LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
No to sit-down bar in Oak Hills
As Robert Koch pointed out in The Norwalk Hour, the Oak Hills Park Authority is proposing to construct a sit-down bar in Oak Hills Park.
The prk is located in West Norwalk within easy walking distance of Fox Run, Ponus, and Kendall schools. The purpose of the bar is to enable the OHPA to lease the restaurant building it oversees for more money. The OHPA needs to generate additional funds because user fees can’t cover the cost of the golf course it oversees.
Two takeaways from the proposal:
1. A sit-down bar does not belong in a residential neighborhood less than a mile away from three schools.
2. A sit-down bar will not solve the OHPA’s ongoing financial problems.
The OHPA is a lobby set up by golfers with the cooperation of local politicians that milks taxpayers of millions of dollars in order to subsidize their favorite pastime. Not only is this special interest boondoggle costing us taxpayers a pretty penny, but also it is depriving us of something we lack and badly need — a large public park near the heart of our city.
As Jane Brody pointed out recently in The New York Times, the availability of parks open to a wide variety of activities (rather than restricted only to golf) is the mark of the health of municipalities .
Yet, thanks, to the golfers’ lobby Norwalk lacks such a park. Instead it has a money-losing 18-hole taxpayersubsidized golf course that requires poisonous chemicals to maintain its greens and fairways. And now the lobby seeks a sit-down bar that will enable golfers to quaff a few before heading home past children on their way to or from school. Paul Cantor Norwalk
Data privacy and Connecticut voters
Without your direct consent, the state of Connecticut is selling your voter registration data. According to the Office of the Secretary of the State, Connecticut is allowed under the Freedom of Information Act of 1974, to make public voter registration records. The Help America Vote Act of 2000 forced towns across Connecticut to abandon their local voting registration procedures and instead conform to state requirements that centralize voter data in Hartford. In combination, these two mandates have stripped registered Connecticut voters of their data privacy in exchange for their right to vote.
Your full name, address, phone number, birth date, and political affiliation along with your voting history are captured, stored, then sold and made available through online search engines and websites. Google and Facebook have come under public and Congressional scrutiny for selling user data without explicit consent. Shouldn’t local and state government be held to equal standards?
Unfortunately, in Connecticut, a ballot referendum to stop this abuse of personal data is not an option. Residents must depend on local politicians to push for change. Nearly impossible, as politicians are the very people who benefit most from easy access to voter information when targeting their campaigns.
No American citizen should be threatened, bullied, harassed, or victimized because their personal data has become public record. Registered Nutmeg voters can be shut out of job opportunities or discriminated against due to their political affiliation or age made public through this violation of privacy.
Contact your state representative today to stop the state of Connecticut from selling your data without your consent. It’s time to reclaim our privacy rights. Hillary Long
Fairfield