A new year. Why not some new blood in city politics? Okay, so there’s no Type D blood but what the heck, plenty of Democratic blood has been spilled in city elections over the years. In advance of expected Democratic Town Committee primaries in March, The Greater Bridgeport Young Democrats on Wednesday night at 7 is hosting a “Know Your District” event at Milano’s Wine Bar Pizzeria, 281 Fairfield Avenue Downtown.
“The goal of this event is to bring together current district leaders, DTC members, and other community leaders with the Young Democrats to discuss the upcoming DTC elections ahead of the 1/17 filing deadline,” says Constance Vickers, president of the organization. “There are Young Democrats in every district of the city and we hope that more districts will begin to welcome new blood to their teams.”
Bridgeport’s 90-member Democratic Town Committee conducts party business, endorses candidates for public office and selects officers. Since 1992, Mario Testa has led the party for all but four years. A number of district primaries are expected that could turn over the makeup of the Democratic infrastructure. Shortly after expected March primaries, officers will be selected.
The makeup of the organization will impact Mayor Joe Ganim’s gubernatorial run and prospects for reelection to mayor in 2019.
This makes no sense. Most of the districts are run by Testa and his henchmen. Why would a group that says it’s trying to cultivate new people to the DTC want to “meet and greet” with some of the very people they would want to replace; then again their VP was a endorsed candidate in the 130th…we see how that went.
@Eric
I’m on the Trumbull DTC. We’re having our nominations meeting on Jan 10th.
All registered Ds are invited to attend and are eligible to vote by party rules.
WHY would a ‘Meet and Greet’ invite those you want to replace to be seen and heard?
Because that’s what gives people an INFORMED choice. Maybe NOT every current member of the BDTC is as horrible or corrupt as the organization is often portrayed. Maybe they are horrible and thios lets new people make an in person comparison of who could be on the DTC and who is currently on the DTC.
Most importantly, if you deny a single D access to potential voters you are as guilty of doing bad things as those you wish to oust. You can not claim the system is rigged and without choice if you deny any candidate access to the group.
We do not have endorsed Democrats for town committee in Bridgeport. All candidates are petitioning.
Young Democrats claims to be progressive and opposed to the machine, but the machine leaders ate invited to a,”meet and greet”.
Good for them, hear here! The rank and file of the DTC have been used, abused and mislead by a couple of men that play politics more for sport than any other reason. The elections will change the makeup of the committee, hopefully for the better.
Hey Lisa, remember: we gonna have an OIB party to celebrate. With or without Lennie’s participation…
Without Lennie then who our we going to make Fun of?
Kid we’ll celebrate win, lose or draw. It’s the effort that counts. To Eric’s comments; he’s right. One of the dozen took the nomination with conditions, another just accepted the nomination. That leaves about ten roaming around with no ideology, cohesiveness, or the knowledge and experience of Bridgeport politics to survive.
I’m with Lisa. The current president donated $100 to Ganim. The VP was endorsed by Danny Roach. There are many pro-charter school members. No thank you.
Derek, you appear to hold Joe and Mario to a higher standard of morality than the rank and file of the DTC. Which is more reprehensible, the person that offers gratuities for doing something you want them to do or the person that can put their moral conscience on hold for those gratuities that are being offered? What I see here is a distinction without a difference.
A moral conscience to do what is right, what is just and what is moral for the people that you represent is missing from all involved.
Don,
I don’t hold Joe & Mario, the public faces of the DTC, to any moral standard. The former is motivated by greed and avarice, the latter plays politics for sport. It’s a game for both. Altuism is not a factor.
Don, I hear you. I was probably the only one who offered my experience and knowledge to a couple of Young Dems. They didn’t have to be members of the Young Dems; that was not my motivation. I believe that we have to begin to “share” with a moral conscience what we’ve gleaned throughout the years. There are many of us who agree that we must open the political doors to those with a desire and belief in public service, to perpetuate what we tried to accomplish and maintain. The Kid is on track and so are you, my concern is the naivete of the newbies. I sense an attitude of entitlement. Unless they get that they must work their way in slowly, as we have, and be prepared to work their butts off, as we did, we’re stuck with the status quo.
So how many gatherings of Democrats in the City of Bridgeport get an invitation to “meet and greet” from other Dems, young or old? In all of the years I have been registered as a Dem with one home address, did I ever receive a note from the 130 Democrats to “meet and greet” as well as to find out how my activities might make our City better informed, stronger, and offering more hope for citizen futures? Perhaps such meetings happened in other City districts? Speak up, please, except for Maria P. in recent years, have City Dems gotten off their back room easy chair and spoken with or listened to what is happening in City places? But the differences between YOUNG DEM meetings and GENERATION NOW meetings is an attempt to engage younger citizens in objective information and rational discussion and contemplation about how City governance works, or does not. The focus by YOUNG DEMS on “WHO” rather than “WHAT, WHY, HOW and WHEN” promises more travel in the same rut we have traveled for decades. So a Democratic District with 4,000 or more registered Democrats holds a TC election every two years with no contact with Dems in that District about the election? About any subject of governance? Dead organizationally? But effective for a time? Too long a time? Time will tell.
John I respect and admire you, but I can’t figure out what the heck you just said.
Lisa,
With all respect due you for past public service and current willingness to assist with necessary change in the City, I packed a lot in:
1) Were it not for YOUNG DEMOCRATS holding a “meet and greet” tonight, would most Dems in the City give any thought to a Nominations Meeting, as our Trumbull OIB correspondent shares.
2) In high school we focused on personalities and attractiveness in elections, yes? We just got through an election where YOUNG DEMS were active, what need of another together event with focus?
3) Look at Generation Now and Young Dems and compare….most folks are 30-40 years younger in each group, and while that puts them out of high school, one groups stresses the info you missed in Civics class (and must face as a taxpayer), while the other group seems to focus on gatherings long on food and drink and short on substance.
Even Democrats get hungry for matters of substance. So wrapping up my statement above I point to 10 City districts and assume average Democrat registrations, and average turnouts for DTC elections in March. Does that help? Call me for further before the blizzard. Time will tell.
I gottch John. In my experience, and I’ll speak only for myself, district operatives and public servants once did a good job of keeping residents and voters aware of issues concerning the City. People were also informed of pending elections, not just as they occurred, but well in advance of potential ones. This practice has been abandoned by too many districts because the quality of leadership and candidates has deteriorated (by design.) Let’s not forget I put my money where my big mouth is. I didn’t need a meet and greet to know inclusion was critical. My continued message to all new, younger people is to get out to meet and greet the residents of Bridgeport. They’re not interested in fluff and speeches by predator candidates looking for votes.They should drive around neighborhoods to see for themselves what is going on. Stop and engage the average (non-political) people to hear first hand what’s on their minds. As to you, you sure as heck packed in a lot in a short time. There’s another movement in play, by March 6th we’ll know the outcome; that outcome could have a profound effect (politically) on the present. Like you I have nothing to gain but the hope of seeing a combination of older and newer, selfless men and women willing to work through the next two cold, snowy months to make their effort a reality. You’re right, “time and a lot of hard work will tell.”