As Mr. Churchill Says

Sir Winston Churchill once offered "Democracy is the worst form of government except all others that have been tried." It's a good thing Winnie wasn't around to witness recent national and state headlines. From the debt ceiling drama in our nation's capital to the magical math used in the State capital to produce an actual budget, some might be tempted to wish a pox on both houses (and the parties who occupy them).

Except, ours is a grassroots democracy working from the bottom up. With all due respect to the President or the Governor, they can't put police on the streets or teachers in the classrooms. The President can deploy a carrier group halfway around the world but it's not a Congressman who gets that pothole on Water Street fixed (sometimes I don't think anyone can get that done).

We have a full-time City Manager and a staff of professional department heads who, under his direction, manage and deliver essential municipal services. When things go as designed, and locally that happens more often than we might otherwise believe, the machinery is part of the scenery. Let's face it we usually only notice municipal services when we don't receive them.

Working to reflect the desires of the residents of Norwich and to both direct and shape the efforts of the city's workforce, are our neighbors, the men and women who serve on the City Council and Board of Education. And while beneath the Capitol Dome of The District, the differences between Democrats and Republicans are visible from space, on the third floor of City Hall heading into Council Chambers or seated in the Kelly Middle School waiting for a Board of Education meeting to begin, it's more lower case and a matter of nuance than differences in ideology. I would suggest we are better for this.

So everyday is it that you may have missed news accounts last week that both the Democratic and Republican Town Committees have assembled slates of candidates for the City Council as well as the Board of Education.

Come November, we'll select six alderpersons (the Mayor is halfway through his four year term) for the Council and nine members for the Board of Education. On the home front, party labels don't mean quite as much as ideas and the personalities who espouse them. And while there are differences, it's rarely eaten as hot as it's served and none of those seeking your vote are unknowns to us or to one another.

Local government is about neighbors stepping up and helping out. There's a better than even chance you know many of those seeking office from block meetings, school outings, church groups and other neighborhood activities. They are, without exception, people who think 'someone' needs to do something and are willing to be one of the someones who do it. It's not an easy job and with declining federal and state aid and regional economic challenges everywhere you look, it doesn't promise to get any easier anytime soon.

We've spent how many years (decades) talking about "turning around" downtown? For a long time all we did was talk and let's face it, when you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there. But those whom we elect in November have the beginnings of a better map on where we should be going and a lot of that has to do with decisions made, and sometimes not made, by the current City Council.

For those with children in school and, frankly, for all who see education as the fulcrum to leverage economic development throughout the city, budget limitations that closed schools and eliminated programs are just the tip of the iceberg that those seeking a place on the Board of Education have to struggle with everyday. Add to that, the challenges of mandated progress on Connecticut Mastery Tests and the consequences for failing to keep pace within No Child Left Behind and you'll quickly realize the schoolyard of our youth is long gone.

There are easier volunteer jobs than the ones those seeking office could want. We have between now and the first of November, Election Day, to look at the issues and at their positions and come to decisions on who should help lead us to the next chapter in our city's story.

Don't expect anyone to tell you how to vote-and don't let anyone try to. Let's insist on an informative and informed public debate and discussion that's spirited but never mean-spirited between now and Election Day. We owe it to our neighbors seeking office and to ourselves to make the best decisions we can. Choosing to keep an open mind is a good start.

-bill kenny