the verbal street harassment which made the trip sometimes irritating, I never felt unsafe. Continue reading How to Build Community (Against All Odds): Part One…

Testing the Accuracy of Voting Machines

If there is anyone else from Hartford who voted for Kucinich, please comment or contact me privately. The Courant is reporting only ONE person in all of Hartford voted for him, and while that could be the case, I sort of doubt it. There are towns of only about 10,000 people recorded as having 7 or 8 people vote for him, so I’m a little suspicious about the single voter in Hartford stat.

Yes, I voted for Kucinich. That was my original plan, and I figured that since it is my vote, I can use it to show preference for a candidate who isn’t even running anymore, than for others who don’t align with my politics completely. Gravel was a very close second for me.

Yesterday, I was thrilled to hear my students at Capital Community College talking about the election without any prompting from instructors or tutors. Of course, these students range from 18-65+, and most are actually my age and older…so a little life experience might be responsible for their interest. The college was buzzing about Obama–his visit and him. Last night some people I spoke with outside of work were expecting Clinton to win CT, but judging from the complete adoration I had been hearing about Obama, I was very skeptical.

Super Tuesday

Since Kucinich dropped out, I’ve had to change my candidate for Tuesday’s primary. Here is info on some of the candidates. And yeah, I didn’t ask them myself, so it’s been grabbed from various places on the internets.

Mike Gravel: A New Englander by birth, an Alaskan by choice, Mike Gravel is a Unitarian who was educated at Columbia University. Essentially, he fits both my idea of a good candidate and an interesting romantic partner (except for a few small details, like that he is older than my parents, but I digress). He believes that abortion should always be legal, the death penalty should not be permitted for federal crimes, and that small amounts of marijuana should be legal. He vows to get rid of No Child Left Behind, the set of testing requirements that has so many public school teachers pulling their hair out. Gravel would raise the minimum wage and adopt a universal health care program. He promises to withdraw all troops from Iraq within 120 days of taking office. Gays would be protected in federal anti-discrimination laws and he would allow same-sex marriage. The icing on the cake is that he strongly supports impeachment of Bush and Cheney. He has also been noted as saying:

This country – and this world – needs more love. Love trumps morality, morality trumps politics.

Awww!
Continue reading Super Tuesday…

Election Accountability

Connecticut citizens can volunteer to be part of an audit for the new voting machines. You can’t participate in an audit for the town in which you vote, but you can decide how far you’d be willing to travel and on what days you’d be able to help. This will be going on from November 21-26th. For more info, or to sign up online, check out the website.

Mayor Perez Already has a Challenger

Progressive Republican candidate J. Stan McCauley has already announced his 2011 campaign for mayor. If Perez knows anything about math and patterns (his approval rating has dropped enormously, from around 75% to 49% at the polls) he would do best to stay out of it next time around. Anyone know if the mayor’s office has time or term limits?

How Much Do I Hate Those Glossy Postcards?

Enough, apparently, to dream about telling an unnamed politician to not send them out because they are such a waste of resources.

So, today is election day, which for me means not having to wait in line to cast my votes. Just an idea, but free coupons for coffee might entice more people to exercise their voting rights. A nice, steaming cup of gourmet coffee may seem like a piss poor reason to vote, but since we know that candidates run for office many times for reasons other than wanting to better the city/state/nation, a “coffee for votes” initiative would be the least corrupt thing going on.

Word on the Street

…well, actually, word from the bar is that Hartford voters are going to be flipping a coin when it comes to filling in the bubble sheets on Tuesday. Given this new method of voting, I think that the smart candidate is the one who opts to be on line C, since we all know that C is the best answer on multiple choice tests, and really, is voting nothing more than one big test– test of our patience, courage, faith, and nerves?

What I am hearing is that people are not happy with Perez. He’s under investigation, and for what it’s worth, is a little to stubborn for the liking of many. Continue reading Word on the Street…

Capital Student Mayoral Debate and City Council Forum

Students from Capital Community College will be hosting and moderating what is being called “a debate among the major candidates for Mayor of the city of Hartford, to be followed by a forum for candidates for city council.” I’m curious as to who is defining “major” candidates.

The event is from noon until 2:30pm on Tuesday in Centinel Hill Hall. It’s downtown, so parking is only, like, everywhere. The Morgan Street Garage is cheap, and you’d probably be able to get your ticket validated because you attended a CCC function.

Final Mayoral Candidates’ Forum

Tonight from 6-7:30 candidates will gather one last time at the main branch of the Hartford Public Library to entertain questions.

I will not be able to cover this as I have an ongoing Tuesday night commitment, but here is what will probably go down:

Continue reading Final Mayoral Candidates’ Forum…