Ok, I left you all in suspense last night, and I need to be honest that it was in large part due to fatigue.
In large part, the people i've talked to in Merrimack and throughout the state have had a different fatigue, and that is probably the biggest factor in what I have seen as the biggest issue our state and indeed, our country faces this fall.
It isn't healthcare, it isn't Iraq, it isn't the economy or gas prices, it isn't education or the environment or taxes or immigration or for that matter, any other thing we'd probably truly classify as an issue.
In reality, the biggest issue I see is that people might care about these or other issues, but they feel powerless to do anything about it, or they've stopped caring altogether due to the grinding and seemingly unjust nature of "the system". Here in Merrimack, it's a lack of faith that we can ever achieve a fair and equitable turnpike system.
Before we solve any of the numerous problems our state and our country face, we first must address the the lack of faith, the lack of hope many of us feel towards the world beyond ourselves.
We must say to all people throughout our state and throughout our nation from all walks of life, from all ideological backgrounds, that they if work hard, and respect and do not harm others, they can have a chance to achieve whatever they dream, and we must say this not just with empty rhetoric, but with a tangible framework to facilitate their efforts rather than an all encompassing and strangling bureaucracy or an outsourced and soulless network that only helps a privileged few.
Because what we've lost as a nation and as a state doesn't belong to just one side of the political spectrum, it's larger than that. What we've lost is the hope of the American Dream, the unassailable belief that anything is within anyone's reach if they are just willing to grasp it, and we can reattain this if we choose to do so by working with each other rationally towards concrete solutions to the problems we face rather than engaging in endless dogmatic rancor like we have seen in the past.
I believe we can do this, but I am only human. At times I will falter, and I will ask you all to help me when I stumble towards this goal. And in return, if I am able, I will help you when you falter as well.
In the end, none of us can regain the hope we once had as a nation alone, but I am certain we will regain it if we keep on moving forward.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
97 Days: What Is The Important Issue To Voters This Year?
Never mind the polling, if you'd all like to know what truly is the biggest issue on the minds of voters, the best way to find out is to get out there and ask them yourselves.
This can be done pretty much anywhere in New Hampshire where there are people who are stationary and not engaging in a particular activity at that moment.
You can go to Market Square in Portsmouth, Railroad Square in Keene, Eagle Square in Concord. You can go to Mine Falls Park in Nashua, Victory Park in Manchester, or Androscoggin Wayside Park in Errol.
No matter where you go in New Hampshire, you're going to get the same results for the most part when it comes to the biggest issue on the minds of voters, and this goes for Merrimack too.
However, if you'd like to know what i've found in all those places, you'll have to read tomorrow's article! Until then my friends, it's 97 days and counting...
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
98 Days To Go: Signs and Rumors
Rumors are funny things.
You ignore them, and they'll grow and possibly cause problems with those who can't feel bothered to verify what they hear before they accept it as truth. You take them too seriously, and then people will accept them as truth irregardless of their veracity. Either way, i've found that you can't let them rule your actions under any circumstances or it'll just drive you mad.
So, I was a little stunned a few weeks ago when I had heard I was breaking the law in regards to lawn signs.
Before 2004, RSA 664:17, New Hampshire's state law on lawn signs, said that you couldn't put them out before the last Friday in July. In 2004, that law was challenged in court, the court found that telling people that they couldn't put up signs before a certain date was unconstitutional, and then in 2006 the legislature passed HB 349, a bill that removed the the last Friday in July provision from RSA 664:17.
So now you can put up lawn signs at any time, provided they are on state owned rights of way or private property. Here in Merrimack, the zoning ordinance regarding signs on town owned rights of way isn't enforced, so it's a judgment call for the most part on where to put signs.
The rumor about me breaking this law that had been repealed a few years ago probably wasn't a big deal in the first place, but I figured it was a big enough of a deal to mention and clarify.
Not sure otherwise about the rumor though, so far i'm the only candidate in Merrimack who has any signs up other than two candidates for Registrar of Deeds.
You ignore them, and they'll grow and possibly cause problems with those who can't feel bothered to verify what they hear before they accept it as truth. You take them too seriously, and then people will accept them as truth irregardless of their veracity. Either way, i've found that you can't let them rule your actions under any circumstances or it'll just drive you mad.
So, I was a little stunned a few weeks ago when I had heard I was breaking the law in regards to lawn signs.
Before 2004, RSA 664:17, New Hampshire's state law on lawn signs, said that you couldn't put them out before the last Friday in July. In 2004, that law was challenged in court, the court found that telling people that they couldn't put up signs before a certain date was unconstitutional, and then in 2006 the legislature passed HB 349, a bill that removed the the last Friday in July provision from RSA 664:17.
So now you can put up lawn signs at any time, provided they are on state owned rights of way or private property. Here in Merrimack, the zoning ordinance regarding signs on town owned rights of way isn't enforced, so it's a judgment call for the most part on where to put signs.
The rumor about me breaking this law that had been repealed a few years ago probably wasn't a big deal in the first place, but I figured it was a big enough of a deal to mention and clarify.
Not sure otherwise about the rumor though, so far i'm the only candidate in Merrimack who has any signs up other than two candidates for Registrar of Deeds.
Monday, July 28, 2008
99 Days To Go: Education And Spaghetti Sauce
The other day I was walking a neighborhood in the central part of town, better known as Souhegan Village, when I met a voter who brought me an interesting question.
She talked about two of her sons, one in private school, the other in public school. The one private school was older, she thought she would be able to put both of them in private school, but it turned out not to be the case, and she didn't want to separate the older child from his friends he had made and she could afford to send one of the two kids to private schools.
She wondered why the two children received such different educations despite going to schools only a few miles apart from each other. The private school child received much more emphasis on a core curriculum while the public school child in her eyes was not being challenged.
She also said the private school staff were being paid far less and received fewer extraneous assistance in teaching, yet the results she was seeing from the private school were greater than those she was getting from the public school child, who was getting far less homework.
I can't affirm or oppose her assertions in regards to the private school she mentioned, and while I was on the School Board Budget Committee last year, I have to admit that our job seemed to be one of oversight rather than real hands on fiscal policy in the school district, due in large part to the excellent job the School Board did before we convened shortly before the Deliberative Session in the spring.
However, when I was going over those budgets, it was difficult to discern what the value of each line item was, due in large part because there were so many.
This was part of why the woman I talked to wanted to see our town's school budget cut. "When I go to the supermarket, I see so many brands of pasta sauce now that I can't tell them apart, I get overwhelmed" she said. "So in the end, I just look for the price, and find the cheapest one."
I believe a government budget is no different than that woman's dilemma with the spaghetti sauce as well as how she viewed the educations of her two sons.
If the choices that need to be made within a budget are overwhelming and it isn't clear what value one would get from spending on a certain item, it's understandable that people would go into a default mode and make a decision on the clearest value you're going to see on just about any spreadsheet: price.
However, with her kids, she saw more than just price. She saw something that may well be intangible in terms of her childrens' education, but is never the less just as valuable as the money spent on it, if not more so.
It appeared that she agreed with my belief on budgets that any dogma of an extreme, whether it be cutting everything or spending indiscriminately without understanding of the cost, wasn't a particularly good idea.
We had a good discussion, and even though she didn't say specifically that she'd vote for me, she offered me a Fresca since it was a hot day, so i'm guessing i've gotten her vote.
And to top it off, I was actually aiming to talk to someone else in her house that wasn't home....
She talked about two of her sons, one in private school, the other in public school. The one private school was older, she thought she would be able to put both of them in private school, but it turned out not to be the case, and she didn't want to separate the older child from his friends he had made and she could afford to send one of the two kids to private schools.
She wondered why the two children received such different educations despite going to schools only a few miles apart from each other. The private school child received much more emphasis on a core curriculum while the public school child in her eyes was not being challenged.
She also said the private school staff were being paid far less and received fewer extraneous assistance in teaching, yet the results she was seeing from the private school were greater than those she was getting from the public school child, who was getting far less homework.
I can't affirm or oppose her assertions in regards to the private school she mentioned, and while I was on the School Board Budget Committee last year, I have to admit that our job seemed to be one of oversight rather than real hands on fiscal policy in the school district, due in large part to the excellent job the School Board did before we convened shortly before the Deliberative Session in the spring.
However, when I was going over those budgets, it was difficult to discern what the value of each line item was, due in large part because there were so many.
This was part of why the woman I talked to wanted to see our town's school budget cut. "When I go to the supermarket, I see so many brands of pasta sauce now that I can't tell them apart, I get overwhelmed" she said. "So in the end, I just look for the price, and find the cheapest one."
I believe a government budget is no different than that woman's dilemma with the spaghetti sauce as well as how she viewed the educations of her two sons.
If the choices that need to be made within a budget are overwhelming and it isn't clear what value one would get from spending on a certain item, it's understandable that people would go into a default mode and make a decision on the clearest value you're going to see on just about any spreadsheet: price.
However, with her kids, she saw more than just price. She saw something that may well be intangible in terms of her childrens' education, but is never the less just as valuable as the money spent on it, if not more so.
It appeared that she agreed with my belief on budgets that any dogma of an extreme, whether it be cutting everything or spending indiscriminately without understanding of the cost, wasn't a particularly good idea.
We had a good discussion, and even though she didn't say specifically that she'd vote for me, she offered me a Fresca since it was a hot day, so i'm guessing i've gotten her vote.
And to top it off, I was actually aiming to talk to someone else in her house that wasn't home....
Saturday, July 26, 2008
100 Days, 100 Articles
July 26th marked 100 days left until the 2008 Election.
For us here in New Hampshire, we've already had a long journey towards this election due to our status with the First in the Nation Primary, but today is a milestone towards the beginning of the end.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Andrew Sylvia. I am a candidate for State Representative in the district of Hillsborough 19, which consists of my hometown: Merrimack.
Over the next 100 days, I aim to write 100 articles about the stories I see on the campaign trail here at the bottom of the ticket. I will try to focus most of the stories here on Merrimack, particularly the stories of the average voter on the street.
I may write more than 100 articles, I may write less than 100 articles, I may write controversial statements, I may write stories you find dull, I may write partisan propaganda or post-partisan drivel, I may write about just about anything, but I will write and I will show you what I see because that is part of who I am, and who I will be if I am to be elected as a State Legislator.
There are only two things I can promise in these campaign journals.
Other than the only things I can normally promise, I will not use any names unless in praise of someone, if the person is already a public figure and it's necessary to advance the narrative, or i've been explicitly asked to by the person themselves.
I also won't share anything that people have asked me to keep confidential that isn't unethical. I'm sure it will take alot up in Concord to build enough trust with other legislators to get the votes I'll need to pass the legislation my constituents will want, and it's hard to build trust when you're blabbing about what everyone else is saying and doing as I have found out the hard way.
I look forward to sharing this journey towards election day with all of you.
For us here in New Hampshire, we've already had a long journey towards this election due to our status with the First in the Nation Primary, but today is a milestone towards the beginning of the end.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Andrew Sylvia. I am a candidate for State Representative in the district of Hillsborough 19, which consists of my hometown: Merrimack.
Over the next 100 days, I aim to write 100 articles about the stories I see on the campaign trail here at the bottom of the ticket. I will try to focus most of the stories here on Merrimack, particularly the stories of the average voter on the street.
I may write more than 100 articles, I may write less than 100 articles, I may write controversial statements, I may write stories you find dull, I may write partisan propaganda or post-partisan drivel, I may write about just about anything, but I will write and I will show you what I see because that is part of who I am, and who I will be if I am to be elected as a State Legislator.
There are only two things I can promise in these campaign journals.
Other than the only things I can normally promise, I will not use any names unless in praise of someone, if the person is already a public figure and it's necessary to advance the narrative, or i've been explicitly asked to by the person themselves.
I also won't share anything that people have asked me to keep confidential that isn't unethical. I'm sure it will take alot up in Concord to build enough trust with other legislators to get the votes I'll need to pass the legislation my constituents will want, and it's hard to build trust when you're blabbing about what everyone else is saying and doing as I have found out the hard way.
I look forward to sharing this journey towards election day with all of you.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Nashua Region Young Dems BBQ Kick-Off
Come join Congressman Paul Hodes and local Democrats for the BBQ event of the summer! There will be burgers & hot dogs, soft drinks, speakers, and music!
The BBQ is free of charge.
(Donations of $10 or more will be accepted at the event.)
You are welcome to invite your friends.
When: Saturday, August 9, 2008
Where: The home of Krishna and Latha Mangipudi
Address: 20 Salmon Brook Drive, Nashua, NH
Time: 12-330pm
If you have any questions, please e-mail: RFuentes@NHYoungDemocrats.Org
The BBQ is free of charge.
(Donations of $10 or more will be accepted at the event.)
You are welcome to invite your friends.
When: Saturday, August 9, 2008
Where: The home of Krishna and Latha Mangipudi
Address: 20 Salmon Brook Drive, Nashua, NH
Time: 12-330pm
If you have any questions, please e-mail: RFuentes@NHYoungDemocrats.Org
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