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Dear Editor:
As many of the readers of the Hamilton County Reporter know, Fred Swift and I trade letters. Fred writes an opinion article and I write a response. This time I want to both thank him for kind words that I worked hard to gain the Democratic victories and that one of the factors was the growing number of apartments in the Democratic wins.
First, the victories were due not only to my finding candidates or working hard, but to the extreme hard work by the candidates and their supporters.
For example, in the Carmel’s West District, Miles Nelson and his campaign workers knocked on over 7,000 doors, spoke to thousands of residents and listened to their concerns. Those doors did not include apartments. You see, most of the apartments have security systems that would not let campaign workers in, so we skipped them.
Second, it was the two biggest concerns we heard from residents: The $1.4 billion in debt and lack of transparency. They wanted a Council representative who would open the door to government.
In Fishers in the North Central District where Sam DeLong won, there is only one apartment complex. So, I don’t think it had any effect on the tide of the election. Again, it was visiting homes throughout the district, and what we heard the most from voters was the lack of transparency in the government of Fishers and the rubber stamp of Mayor Fadness’s downtown plans without any real citizen input.
We also came very close to winning more of the seats in the cities. Even in Atlanta, one of our candidates ran uncontested. Another historic first in this county.
Fred – apartments had nothing to do with the Democratic victories. The continued lack of transparency and elected officials of Hamilton County who continue to ignore citizens were the main factors and why people have changed the way they vote.
We in the Hamilton County Democratic Party will continue to provide voters a choice in upcoming elections with candidates who care about citizens, not special interests, and care about open government.
Joe Weingarten
Hamilton County Democratic Party Chair
Fishers