Monday, November 7, 2011

Middletown Candidate Guide Online

It's Election Day!

Even though our local press has done a good job of reporting on elections, many people have commented that it's hard to find all of the information in one document. In response, North End Action Team has created a Middletown Candidate Guide.

It's imperfect. It was HARD to find good information on all of the candidates, and sometimes, it was too easy...or there was too much. So, we pulled something together. It's a start and we learned from this year what to do better next year.  Much of the information was sent to us by candidates, what we didn't get that way, we pulled from their websites and the newspapers/blogs.

If it helps you make more sense of the candidates, that's great. Email us with feedback for what you'd like to see next time at neat@neatmiddletown.org

Also, NEAT will have an informational table available near the North End's Voting Site at Macdonough School (Pease Avenue Entrance). If you would like to volunteer to help with NEAT's nonpartisan voter information table please call us at 860-346-4845 or email us at neat@neatmiddletown.org. We could always use more friendly faces.  Thank you to everyone who has already volunteered to help!

(As a reminder, NEAT does not endorse any candidate nor does NEAT endorse the information or opinions presented.)

6 comments:

Ridge Road Resident said...

Thanks, NEAT! I was commenting to my husband this morning that it would be great to have a ballot with hyperlinks from each candidate's name to his/her bio, as well as hyperlinks from the office to a description of the office (including such things as responsibilities, time commitment, whether it's paid/unpaid, etc.).

Anonymous said...

Wait a minute here ! Izzi I was at Common Council meetings where YOU as a NEAT representative implored the Council and the public to vote for the Chief of Police appointment, then for the referendum !!!!!!!!!!!

Which is it ? You take a stand and then not take a stand. I am ever so confused !!!!!!!!!

Newpawta said...

Sorry if this appears twice!

Thanks, Izzi!
I've been trying to find candidate info all in one place to help me make decisions as a relative newcomer. Specifically, I was interested in finding out endorsements each candidate had, but even internet searches revealed little info - perhaps there just aren't very many!
Thanks again!
Kris Hightower

Middletown Eye (Ed McKeon) said...

Great job. The linked ballot idea is one we'll have to tackle next time.

Anonymous said...

I just read the whole thing. Thank you to NEAT for summarizing this. It really helped me decide who to vote for.

Unknown said...

TO ANONYMOUS 9:23 am

Just to clarify, NEAT can not and does not endorse or represent political candidates. Last year, I did speak in favor of the appointment of the Chief when he was up for confirmation at the Council, just as I did for the previous Chief, Lynn Baldoni. Neither of those are candidates, they are confirmations of department heads.

Though I personally and professionally support citizen action in government, at no time did I (or any NEAT representative) work toward getting the citizen led referendum on the ballot, nor have I ever encouraged anyone to vote YES or NO on any referendum question. I have never spoken in favor of the referendum at any common council meeting or urged the public to vote any specific way.

I believe all citizens should vote...how you vote is your business.

As for the rest of the suggestions, we'll use them in next year's guide!