The D Perspective

I am delighted to have been asked to write a blog on Patch.com. I plan to write about New Milford politics and events from a democratic perspective. I hope you’ll find my views intriguing and informative.

A little background: I’m a life-long resident of New Milford. My brother, former Democratic Councilman Artie Zeilner, and I grew up in New Milford and I still live in the house in which I grew up. My daughter and granddaughter live with me and my son also resides in town with his family. I’m a past president of the New Milford Democratic Club and I am its current membership chair.

Until 2 years ago, the Democrats had a majority on the Council and a Democratic Mayor. The tide changed and the Republicans swept into office across the state and locally. We now have a severely unbalanced council: 5 Republicans and 1 Democrat and a Republican Mayor. It is never a good idea to have such an extreme imbalance. Such an imbalance may cause a lack of checks and balances, a lack of oversight and the absence of Democratic ideas and ideals from being heard.

In future blogs, I will address the issues facing New Milford, New Milford Democratic Club activities, our candidates for Council and the 2011 election. I welcome questions about any and all of these subjects and will attempt to answer all of them.