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My great-grandfather (and two of his children) in 1932-
first generation born here in America. |
My ancestors were Swedish peasants. They worked their land, and worked hard, and their ability to affect change in their government was laughable.
Eventually, some of them came to America, settled in Michigan, and continued to work their land. They kept a great deal of their old life about them, but one thing their new life offered them that they wholeheartedly embraced was the ability to participate in the creation of the laws and agencies that governed them. Like so many other immigrants, my people took their civic responsibility very seriously, so grateful were they for the democratic process.
Today, it is common (and often deserved) to complain about the corruption rife in our government. The workings and machinations of American politics are so convoluted and layered that one is exhausted just trying to navigate your way to the right person to speak to. Even events on a local level, like this proposed weapons compound, come with an entourage of backdoor dealings, secrecy, obscure agencies, and red tape by the mile.
However, there are bright lights along this twisted and murky path. There is a community that has come together- even during the rushed and hurried days of summer vacation- to plan, to organize, and to fight. We've seen, through the actions of Senator Guglielmo, a reminder that not all politicians have forgotten that they are there to serve the people, and not the other way around.
It's important to remember these things. It's important to stay focused and hopeful and not allow ourselves to get crushed under the weight of a state that seems hell-bent on imposing this dreadful thing on us. After all, we are not Swedish peasants suffering the whims of a monarchy. We are Americans, and we have a duty to be active participants in our government- opposing their schemes when necessary.
To that end, this website will start listing daily action plans. There are so many people to call and email, so many boards to speak to, so many meetings to attend, that it is easy to get overwhelmed and swept away into inaction. To help prevent that, there will be a concrete thing you can do every day to help keep our momentum. Come check in daily; most actions will consume no more than 15 minutes of your time, and will be little things that will have great impact if engaged in by all of us on the same day.
Generally speaking, the week will look like this:
Mondays- call in
Tuesdays- resident meeting
Wednesday- email
Thursday- tell a friend
Friday- call in/email
Each day this site will have the contact information of the person or group to be targeted. There will be a couple of suggested talking points. At some point, this becomes a numbers game, and the more of us speaking out, the more our elected officials will have to listen.
So to get things rolling, today's action plan is to send an email to the Boards of Selectmen in Tolland, Union, Stafford, Mansfield, and Ashford. As was pointed out at last night's meeting- Willington by itself is easy to ignore. But a coalition of surrounding towns, all speaking out against this weapons compound, will have more force.
Willington's Board of Selectmen has
sent an official letter of condemnation to Governor Malloy. Take a few moments and contact the BoS in the surrounding towns, and urge them to craft similar letters.
Tolland: contact the Town Hall by clicking
here
Union: email First Selectman Albert Goodhall by clicking
here
Mansfield: email Mayor Elizabeth Paterson by clicking
here
Ashford: contact the Town Hall by clicking
here
Stafford: email First Selectmen Richard Shuck by clicking
here
If you'd like to share your email, please consider posting it on the Facebook page:
Keep Willington Quiet.
