I have been a life-long resident of Middletown and although I am not part of the political framework in town, I do consider myself an active civic participant. I always vote, read the papers and try and listen with an open mind. So, I was perplexed to hear Chris Bourne wanted to be Mayor. I am curious about her plans for our fine city and what she would do different from the current Mayor. I am hoping this letter will prompt Ms. Bourne to inform the public of her intention if she were to be elected.
I was aware that Ms. Bourne was the city’s Treasurer for many years and that she lost her party’s endorsement to run for re-election. She then stated that she was considering running for another office. And, apparently after considering her options, decided that she would run for mayor; because she always wanted to be mayor.
Ms. Bourne is running in the Democratic primary but also as an Independent in the general election. This harkens back to Senator Lieberman’s tactics where at all costs you must take care of yourself and personal gain, regardless of you party’s support. It is just messy.
Based on what I have read, I have no idea what Ms. Bourne stands for, other than herself. I understand what Dan Drew stands for and what he wants to do for our City. And, although I don’t always agree with Mayor Giuliano’s decisions, I understand his perspective. Again, I just can’t find any information about what Ms. Bourne supports or opposes.
It appears to me that Ms. Bourne really has no intention of getting elected as Mayor. She simply wants to ruin it for those with whom she feels ire; the Democratic leadership. Shouldn’t her energy be focused on separating herself from the incumbent and not her own party?
Christine O’Grady
The above letter is OPINION / COMMENTARY that was written and submitted by CHRISTINE O'GRADY and represents only the views and opinions of Ms. O'Grady.
7 comments:
Editorial note: We operate as a collective here at the Eye and we discussed Ms. O'Grady's submission prior to posting it, with two in favor of posting it and two in favor of not posting it. Ultimately, we posted it because we don't want to suppress any particular views, and we want to remain an open community forum that is available for free expression for all. We welcome all reader submissions.
The reason she is running under two parties(Dems and Independents) is because Drew will be listed twice. He will be under the Dems and the Working Families Party. It doesn't seem right that he should be listed twice on the ballot and Bourne only once. That would make it ok for her to be listed as a democrat.
A collective? I thought we were an anarcho-syndicalist commune!
I applaude the very clear dislaimer of OPINION/COMMENTARY preceeding and following the piece. Hopefully this will be done with all future OPINION/COMMENTARY pieces including Ed's.
Call me Pollyanna, but these political tactics are so convoluted so as to take all the fun out of voting for the best candidate. Could it work out that a vote for the Guiliano is actually a vote for Drew?!
From what I understand, it only takes less than 100 signatures to secure a place on the ballot for November so in theory anyone who wants to collect the signatures could run for office. Ms. Bourne did that and will have a place as an independent candidate for Mayor. She also collected enough signatures to trigger a primary in the Democratic party; in order to win that primary she needs to campaign against the endorsed candidate, in this case Dan Drew. I would seem to me that right now her focus should be on highlighting the difference between her views and plans and those of Mr. Drew. After the primary, there will be time to campaign against the other party. Considering that there has been a Democratic Majority on both the Common Council and the Board of Education for many years now, it's difficult to see exactly what would be different under Mr. Drew's leadership as Mayor that couldn't be accomplished NOW by the Democratic Majority on these boards??
Why would anyone vote for Bourne or Drew under any other party but the Dem? Isn't it still a vote for them. Any candidate that needs more than one party to run on, is not for me!
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