March 28, 2024
Annapolis, US 51 F

Conn Refuses To Congratulate Kirby, Calls For Neighborhood Unity

Ward Six candidate Steven Conn lost the election tonight by 57 votes.  His campaign sent out a press release criticizing his opponent, the City government and the “political machine” in Annapolis. He also made a strong call for neighbors to unite and work together for Ward Six.

 

Conn is currently suing Kirby, Friends of Kenny Kirby (official campaign) and political activist Charles Weikel for defamation of character in a lawsuit filed last week in Circuit Court.

The full content of his release follows:

Conn press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Annapolis, MD – November 5th, 2013

Machine politics has no place in a small town like Annapolis.

Our representative government should consist of men and women drawn from the neighborhoods where they live.

They should know their neighbors and be in tune with their concerns.

They should be people of integrity, who are willing to give of their time and talent to make this community a better place for all of us to live, work, play, and raise a family.

Unfortunately, Annapolis does have a thriving and highly successful political machine, a machine that ratified boundaries for our ward, Ward 6, that are among the most gerrymandered in the nation.

That political machine put forward a candidate four years ago who was manifestly unqualified to represent all of the residents of the ward, who in all probability didn’t even live in the ward, and as alderman for the past four years has utterly failed to provide effectively representation for us, the residents of Ward 6—No meetings, no phone calls, no emails, no contact whatsoever.

And yet that unqualified alderman who has done nothing of note during the last four years—and who once again appears not even to be a resident of the ward—was enthusiastically supported for re-election by that powerful Annapolis political machine.

The machine won again tonight—Kenny Kirby will be our alderman for another four years. I wish I could say that I congratulate him on his victory and that I pledge to support him during the next few years.

But I can’t do that, since Mr. Kirby has shown repeatedly during the last four years and during the campaign that he is not interested in me—or you—but only in those special enclaves within the ward where his incompetence is celebrated.

The ones I do want to congratulate and pledge my support to this evening is you—the residents of Ward 6—who had had enough of nonresponsive government.

You—my neighbors—who said that your personal political party affiliation was less important than voting for someone who would actually represent our needs and interests.

You—my friends—who were fed up with having an alderman who is unworthy of the name.

We didn’t win the election, but we scared the crap out of the machine. And we can create change with or without a lapel pin or title.

More important, we found each other—we found common ground—we found that there is strength in numbers and that if our alderman won’t help us, we can work together to get things done anyway.

We need to continue to work together as friends and neighbors to make Ward 6 a more engaged, caring, and inclusive community.

There are so many people I need to thank tonight, but to start naming names would inevitably result in me forgetting some that I would later deeply regret.

I do have to thank my parents—my earliest and staunchest supporters in everything that I’ve done throughout my life, and Joey, who has put up with even more commotion from me than usual. [And anyone else—but keep it short, because you don’t want to start “listing” people, since you will inevitably forget someone. . .]

Winning is always better than losing, but even in defeat lessons can be learned. The election today made one thing crystal clear—we shouldn’t expect any help from our alderman or the city government for at least the next four years. We’re in this on our own.

Still, we have accomplished worthy things over the past couple years by working together as friends and neighbors. We can continue these community-based initiatives and we can continue to make a difference. I pledge my support to this effort and I thank you from the bottom of my heard for your support in my campaign.

By Authority of Friends of Steven Conn, Heinrich Klinge, Treasurer

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