OPINION: How Will They Be Leaders If They Won't Speak in Public

Disclaimer: Aidan McMillan is a junior at Middletown High. He is the son of Ed McKeon, contributor to the Middletown Eye, and endorsed candidate on Row A for the Common Council. This piece was originally published in the Middletown Press.

A group of five classmates, along with my brother Dermot, and I, all Middletown High School MHS students, set out to create a public forum for the Middletown mayoral democratic primary candidates. It was harder than expected.

We wanted to create a discussion centered around youth and our public school system moderated by students from MHS. We hoped for a way to offer Middletown residents information about their Democratic mayoral candidates. We sent email invitations to the four candidates, Mary Bartolotta, Ben Florsheim, Bill Russo, and Geen Thazhampallath. My schoolmates Ryan, Evan, Jewel, Nora, Ani, Dermot, and I would write questions and organize the event. 

My parents support Ben Florsheim, as do parents of two others in our group. One supports Thazhampallath. The other two sets of parents are not committed.

I told my father, Ed McKeon, a Democratic Town Committee-endorsed candidate for common council, not to interfere.

All of us are leaders within our school and community and were trying to offer an opportunity for Middletown residents to hear the candidates, not to prop any up, or criticize them. We invited all four candidates by email. Florsheim and Thazhampallath responded with enthusiasm within hours. They said that they were proud and excited to participate. The other candidate, Bartolotta, and Russo did not give a response.

The next day, we called the Bartolotta and Russo campaigns but still neither responded.

Because we still hadn't received a response, we found Bartolotta at her home and handed the letter to her in her driveway. We soon received a call from the Bartolotta campaign. A campaign staffer said Bartolotta was unable to attend any of the four dates or any date or time leading up to the election. 

After three unsuccessful attempts getting a response to our invitation, we found Russo in his office and he too declined to participate in the forum.

We left our encounters with many questions: How are these candidates going to be our leaders if they won’t come out and speak in public? As mayor, conflict is inevitable. Conflict must be dealt with through discussion and resolution. We have learned to be leaders, to organize, to plan and to be on top of current events and issues. But we were stopped by people older than us, accusing us of being manipulated by other adults.

The experience has been disappointing and disheartening, as teens we were trying to be independent and take initiative. We attempted to create a positive political event. Two candidates provided positive affirmation, two ignored then disappointed us. We still want this event to be an improvement to Middletown, not another political drama. And we want it to be one where voters can consider the ideas of all four candidates.