Political Culture - Oct. 28, 2022 Windham Independent

Political Culture

The tone of our political discourse has become more negative and less respectful in recent years, but this turn for the worse is not permanent - better days are ahead if we just choose to work to make our society better… and I chose a long time ago to do my part by always being professional and respectful.

Take my School Board service: my first year was a learning experience, but I earned the trust of every school board member - next year I became the Chairman of the School Board after a unanimous vote. That year brought  a huge improvement in the school board culture - we found ways to always behave in a professional manner, to support or oppose various proposals politely and to move on after a decision was reached. That is the right kind of political culture, and I fought hard to achieve it on the School Board.

That year ended with the Golden Brook/Middle School construction project getting approved by the Windham voters, and the board culture helped earn the trust we needed to finally solve the long term overcrowding issues that previous school boards were unable to successfully address.

But culture was only part of the reason - the biggest reason was that we designed the proposed renovation by building a broad coalition involving every stakeholder, and carefully listening to each of them.

That started with our initial decision to ensure to pick Building Committee members that represented every Windham constituency so all voices would be heard, then continued as we guided them towards the right balance of cost versus features (too many features would made the project too expensive, while cutting cost too aggressively would have lost the support of the residents that wanted the best possible school).

The final project was only approved because we were able to find a fair, reasonable, bipartisan compromise that earned the broad support needed to finally get voter approval.

This is why sending the right people to the State Legislature matters so much - it’s not about the one vote a legislator has, it’s about their ability to build those coalitions of like minded legislators that are needed to get bills passed, regardless of party lines. Saying that any two representatives can pass a bill because their two votes could break a 199-199 tie (yes, I really did see that very argument posted on Facebook) completely ignores the coalition building needed to get the other 199 votes needed to pass a bill through the House.

In regards to our political culture, I am a proven consensus/coalition builder. If elected, I will work to build bipartisan coalitions wherever possible without sacrificing core principles, and will always be professional and respectful towards everyone, so Windham residents can be proud of the way their elected officials are representing them in Concord.

You can always reach me at (603) 267 4142 or at dpmwindham@gmail.com. I am grateful for your support, and will keep working hard to earn your vote on November 8. 

Daniel Popovici-Muller

Republican Candidate for State Representative