My Write-In Vote

I want to live in Connecticut.  Well, not really.  But I would like the Mayor of Stamford, Dan Malloy, who is assessing whether he will make a bid for the Governor’s seat, to run and I’d like to vote for him.  And, even more importantly, I’d like him to win and carry out his tentative campaign promises—well, at least one of them.  

But before I get into why I want to vote for Malloy, I need to make one thing clear:  I am not a one issue voter.  I do not vote for or against a candidate on the basis of how s/he stands on one issue; I look at the whole package.  That said, there are exceptions to every rule. And were I a resident of Connecticut and, thus, able to vote for Governor, Dan Malloy would be my exception.  I only know one thing about him—well, three actually—and based on that one thing, I would vote for him.  What is it?  If he runs for Governor, he is going to make “real reform” for nonprofits (not of nonprofits; there is a big difference) one of his platform issues and—ready for this?—he would create a cabinet level position—Community Non-Profit (sic) Human Services!  Can you believe that?  Okay, to be fair, it was not his idea.  

In fact, in 2008, both houses of the Connecticut legislature unanimously passed the bill that would have created this cabinet position; the current governor of Connecticut vetoed it!  So, Malloy has picked up the crusade. Though not yet declared for governor this time (he ran, unsuccessfully, in 2006), he has already laid out his nonprofit platform.  (I love saying that:  his nonprofit platform.  How many people have ever run for elected office with nonprofits as part of their platform?  Let me know if you know.)  First, he would create this cabinet level agency and a person to head this “whose purview and responsibility would be to serve as a representative and voice for non-profits in Connecticut’s executive branch.”  (And this is where I take heart:  the focus of the cabinet-level organization is human services, but the head of this organization is to give voice to nonprofits!  And even if the missed implication in the document that spells out this platform is that the nonprofits about which this person will advise are human service nonprofits, this is a case where what is good for human service nonprofits is good for the entire sector.  The sector will have a voice!  The sector will have media attention!  The sector will no longer be the stepchild to the rest of the important forces in the state.)   

The other two components of his nonprofit platform are:  he would revamp the procedures for reimbursing and funding nonprofits.  (Do I hear a huge chorus of cheers from the suffering Pennsylvania nonprofits which not only wait months for the State to reimburse them, but which now are in their third month without any payments from the State due to its failure to pass a state budget?)  And lastly he would put nonprofit providers on the top of the list to receive stimulus dollars.  These two are important, but not why I’d vote for Malloy. I’d vote for Malloy because in choosing nonprofits he is recognizing their power and contributions.  He knows what the 300 organizations that serve over 500,000 of the State’s underserved and marginalized population (approximately 1/7 of the State’s population) mean for the quality of life for those and all residents of Connecticut.  He understands the commitment the employees of these organizations bring to their work and their clients every single day.  And he recognizes the difficulty of the circumstances under which so many do this great work.   There are many different ways to say thank you.  Dan Malloy has one idea.  May others follow his lead.