New London has been my home for over 54 years; the city has changed so dramatically. Not over time but mostly in the last 30 months. Those that live in New London are very kind and accepting people. The community accepts all ethnicity, all cultures and all gender groups. So what has changed in the last 30 months?
A young man from out of town set his sights on New London and making it his little renaissance city on the Thames. When this young man arrived on the scene he saw a city with the same internal political struggles and differences that many small cities experience.
This young man wanted to make a name for himself, a name he could not make anywhere else. New London was an easy mark for a slick, fast talking stranger from across the state line. It was clear that this man had fit like a square peg in a round hole everyplace else he had been. The stories of his changing political parties back and forth between republican and democrat at least eight times were the talk of the town. A vision of what New London should be was printed and distributed, cries of a need for honesty, transparency and ultimate accountability was his cry. The people of New London wanted to believe in the song of change and a better New London that this pied piper played so well all over the city, to groups young and old, black and white, Hispanic, Italian, German, Jewish, Catholic, protestant, gay, straight anyone who would listen. The promises were grand, the vision borrowed from those before him. An election was won and this young man took the helm and rammed New London hard into the rocks breaching the integrity and reputation of New London.
The people of New London never cared who any one was, all were accepted and all were welcome. The lies came over and over, in small private discussions, in public meetings, at municipal meetings and eventually on network television stations. The media was in a frenzy to gather this all up and put it out.
The lies were bold and blatant. Next the true agenda came out fast and furious, market New London as the gay center of southeastern Connecticut, make New London the gay community created by the mayor for all to praise his accomplishments and grandeur.
None of this was needed, wanted or desire, yet there seemed a mandate put on the city by the young man, now mayor.
In a recent article in the Hartford Courant on August 17, 2013 the mayor stated;
“Diversity has long been part of New London's civic DNA. This compact city of 27,600 is home to sizable numbers of African Americans and Latinos in addition to a gay population that Finizio puts at more than 3,000. But it only recently has the city has sought to highlight its gay identity”
(http://articles.courant.com/2013-08-17/news/hc-gay-new-london-finizio-20130817_1_pride-celebration-brunches-city-celebrates)
This was not true. City-data.com (http://www.city-data.com/city/New-London-Connecticut.html#ixzz2dxENSnHs) shows the truth to be quite different.
Average household size:
This city: 2.3 people
Connecticut: 2.5 people
Percentage of family households:
This city: 51.9%
Whole state: 66.3%
Percentage of households with unmarried partners:
This city: 10.4%
Whole state: 6.6%
Likely homosexual households (counted as self-reported same-sex unmarried-partner households)
- Lesbian couples: 0.6% of all households
- Gay men: 0.5% of all households
Do the math 0.6% of New London people are lesbian couples that is 165.6 people and gay men are 0.5% that is 138 people; the total gay population of New London is set at 303.6 people. Those are the facts. The mayor in his statement in the Hartford Courant lied and inflated his facts by a factor of 10.
Enough of the lies, when there was a budget referendum the turnout was low 10%. According to the office of the mayor that was not a mandate. But approximately 1% of the total population of the community will mandate the focus of the marketing for the entire community and the direction that the city will move in. That is hard to swallow. The mayor does not represent the people of New London. The mayor has his own personal agenda that caters to 1% of the population that he feels are like him, but that is not true either, the agenda of the mayor does nothing to promote the needs or betterment of the people of New London be they young or old, black or white, Hispanic, Italian, German, Jewish, Catholic, protestant, gay or straight or anything else. The mayor has brought disgrace to New London.
http://newlondonpolitawonk.weebly.com/new-london-polita-wonk.html
