An open letter to Wayne Furbert

Mr. Furbert,

I would like to offer my congratulations on your recent appointment as leader of the UBP. As a young Bermudian who is quickly becoming politically active, I would hope that you could take a moment out of your very busy schedule to read and respond to this email.

I have personally become very disillusioned by Bermudian politics given the prominence of racism as an issue that precludes issues that are more important for our future. As a young Bermudian, I am torn as to whom to support politically as I have few ties to the history of the past and am more concerned with the issues of today, our direction, and our path of forward movement to address them.

I have stepped away from supporting either the UBP or the PLP as neither have shown that they are doing what is in the interest of our youth and our future thus far. I've watched as Bermudians have been stifled by our government in favor of non Bermudians and non Bermudian companies just as I personally have been stifled. I'm quickly growing tired of politicians who put themselves first and I wonder if perhaps you may be different with your newfound leadership.

I would like to ask for the opportunity to gain some insight into your plans for reforming the UBP. In an article I read there was mention of your support for deciding issues based upon referendums.

May I ask what support you have for placing the power of government in the hands of the people? I would like to see government take a stance of once and for all being for the people rather then for the politicians. By this I mean giving the people the power to petition a large enough amount of support from the electorate to force the calling of a referendum or election. The recent charade of the PLP's failure to acknowledge the BFR group and their belittling of the Bermudian people showcased how much of a need there is for this kind of reform, regardless of which party is in power. I believe the UBP would showcase to the Bermudian people that it is putting the people first and is once again ready to lead our country if it instigated this kind of reform.

I would like to see us reform our constitution to give the people this power. The ability to call an election and have set terms of duration in office rather then the flexibility that only exists in favor of the party in power. I would also like to see the ability to call a referendum on an issue to determine it by the will of the people rather then watching 49% of the electorate be ignored by government. Give the people the ability to have a say in how things are run and once and for all make our government accountable.

As a young Bermudian, I feel driven to see change in our future that brings stability and I hope that your new path for leadership will yield enough radical change that you can recapture the support of the people. I feel this is necessary as too many are tired of unkept promises and the strongest position the UBP could take to prove they've rejuvenated themselves would be to relinquish the power of dictatorial terms in office to a system more suited to trust and accountability by our leaders.

I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you to discuss this though I do understand you have a very busy schedule ahead of you. In the least I hope that you may be able to respond to this email and give me some insight into your own direction with the party.

Kind Regards,
Denis Pitcher

» Mr. Furbert's reply can be found here.

Comments

[Denis Pitcher on 19.01.06 at 20:30]

I have also written a similar letter to Mr. Scott and Mr. Brown which is as follows:

-----

Mr. Scott & Mr. Brown,

As the leaders of our island, I have decided to contact you directly so that I may express my opinion on the forward movement of our nation. As a young Bermudian who is quickly becoming politically active, I would hope that you could take a moment out of your very busy schedules to read and respond to this email.

I have personally become very disillusioned by Bermudian politics given the prominence of racism as an issue that precludes issues that are more important for our future. As a young Bermudian, I am torn as to whom to support politically as I have few ties to the history of the past and am more concerned with the issues of today, our direction, and our path of forward movement to address them.

I have stepped away from supporting either the UBP or the PLP as neither has shown that they are doing what is in the interest of our youth and our future thus far. I've watched as Bermudians have been stifled by our government in favor of non Bermudians and non Bermudian companies just as I personally have been stifled. I'm quickly growing tired of politicians who put themselves first and I wonder if with your decreasing popularity amongst the people that perhaps you may be willing to take strides to regain our confidence.

I would like to ask for the opportunity to gain some insight into your plans for regaining the popularity of the people. There have been growing indications that you are choosing to be more in support of deciding the issue of independence via a referendum. This has me wondering what considerations you may have for referendums in general.

May I ask what support you have for placing the power of government in the hands of the people? I would like to see government take a stance of once and for all being for the people rather then for the politicians. By this I mean giving the people the power to petition a large enough amount of support from the electorate to force the calling of a referendum or election. Your failure to acknowledge the BFR group and subsequent belittling of the Bermudian people by suggesting they aren’t intelligent enough to know what they signed has not boded well for your popularity. It has showcased how much of a need there is for this kind of reform, regardless of which party is in power. I believe the PLP would demonstrate to the Bermudian people that it is putting the people first and is once again ready to lead our country if it instigated this kind of reform.

I would like to see us reform our constitution to give the people this power. Provide the ability to call an election via petition and have set terms of duration in office rather then the flexibility that only exists in favor of the party in power. I would also like to see the ability to call a referendum on an issue to determine it by the will of the people rather then watching 49% of the electorate be ignored by government. Give the people the ability to have a say in how things are run and once and for all make our government accountable.

As a young Bermudian, I feel driven to see change in our future that brings stability and I hope you choose to establish a new path for leadership that will yield enough radical change that you can recapture the support of the people. I feel this is necessary as too many are tired of un-kept promises and the strongest position the PLP could take to prove they've rejuvenated themselves would be to relinquish the power of dictatorial terms in office over to a system more suited to trust and accountability by our leaders.

I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with you to discuss this though I do understand you have a very busy schedule and are quite indisposed with the demands associated with running our country. In the least I hope that you may be able to respond to this email and give me some insight into your own direction with the party and your interest in reforming for the betterment of Bermuda.

Kind Regards,

Denis Pitcher
denis@bermudawiki.com

[Yet Another Limey on 20.01.06 at 09:21]

Why not just send all 3/4 parties a simple multiple choice questionnaire.

Have a list of statements or issues such as:
Include sexuality in the human rights act
Independence
Etc…

Then give them tick boxes to choose from
Our party is in favour of this
Our party is against this
We would put this to a free vote
We would hold a referendum on this
Our party has no position on this

Each voter could be encouraged to fill in their own version and then check if against each party’s version to find which party they really do most closely support

(Not that I think any of the main parties would actually go for this)

[Full Fullish on 20.01.06 at 10:18]

Denis good letter, I trust you will post the response if any.

I have yet to recieve anything back from Alex Scott or Terry Lister from months ago. Hopefully Wayne pulls through.

[Craig on 20.01.06 at 10:59]

Excellent letters Denis..

It will be interesting to see if any of our leaders respond.

[wklc on 20.01.06 at 11:51]

The letters are well written and raise good points, Denis. Good job.

It will be interesting to see a response, however, I hope you would ask their permission before posting responses...

[Denis Pitcher on 20.01.06 at 14:05]

As an update, I recieved a very kind response from Dr. Brown.

While he did not address the issue he did suggest that he would welcome the opportunity to meet with me.

- - -

In terms of Wayne Furbert, he apparently has forwarded my letter to all his colleagues however has yet to respond. I assume he will do so when he has a free moment.

- - -

I have yet to recieve a response from Mr. Scott.

[Denis Pitcher on 20.01.06 at 14:26]

Another update.

As part of Mr. Furbert's forward to his colleagues, numerous members of the UBP are writing me kind and supportive letters expressing their thanks for my opinion and their willingness to meet with me anytime.

It is very much appreciated and is giving me hope that perhaps a positive future lies ahead for Bermuda afterall.

[SmokingGun on 20.01.06 at 19:14]

Denis - Are you in fact a founding member of the new group ABC?

I think you present a good letter and I too look forward to hearing your feedback after you get a chance to sit down with the various parties.

[Denis Pitcher on 20.01.06 at 21:30]

SmokingGun,

I have no political ties at present. However, I do support Mr. Wasi's suggestion that there is a need for a new party that is devoid of the racial issues that plague our present parties in power.

I am meeting with members of each party to determine my own course should I be able to dedicate time to politics outside of my day job.

[Denis Pitcher on 21.01.06 at 14:59]

Update:

As I'm sure your all aware, Mr. Furbert was kind enough to respond to my letter quite quickly, as was Dr. Brown.

Unfortunately I have heard nothing from our Premier as of yet. I'm assuming he is likely very busy and will compose a response when he gets the opportunity.

[SmokingGun on 21.01.06 at 15:18]

Dr. Brown's quick response was also great to hear. Is it possible to post it as you did Mr. Furbert's?

BTW maybe it's just me, but man am I having a tough time spelling Furbert. Furburt, Ferbert, Ferburt..... now Brown... no problem....

[Denis Pitcher on 22.01.06 at 00:31]

SmokingGun,

Actually, I did not post Mr. Furbert's comments. He chose to respond to me via Limey in Bermuda and sent me a very short email informing me that he would be sending his response to Limey to have it posted as I copied my original letter to Limey, The Royal Gazette and The Bermuda Sun.

Because these are the personal communications of our politicans I don't feel it is my right to make their correspondence public. I leave it up to them to choose to respond publically if they so desire as Mr. Furbert did.

He also responded to the letter I wrote him back which I posted in the comments. But it seems he did not choose to make that public so I leave it up to you to ask him to do so if you would like to know them.

[SmokingGun on 24.01.06 at 15:30]

Denis - sorry for the delay in responding. I missed your post for some reason.

With regard to posting the responses I think a lot of people would show great interest in seeing them. Seeing as you copied the original letters to the newspapers and blogs might it not be OK to assume they expect you to "share" the replies? I assume you informed them that you were copying the letters to the media and Limey when you first contacted them.

[Denis Pitcher on 24.01.06 at 19:10]

SmokingGun,

I certainly did inform them that my letters were being made public. I had hoped the royal gazette would also post my letter to Mr. Scott and Mr. Brown as they did my letter to Mr. Furbert today.

I am not however in the position to make any responses public as in my view that would be a violation of my personal ethics. I am not a journalist and as such their private responses to me are to remain private.

I made my letters public with the very specific purpose of seeing who would actually respond to them publically.

Perhaps what you should do is write each and request that they publically respond because you would like to know the answer and copy your email to the gazette and the sun. You could go so far as to ask the gazette to host a poll on whether the people believe their responses to my letters should be public.

The trick to getting through to our government is to be the voice of the people. This is why I made my letters public, as I have had some difficulty getting an audience with our ministers. If you get enough people to suggest they want public responses I'm sure they will post them for all to read.

More then anything, I wanted to see if anyone would actually answer the questions I posed of whether they'd support the constitutional change of allowing the people to petition for a referendum or election. I can tell you that none addressed that question directly.

Mr. Furbert showed great charisma in responding to my post publically, but you'll note that he did not truly answer my question.

Mr. Brown responded to my letter very quickly and chose to offer me the opportunity to arrange a meeting with him which I appreciate.

Mr. Scott has not responded at this time.

[loki on 24.01.06 at 19:24]

I note what you say about Mr. Furbert failing to properly respond to your letter but, with all due respect, asking a guy who had taken office a couple of days previously to commit to paper specific responses to policy issues best discussed in caucus was both presumptuous and unreasonable, regardless of how well-intention your letter was.

[SmokingGun on 24.01.06 at 19:29]

Thanks Denis. It will be of interest to see if you get a response from the Premier. Maybe he's sent you a reply via snail mail. Or maybe he sent it via Blackberry and Tony B's trying to figure out what all the party talk is about and why wasn't he invited.... ;)

I like the fact that Furby sent his letter directly to Limey's site. It not only showed "Charisma" but a keen sense of marketing. You laid it on a plate for him to be responsive and look good. Something that has been poorly lacking in our present leadership. You done good lad, you done good.

[Denis Pitcher on 26.01.06 at 13:07]

Loki,

I do agree that it was not to be expected that Mr. Furbert would respond directly to my questions, however this was part of the reason why I wrote my letter and made it public. I wanted to see what he would do.

Lets remember that this change in leadership has been in the works since Oct so certainly Mr. Furbert has had lots of time to contemplate his stance on certain issues.

More to the point it was his response from my second letter which he did not make public that was really of interest. As suggested earlier I won't post that response but certainly it is my belief that if enough of the people called for the power of petitioning for referendums and elections to be placed in the hands of the people, that Mr. Furbert would support it and make it part of his platform.

Where do you stand on the issue?

[Denis Pitcher on 06.02.06 at 18:12]

I just wanted to provide a brief update.

I have yet to recieve a response from Premier Scott. I have decided that I will begin calling him to directly request that he make time to meet with me.

Today I met with Wayne Furbert and I would like to suggest that overall I am pleased to have someone of his character and heart in a position of change for our island. It appears that he truly does have the best interests of Bermuda in mind and I am hopeful that what we see in the time to come is a reflection of that caring in the leadership we get from him.

I await my meeting with Dr. Brown which is coming up in a couple weeks and hope to walk away with a similar impression. I am pleased to have the opportunity to meet with our leadership and form my own impressions rather then listen to hearsay from my elders.

It would be great to know that our leaders are getting the idea that we the youth just want a future here. That we are hopeful we can find in our leadership the good intentions and heart that drive us closer to what is in the best interests of all Bermudians.

[observor on 06.02.06 at 19:19]

Denis

When you meet with Dr. Brown, kindly ask him to provide you with a list of all the company's both in Bermuda and abroad, which permit MPs to charge goods and services on account.

[Denis Pitcher on 16.03.06 at 16:07]

Another update,

I have now had the pleasure of having met with Minister Brown in response to the letter I wrote him some time ago. It was very good to have the opportunity to sit down with our Deputy Premier and overall I am pleased to have met with individuals from all sides of our political spectrum as a result of my own attempts to gain a better understanding of politics on our island.

Though I am as of yet still uncertain as to my own course and direction, I can hold some confidence in the fact that there are many individuals on both sides pursuing what they believe to be in our best interests.

It is good to know that despite beliefs and opinions that at times may differ, there are those out there dedicated to keeping a watchful eye over our island, and it's future.

[b,w&p?? on 16.03.06 at 16:28]

Denis,
You have taken on quite the task and seem to have the youthful energy it requires. As a Bermudian I am proud to have you out there fighting for something we all believe in - performance, representation and accountablility in govenment...thank you.
I'm sure that there are those out here who will assume that politicians have put their spin in their conversations with you hoping you'll carry their messages back to the masses. Can you give us the crux of your discussions with them and their willingness to follow through with your ideas and suggestions.

[SmokingGun on 16.03.06 at 16:50]

Denis - I too am glad that Dr Brown sat down with you. You certainly do appear to be making some head way on your quest. Obviously what was discussed was only in part as Dr. Brown has stated he will not tell the whole truth about what he's working on or has planned. Did you feel comfortable speaking on some of the topics you discussed with the Minister knowing that? Also, did you have to sign a non-disclosure?

[Denis Pitcher on 16.03.06 at 17:30]

Thank you each kindly for your support.

While I would love to share with you the discussions I've had with our various ministers and leaders of each party, I have made a pledge to myself that I will not share their plans and personal interests. To do otherwise would be a violation of my own character and beliefs.

I am of the firm belief that it is up to each member of our leadership from both sides to address the public at their own discretion and is not my place to induce any unnecessary hearsay.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity for not only an audience with our leaders, but also for an open and frank discussion which is an experience that is likely much more difficult to attain in many other nations around the world.

Overall, I value the experiences and opportunities I've had to gain first hand my own impression of our leadership and will only suggst that each of our leaders that I've met with have suggested that they look forward to watching me as I rise into a role in Bermuda politics.

While I cannot deny that I have felt a calling towards public service, I believe my best step forwards will be to reflect on all that I have learned. So that if and when my time does come, I will be able to best fullfill the legacy that has been left by those who have come before me.

[SmokingGun on 16.03.06 at 17:42]

Denis - what can I say? You have the lingo of a natural born politician down pat.... :-D

[Uncle Elvis on 16.03.06 at 19:27]

Dennis,
I'll tell you, it takes a lot to impress my mother. She was at the meeting the other night and... well... judging from the jaw drop she gave when I mentioned you, she was impressed. Well done, sir.
Please keep it up!

[Two Cents on 16.03.06 at 20:55]

"I'll tell you, it takes a lot to impress my mother"

Elvis, I don't know about that one...She always seemed to like me !!!