Submitted by John Kilian, Middletown Democrat.
The Eye welcomes all signed opinion pieces.
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Mary Bartolotta has distinguished herself as a public servant for our city with her tireless and selfless service. She has used her position of trust to defend people who otherwise would have been defenseless and encouraged people in the right to not give up the fight. It should not come as a surprise that she is now the target for arrows thrown her way by those who, uncontested, promise more of the same, to the detriment of a city that needs reform in its municipal government.
Her defense of the Clerk of the Common Council, who has been put under extreme pressure by those who feel unrestrained by law and common sense, is a case in point, illustrating the benefit that would be felt by people whose integrity is being challenged by the current regime. We need a break with the past. We need a woman who is not going to let other women get pressured and marginalized. As our Mayor, the needed changes, allowing employees of our city to make constructive criticisms of the status quo without feeling the threat of reprisals, would come to fruition, and in short order. This is just a small sampling of why I am supporting Mary Bartolotta for Mayor and encourage my fellow Middletown residents to do the same.
I totally agree. She worked with the American Legion 206 and 206 INC to help secure funding at the state level and in town. The grueling many times rude and disrespectful treatment she receive as a counsel woman, was witnessed by many. She handled herself with strength and courage. She will make a great mayor. A welcome departure from the old regime.
ReplyDeleteI support Mary as mayor too.
ReplyDeleteI watched Mary support American Legion Post 206 and 206 Inc. at the state level and here in Middletown. The programs they put forward are relevant to veterans and their families yet Mary was continually attacked by council members. She handled herself with courage and dignity. She will always do the “right thing”.
I'm having a very difficult time with the discriminatory facebook posts made by Mary's husband. Her husband posted truly awful things about minorities, etc.... Middletown is a diverse and thriving town, we don't tolerate racial posts, homophobic posts or any post that that beat down human beings that may not look like us. We have Donald Trump for that. Furthermore, Mary's response to these posts was rather juvenile, unassuming and accepted zero responsibility for her spouses actions. She literally blamed him. Remember Ben Carson blaming his wife for spending too much government money on office furniture? Mind you, her spouse is a police officer in Middletown. Mary claims she personally did not know what her husband was posting on the biggest social media platform. Yet, tagged as friends are many of Mary's family members and joint friends of the family.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry, I feel as though there is far more to these public disgusting actions, and "I didn't know what my husband was posting", is not an acceptable answer.
Sincerely,
Lucia Russo
I think Mary has the most experience and knowledge of all the people running for the office of Mayor. Please support her.
ReplyDeleteI don't trust that Mary will support a citizen's review board for the police department (or one that has any teeth) if she becomes mayor. She has a vested interest in protecting white supremacist cops like her husband. If elected, she would oversee the department and that's a giant red flag.
ReplyDeleteThe willingness for supposed liberals in this town to sweep inconvenient truths under the rug is very telling, and frankly, disappointing. We're supposed to be better than the other guys.
The point of the primary is to put our best foot forward in the general election. Mary Bartolotta is not our best. Hopefully her supporters will realize that.
Mary was a tremendous help to those of us pushing for a city ordinance to protect Middletown from Fracking waste. Mary was chair of the committee that reviews ordinances to see if they will be presented to the general council. I had never met her and had no contacts in city government. I simply sent her an email as a complete stranger. She put the ordinance on the agenda and worked very fairly and effectively. To my complete surprise, our ordinance moved steadily though one hurdle after another, grew stronger in revision, and was presented and approved by the council within about four months.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to the actions and beliefs of close family members I would hate to be judged by anything other than my own actions and beliefs. I extend that to others. I understand that families become subject to scrutiny in political campaigns, but I have never seen anything in Mary's own behavior that wasn't completely welcoming and supportive of everyone. I watched her hold the council together civilly and productively.
Jim Fellows
I'm happy Mary did her job as councilwoman, Jim. However, this is a primary with multiple candidates that are all capable of doing their jobs. Not all of them have ties to white supremacy.
ReplyDeleteI took exceptional issue when a community member spoke to Mary about filing a formal complaint against her husband and Mary begged him to reconsider.
Even with the credible accusations of supporting problematic cops, Mary decided to wear shoes with the Blue Lives Matter pattern at the DTC meeting last week. She dogwhistles to problematic cops that they're safe under her watch.
It's one thing to have a family member whose political beliefs are problematic--I'm sure we all have some permutation of a racist uncle or conspiracy theorist cousin. It's another when her spouse of more than two decades is an out and proud white supremacist and her response to the information when made public was, "I had no idea."
Yes, she absolutely did. If he's posted racist, sexist, xenophobic, and homophobic content for YEARS on social media, are we to believe he's never said anything at home over the course of 24 years? That does not pass the smell test.
I do not trust that Mary Bartolotta was unaware of her husband's white supremacist beliefs and I do not trust that she will support a civilian review board with the power to remove problematic cops like her husband from duty. Those are strict deal breakers for me.
Mary's character is heads and tails above the others running for mayor. If you take the time to look closely at their backgrounds, their lives, how they operate, and for a few of them, dubious integrity, you'll come to find that Mary is our best choice to clean up the mess that exists at city hall. She's honest, moral, and courageous.
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