Council members, Ald. Candyce Scott (D-3) and Ald. Nate Simpson (D-1) visited the Columbus Commons apartments recently to talk with residents about voting.
Scott said, “the visit was amazing,” adding,
Talking to people and educating them about the importance of voting is crucial. We need to educate and motivate people to vote during the presidential election and the municipal elections in New Britain. I have witnessed extreme hopelessness in our city where people have told me they do not vote or don’t see the point in voting because the people in charge are going to do what they want to do. As a result, meeting with residents, hearing their concerns, and also giving them an opportunity to get to know us helps to restore hope.
Scott said that she believes that building relationships with her constituents is extremely important. She said she plans to continue to do so to, “work on healing and repairing our city. People need to have a voice and need to know their voice is being heard.”
Simpson said that,
Its important to vote because there are people who write the rules whether we show up or not and when we don’t show up, we lose on the policy level.
Our votes weigh so much more in local elections because so few people show up to decide who is our Mayor, Common Council, Board of Education- everything that impacts our day-to-day activities. When we vote in local elections, were voting for people who understand our city better than any president could, yet New Britain sees well over twice the voter turnout for presidents than we do for mayors.
The theme for this event was why its important to vote, but we got so much more accomplished. New faces came to this event and galvanized their neighbors to not only register to vote, but they were fully engaged with their peers in ways that could never happen without our elected officials being ingrained in their communities.
We heard similar stories from residents at Columbus Commons that we hear in the Common Council chambers: rising rents, unaccountable public safety, flooding issues, among other obstacles to having a safe and connected city.
This event was another signal to me that times don’t change by themselves- but rather that we change them. Up until recently, people have been satisfied with being in their own bubble. Now that they’re understanding they aren’t alone in the obstacles they face, they’re realizing their issues are collective, and that the remedies to them can be too.
The Council members said that the theme for event was the importance of voting, but added that much more was accomplished.
Columbus Commons resident Allen Hoard said the event, “was informative and everyone attended wants more! So, please come back very soon!”
