Re: Hackforge’s Role in Windsor’s Municipal Election

August 13, 2018

In light of a piece in the Windsor Star which highlighted some members of Hackforge who volunteer time providing tech support for candidates in the municipal election, I think it is important to clarify some ambiguous points.

Hackforge does not officially endorse any particular candidate, and does not expect members to be supportive of any particular candidate or slate of candidates.

We are a group of largely independent techies who throw our own events and meetups. We use the space for talks and classes and our members are allowed to use what resources we have – however humble – as they please.

That means that whether building a startup company or a retro video game meetup, or teaching a workshop on NationBuilder, their use of our space is not restricted to activities endorsed solely by Hackforge leadership or specific leaders.

In this case, some of our members used the space to help some municipal representatives they support in some small way. We encourage this. Engagement in municipal politics is incredibly important and can be very rewarding.

I would like to make two things abundantly clear:

1) Hackforge members are absolutely encouraged to get involved in campaigns as volunteers to support any municipal candidate(s) they choose, and are invited to use the space for workshops.

2) Hackforge does not have a mechanism for providing volunteers to run workshops or offer tech support to a political campaign on request. A Hackforge member with the knowledge needed must already be interested in the campaign of their own accord.

If you have thoughts or questions you can direct them at me – Jeff Szusz, Vice Chair, jeff@hackf.org.