Farrah for Finance
In 2023 I decided to try and run for the Town of Stonington Board of Finance. I decided to do so because:
I wanted to see more funding go to Public Works, specifically to sidewalks and bridges. Accessibility matters!
I wanted to do what I could to help (finally) get funding for an HVAC system for our middle school.
I wanted to help ensure we were funding coastal resiliency projects, and otherwise taking actionable steps towards mitigating climate change.
We didn’t have any low-income folks on the Board. As far as I know, we never have. These are the people who decide how our taxes are spent, and what projects are funded, how the citizens of our town are helped, or not. I felt it was vital that at least one low-income person was present, helping to make decisions that dramatically affect the lives of deeply vulnerable people.
I made a bid for endorsement from my fellow Democrats, and I won!
I joined forces with my dear friend and fellow candidate for Board of Education, Meghan Blanchette, and we campaigned together, very accessibly and progressively.
AND WE BOTH WON! Meg won her seat without any controversy. I won mine as well, but was barred from taking my seat.
I won my seat with a nearly 400 vote margin over the nearest Republican candidate. But the Republicans filed a “minority rule” complaint the day before the election, stating that the registered Independent current BoF member should actually be counted as a Democrat (he was endorsed by the Democrats. He is a registered Independent, and does not have any Democrat caucusing rights, etc). Him being counted as a Democrat, even though he is literally not a Democrat, would take away one of the open Democratic seats.
Because of CT’s minority rule, there have to be so many of the “minority” party (the party with fewer members… because apparently this is a 2 party system?) on some boards, regardless of what the voters actually want. In theory, we shouldn’t be allowed to run more candidates than we have open seats. So what on earth happened here?
Well, the Independent board member had been viewed as an Independent, not a Democrat. Which makes sense. And we (the Democrats) had been allowed to run 3 candidates, for the 3 seats we were told were open. This meant that 3 Democrats were put on the ballot, and the ballot indicated to the voters that 3 Democrats could be elected. Because the Republicans waited until the day before the election, well after the ballots had been printed, to file a complaint, voters were not notified that only TWO Democrats would be able to be seated.
So despite the fact that I received 3,050 votes, was announced publically as a winner of the election and a new BoF member, all of them were thrown out for a candidate who got substantially fewer votes. Democracy, amirite?
Fortunately, none of that stops me from serving my community.
I’ve seen a lot of people on all sides of all sorts of aisles vying for power and prestige over the past many years, but not really doing shit to care for those who need it. And I’ve seen a lot of people who couldn’t care less about being in the spotlight or having fancy titles do more for their community than 20 people with “important positions.”
You can do a lot with positions of influence, being a decision maker, having some power. But you don’t need any of that to help make the world a better, kinder, more accessible and equitable place. You just have to have your heart in the right place, and be willing to keep on.