{news} Cote falls 15 votes short of ballot for constable

[David Bedell]

(Drat and double-drat.  But we're doing a recount to make sure.)


The Norwalk Hour, 8/13/05:

Cote falls 15 votes short of ballot for constable
The Green Party hopeful said he would not take the write-in route

By A.J. O’CONNELL
Hour Staff Writer

NORWALK--Andrew Cote, who was nominated by the Green Party as a candidate 
for constable, will not make it onto the ballot this year.

Although the Green Party collected 186 signatures for Cote, the Norwalk Town 
Clerk's Office said that many of the signatures were not valid.

"A lot of them were not registered voters," said Jill Champaigne, an 
assistant town clerk.  "You have to be registered when you sign the 
petition."

According to Champaigne, 143 of the signatures collected on Cote's petition 
were valid.  He needed 158 to get onto the ballot.  The news came as a blow 
to Cote, who returned on Thursday after spending two months in Iraq.

Green Party secretary David Bedell, who was in charge of collecting Cote's 
signatures, said that Cote would still be able to run for constable as a 
write-in candidate, but Cote said that he would rather not take that option.

"It looks like I won't be on the ballot this year," he said.

Cote, who is the son of a Norwalk firefighter and the brother of a local 
police officer, was one of four Green Party candidates who were nominated 
for office at the party's convention Thursday evening at Stamford’s downtown 
TidBit Lounge.

Also nominated were environmental architect Darek Shapiro, who is running 
against Mayor Dannel Malloy in Stamford; Bedell, who is running to be a 
Stamford constable; and Trish Haines Dayan, a social worker who is running 
for the Stamford Board of Education.

On Thursday evening, Shapiro greeted 20 of the party faithful with a speech 
extolling the virtues of a clean environment and criticizing Malloy’s 
environmental record in Stamford.

“I think the existing mayor is doing an okay job,” said Shapiro, addressing 
his supporters.  “It’s not good enough.  We are not in okay times.”

Shapiro, 52, pledged to clean up the city’s air, water, and natural spaces, 
while convincing downtown businesses to invest in clean energy.

“We need to show them how green also means profit,” he said.

According to City Clerk Donna Loglisci, both Shapiro and David Bedell 
submitted petitions late Wednesday morning.  Both collected more than the 
required 183 signatures and will be on the ballot.

On the petition that will allow Shapiro to run for mayor and Dayan to run 
for Board of Education, the candidates collected 230 signatures.  Bedell is 
also running for constable.  On that petition, he collected 217 signatures.

“They did very well,” said Loglisci.

The petitions were certified by Loglisci and the registrars of voters on 
Wednesday.

Loglisci has 10 days to submit the petitions to the secretary of the state.  
The hopefuls will then receive letters from the state, telling them that 
they are official candidates.

Bedell, a local cyclist who also accepted the Green Party nomination on 
Thursday, said that as constable, he will deliver writs and legal documents 
throughout the city by bicycle.

“A vote for me is a vote to take another car off the road,” he said.

Dayan, who was not present, submitted a statement for the evening, promising 
to build grassroots involvement of parents in the school system and promote 
equal opportunities within Stamford schools.

“As a school board member,” she wrote, “ I would place emphasis on an 
administrative system that enables teachers to do their best work for the 
children.”

This is the first time that the regional Green Party has put up mayoral 
candidate in Stamford.  Many of those at the convention commiserated about 
how difficult it is for a third-party candidate to get noticed during 
election season.

Patricia Kane, the local attorney who ran against Rep. James Shapiro in 
144th district last November, echoed that sentiment.

Petitioning candidates are often steamrolled by the major parties, which 
have deeper pockets and, according to Kane, are often politically beholding 
to their financial backers.

“That’s why I’m with the Green Party,” she said.

“Now the little guy has a shot,” said Bedell.

A.J. O’Connell covers Stamford and can be reached at aoconnell at thehour.com