The Federal Hill Association will host candidate forums in the first floor City Council chambers for City Council and mayoral candidates during the first week of October.
The schedule calls for District 2 council candidates to answer questions from 6 to 7:45 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 1. District 3 council candidates will follow from 8 to 9:45 p.m.
The council candidates for District 1 are slated to field questions from 6 to 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 3.
The mayoral candidates will wrap things up from 8 to 9:45 p.m. on Oct. 3rd.
Statement from the Federal Hill Association about the forums:
In the interest of serving our members as well as all the citizens of Bristol, the Bristol Federal Hill Association (BFHA) has organized public forums for candidates to the Bristol City Council and Mayor’s office. Every effort is made to assure all candidates can participate if they so desire.
The forums consist of two parts. The first section is dedicated to the candidate’s response to several issues presented to them before the forum. These topics are determined by a committee of BFHA members and generally focus on city wide issues relevant to most voters. The second section is dedicated to candidates’ response to questions offered by members of the general public who choose to attend the forum. These questions are written on cards and presented to the candidates by the forum moderators. Because it is a forum on issues, similar questions are summarized by the moderators and those that they deem are not relevant to a public forum are omitted. The moderators are neutral, and their function is to assure each candidate adheres to time limits on their responses and that the forum remains focused on the issues presented.
The BFHA is a community organization, and has never endorsed a political candidate. Our purpose in conducting the forums is to hear what the candidates have to say on issues relevant to the BFHA and its members and the city as a whole. We believe it is an extraordinarily valuable means for all Bristol voters to better understand the candidates’ positions and ideas. The emphasis is on challenging all the candidates and compelling each to help educate the voters about them. It is an attempt to help city voters make informed choices. We make every effort to assure these forums are apolitical, and that they are fair to each candidate to the degree possible regarding scheduling, time to prepare answers to the issues presented before the forum and time to present their positions and ideas at the forum.
We strongly believe there is a need and a benefit to these forums, and anticipate organizing them again for this year’s general election. We hope all the candidates will feel compelled to participate, and will do all we can in the coming weeks to schedule a date that is suitable for each of them. We also hope that as many voters who can will attend the forums to help emphasize to the candidates they are an important means of expressing the merits of their candidacy. We are currently working toward coordinating dates for forums in October, and will publicize them as soon as they are confirmed.
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Copyright 2007. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
47 comments:
The Federal Hill forums are important. Federal Hill is one of the central region of Bristol. It is a classic, attractive, historical section of the city albeit it has a few problem areas. It is important for people to realize that if Federal Hill goes, the rest of Bristol will follow. People all over the city need to at be conscious of the fact that we need to fight blight and crime in this area.
Federal Hill has undergone a renaissance over the past few years to a greater extent than it has in the past. The neighborhoods are growing more and more palatable to young couples, middle-class and upper-middle income people. We need to keep this trend going. A vivacious Federal Hill area is a victory for the people of Bristol.
I would hope that the forum will mirror the concerns of the residents of the area for the reasons I stated. I would also hope that these forums will not reflect any one or a few people's special interests.
The predetermined questions given to ALL candidates cover the following areas: Economic Developement,Downtown Revitalization and the School System.
P.S.Thanks for the promotion Steve.
Will it be televised?
The forums on both evenings will be taped.Those tapes will be delivered to Nutmeg TV for airing at a date/time TBA.
BFHA is simply trying to give ALL the candidates an oppurtunity to be seen and heard by the voters.It will be the ONLY oppurtunity for the City Council candidates(as of right now) to voice their opinions on those issues of importance to the voters and to Bristols' future as a whole.BFHA has never,and never will,endorse any candidate.We are NOT a political organization,but a civic group just trying to provide what we see as an important service to the voters.Individual members are certainly free to exercise their constitutional rights and support any candidate they choose.As an Association we strive to remain apolitical.The format of the forums was chosen SPECIFICALLY to keep the "playing field level" for ALL candidates.After the last two election forums the relative new comers could not thank us enough for the oppurtunity to be seen/heard.All the candidates gave us high marks for keeping the proceedings "neutral" at all times.BFHA will be conducting THESE Forums in the exact same way.
Not to be disrespectful in any way, butI am also a little confused. Is the debate or forum about just Federal Hill issues or is it sponsored by the Fed Hill Asso. but is about all issues facing the entire city of Bristol? Personally, I would like a little more attention to be paid to the West End, South Mountain, Forestville, etc. I think people are pretty Federal Hilled out.
Why Us VS Them?
It was pleasant to see some thoughtful comments from AC regarding the Candidate Forums. His post on 9/17 described wonderfully how a "renaissance" in one part of the city was actually a "victory" for the ENTIRE city. Although he referenced Federal Hill in particular, the same can or hopefully WILL be said for other areas, such as the West End, Riverside Avenue, the southwest area development, North Main Street, the areas surrounding the Route 72 extension and, hopefully, down town. And these are simply some of the more prominent areas at this point in time. IMPROVEMENT in ANY part of the city is generally to the benefit of the city as a whole.
AC also alluded to a concern about "a few people's special interests" in his 9/17 posting and clarified his misgivings in his 9/18 post, explaining he was reluctant to be "too involved" in the Bristol Federal Hill Association (BFHA) "because of apparent partisanship regarding local politics" and the fact that he was "told" that Tim Gamache, the current President of the BFHA, is "a member of the Ward campaign committee."
I found AC's messages to be rather conflicting, and I also feel they mirror the perceptions of many as countless entries in this Blog would indicate. The overall mood presented on this site appears to be one of recognition that there is a great deal that needs to be done to improve this city and that there is sincere passion to try and find the right people to elect to help accomplish these things. There is an interest in getting things right so that the issues before us might be looked back on as successes, much as AC has described Federal Hill to be.
But there is also a pervasive and dank reality reflected in AC's conflicting messages,in the postings on this site and in the manner in which some of the campaigns have been unfolding, which I can only describe as an "us vs them" obsession.It seems to be deeply rooted and quite destructive.
The reason, at least in my opinion, that there has been a "renaissance" of sorts on Federal Hill is primarily the result of tremendous investments in time, money and effort by it's businesses and residents. The BFHA was developed by Federal Hill residents to create a more compelling voice for the area in dealing with issues specific to Federal Hill as well as the city as a whole, in addition to advocating for and creating improvements that are more readily accomplished by a group than individuals. A great deal has been accomplished by the BFHA, but it has never been due to the endorsement of any elected official. In reality, the BFHA has made many candidates who have been elected more than a bit disgruntled by it's advocacy and requests. It is an Association that takes pride in having helped accomplish things in conjunction with City Hall and the State regardless the composition of either politically. I would describe it as an equal opportunity pain in the posterior for any City elected official, department head or employee when there is an issue it's members concur needs to be addressed. But it is well appreciated by the members of the BFHA that we must work WITH the City and State government and departments to accomplish anything.
The attitude that one candidate has to be elected vs another or this issue has to be addresses vs that or the outcome of a particular issue must be one way and not the other is terribly destructive and generally leads to little being accomplished at all. Yet Bristol and it's politics seem to be mired very deeply in a morass characterized by just such an adversarial countenance, among many of its' politicians as well as its' citizens. There really has to be an end to this at some point, and hopefully soon.
If AC is reluctant to participate in the BFHA because of a perceived political bent, he's missing out on an opportunity to help make his neighborhood and the City better. If any of us retreat from active participation in City affairs because our candidate or party isn't "in control", we contribute to the stagnation of the City and the neglect of its' needs. If people allow themselves to swallow the venom that if "they" are in control nothing good can come of it, nothing likely will.
Try not to despise one another so. Participate in the process of electing your representatives as fervently as you can, but remain focused on the fact that the issues remain the same even though the characters dealing with them for "us" may change and possibly not be to your liking. Continue to let them know what it is you think and want to see done and don't assume they're disinterested in doing anything you might advocate because they are one of "them". Each of these candidates is one of "us", and wouldn't be putting themselves through all this nonsense if they weren't and had only their own self interests in mind. Unless of course they are genuinely crazy...
Tim Gamache made a very difficult decision to support Art Ward in the Mayoral race. He has a great deal of respect for Ellen Zoppo and what she has accomplished, but he feels Mr. Ward will provide greater benefit to the City as Mayor. I, although generally a political outsider, supported Ms. Zoppo as best I could in the primary race. I felt and still do that her drive and expertise are critically needed by this City. Since more of the people who chose to choose a Democratic candidate concurred with Tim, Ms. Zoppo lost the primary. But neither Ellen Zoppo nor I lost everything and plan to sulk and/or be derisive for two years. There is a great deal to be done. I am part of the committee, along with Tim Gamache, Don Muller and Kevin Prior of the BFHA who helped formulate the questions, schedule and coordinate the upcoming Candidate Forums. We all want to know what they have to say about the issues, and the horses in the race are secondary to the issues.I do very little in comparison to Tim and many others regarding the efforts and accomplishments of the BFHA, and I am very thankful for all the Association has done. I am also very proud that it has kept politics out of the mission and remained consistent that it is about "all of us", Federal Hill and the City of Bristol, and not "us vs them", whichever way you position the opinions.
I surely hope that other organizations and groups as well as most citizens will choose to emulate the BFHA in this regard. That to me could be the most significant result of this election year and will likely be the most compelling reason why whoever is elected will be successful in fostering a "renaissance", as AC so eloquently penned, throughout Bristol.
John Cullen
First things first. Kudos to Tim and the BFHA for holding the forum and for not charging an entry fee. To the Republicans worried about the "non-partisan" nature of the forum, I'd suggest you worry more about your candidates getting the word out. This forum is a great opportunity. I (along with many fellow Democrats that sat on our hands during the primary) am looking very closely at Ken Johnson and some of his team. Party loyalty is not going to cut it this time. I like Art Ward and I respect his service to this country and to this city for many years. But after 14 years I don't see a true vision or a passion to make very real change. Ellen Zoppo had the passion but she lacked both the charisma and communication skills to draw people in. So I believe that Ken has a good chance to build a new direction and create a far different future. That said, we Democrats who are done with blind party loyalty, along with the majority of voters in Bristol who are independent need to hear Ken and team's whole plan. No nonsense, no misdirection, not fancy slogans, just a straight-forward plan for this city. If they can present that vision with real substance then they have a chance at our votes. If not, then we will have no other choice than to settle for what is at the least an experienced political leader.
No more posts on this thread. please tell me, though, if I accidentally left an offensive comment on this thread that should be removed.
This one just got way out of hand.
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