(Opinion) As fascism marches its way across the U.S., we can at least celebrate the fact that democracy is still kicking in our Elm and Nutmeg bubble.
This coming Tuesday we have candidates from six different parties — and petitioning and write-in candidates — to choose from (plus a ballot referendum to make our state voting laws almost as democratic as Georgia’s). As I found out in sit-down radio chats with dozens of those candidates, we have true choices at the ballot: thoughtful, public-spirited people from across the ideological spectrum who in a civil way advance arguments about public finance, criminal justice, election rules, abortion.
Meanwhile, outside of elections, New Haveners have been engaged in the slow, sometimes frustrating process of democratic decision-making about how to develop and police our city — with results that more people can buy into and help succeed. Teams of social workers and “peer” counselors began hitting the streets to tackle 911 calls that cops and firefighters ideally won’t eventually need to respond to, with civilian oversight and a commitment to addressing root causes. “Stakeholder” neighbors and city officials agreed on the choice of a builder to redevelop Fair Haven’s long-empty Strong School building in 58 affordable apartments with an artist bent and community gather space. Thousands of graduate student teachers at Yale signed cards to lead to a unionizing election. Prohibition is ending in New Haven as the city’s first recreational cannabis dispensary prepares to open inside an old Tommy K’s. And nonprofit public-interest local journalism — the raw material of democracy — took a step forward with the naming of a millennial-generation editor poised to bring New Haven people-powered news reporting and debate to the next level.
Those topics are broken down in the latest weekly opinionated v‑log news summary direct from the Independent assignment desk — er, compost heap. You can watch it in the video at the top of this story. Below, Monty Python weighs in on the status of our democracy, followed by other recent editions of News From The Compost Heap.
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