From The Chair

FROM THE CHAIR…       

            Dear Fellow Citizen:

                        From the beginning of my long public service career, I have believed in citizen empowerment. While a State Legislator in the 1980’s, I strongly advocated for initiative and referendum. Initiative and referendum are not new concepts in the United States.  They have been with us for over 120 years. Thirty-one (31) states have some form of direct democracy. Sadly, Connecticut is not among them, having refused in the past every effort to give citizens a ballot initiative mechanism.

            Today, more than ever, there is broad citizen support here in Connecticut for a ballot initiative law. Connecticut citizens live in towns and cities that have exercised this right of initiative and referenda on a local level for centuries. Yet our State Legislature refuses “to let our citizens in”.

            I believe that now, in 2010, the time has come for the state to adopt this right!  In support of that opinion, I refer to a recent U Conn poll where sixty-five (65%) percent of Connecticut voters supported Connecticut Ballot Initiative.

            With the Connecticut Citizens for Ballot Initiative, “CCBI”, party affiliations are “checked at the door”. There are no agendas, causes, or issues. All that matters is giving Connecticut Citizens a voice through ballot initiative.

            To that end, CCBI will ask every candidate from every party, for every office, both state and federal, to state his or her position on ballot initiative. Those positions will then be shared with you, the citizens, through our web site, public forums, and advertising.

            It’s called “DEMOCRACY IN ACTION”!

            Come join us in this exciting and important campaign to better all of our lives.

                                                                        Sincerely,

                                                                        John J. Woodcock, III

                                                                        Chairman