The Chandler Street Buisness Association was kind enough to ask Worcester City Councilor Gary Rosen and myself to moderate a series of debates and candidate forums leading up to the Tuesday, November 3rd elections.
The first in this series will feature candidates for School Committee on October 12th at 7PM. The CHUA PHO HIEN Bhuddist Meditation Temple at 96 Dewey St was kind enough to open their doors to the community for this event and the majority of candidates for School Committee have confirmed. Due to the number of candidates, the format for this event will be a structured Q&A forum, an actual debate would take a week or two to wrap up and the CBA passed on my idea for a Thunder Dome style event.
Next up will be a debate between the two District 4 candidates for City Council, incumbent Barbara Haller and challenger Grace Ross on October 26th 7PM at Chandler Community School, 114 Chandler Street. This is the debate I’m most excited about personally, as I can’t think of two candidates for local office more engaged with their community and dedicated to the people they work with on a daily basis. Considering how issues facing D4 tend to dominate local press, setting a tone for the rest of the city and the large number of business areas and dense residential areas contained within D4 there is no question the long term success and growth of Worcester is dependent on D4. With that said I would encourage anyone interested in Worcester politics to sit in on this debate, regardless of your voting district.
Finally, we have the Mayoral debate. Similar to my experience with the Mayoral forum we hosted at the Dive Bar two years ago, finding a date that works for all the candidates is proving difficult, but we should have that wrapped up later this week.
Councilor Rosen and I will be meeting soon to ink the topics for each group, but we’re open to including ideas from interested parties. If you have concerns that you would like to see addressed at any of these forums please feel free to leave a note in the comments, or email me: buckpaxton@gmail.com
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
We knew you couldn’t resist it BM.
Seems like every wanna be in the city is holding a candidate forum.
Hey, the WRRB got you guys beat. They got Dianne Williamson, and you’re stuck with Rosen. Sure he’s a nice guy, but what I wouldn’t give to hang out with Diane. Paaaaarty!
So party down Brenden. Party down Gary.
PS. When Rosen heads to Boston, he gonna take you with him? Heck, you’re in Watertown.
You’re a bizarre creature Will.
Tanks! Coming from you, I take that as a compliment.
If anyone knows bizarre, it’s you. Bizarre are those feet of yours
Ever think of going out for the Wusta swim team?
Just having a little fun, so don’t go gettin your knickers in a twist ;>
So now you’re in the spotlight again. This time MC’ing a circus with Gary “what a nice guy” Rosen. So I ask you, what can you, or anyone, add to this election circus that’ll enhance an apathetic population’s understanding of issues and candidates? Don’t get riled – I’m just asking.
My point: No one is asking hard questions. The same ole questions, the same ole lame answers. I guess WYSIWYG. Which validates my claim regarding the “abilities” of the entrenched political cadre. The fact is, it’s all been said before, the only thing new are the faces; elbowing for the spotlight and spewing infantile slogans. What is the public to think? And I would bet, if I were to dig out the political pap from the 2007 or 2005 election seasons and replay your Green Street performance from 2007, we’ll see that nothing has changed. So why do it Brendan? What added value do you bring? What’s the bottom line for the public? Hey, just asking.
Let me state this. Nowadays, very little surprises me about the goings-on in Wusta. The banality of small town living, unbeknownst to its inhabitants, has taken on toll on their perception. Their small minds (which you so often have pointed out, and mine, being less than that of a pinhead, so I know of what I speak) can’t discern fact from fiction, testified by the banal ramblings that pervade the local blogosphere and the skewed propaganda from our local news sources. So why is anyone surprised when infective and sarcasm permeates people’s opinions.
Geez, I only used 2 minutes. OK if I take a rain check on the other 13?
Does that mean I’m banned? Um… I thought so.
7 Down, 3 to go.
Do you really think I’m that thin skinned to get twisted by an anonymous dude on the web, Will? Or be the type who bans someone from a website because they disagree with me? I sincerely hope I don’t come across that way.
To your point, if I’m reading it right; I don’t claim to posses the cure for apathy or have all the answers to Worcesters problems. All I, you or anyone else can do is attempt to engage people with the tools we have at our disposal. I’m not looking to change the world or cure cancer here, Will. In my 33 years I’ve gotten to know Worcesters cynicism and sarcasm quite intimately and when I come across it, I do what I can to attempt to alter individual perceptions. If anyone is looking to me to fix this city, they’ve got their money on the wrong horse, I’ll be the first to admit that. But I don’t think I could sleep at night without at least attempting to be involved with some form of civic life. You’re probably right, in the last two years nothing earth shattering has changed, but is that my fault/responsibilty? Asking me what I bring to the table is a rather odd question; would you prefer I didn’t moderate these debates and instead stayed home? Would you be happier with the League of Women Voters, Chamber of Commerce and Research Bureau setting the tone for each local election? The very last sentence above is me asking you and anyone else who comes by this site for input for these forums, I did the same with a bunch of drunk people at the Dive two years ago. How can you logically have someone open that door for you, not take advantage of it being open and then passive aggressively complain that the dude holding the door for you is actually the problem and doesn’t bring enough value to the table? Seriously Will, if that’s your line of reasoning we’re coming from such wildly different worlds I don’t know how to respond.
Geez, not banned? Um… boy ya caught me off guard with that. Your response is refreshing Brendan, untypical for the thin skinned and humorless local bloggers.
Bring to the table… Let me rephrase the question. What’s the difference between your take/approach on the election process and candidates that of the other talking heads? And answer is – Nothing, except you’re appealing to a niche audience. Would I be happier with the other forums? There is no difference between what you and they are doing. Just the size of the audience and the questions and answers are the same.
Interesting that you feel that there is a need to alter local perceptions. Since we share the opinion that the locals need enlightenment, they are however very set in their ways as you know, and would prefer not to be enlightened, rather entertained.
So you opened a door, an attempt to try to alter perceptions, using the Dive show as a venue to give a 30’s demographic audience face-time with the candidates. I saw your participation as moderator as a vehicle to market yourself, eventually leading to a run for office. The Dive show did nothing to enlighten. It was in fact absurd, but not for wont of trying on your part. Kudos to you. The audience failed you. And I disagree that something useful for the voter can be found in candidate forums. The superficiality of the candidates, the bias of the moderators, and the ingrained ignorance of the audience does nothing to enlighten. The majority have already decided who they want and are simply looking for something to confirm their prejudices. In fact your niche audience, and that of some of the local blogs, including the T&G’s if one can call that a blog, is more entrenched in their opinions because they lack the life experience that tempers an opinion.
What one shouldn’t expect from you is the cure for cancer… Admittedly, there are a bunch of diseased minds and souls in this city looking for a cure, but they prefer drugs, alcohol and entertainment to civic and intellectual pursuits. Is there any cure? Well maybe. There is a handful doing something locally but nothing of consequence. Sadly I have to say, I don’t see people like Benedetti from Pie & Coffee working to change perceptions. His biased attempts do nothing to dispel prejudices, but rather reinforce them; clearly his humbug appeals to a fringe group. Leading me to think, he and his ilk are in fact the proverbial outsiders with nothing to contribute to the masses, just propagating idealistic nonsense. But I have to hand it to him for trying. Manipulating minds using a religious based blog as a pretense only proves he’s another misguided crusader using a keyboard rather than a sword in order to win the hearts and minds of the infidels.
Yes, we exist in different worlds. Ya know, diversity really isn’t such a great thing I think. It’s a myth propagated by a few. It doesn’t necessarily make our world better. It’s a wall that is for many daunting and un-scalable. If you’re able to scale it, you’ll see the other side really isn’t that fascinating. And having seen and experienced something of the world outside fortress Worcester, I can say this much, it’s Seven Hills serve more to make the people here prisoners.
I now have a better understanding of your motives. You’ve enlighten me! Oh, and as that door closed, it did hit someone in the ass. It certainly wasn’t me. Thanks for the opportunity.
Here’s a thought. There are 8+ institutions of higher learning entrenched in this city that have done little to enhance intellectual discourse and enlightenment here – considering we’re footing the bill. Why haven’t they done something during the campaign season? Perhaps fearful of being seen as influencing the city politic, although you know that City Hall kowtows to them. Obviously they would rather keep the locals at arm’s length and as far away from their endowments as possible, secure behind their ivy covered walls. Morally and intellectually despicable don’t you think?