The first candidate open house was held last night at the Nazareth News Agency. I brought a camera along and got engaged in conversations and never got it out, so my apologies for that. As anyone who knows me will attest, I can talk. In a room of politicians and political hopefuls, I had plenty of company - and good company at that.
The primary reason I wanted to hold these events was that when I volunteered for political campaigns I was able to meet many candidates. I noticed then that the gut is a pretty good indicator of people. This event was designed to give people a chance to meet the people who want to lead our community. I would guess even on the local level most people don't know their elected officials. These people have significant influence and impact on our lives, from the taxes we pay to the services we receive.
To that extent I was disappointed that the public in attendance was the 'regular' cast who typically attend council and community meetings. I was hoping both for the public and politicians to meet some new people and that wasn't really the case last night.
I did have a great time and I hope the others did as well. John Maher and Peg Ferraro who are running for County office were both there and I had opportunities to speak with them. Charlie Donello, who is a first time candidate was there and we spoke a few different times including at the end with Jack Herbst, in regard to the issue of the skating park and youth in the community.
Mike Kopach and Jennie Williams were also there along with Dan Chiavaroli and Fred Daugherty. Following last minute phone calls Wednesday, Mike, Jennie and Dan all were kind enough to give me updated email addresses and again were a real pleasure to speak with regarding Nazareth.
This site obviously lends itself to criticize and complain, but the intent is to use the collective to identify AND solve problems or to improve upon what we have here in Nazareth. To that end the open house was a place where people who aren't familiar with the people or the issues could have learned more and those who do could have asked the questions they post here and actually gotten answers from the people who will be making the decisions.
Please take a moment to mark Thursday April 26 on your calendar and plan to attend the next Candidate Open House. This event will feature District Magistrate and School Board Candidates. To date all of the Magistrate candidates have noted they will attend, but only one school board candidate.
District Magistrate, as many local positions tend to be, is a position that has significant impact on the community, but is often overlooked. The school and school board is always a hot topic here, though as I noted only one person has indicated he will be attending.
Enjoy the warm weather, and make a point of taking a walk or drive into town for the next Candidate Open House on Thursday April 26, 7-9 pm (stay for a few minutes or the whole two hours) at the Nazareth News Agency.
1 comment:
Ross, This was to be expected. A candidates' night that coincides with a meeting night was bound to be trouble. Your next two meetings will be much better.
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