{news} John Mertens for U.S. Senate Kickoff event Sept. 9

[David Bedell]

Got this press release from John Mertens.  He's not a Green, but he's
interested in courting our support. Steve Fournier will be at the press
conference, and I know Mertens has talked with Cliff Thornton.  I think he's
an interesting alternative, and worth supporting if we don't find an actual
Green candidate to run.  He has a website at http://www.mertens2010.com


David Bedell


       A Campaign for Honest,
   Responsible, and Responsive
       Government

West Hartford Resident John Mertens Announces Candidacy for 2010 U.S. Senate
Race

Press Conference/Campaign Kick-Off Event:
Scheduled for September 9, 2009, 6:30 PM, 2071 Park St., Hartford.

West Hartford Resident John Mertens will publicly announce his candidacy for
the 2010 U.S. Senate Race during a campaign kick-off event & press
conference scheduled for September 9, 2009, 6:30 PM, at 271 Park Road,
Hartford (the outdoor stage at Lena's Pizzeria). The event will be followed
by music and food.

Dr. Mertens is seeking the nominations of four political parties: the
Independent Party, the Green Party, the Libertarian Party, and the
Connecticut for Lieberman Party. Dr. Mertens was the Independent Party
candidate for U.S. Senate in 2006. Dr. Mertens has been the chair of the
Connecticut for Lieberman Party since March, 2008.
(http://www.ctforlieberman.org )

Accompanying Dr. Mertens at the event will be Mike Telesca, State Agent of
the Independent Party, Stephen Fournier, State Co-Chair of the Green Party,
and Richard Lion, State Chair of the Libertarian Party.

A tenured Professor of Engineering at Trinity College in Hartford, Dr.
Mertens also teaches environmental science and public policy, and conducts
research in combustion and air pollution. He earned a B.S. in mechanical
engineering from California State University, Chico, graduating summa cum
laude, and earned a Masters and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from
Stanford University. He began teaching at Trinity College in 1990. He has
done volunteer work with Hartford public schools for over eighteen years,
and is well informed about public school and urban issues. He has lived in
West Hartford since 1996, where he has raised four children. They will join
him on the stage on September 9th.

Dr. Mertens' campaign will focus on solutions to long-term problems, using
non-partisan, analysis-based public policies. According to Dr. Mertens, "The
country is facing huge long-term problems: an $11 trillion national debt, a
giant budget deficit, a $12 trillion social security shortfall this century,
prisons that are bursting at the seams, urban schools that are struggling, a
wounded economy with rising unemployment, a health care system that needs
major reform, the lack of a coherent national energy policy that will
protect our economy and the environment, and a government that has been
encroaching on our civil liberties. The solutions exist. But we need to
elect non-partisan problem-solvers who will fight for them. For decades we
have lived with irresponsible public policies from career politicians in
Congress who care more about increasing their party's power and getting
re-elected than they care about solving long-term problems. They haven't
been honest with us, and they have been lousy public servants."

The Sept. 9th Press Conference/Campaign Kick-Off event at Lena's Outdoor
Stage in Hartford is free and open to the public. Dr. Mertens is holding the
event in Connecticut's capital city and New England's 'Rising Star' to
emphasize the need for coordination of federal and state policies to address
issues such as education, health care, urban revitalization, and economic
recovery.

Press photos and campaign materials can be requested in advance by
contacting event coordinator Anne Marie Krupski at (860) 707-2800 or john@
mertens2010.com
###