Portsmouth Democrats Do Not Know Occupy Portsmouth

Some of the comments in question whether the Occupy Portsmouth folks decided not to occupy out of favoritism towards the Democrats.

As chairman of the Portsmouth Democrats, I want to inform residents that our members do not know who the Occupy Portsmouth people are. We have no relationship with them at all. Some of our members support the basic ideas of the larger Occupy movement in principle, as do I. But until we see this local group in public, we do not know if their motives and ethos are consistent with the larger movement.

According to , they say they might not occupy tonight’s open forum because of chickenpox, which frankly is very unfortunate. I'm disappointed. I wanted to meet them. Had they been able to come, I had hoped to tell them that they are welcome. I expect that they have opinions and want to be heard and, if they truly embrace the Occupy ethos, then I expect that they would respect the rights of others to speak and be heard as well.

And, that is the whole point of tonight’s open forum. We, Portsmouth Democrats, want to hear from you. When I shop the aisles of or empty my recyclables at the , many folks approach me and voice their concerns about the competence, direction, and lack of transparency among local elected officials. If you share those concerns and want to be heard, come to tonight’s forum and let the Portsmouth Democrats know what you think. With your input, we can work to make Portsmouth a better place. 

We’ll be at on East Main Road from 7 to 8:30 p.m.  Come drop by for just a few minutes, or stay as long as you like.