Victory for Nancy Rossi Throughout the month of October and the beginning of November, I volunteered with the Nancy Rossi for Mayor campaign. I volunteered with the campaign for a total of 16 hours. Over the course of the few weeks I volunteered with the campaign, I performed tasks such as passing out literature throughout neighborhoods, completing fade sheets, tagging absentee ballots, making phone calls, and helping store items. My experience with the Nancy Rossi for Mayor campaign was very enjoyable. I was introduced to politics on a local level and learned the importance of the tasks at hand and the effort needed to go into running. The campaign managers and assistants were always very welcoming towards the volunteers. They would offer …show more content…
the volunteers food, rides, and always invite us to their fundraisers. Other than always being so warm and welcoming, they were very emotionally invested in the campaign and were deeply passionate. This passion and dedication became apart of me, and I began to become emotionally invested in the campaign as well. In addition to this, me and a few other volunteers met Nancy Rossi on several accounts and worked alongside her cabinet members. Whenever we encountered Rossi, she would always express her immense gratitude towards the volunteers. The night of the general election, I went back to headquarters as the polls were closing to find out the winner. Once we had found out that Rossi went, the headquarters was filled with celebration and screams of excitement. The moment was absolutely euphoric and unreal. The pure happiness and relief could be felt throughout the room. One important issue in the campaign included the economic state of West Haven.
West Haven is $18 million dollars in debt and has faced long awaited desperation to resolve the matter. Rossi, who is a certified public accountant, promised to restore the debt of West Haven by having a responsible and balanced budget. In order to do this, Rossi plans to create a 5 year operating and capital budget for long term planning, eliminate duplication of services between the city and Board of Education, and institute a freeze on all non-essential spending. Another issue during the campaign was The Haven and regards in clearness of government. Ever since last year the development of The Haven has been underway with few citizens knowing of the plans and structure for the new mall. During the debate at the high school, Rossi said that her nor Dave Riccio were invited to closed meeting sessions about the plans for the infrastructure and that the role of local government should be transparent. Rossi plans to eliminate unclarity and confusion by using social media and other platforms to communicate with residents on current issues and meetings and appoint qualified individuals who will have West Haven’s best interest at heart. I whole-heartedly agree with Rossi’s stance on these two issues because this is the change that residents of West Haven have wanted the previous
years. Nancy Rossi’s basic campaign strategy was focused on retail politics rather than a wholesome political strategy. Rossi would participate in several community events and would go door to door introducing herself and endorsing her campaign. She seemed very busy all the time because she would go to many events throughout her days. In the end, Nancy Rossi became the first woman mayor of West Haven. After winning the primary, it should have been self evident that Rossi was going to win the general election. West Haven has been democratic for several years, so it was expected that republican turnout would lack power to elect their candidate. However, Dave Riccio had a very good turnout considering he represented the Republican party. Ever since the primary, it had seemed bleak for Ed O’Brien. Unfortunately, due to his last four years in office, many West Haven residents were unsatisfied with his job and wanted change. They sought change within the two new candidates, Nancy Rossi and Dave Riccio. Despite O’Brien losing the primary, he ran as a write in candidate and got more votes than Dave Riccio. However the O’ Brien’s and Riccio’s efforts were no match for Rossi and her voter turnout.
After reading the case study Welcome to the new town manager, by Mary Jane Kuffner Hirt, I established three major problems the community of Opportunity needed to correct. These problems involved the water & sewer system, the balancing budget, & the pay-as-you-go method. The city manager, Jennifer Holbrook, must implement strategies that would correct these problems quickly.
...was also heavily involved with the community. My intern group was involved in at least two volunteering events per month on average. We spent time volunteering our time with Feed My Starving Children, KPMG Family for Literacy (a KPMG sponsored volunteering effort to help kids struggling to read), and Habitat for Humanity.
...o city council to vote on whether or not it would be a good idea, but the council voted not to go along with the idea and cancelled the revamping project. They said "the Strip wouldn’t be the same if they got rid of historic stores along 18th street."
The city’s budget crisis was not a surprise, the City Manager had forecasted the shortfall and brought it to the attention of the city council. Based on the organizational structure, the City Manager clearly had more knowledge and information about the city’s budget, which was his source of power. However, the city council actually controls the resources (money in this case) and how and where to distribute the resource. Both, the City Manager and city council possess authority and power that neither want to relinquish; as a result, the employees suffered. Smithville city leaders needed to come together at the onset of the budget crisis and work together in a direct democratic fashion. When leaders come together and synthesize facts and resources, organizational members can increase the power they exert within an organization (Morgan, 2006). The budget crisis could potentially have been avoided had city leaders made an appeal to the public, explained the situation and offered a reasonable solution to the problem. Moreover, the transparency would have relieved some tension between the City Manager, city council, and the three labor unions. Because the city was not transparent and forthcoming with union leaders, the city negotiators enter the negotiation process giving members false hope of receiving salary and benefit increases when there were none to give. In summary, given the current situation, the City Manager needed to exert his expert power on the budget issue, join alliance with the union leaders, and push the city council to change city charter to implement the sales tax, which would have potentially off-set the budget
The city of Virginia recently put a tax on the Elizabeth River Tunnel. The tunnel connects Norfolk and Portsmouth and didn’t develop tolls until February 2014 (Kelly 2014). This new toll forces residents, commuters, and visitors to pay a tax starting from one dollar to four dollars. The recent tunnel tolls added to the mid-town and downtown tunnels in Hampton roads are causing commuters and citizens to make some drastic lifestyle changes. Students and employees are considering changes to their employment and the universities they attend to save time and money as a result of the cost of commuting. If the average toll is two dollars a day, then people are spending about 60 dollars a month. What was once a relatively easy trip for many has become costly in both time and money. Because the addition of the tolls have divided the population into those who agree, and those who disagree; the media has played a large role in promoting the argument against the addition of the tolls. The 60 dollars people spend every month can go towards more than a toll; especially if a person is having very hard times. The tunnel tolls have caus...
4. Community service: Explain what you have done to make your community a better place to live. Give examples of specific projects in which you have been involved over time.Required
In 1919, there was a time when all the men got the right to vote, which wasn’t fair to the women. They wanted to do something about it but they couldn’t, it was all about the men. Later in that year, there was a women, two actually, named Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott. Elizabeth worked with Lucretia to do something about the whole voting situation and they were very successful. The law, Women’s Right to Vote, was passed by congress on June 4th, 1919, and was ratified on August 18th, 1920. Here’s my experience. It was January 12th 1919, the day was sunny with some clouds in the sky and you can smell the scent of fresh roses as you walked down the sidewalk. I closed my eyes as the summer breeze blew through the window letting the air hit my face and suddenly opened them when I heard
In his inaugural address, Mayor Williams “ran down a laundry list of ‘basics’ that city government needed to provide” which included filling potholes, collecting garbage, improving 911 response times, and improving the wait times at the Department of Motor Vehicles . Williams knew that his list of improvements should be a reconciliation of what the public values and what protects and enhances the public sphere. By publicly acknowledging these issues at the start of his administration, he was signaling to the public that he was committed to creating these valued basic services for every
Back in May, the Wisconsin State Assembly Races were just starting to heat up. Candidates were throwing their names in the ring and people were experiencing potential candidates knocking on their doors and collecting signatures to reach the 200 minimum threshold to get their names on the ballot in August. I knew that I wanted to intern for a candidate in an assembly race because I had a few interesting races in the area I am from. I wanted to work for an assembly candidate in the 59th district because I know the area very well and I believed that I could actually have an impact on the race. Assembly races are more personable and they are elected to represent a smaller area, so the work was more focused on a central point. Also, working for a candidate in an Assembly race just makes more sense for college students, especially if the internship is unpaid because there is less driving to do in smaller districts.
For my civic engagement activity I volunteered to be a chaperone for Joel P Jensen Middle School’s Mesa Club field trip to Christa Mcauliffe Space Education Center. I happened to walk into one of the clubs leaders classroom when she was stressed out because she needed a fourth chaperone for the field trip. She had more students going which entailed another chaperone.
There is a great need for budget reform in the city of Deeville, particularly in the transportation department. Irene Rubin states that public budgeting are not merely technical, managerial documents, they are also intrinsically and irreducibly political because public budgets reflect the choice of government. She argues that budgets should reflect priorities. Officials of Deesville are spending money at Dees casino; there is benefit to the public in that, regardless of the explanation they may have for it.
Speaker Credibility Statement: If we all did our part to help those in need, our community would be a better and safer place to live. By doing this, we can achieve a greater sense of accomplishment. I try and do five or six volunteer activities each month and can tell you of the personal benefits from volunteering that I have experienced.
Ever since I was little I’ve been what you would call a “high achieving” kid. I did well in school, I did well in sports and I did well in my community. I was always the first one to class, and the last one to leave the field. I was the kid that all my friends’ parents compared their children to. I was the kid with a room full of trophies and awards. In my mind, the worst possible thing I could do was disappoint the people around me. In elementary school I was involved in every club imaginable. I was in the band, I played in the orchestra, I sang solos for chorus, I was in the math club, I was president of student council, I played travel soccer, I was involved in every activity possible, and I excelled in all of them. This
The light from the sun reflects off the pure white wall, illuminating the room. The dust floats, undisturbed by the empty house. This is what I see as I launch myself out the door, into the hot summer air, into the sounds of playing children.
This year, I had the opportunity to give back to the community in many ways. I volunteered at Helping Hands, Meals on Wheels, and the county Science Museum. These volunteering experiences further opened my eyes to the needs of my community and the many opportunities to serve by volunteering.