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| Student involvement low
in Middletown elections By Alana Sisson Contributing Writer Brightly colored political signs reading “Re-elect Mayor Thornton - Councilman Streeto – Vote Democratic” or “Buddy Sbona – Treasurer-10A – Trusted, Tried, True” have dotted neighborhoods surrounding the University in the past few weeks. In past years, some University students with an interest in local politics would have been partially responsible for the campaigns driving this sign explosion in late October, but that has not been the case this year. Today, Tuesday, Nov. 6th, Middletown residents will cast their votes to elect the Mayor, 12 members to the Common Council, the Treasurer, four members to the Board of Education, two members to the Board of Assessment Appeals and three members to the Planning and Zoning Commission. Residents will also vote on questions concerning various funding issues for sewer overflow management and road repairs. Student involvement in Tuesday’s local election has been minimal, reflecting a trend in the last few years, according to campaign officials. “The University’s Democratic faction used to contact the Democratic headquarters early in the fall, but that that hasn’t happened this year,” said Deborah Moore, Mayor Domenique Thornton’s campaign manager. These students, she noted, typically performed services in the past such as assisting with various campaign mailings. The political groups on campus also used to provide a debate forum for the Mayoral candidates. According to Paul Kim ’02, head of the Wesleyan Republicans, the Wesleyan Republicans did try to organize such a debate a couple of years ago, but he said that the speakers withdrew at the last minute. The group, which has been largely inactive this year, was not involved in local election campaigns. Although the Wesleyan Democrats group met on Sunday with Planning and Zoning Commission candidate John Voli, the head of the group, Liz King ’03, agreed that there isn’t a strong or organized relationship with the town during local elections. “It is true that we [Wesleyan Democrats] haven’t really been involved with city campaigns yet, but hopefully that is going to change,” said King. “It’s difficult because of the lack of communication in both directions, again, something we should do differently.” Local campaign officials and candidates cited several reasons for the recent student disinterest, including fewer student leaders interested in city politics and the graduation of one particular student leader a few years ago. “When the involved senior leaders of the political groups graduate, there doesn’t seem to be any underclassmen ready to step in and keep the lines of communication with us open and the group organized,” said John Robinson, Chair of the Democratic Town Committee and a Councilman up for reelection. The local politicians are also quick to point the finger at themselves. Robinson said the local Democratic Party did not campaign as actively on campus as they perhaps should have and also did not initiate voter registration drives. Both students and candidates agree that it is difficult to get college students engaged in the local politics of a town in which they did not grow up. “They [Wesleyan students] don’t have deep roots here and, therefore, don’t feel as strongly about the issues,” said James Streeto, a Councilman up for reelection. “The issues in local elections also tend to be ones that college students just don’t care that much about.” “I don’t really care about the local election because I don’t consider myself a Middletown resident; I’d rather vote by absentee ballot in my own town,” said Daniel Yeomen ’04. As a rule, University undergraduates have been much more active in the state and federal campaigns. For example, King said that the Wesleyan Democrats worked for Sam Gejdenson’s campaign for the 2nd Congressional District last year and have already endorsed Gary Collins for that race next year. The local candidates are well aware of the level of student interest when devising campaign strategies and making decisions about who to target. “It is a double-edged sword about whether to go up [to Wesleyan] and campaign because you [students] are definitely large enough to swing an election for us but you’re only here for four years and we’ll lose all those votes when you graduate,” said Corinne Gill, co-chair of running the Republican headquarters. The parties have nothing to lose by campaigning on campus since fewer than 100 students voted in the last municipal election, according to Streeto. He added that the presence of local politicians on campus would only increase voter turnout and bring a new awareness of the issues, especially those relevant to students. Although issues like road repairs aren’t likely to generate much interest among students, Streeto conceded, matters of redevelopment, riverfront recapture and education directly impact the undergraduate population. He said that redevelopment has helped transform Middletown in the last several years. He continued to note that students have benefited from such new additions as the movie theater and a number of new restaurants, including the First and Last Tavern, which have been achieved under the redevelopment initiative The deadline for registering to vote in these elections was October 23rd. The local candidates in this week’s election encouraged registered students to vote not only because the issues affect them, but also because they deem it “good citizenship.” The Wesleyan Democrats agree. On Monday, the group sent out a bulletin broadcast and a campus-wide email encouraging registered students to vote. Local politicians said that they welcome a renewed student interest in the local campaigns. “It benefits everyone when Wesleyan students turn out to vote,” Moore said.
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