JG Editorial Excerpt:Over the years, the Gazette and others have criticized the group and have consistently portrayed them as negative and confrontational, never once rebutting or denying allegations and claims made by the group. With that said, I can only imagine here that the Gazette must have shelved their “CARD Negativity Scares Away Citizen Council Participation” editorial, had they been left with just two or three candidates. But now there’s eleven, so the newspaper feels it is absolutely necessary to narrow the field into what they believe will fit their comfort zone. This is wrong.
Just a few weeks ago, we saw just two announced candidates to fill three vacancies on the Janesville City Council and urged residents to consider running. Now, we have the opposite situation – an “embarrassment of riches.”
I’m not writing here to promote Briarmoon or her group, they have their own publicity machine. And I have been somewhat skeptical of their motives from the start, but Briarmoon has raised many questions about the city administration and processes that have gone mostly unanswered. She has been the fly in their ointment and just might be the spark needed to attract more public interest and participation in city government. In fact, the eleven candidates make this practically self-evident.
If Briarmoon were elected, she would be just one of seven members of a majority rule council. Change would only come if she can convincingly explain her ideas to the others in a positive way with positive results. In two years, if she fails to live up to expectations, she can be voted out just like any other under-performing council member. The truth is, like everything else, you make your best sales pitch. Some may buy, others might not. This is apparently, what the Gazette and others are afraid of.
JG Editorial Excerpt:Because of the Gazette bully pulpit, many people are convinced that Briarmoon and C.A.R.D. associates are negative and confrontational. Negative? No way. Their message is about change, whether negative or positive is a matter of opinion. Confrontational? Possibly. But if you want to make things happen you have to confront the problems. That’s something both the city administration and the Gazette have failed to do with what they keep telling others is “negative and confrontational.” They have met the challenging message by discrediting the messenger and in the process have "politely" polarized the community.
Voters should seriously consider whether any candidate who is associated with CARD is worthy of their votes.
I urge the council to let the eleven candidates stand equally among their peers in the eyes of voters for their chance to serve the community, and may the best three with the most votes win. No gaming the system, no tilted tables and no needless primary.
Related:Janesville City Council Candidates
4 comments:
Lou, This is a post from the Gazette's blog.
A primary is a good idea in this case because there are so many candidates. There will be 9 to 11 candidates for 3 seats. A primary would remove 1/3 to almost 1/2 and bring the field down to a number that can be investigated more in depth. Think back to the last few elections, think about the forums and how long it took for each question to be answered. I believe the rules at the forum gave each candidate 60 seconds to answer a question. With 10 candidates, that is 10 minutes per question. Since a forum lasts about an hour, that is only 5 questions (with an additional 60 second opening statement). Drop the field to 6 and you can get 8-9 questions in the same hour. While this may not seem like much of a difference, it does give more insight into the candidate. I think a primary, with enough information on the candidates ahead of time, would be a great idea this year.
Well isn’t that convenient. Extending debates to an hour and a half a little too difficult for someone’s hectic schedule? Voters are expected to choose six out of eleven with little indepth investigation or debates because…..the field is too crowded for someone’s version of democracy? Drop the field to six, just like that, in a snap …..S-O-L for the others? Perhaps the city should create a new ordinance limiting candidates for council to only the first six to send in their candidacy papers. The rest are an “embarrassment of riches.”
Just read the Gazette’s spin to get enough information on the candidates for the primary. Ha-ha-ha-ho-he-he-ho-ho.
Thanks for that one. It made my day.
Given that the council is going to vote on this is a charade in itself. Three open seats at-large guarantees that no candidate will be elected with a solid majority, even if it's down to six.
Primaries are used in democratic elections to produce a candidate chosen by a majority. That doesn't exist in Janesville. Without representative district government, the fix is in.
Nicely put. Couldn't agree with you more.
But it will be extremely difficult to overcome because of the embedded local media. Remember, they like it this way.
Post a Comment