Utica Phoenix
Staff Reports
September 30th, 2010

For The Good, Inc, the parent company of the Utica Phoenix, hosted its first ever political ‘Meet & Greet’ on Friday, September 17th at the Linwood Place Community Garden. Politicians from, Senate, Congress, Governor and other races joined citizens to talk about their platforms, aims and aspirations.

Among the candidates present at the Meet & Greet were Michael Arcuri, Richard Hanna, both running for U.S. Congress, Joseph Griffo, running for Senate, RoAnn Destito and Greg Johnson, both running for New York State Assembly, Howie Hawkins, running for New York State Governor under the Green Party, and Sandy DePerno, running for County Clerk.

Also present, representatives from Pink Monkey Water manned a booth at the even, talking to politicians and citizens about their product, a revolutionary biodegradable water bottle to alleviate the harm done by plastic to the environment. Several politicians, including Howie Hawkins and Joseph Griffo talked with them about their product and their environmentally-friendly mission.

Although politicians and citizens came from all over the city (and in some cases the country) for the Meet & Greet, all appreciated the down-home setting of the event, especially amidst the backdrop of the Community Garden. A tour of the garden was another part of the event, in which candidates (many of whom have never been to For The Good’s Community Gardens), saw the hard-work, toil, and benefit to the community from their existence.

“I had no idea this existed,” Joseph Griffo stated. “This is beautiful.” Congressional candidate Michael Arcuri also admired the gardens, while jokingly adding: “I’ve tried to grow peppers in my garden at home and only got 4 or 5.”

Richard Hanna, Arcuri’s running mate (and incidentally the only candidate visiting the Meet & Greet who had previously seen the community Garden on Linwood Place inquired as to the contents of a thought-to-be blueberry busy. When he discovered they were currant bushes, he stated: “That’s wonderful.”

As candidates and area residents discussed politics, 25-30 Burmese-Karen refugees also worked, tending the garden and picking vegetables for their effort, emphasizing the importance of the Community Gardens to the community. Letting people take free produce, in exchange for their help in maintaining the Community Gardens, is one of the chief services that For The Good provides to the community.

Citizens also appreciated the ability to walk into a low-profile event, meet the candidates, and find out more information than can be ascertained from reading the newspaper or 5-minute commercials on television. Besides passing out brochures for their platform, candidates were open to any question that citizens had.

“I have a bunch of questions I would like to talk to the NYS Governor, or a future NYS Governor,” said Kaye Lanaux, a Utica resident to Howie Hawkins as he walked her to her car. Similarly, Greg Johnson mingled with a Utican family, pointing out areas in his campaign while answering questions.

The Meet & Greet’s success with area residents and politicians alike, while the first of its kind of For The Good, looks to be an event that will continue in the future. Both candidates and citizens found the event to be rewarding, and an easy way to talk about the politics you would like to see enforced while seeing the immediate benefit to the community of legislature passed for institutions to help the community.

**Look for more Utica Phoenix coverage of the political races in our special election edition in mid-October. Highlights include candidates Hanna and Arcuri plus others answering questions posed by citizens and more!