Where are the Republicans in Easton? Are they so outnumbered that they have been depressed into stagnation? I have met a few Republicans in Easton, and they are very nice, reasonable people--nothing like the self-serving servants of corporate interests that our Republicans (and some Democrats) in Congress seem to be. The Republicans I have met in Easton are pretty passionate about wanting to cut wasteful spending by the school district and wanting to create tax incentives for the purposes of economic development and job creation. But we so rarely even have Republican choices among our candidates. Balance is important to the political health of any city, and Easton has been out of balance for a long time. As a result, we end up with city councils and school boards that are almost entirely Democratic, and most decisions seem to be made in advance behind closed doors and then rubber-stamped at public meetings, without any real debate or discussion, and regardless of public comment (this seems especially true of the school board). We also end up with a lot of Independents in Easton, who end up registering as Democrats, just so they can vote in the primaries. I have met a lot of Independents in Easton, as well as Democrats and Republicans who consider themselves to really be Independents, and they are all frustrated not to have more options with regard to candidates in our local political races. Well, local political races often start in party committees, made up of precinct captains from voting wards all over the city.
The local Democratic party got off to a rip-roaring start this year, and signed up a whole bunch of new precinct captains in previously vacant positions. Ideally, the parties are supposed to have one male and one female precinct captain from each party in each ward, that keeps in touch with registered voters' concerns, keeps an eye out for potentially good new candidates from the community, and helps get out the vote on election day. The Democrats now have almost all of their precinct captain posts filled in the West Ward. Republicans only have one precinct captain so far, but are actively recruiting.
If anyone is interested in helping to re-energize the local Republican party by volunteering to be a precinct captain, or in any other way, please contact:
John Van Arman
Chair, City of Easton Republican Committee
jhvanarman@aol.com
h 610-253-2250
c 610-248-0619
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6 comments:
Great post, Noel. One party rule is asking for trouble, no matter which party. In the LV, Rs screw things up in the burbs while Dems mess up the cities.
Hey, Bernie--thanks for posting. It is strange that our city council is almost all Dems while our county council is all Republicans, right? I haven't made it to a county meeting in while...need to do that...
I think both bodies would benefit from a mixture of Dems and Republicans, because there would likely be more discussion and debate, and decisions would be well hashed-out before being put into motion.
I think Mayor Panto is doing a pretty good job, but even he expressed to me once that he wished there were more discussion in the work meetings preceding the city council meetings--that he would put out ideas and everyone would usually just say okay, without expressing any concerns. Eventually they just canceled the Tuesday work meetings (which were open to the public) because they were pointless. I think that if there were another Republican or two on the council, there would be more debate, and that debate would be good for the Mayor, because he'd be getting the full list of pros and cons before making decisions, rather than everyone just going along for the ride. The one person on council that challenges proposals and seems to open discussion the most is Vice Mayor Elinor Warner.
Mostly, I just want to see Easton's voters have choices to make in every election. Democrats run unopposed to often in this town, and that's not good for community, because we learn from debates between opposing platforms, and it's hard to inspire voter turnout when there isn't even a choice to be made.
Congress and the Pennsylvania legislature clearly show that two-party rule is also asking for trouble. Just look around! There are good and bad elected officials in both major parties.
Instant Runoff Voting would bring a breath of fresh air to our electoral processes, but our legislators can be counted on to fight anything that reduces the hold of the duopoly.
What is Instant Runoff Voting? Sounds interesting...
I agree that the two-party system has its problems, but a one-party system has even more problems!
I think Tom Goldsmith did a bang up job screwing things up for all of us here in Easton. We're still paying for his runaway spending, coupled with his love for the traditional Republican bullshit line of "no new taxes". All it ever equals is million of dollars in debt.
Wasn't Mittman also a Republican? I'm trying to think of how many Republicans there have been in elected offices for our area lately...Ruggles on city council...Dent...Senator Mensch...who else? Oh--all of the new county council members...
Please list other Republicans that are serving or have served recently if you know them...
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