Winding Down & Misinformation
As we head to the polls on Tuesday, I want to thank the many people who have reached out to me to thank the council for making Cheshire such a great place to live and raise a family.
Since I am running unopposed, I am assuming I will remain on the council for the next 2 years and I truly look forward to seeing the completion of Bartlem Park and well as the 2 new elementary schools.
I have been a little disappointed during this election season at the amount of misinformation that has been shared on social media. I hope that most people realize that getting your news on places like Facebook is not the best idea. Many posters know that they can put up wrong facts and figures and even if half the people believe them, they win. I ask that each voter do their due diligence and visit our town website, www.cheshirect.org , and look at meeting minutes to get the real facts and figures.
I have heard colleagues on the other use the word “transparency”. This is very confusing to me, especially since they sit in on the same meetings that I do. Legally, we can only discuss certain issues in executive sessions. Things like ongoing litigation, personnel issues, or land acquisition. We are not creating any policies in these sessions. All policies and ordinances were always discussed in public meetings either in a sub-committee or a regular council meeting. There is no “backroom politicking” like some have accused us of. I know that none of us who serve on the council would allow that.
I have also heard the word “Inclusion”. This is another confusing word. I feel it may have to do with the flag policy. When we created this policy, as our town attorney who wrote it stated, it was based on the state of Connecticut’s flag policy. Yet, they wanted us to “include” 1 other flag. They stated that if we put in our flag policy to make this one exception, we couldn’t get sued. I wasn’t concerned about getting sued. I was more concerned about excluding all the other groups who may want us to make an exception, which could be many. Where would we stop? I don’t believe in exclusion!
Many of the people who say that this was because of one specific flag certainly don’t know me well enough to make those remarks towards me. Please get to know me first before disparaging me. Cheshire held 9 separate LGBTQ+ functions during pride month. I believe that shows we are a welcoming community to all. I know that some people who complained about the town not flying the pride flag own homes on very busy roads. They have a lot of political signs on them, but they are not flying these flags. Wouldn’t a flag on your property send the same message?
This is the part of serving on the council that is most difficult for me. I care about everyone in this town and I am doing what I feel is best for the majority. Will some people disagree with my decisions? Probably, and that is their right, provided they do it in a civil way.
I spent many years running a charity in this town that raised over $1.25 million to help many people who live in Cheshire. I care about everybody, but I also know we can’t always agree. I’m okay with that as well.
All I am asking is to please do more research on getting your information and not just take it from Facebook. Also, please feel free to reach out to me at anytime if you are not sure. I will assure you, any information I provide will be backed up with real facts and figures.
Thanks again for your support.
Don Walsh
3rd District Town Council