It was the best of times for the RTC and the worst of times for the DTC. Actually, I had hoped that there would be nothing to write about the biannual rites of political committee organization, since that part of the political sausage making process is not about policy and more like a bad B movie version of picking teams for a nice game of dodgeball. The thing is, dodgeball, is one of my favorite sports from the olden school days, and the analogy really falls apart this morning because all I can visualize is angry, angry Dems furiously throwing helium balloons at Republicans in town, and not quite understanding why the balloons just don’t go anywhere. Or let’s just start with the facts.
Okay, the Republicans have a town committee of 100 people, 20 of which come from each district. When they have too many for a district they have a reserve bench of alternates. So basically, if you are a Republican, and you want to be involved in the political party parties, you can do it. Meanwhile the Democrats have a town committee of 35, 7 of which comes from each district. You can’t be a member of the district unless you show up to a meeting 3 times, and then it is up to some rule, (put your right foot in and shake it all about) and stuff. So if you are a Democrat, and you want to be involved in the political party parties, you have to go all Indiana Jones and get past the knights of Ni.
In dodgeball, if that is indeed the analogy I’m sticking with here, having lots of people on your side is a good thing because the game is a process of whittling down to the last man standing. Hey, kind of like elections, except you burn more calories in dodgeball. So when I chatted with some Republican committee members this morning, following the brilliant Hogan’s Heroe’s parody in the Hour, I wasn’t surprised to learn that the RTC meeting went smoothly and pretty much anyone who wanted to serve on the RTC could. The Dems on the other hand, well let’s start with Colonel Klink’s quote in the Hour:
Galen Wells, Democratic Town Committee chairwoman, indicated that she is pleased with the results of Wednesday night’s caucuses.
“There have been divisions in the past, but we’ve endorsed a united town committee,” Wells said.
Ah yes Klink, the prisoners are all happy too. Except why is the lead headline, “Dems dump Bondi, Hilliard, Coffey”? Well, Seargent Schultz weighed in:
Poruban, District C Democrats chairman, said Thursday he didn’t know why Bondi wasn’t re-elected to the Democratic Town Committee.
“We didn’t talk about that” at the caucus, Poruban said. District C Democrats “came in, they voted, they left.”
I see no-thing, I hear no-thing …. yet Poruban, according to an anonymous source, managed to count the votes even though he is on the ballot, which according to the hokey pokey rules, “No candidate shall serve as teller or checker.” Seems like even old Jimmy Carter would have a problem with the fairness of this election with this, eh?
And then there’s Bill Krummel, personifying the audacity of hopelessness;
“I personally am very suspicious of bipartisanship. Presumably, you find common ground, but my own experience is there is relatively little common ground between the opposing parties,” Krummel said. “We have two parties because there is serious disagreement on major issues.”
Well, I guess that explains why Krummel’s chief contribution on council committees is to offer up the serious disagreement he has on the major issues, of property taxes (he must be for raising them), pot holes (must be for them too), flooding (nothing to see here, and hey didn’t he miss attending his own Public Works meeting last week?) which invariably brings me, like swallows to Capistrano, back to policy. Is it no wonder why the city DPW department is failing to enforce the ordinances that speak to the clean streets and sidewalks of Norwalk?
Partisan divides do exist on philosophical issues, but the meat and potatoes issues of running our city, aren’t about philosophy. They are about practicality and community. Isn’t it time to ask for a real change in local politics?
source: The Hour, Dems dump Bondi, Hilliard, Coffey, January 11, 2008
