[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 118 (Monday, July 15, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E920-E921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO JOHN MITCHELL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 15, 2019

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Madam Speaker, I include in the Record the 
following Op-Ed in tribute to the late John Mitchell of South Windsor, 
Connecticut.

                      [From the Hartford Courant]

          Want To Make a Difference? Run for Office. Yes, You.

                           (By Kevin Rennie)

       Local political parties will nominate their slates of 
     candidates for November's municipal elections this month. In 
     a few communities, there will be ferocious contests for some 
     positions. Democratic races for mayor in some of the state's 
     largest cities, Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven, look 
     competitive as the September primaries grow nearer.
       Those are the exceptions.
       In most towns, politics is mercifully a civic good more 
     than it is a secular religion. Some communities continue to 
     enjoy our New England tradition of electing members

[[Page E921]]

     to a wide range of local boards and commissions. That 
     requires a lot of candidates. Another tradition, minority 
     representation, guarantees no political party gets to elect 
     every member of a town council, board of selectmen or board 
     of education. Our law seeks to encourage a variety of voices 
     in local government.
       Political parties in many towns struggle to find enough 
     candidates to fill their slates. The hyperpartisanship that 
     mars our national politics recedes in many communities 
     seeking citizen volunteers to manage local affairs. Plenty of 
     parties will welcome unaffiliated voters onto their tickets 
     for municipal elections.
       If you get your news from cable television, you may 
     properly think that much of contemporary politics is an 
     endless series of screaming matches. Town politics does not 
     often descend into the bear pit. Go to a meeting of your 
     local planning and zoning commission and you will not be able 
     to tell the Democrats from the Republicans. It's a collection 
     of citizens trying to manage or attract development to their 
     community. If you can spot the nuances of a traffic study or 
     possess some ideas on how a town can manage a decline in the 
     number of school-age children it will educate in the next 
     decade, welcome.
       As a candidate for local office, you'll be more a part of a 
     team than a member of a fire-breathing partisan tribe. The 
     desire to serve will be your platform. In most instances, a 
     campaign for a town office comes with few complications. 
     Almost everyone wins. In some towns with a nine-member board 
     of education, for example, there are only ten candidates. 
     Minority representation rules have been adopted to give no 
     party more than five members. Only one of the ten candidates, 
     assuming a full slate by each party and no third party 
     candidates, will lose. And there are plenty of other places 
     for that person to serve in community government.
       I've saved the best reason for last. You will meet 
     wonderful people whose friendship will endure after your 
     service concludes. I was reminded of this gift on Monday when 
     John Mitchell, South Windsor's beloved former mayor, died. 
     Mitchell, 84, may have been our community's longest performer 
     of good deeds.
       Born in Manchester, he lived and worked in South Windsor 
     for most of his adult life. He started a fuel oil business as 
     a young man, and it thrived through the unfailing melding of 
     enterprise, knowledge and a buoyant personality. He served on 
     the town council for more than a decade and enjoyed two terms 
     as mayor in the 1980s, a time of historic growth in town.
       Mitchell's service to others was not limited to elective 
     office. He remained active in the local chamber of commerce 
     and was a stalwart in the Rotary Club for decades. He loved 
     community events. Almost 40 years ago, he thought that since 
     so many strawberries grew on the shrinking numbers of South 
     Windsor farms, there ought to be a June festival, and local 
     Republicans ought to create it. I can attest to the amount of 
     work a strawberry festival requires. Mitchell's enthusiasm 
     made it impossible to do anything but enjoy the challenge. 
     The strawberry festival has long been what he envisioned: an 
     annual June Saturday that thousands have enjoyed.
       Mitchell was active in providing college scholarships to 
     local students as recently as last month. We'll never know 
     the vast number of people he lifted and encouraged with his 
     private generosity. We helped with a few local campaigns in 
     the past decade, and I was reminded of his joy in the battle. 
     His sense of humor grew sharper, and he displayed a rare 
     wonderment at growing older.
       So think about running for something. You will help your 
     town. If you are very lucky, you will get to know someone 
     like John Mitchell.

                          ____________________