Introduction:
On April 10, 2012 (this coming Tuesday as of this writing), Needham, Massachusetts will go to the polls to elect 240 candidates for Town Meeting, 24 from each precinct. I am one of 23 candidates on the ballot to represent Precinct H. I have established this blog to ask any voters from Precinct H who wish to read up on me for their vote, and if elected I promise to use it as an open forum to communicate about my involvement in local government.
The Town Meeting minutes are admirable and vital documents; I've skimmed them myself to get a better sense of local issues and just what Town Meeting's business is like, but they are certainly a lengthy read. There are other valuable sources, such as the Needham Times and Needham Patch, for local information as well. But when it comes to options for being informed, more is always better.
I hope this blog can supplement the existing sources by describing what in my view were the main arguments and issues debated each day, and will leave a comments section open for two-way communication with my constituents and anyone else who wishes to weigh in. As a longtime internet user, I understand the value of anonymous and psuedonymous speech, and have engaged in it myself at times; if you don't wish to identify yourself, or if you wish to have a name here but leave your true identity unknown, I respect that right.
So why should you vote for me?
I would like to brag about my qualifications and experience, but as of yet there's little to discuss. I'm 23 years of age; perhaps the youngest candidate on the ballot and certainly far younger than most candidates for even municipal office. I'm young enough that I'm constitutionally barred based on my youth from serving in Congress, but Needham thankfully has no such restriction.. I have a Bachelor of Liberal Studies in History from Boston University, which I commuted to for two and a half years after transferring from Roger Williams University.
Web presence: Certainly, much of politics is inevitably going to be done in person, but too often, especially in a town the size of Needham, this makes it difficult for new voters and those who are simply shy and reserved to have much of a say. Needham's newspapers do what they can to inform, but newspaper as a medium is limited by space and relies inevitably not on day-to-day communication, but writers and editors as gatekeepers.
The internet is a place where anyone can log on, read, and speak their mind. And I intend to post frequently. You have the opportunity to know where I stand both ideologically, and will if elected likewise have one on what issues I have come to a decision on, and my reasoning. And if you have any issues you bring to my attention, I will make an effort to listen and advocate for you, although I don't expect to agree with people on everything.
Ideology: I consider myself a social democrat and am a registered Democrat, but issues in municipal politics do not often neatly map to broad ideological or partisan leanings. I will listen to debates on every issue, and on many I am a persuadable vote. But the following concerns are what strongly inform my politics:
Education: Needham is an affluent town, and this fact has enabled it to count its public schools as among the best in the country; I am proud of them, graduated from them, and am generally supportive of them. It can also claim a public library which is an extremely valuable tool for continuing education, both through its collection of books and the access it offers for computers. I am aware maintaining such institutions is expensive, but we get what we pay for, and I support them despite the price.
Cost of living: However, a balance must be struck. Needham is funded overwhelmingly through a flat property tax. I personally favor progressive taxation, as is used to fund the federal government, but a first-term town meeting member can not possibly overhaul the tax code. (And it could be worse; Massachusetts, like most state governments, derives most of its revenue from taxes which fall primarily on the poor.) What I can do is vote for any proposed measures which will make it easier for people to afford to live in Needham without jeopardizing the services which make Needham great.
Youth: And my arguments of cost of living apply not only to senior citizens, but to young people as well, who get far less support from the municipal government towards this end. Far too many of Needham's students leave town when they graduate high school, never to return. To be sure, not everyone likes the place they grew up, but it is also in many cases because they simply can not afford such an expensive town on the salaries they can command, and by the time they can earn enough money they are established elsewhere. I believe Needham should be more than simply a place to grow up in and then leave for good.
Freedom and Democracy: For too long all forms of socialism have been associated by many with tyranny. I am a social democrat and not that kind of socialist. I believe that if Needham bans something, there should be a good reason for it, and if adults want to use substances like alcohol or marijuana it's not the town's place to make it harder for them. I also am a firm believe in direct democracy; think if an issue is especially controversial, it should be sent to the voters as a whole, not just the people who care enough to get onto the Town Meeting ballot. And although perhaps even a whole town can't do much, I favor a constitutional amendment to overturn the Citizens United decision, so that high-level politicians do the business of the vast majority of Americans who can't afford lobbyists or large donations, and will vote for resolutions urging Massachusetts to do just that.
Although only 23 people are running for this precinct's 24 seats, so barring multiple vigorous write-in campaigns I will win election, I still hope for your vote this Tuesday. The more votes, the longer term and the more of a mandate I can claim, and I don't want to lose to a write-in candidate because I was caught napping.
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