What it takes to be a ReSister
As President Donald Trump met with Queen Elizabeth, after tweetdissing the mayor of London, a group of mostly women known as the ReSisters were gathering Monday morning in Westport.
Trump and first lady Melania, after touring the palace, had a private lunch with the queen. The ReSisters had nothing so fancy, unless you consider the sturdy saucers under the ceramic coffee cups at Tavern on Main’s patio.
This progressive grassroots group, totaling about 100, is committed to becoming informed on issues and then putting that education into action for social change. I’ll give you a few examples shortly.
Melissa Shein, the founder, looked around the room after the hourlong meeting ended promptly at 11 a.m. and marveled that when the group started two-and-a-half years ago she knew only one person — Melissa Kane, a Westport selectman. Now there were nearly two dozen people buzzing with common purpose this particular morning.
I am fascinated with what pushes people out of their comfort zones to get involved in something — or create something — greater than themselves.
“It started after the election,” Melissa Shein explained. That would be the presidential election of 2016. “How are we where we are right now?” she wondered. “I had to start with learning.”
Others were asking similar questions and aligning with groups such as Indivisible, with local chapters in Greenwich and elsewhere in the state. But Melissa wasn’t ready for that — yet. “How could I make phone calls if I didn’t know what I was talking about?”
A New Jersey native who has lived in Connecticut 15 years, Melissa turned to Selectman Kane for advice and soon like-minded women were coming together.
“It turned out so many others were looking for something,” Diane Lauricella of Norwalk told me.
Finding a common voice
The first three months or so were more like a therapy session; “everyone was a bit hysterical at the moment,” Melissa said. Then they cleared their eyes and got down to work.
Tolls became a project. The No Tolls CT group, which has been protesting around the state in recent months as the General Assembly seemed to be moving toward action, attracted lots of attention with their message.
ReSister members decided as a group to take it on and Gail Berritt, an attorney, led a subcommittee.
They wanted to know more. After research and interviews, the ReSisters formulated a consensus — protolls.
Instead of protesting on street corners for this, they put together a double-sided flyer called “CT tolls myth busters” and handed it out where people meet. The myth versus fact format is easy to understand and the revenues shown from seven northeastern states support their claim that “CT is the only state on the Eastern Seaboard that does not have tolls. Out-of-state drivers use our roads toll-free, but we pay tolls to use their roads!”
“When you oppose something, it’s easier to have a louder voice,” Melissa said, a bit wistfully.
They sought a broader voice and took the tack of writing Letters to the Editor. That’s how they came to my attention, as the editor of those letters. Though making similar points, the messages I saw in the Letters Inbox clearly weren’t form letters. I wanted to know more and asked to meet with the group.
Last year they were politically active, supporting the re-election of Democrat U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and boosting state Sen. Will Haskell’s upset over veteran politician Republican Toni Boucher in the 26th District, which includes Westport.
With a “Candidate CliffsNotes” sheet — with yellow highlights we recall from high school — they checkmarked positives about then-candidates, all Democrats: Ned Lamont, for governor; U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, 4th District; state Rep. Jonathan Steinberg, Westport; and William Tong, for attorney general; as well as Murphy and Haskell.
Melissa considers the group “apolitical” on issues. “Nonpartisan,” Gail adds.
They are evolving in grassroots activism. An intriguing initiative they’re launching this spring/summer is called Norwalk2Bridgeport. The idea is to look for commonality, to bring together residents of the coastal cities and “empower and motivate people to participate in the political process.”
“Finding and using our common voice will maximize our impact as we discover the things that connect us,” the ReSister’s Norwalk2Bridgeport flyer states. Meetings are starting soon. I like the positive approach and the idea of reaching beyond town boundaries on common interests; I will be watching where it leads. The more people in civic engagement, the better.
‘What’s the one thing we can do right now?’
On Monday morning this week eight people sat in the back of the Rye Ridge Delay on Westport’s Main Street, a subcommittee hashing out details, such as blogging and creating a website. For now, people can reach them through the email resisters@resistersct.org.
Just before 10 a.m. the subcommittee moved across the street to Tavern on Main for the full meeting. Every Monday at the same time the group meets. That’s quite a commitment. At 1 p.m. a different ReSisters group gathers.
Sometimes invited speakers come; this morning Haskell arrived to update them on issues in this General Assembly session.
Minimum wage. “We gave 300,000 people a raise!” he said. Applause.
Gun violence. “I was told we can pass one gun violence bill a year. I was not going to accept that — it was a defining issue of the last election. We actually passed three bills!” Applause.
A setback — early voting. “We weren’t able to get a two-thirds majority in the Senate.” Sigh.
His update included a single-use plastic bag ban, a different bill he introduced and got passed to reward state employees who can find wasteful spending, and WiFi on MetroNorth trains. Guess what that comes down to? Yes, tolls.
“Any bills we should get behind in the Senate?” one ReSister asked.
“Deceptive advertising in crisis pregnancy centers,” he replied without a moment’s hesitation. “It was passed by the House, not the Senate.”
After Will left at 10:25 to get to the state Capitol, members updated each other.
Angela Liptack of Ridgefield spoke about tolls as a way to fund infrastructure improvements. People can agree that infrastructure repair, such as with old bridges, is needed, she said; start from there in talking about tolls.
Sandy Lefkowitz, of Westport, mentioned the lockbox, where toll revenues would funnel to the Special Transportation Fund.
Lots more was raised. “What’s the one thing we can do right now?” Melissa asked, channeling discussion into practical action.
And that’s what ReSisters are about. Knowledge, action.
“It’s up to all of us to be informed,” Jackie Kaiko of Stamford said after the meeting, as bubbles of conversation continued.
“We have momentum,” Melissa Kane said, smiling. It was as much an observation of the moment as a promise to Trump in 2020.