'IT'S TIME TO CLEAN THINGS UP' LOCAL ACTIVIST DAVID MICHEL ANNOUNCES BID FOR STATE REP:
My name is David Michel and I am running for State Representative in the 146th District, which includes the Downtown, South End, and Shippan communities.
For years, I have been working on environmental issues on our shores. As a result, I realized that the source of many of our problems, is indifference. Often, a lack of transparency, oversight, and vision from government contribute to these problems.
Our local administration is not always responsive, so I decided to work on getting help from state and federal agencies. Essentially, I have worked to improve the district in the past five years by simply responding to the concerns of my neighbors and the concerns of surrounding communities.
I have organized many cleanups of parks, beaches, and streets in the area. Through these cleanups, I realized that there was an issue with trash spilling out of the transfer station. A meeting was called with many public officials, and eventually a fence was built in order to contain the garbage within the grounds of the facility.
I have dedicated hundreds of hours a year to make things better in Stamford. I have also attended and participated in meetings, including Board of Representatives and Committee meetings, and have even spoken publicly on several occasions.
Knocking on thousands of doors has been a very humbling experience. Lots of people felt comfortable with sharing parts of their lives with us, and at times very intimately shared the causes of their frustrations.
The city has been silent on many of their concerns, from bad sidewalks forcing people in wheelchairs to go in the middle of the road, to retirees, working families, and lower income folks being priced out of their neighborhood and the city of Stamford. Wastewater pipes have been leaking into the storm water system, causing contamination to end up in our Long Island Sound. Due to a lack of enforcement, big developers have been carelessly allowing polystyrene to be strewn on our streets and our shores during construction projects. One of the marinas has still not been fixed since Hurricane Sandy and a boatyard remains destroyed. These problems are only the tip of the iceberg.
I promise to work hard in our district and be a liaison between the state and municipal administrations.
I have volunteered, marched, and picketed for social justice. I have also participated in activism worldwide, but Stamford, Connecticut is my home, and I would like to continue this fight for us on the state level. I intend to fight for things like education. We need universal pre-K and tuition-free public college. A reform of the Education Cost Sharing (ECS) formula is also urgently needed. I will fight for the state to reinvest in our communities, in things like infrastructure, public health, and mental health. Moreover, we need to continue to promote renewable energy and true sustainability. This is a much better use of our tax dollars than giving our money away to large corporate interests in the form of tax breaks and grants. I'm against corporate welfare, and I think there are better ways to attract business to this state.
An elected official's duty is to represent and work for the constituents and not special interests . We need to protect our retirees, working families, and lower income population.
I am a Democrat and I hope I can count on everyone’s support in the upcoming elections. It is time to stop the divisive rhetoric and work together for the benefit of all, for common sense, in our state. Should you have any questions or comments, you can directly call me on my cell phone 1-914-843-7545 or contact the campaign through our website: davidmichel2018.com.
It’s Time To Clean Things Up !
David Michel
4 Rockledge Drive,
Stamford, CT 06902