Following An Election With Extremely Low Turnout, Madison Pols Seek New Volunteers (With Poll)

Petrillos Restaurant was the place to be on election night in Madison for town Democrats. The after-party featured food, friends and family as candidates awaited results from the one contested race Tuesday. 

Following the election results, the Democrats, who were not able to field a candidate to oppose Republican First Selectman Fillmore McPherson, said they were interested in having more people participate on the town committee. This is the first time in recent history that a first selectman has run unopposed in Madison. During the last municipal election in 2009, there were three candidates for first selectman's office.

Voter turnout Tuesday was dramatically and historically low, with only 15.9 percent of registered voters casting a vote. That compares with 36.29 percent in 2001; 33.05 in 2003; 33.9 percent in 2005; 41.18 in 2007; and 40.27 percent in 2009.

Residents urged to contact DTC to get involved

Residents who are interested in getting involved with Madison Democrats can contact the Democratic Town Committee at madisondemocrats.org and connect with Chair Kathi Traugh via email or phone. Board of Education member Seth Klaskin said help is needed with fundraising, party events and especially during election campaigns to canvas and distribute lawn signs to supporters. Newcomers are always welcome to participate, they said.

Selectman Al Goldberg added that about 250 volunteers populate 26 boards and commissions with the First Selectman position being the only paid position. To get involved, “interested townspeople can go to the madison.org website to familiarize themselves with the various boards and commissions.  They can also see when there will be openings as some positions are elected and some appointed.  It’s a wonderful form of government that is really run by the citizens of the town.”

Following the announcement of the results, Klaskin enjoyed dinner with his family. At the next table Deborah Heinrich, Nonprofit Liason to Governor Malloy, sat with her family and talked with friends.  As plates of salad, antipasto and chicken parmesan were passed everyone had a chance to catch up and chat after a long day. 

Marcus loses by less than 100 votes

Zoning Board of Appeals candidate Joel Marcus also attended the festivities. He was the only candidate in Madison to lose Tuesday, and he lost by less than 100 votes.

Keeping Marcus company Tuesday night were newly elected Selectman Joan Walker and incumbent Selectman Al Goldberg, who was re-elected.

Also there Tuesday night were Board of Assessment Appeals member David Hardy, Representative to the Democratic State Central Committee James Ball, Town Committee member Mary Lorenz, Madison Shellfish Commission member Ted Raff, who briefly contemplated a run for first selectman,  and Democratic Town Committee Chair Traugh.

At Republican party, smiles, handshakes and hugs

It was all smiles, handshakes and congratulatory hugs at the home of Republican Town Committee Chairman Tom Banisch as a packed house waited for the official results from Tuesday’s election.

There was a bit of tension as the gathering waited and waited and waited for District 2 results to be filed before making their victory official.  It took about an hour between the time District 1 results were in and District 2 results were finally tallied and available.

Meanwhile guests snacked on cold cut sandwiches, wraps, fruit and homemade chili topped with cheese.

Group thrilled to hear they came away winners

“We got the results from District 1 about 15 minutes after the polls closed,” said Republican Board of Finance member Jim Matteson, meaning that unofficial results were reported to the Republicans at the Banisch house almost 45 minutes before results arrived at town hall. “It’s now an hour after the polls closed and we haven’t heard from District 2.  It just seems like a long time to hear from District 2.”

Those results finally did come in a little after 9 p.m. and the group was thrilled to officially hear they came away winners in the mostly uncontested elections. In the one contested election, for Zoning Board of Appeals, newcomer and Republican Sally Geisler managed to oust incumbent Democrat Joel Marcus.

Amidst clapping and cheering McPherson was beaming.  “I think the Republicans won every seat by a majority. We think that’s a validation of the work we’ve all been doing.”

Helping establish a brand

“We’re happy,” said Banisch.  “Fillmore’s done a great job for two years as First Selectman.  He’s helping establish our brand.  We’re trying to help people understand that Republicans in Madison mean good government. That’s what we’re trying to do,” he said.

 “We don’t disparage the Democrats, they’ve done a great job, they’ve been great partners with us the past two years, “ Banisch continued.  “We’ve worked well together the last two years.  Fillmore brought everybody together at the same table…and we have two parties working together and it’s successful.”

For newly elected Board of Finance Member Sandy McKissick there is a learning curve ahead for him as he serves the Town of Madison for the first time.  “I have an interest in volunteering in the town and I’m interested in financial aspects - with controlling the costs in town and the taxes, but also keeping the town very strong,” he said.

Finding time to fit in a new commitment

While holding down a full time job with a pharmaceutical company McKissick knows he will have to find time to fit this commitment into his other responsiblities.  “This is the first board I’ve served on and one of our rules is to liaise with other boards in the town.  I’m going to learn how much time it takes and I’ll have to figure out how to match that to my schedule.”

McKissick thinks this election shows that there needs to be more people in town who are willing to participate in town government.  “I think we need to find a way to get more people involved,” he said.  “Because just by looking at this election we didn’t have a lot of contested seats, which means there’s not a lot of people that can give that amount of time (it takes to serve).”

He encourages townspeople to attend meetings and see our town government in action.  “To some people it may seem daunting to think they’re going to give that time or sit in front of their fellow citizens, but I think if they came and observed it they might be more comfortable, they’d be more willing.”

Hard to get younger generation involved

“We meet once a month and the meetings are always public,” said Selectman Diane Stadterman. She did say getting the younger generation involved is difficult.  “I think it’s hard for town politics to be relevant for kids. “ 

“If there are issues that affect them, like perhaps when we were buying the Griswold Airport and there was a referendum, because that is a park and it is relevant to them. Then you get a much better turnout.”

“I don’t think there is apathy in Madison,” said Stadterman.  “We have a lot of boards and commissions and if you were to add up all the people that volunteer their time in town you would find out the numbers are really quite large.  We have a lot of committees and a lot of people who come out and give their time to the town.”

Editor's note: This story was corrected Wednesday, Nov. 9 to change Jim Madison to Jim Matteson.

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