Tonight, I attended the Watertown Democratic Town Committee Meeting ; their where 2 speakers running for office.

First Michael Sullivan who was running for clerks of courts i.e. the top administrator in Middlesex county courts spoke. Coincidently the person who is leaving that job is Sullivan’s uncle. Sullivan tried to play this off saying he has to work harder to prove that he is not just getting the job because of his family name recognition. This argument falls flat because any one who looks at national or local politics can see being in a politically connected family helps someone enormously. My biggest problem with Sullivan presentation tonight was that aside from vague generalities he did not fully detail what his job does.

The next speaker was State Senator Jarrett Barrios who is running for D.A. Barrios; he seemed very polished, almost too polished at times when appearing just a tad condescending to a few questioners. Aside from that, Barrios presentation was strong. He led off with an anecdotal story of a teen that was shot on Halloween night 2 years ago and that teen’s father wishing that his children could play safely on the lawn. Barrios used this anecdote to illustrate how important a D.A. and crime fighting are. He went on to discuss the need to not only put criminals behind bars, but to prevent criminal behavior. He pointed to youth violence prevention programs and programs that require youths charged of a misdemeanor to meet a certain goals to have that expunged from their criminal record.  

He went on to talk about problems and issues specific to Middlesex County. He identified drug addiction as the chief crime problem in the county. Problems with gangs he believed were restricted to only a few communities. When questioned about cyber crime by yours truly he referenced his myspace site where he list protective measure people should take when online. Regarding the issue of identity theft he pointed an Identity Theft Bill of Rights which he proposed.

Aside from the speakers, the only thing discussed at the meeting was where to hold the May meeting and trying to get speakers who are running for office for the April meeting.