JUNE 6TH from 4:30pm to 6:30pm we have the next most important issue to the Quiet Corner this year – TOURISM – and the lack thereof. The people at the Safe Haven Alpaca Farm in Hampton, CT have very graciously offered us their home free of charge for this forum.

As you all might remember, the Tourism District we once had for the Quiet Corner was lost over four years ago when the Republican-led governor’s office decided to meld 11 districts to five. In that bloodbath, our Quiet Corner Tourism District was merged with the Southeastern CT Tourism District and became the headache we now know as “Connecticut East” or “MYSTIC country”.

We already knew that such a merger was a bad move, we lost not only our presence in the tourism world, but our voice as well, since they had to let Michelle Mineo go because the funding was gone. Connecticut East has tried to serve the NECT corner, but their main priority, as it should be, is the coast. WE NEED OUR BOARD BACK.

Investment in Tourism has shown conservatively that one dollar spent on marketing/advertising gets back as much as $27 in revenue. We have lost business after business in the Quiet Corner since this change and many more are due to come soon. We have lost our voice, our money and many of our neighbors.

The goal of this forum is to start to bring the spotlight back to this problem. That we need our representation back and we need it now. Please give us your thoughts and opinions on this, as we want as many local and regional energy-driven residents and leaders as we can get for this.

Joe Courtney has already committed to this event – as has Sherri Vogt and many others. Please, please offer your thoughts, comments and ideas as to how we can market this event successfully and to spread the word. The plan is to hit the media hard with this very shortly after the primaries are over to make this issue not go away and show residents that this issue is one of the most important of the year.

Looking forward to your thoughts and suggestions

All the best

Greg Shimer
Brooklyn Democrats