Frank Speaking

Back in 2000, Congress passed – and Bill Clinton signed – the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. RLUIPA, as it’s called, was conceived to protect the rights of all faiths to build houses of worship, particularly when pesky neighbors used zoning as a backdoor way of keeping out religious expression. Its so much easier to pretend that one only cares deeply about property setbacks on the character of the community than it is to admit that one doesn’t want a Hindu Temple, or a Pentacostal Church, or the Crystal Cathedral. Protecting religious liberty is a tricky thing, but Madison’s words that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” seems pretty clear to me. And with RLUIPA, intent to deny the free exercise of religion through unrelated technical land use issues is construed as the same as denial.

Park51, Cordoba House, Ground Zero Mosque, whatever one wants to call it, is a project under attack for a lot of things. Opponents consider it to be “insensitive” because of its location as a Muslim house of worship near a place where 19 Muslims killed 3000 people. Others consider it to be a potential “terrorist headquarters”, proof currently lacking but conjecture rife. A few have even decided that Islam, a faith followed by 1 billion people, is somehow a cult or lifestyle and not eligible to be protected as a religion under our Constitution.

The opposition to this facility could certainly be heartfelt, true and determined. And to that, I am truly sorry for their feelings. However, this opposition manifests itself as just like the citizen attacking the design of the Kingdom Hall, or the insufficient parking for the Hasidic Community Center, or the minaret of the Mosque for fear it will destroy the fabric of the community. In teir minds, what is being destroyed, the architectural fabric of the community or the entry of other to the social fabric of the community.

The reality is that these objections do not matter. Free exercise of religion makes America greater than any other nation in the world because the intent is as important as the words. If the intent of the opponents to the facility in New York is to deny the presence of Islam, and the right of adherents of that faith to worship where they choose, then nothing else matters. They have the right, and as Americans we must protect our Constitution by ensuring that they can do so.

Whether it means a hill of beans or not, as this paper reported I was elected the Chairman of the Democratic Town Committee this past Thursday.

I gave the following speech that night. Love to hear your thoughts….

SPEECH BELOW

Thank you very much for your support and confidence

I am pleased to know all of you in this room. At one level or another, whether it has been your support for one of my political campaigns, or whether you and I discussed Planning and Zoning matters, or whether we just spent time talking, I would like to think that I know a little bit about all of you. And while we are all so very much different in so many ways, we are united in our belief that the principles and values of the Democratic Party are the best for our Town, our State, and our Country.

I believe the values of the Democratic Party are simple and straightforward. We believe in people, we believe in working together for the common good, and we believe that our government, properly and respectfully led, can be a force for the betterment of all our lives. Since we have made the commitment to serve as members of this Democratic Town Committee, I think we also believe that these values should be guiding principles for Greenwich.

Our values demand that we fight for some of what we believe to be the most basic conditions. As Democrats, we know that we must have a strong public school system, independent, structurally sound and properly funded, because great education is the foundation of any American community. We will support the people who will give our kids the best possible education, with the great gifts we have in this Town.

Our beliefs tell us that no man or woman is greater than any other, and that we benefit from the contributions of all to our Town, regardless of wealth, station in life or background.  As Democrats, we aim to preserve and cherish this diversity, and will support efforts to strengthen it, whether it is in the areas of housing, social services, employment or support for the aging. Democrats don’t just look out for our own, we look out for us all.

Our experience tells us that good financial stewardship of this great Town is one that gets and demands results for all people, not one that begins and ends on artificial budgetary constraints. Being responsible with money is an absolute requirement of governing, but jeopardizing our future — in education, public safety, social services, flood control, and infrastructure  – is not “fiscal responsibility,” as many of our opponents argue.  When people are hurt, and the government doesn’t work for all the people, it is not fiscal responsibility – it is  an utter lack of responsibility.

I believe with all my heart and soul that if you just barely scratch the surface of the ordinary Greenwich Republican and Unaffiliated voters, you will find broad support for these ideals. The vast majority of people in this town are intelligent and well meaning, and they understand that the best way this great Town can move well into the 21^st century is if we work together. Many, including good friends of mine, are Republican because they thought it might be good for business, or because their father or Grandfather was a Republican because that was the only way to get a job back in the old days. When our message is delivered in a way that all people can see its real and tangible benefits, people proved it by registering in our party by a factor of 10-1. Yes, that is an absolutely correct number! While we have been busy welcoming 4000 new Democrats, our friends across the aisle have welcomed only 400. That tells me that we have a better message, better messengers, and the future is squarely on our side.

This is what I see my job being for the next two years – demonstrating to the people of Greenwich that the values and ideals of the Democratic Party are the future, and it is time for people to get on board. I believe I have to clearly, kindly and frequently demonstrate how Democrats feel about issues of the day ranging from affordable housing, to how the cleanup of the most recent storm would have been handled by our side. And through all this, registering Democrats, working to field candidates for all seats in local, State and Federal office, and above all, electing Democrats wherever we can.

I also know that, far, far more important than me, or this one job, is you. I’ve spoken to you all, and I know that there are a lot of emotions about our party in this room right now, and have been since the last elections. More than anyone ever has done before, I need you to reach deep down, right now, and commit yourselves to the success of this organization. I need you to stand up and put your name in for Boards and Commissions, because the incumbent is showing a huge lack of interest in bi-partisanship and we can’t complain about it if we aren’t willing to do something about it. I want you to find people in your neighborhood, register them, bring them to our meetings, get them, and yourselves involved. I pledge I will do my best to make it worth all your whiles.  With your commitment, we can grow this organization, take risks, and call attention in your social circles to how the Democratic Party and our values are so much more valuable to the Town of Greenwich than the same old thing.

This is a great Town, and we offer a great vision for its future, a vision of a Democratic-led Greenwich, with a responsible fiscal policy and a compassionate and forward-looking view of the strength of our society. I look forward to working with all of you on this great and important goal and seeing it through.

My friend Dave Roberson died the other morning. He was 42, he wasn’t married, didn’t have any children, and lived with his mother in the house he grew up in on Hassake Road in Old Greenwich. He worked part time at Greenwich Library doing something in one of those crevasses where cell phones can’t penetrate, and spent a lot of time working for Democratic causes and served as the Chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Party. He graduated from MIT and was really a rocket scientist. He was a very complex guy.

Dave was defined by the fact that he believed the belief of an eternal optimist, something profound to the cranky cynic in me.  He loved Democratic politics, not because he had ambition to be powerful, not because he liked the “game”, but because he absolutely believed that the reason you became a Democrat was to help people. In February 2008, we signed up – or more accurately, he dragooned me -  to go to New Haven to knock on doors for Barack Obama before the Connecticut primary. The organizers sent us to a rough neighborhood, full of condemned houses, crack vials on the ground, a place where hope and change hadn’t actually found its foothold yet. When we got out of the car, he bounded right to the front door of some run-down two family, sheaf of Obama literature in his hand, banging away furiously.

I suggested, perhaps, he might want to be a little more judicious about the doors he wanted to knock on, and he looked at me with a quizzical and slightly sad fashion. Barack Obama is going to make such a difference in these people’s lives, he said, that why wouldn’t they be happy to talk to me. Sure enough, between his cold-call passion and his easy smile, all the people we met on Fenwick Street believed as well. This small victory was followed up by a big meal, a sophisticated analysis of just exactly how everything was going to be better in America, and how we were all just going to get along for real in 2009. The cynic or Republican partisan among us would read this and maybe think “how did that work out for you”. Dave’s response would have always been to work harder, and believe harder, no matter how small the task or duty.

Dave was also a profound man of God. Me and church have never been running buddies, but Dave somehow made his commitment to Christ and  First Presbyterian seem to make a remarkable amount of sense. The warmest part about it was that he could quote Scripture in a kind of context that resonated, but never overwhelmed. Belief in Christ didn’t just please him, or make him happy, or elevated him, it merely was him, and when he wore it, it worked. I’m too much of a grump to have that kind of faith, and I’m afraid that if I did have that kind of conviction, I’d be absolutely insufferable. Dave was  the polar opposite. Without it he would have been insufferable, not that it was even remotely possible.

Because of , or in spite of, all that, our friendship worked. Dave had the profoundly difficult job of managing two political campaigns of mine in the last few years. In the first campaign, I would say something I regretted, and it takes a real friend like him to quite gently tell you you are being an ass, then gamely do what it takes to bring you back again into the fight. We spent days, week, months together politicking from Byram to New Canaan, absorbing the enormity of it all. We were speaking for hours at a time, and he survived.  Then, one year later, he signed up to do it again. When he became Chairman of the Greenwich Democratic Town Committee, I was just happy to have his back and help where I could.

I’ll never forget when we were sitting in the campaign headquarters after the 2006 election.  Our hopes were so high not just for me, but for Diane Farrell, Ned Lamont, Ed Krumeich, the whole ticket.  When the results had finally come in and we all lost,  I looked over at him in the corner and he had the most profound look of sadness on his face. You know, like I said, Dave was a believer, and I was pretty sure he might have been taking the loss of so many races very hard. All those good works, positive ideals, chance for real change, I was pretty sure he was sad for the loss of such an opportunity.

But that wasn’t it. He was just sad for me. He believed in me too.

I’ll miss him very much.

My son and his Cub Scout troop took a tour of the new Police Station in Central Greenwich yesterday. What was the takeaway? It was that the police station was far nicer than our house.

Mind you, our house could use a few touchups here or there, but its a solid 160 year old place that we try to take the best of care with. Nonetheless, this house, or many of the solid unsold McMansions could barely compete with the splendor that we taxpayers have invested in a happy police force.

Some of the elan associated with the place include marble countertops, a dormitory that I would certainly like to live in, 17 cells, very well accomplished wood finishes including trimwork that I could easily say is the best of the best. For a Town of 60,000, we spent nearly $30 million on this building – and we already owned the land. Norwalk, by comparison, with 100,000 people and a heck of a larger crime problem, spent $10 million less and got just as much, in my estimation. But one observation that was made by everyone from the ages of 8-58 was just how empty it feels. The police station is just too big.

Now, I know most think this an old story. Its built, its done, don’t you respect the police department, didn;t I go over this in the 2007 election, I get the drift and yes, it is built and apart from subleasing the place, it will be there for my grandchildren no doubt.

The reason it is a story again is because of the drive to build a neighboring companion Fire Station. I clearly remember the to-do back in 2003 and 2004 when this thing got off the ground, this drive to build a “public safety complex”. The largest complaint came from people who accused then-First Selectman Jim Lash of having an “Edifice Complex”. This complex, which allegedly infects re-elected Chief Executives in communities worldwide, is the itchy disease to build something to prove to the future that You Were There. Fixing up buildings does not accomplish this – Mr. Lash had absolutely no interest in refurbishing the old station. It was New, or nothing.

The question I ask though,what is the pressing need? Police or firemen do not need to be in  buildings to stop or deter crime, put out fires or get cats out of trees. Children need to be inside school buildings that are properly built or have proper facilities for things like music  – that makes better citizens. Its not sexy, they never name these additions after people like Mr. Lash, but they do give more bang for the tighter and tighter buck, and personaly impact thousands of families.

You know, now that I think of it, there is plenty of room for the firemen to sublet over at the new building. The Jets did it for years in Giants Stadium, and eventually they built a new building together. Why not in Greenwich

I have returned to blogging after a long period of way too much to do. In this economy, working ten times harder than anyone else is the only way to get back to square.

I had lunch with a local banker a few weeks ago and he provided me with some words that I have taken, refined, and made my own.  As a banker, people constantly opine as to whether things are “getting better” or “getting worse” or otherwise. His response was much more nuanced. He said, it is neither. Things are not getting better or worse, he said. They are getting different. The problem with that,  is that nobody knows what different is.

So that is how I am going to look at everything in the next year. I’m looking for signs of different, what is the new normal, what is the new buggy whip, what is the new I-Phone. And that’s not just for an investment or a few statements of wisdom. Its in everything from politics to real estate, to ideas that were brilliant (and are now just plain dumb) to maybe, possibly, that one notion, comment, person, philosophy, dream that turns it all around.

I may not be richer, wiser or saner for the mayhem of the past 3 months, but I am slightly more improved, and that’s a good start in a new world