Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Council interviews

Thank you candidate Patrick Burke for sending me this. Here are the interviews for the vacant South District Common Council seat. Some of these people might be running in the Fall. I would encourage readers with the time to educate themselves on the candidates...


Video streaming by Ustream

7 comments:

  1. Blogger,

    I just recently became aware of your blog and I think you do a great job for the area by holding people accountable. Saying that, I was wondering if you have heard of any other potential candidates for the south district election. I was not very impressed by the ones on video here. I was at Tops the other day and a friend mentioned to me that someone named Chris Scanlin was also maybe running. Do you know why this person didn't apply for the appointment? Do you know him? And do you have any thoughts on him or any other possibles?

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    1. hey, thank you very much. I've heard a couple of other names mentioned. Kevin Overdorf might run as an Independent in November. I've heard the name Bill Vivian thrown out there. This is the first I've heard of Chris Scanlon. Chris is a nice young man, in my opinion. His dad "Scanoots" was a longtime assistant to Jimmy Griffin. As soon as Griffin's ship began to sink, he abandoned him and became a democratic party guy.I like Chris but think he'd be too close to the status quo to bring about any change.

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    2. I've also heard those names and I like Kevin Overdorf a lot. But isn't he a Hamburg guy?Also, I don't know why you think Chris Scanlon would be too close to the status quo to bring about change? From what I know of him I don't think he is associated with anyone that is currently holding office? Your thoughts?

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  2. Watched the whole thing. Verel was clearly the most impressive. Actually answered questions with proposed solutions, rather than platitudes about investing in the district and serving the community. Fischer was a close second, and was my clearcut choice before watching Verel. Verel has an adult's view of what government is meant to be. He talked about encouraging and incentivizing activity rather than just throwing money at problems. He talked about the central role of the body, and not just the multiple pigs at the trough each fighting for their own share that is so pervasive in legislative bodies today. Burke acquitted himself very well, but lacked the depth that Fischer and Verel displayed. Clearly a solid guy with a good message, but not enough. Gartler was pretty weak, and Bain showed nothing but rah, rah spirit and platitudes about hard work. No substantive solutions. All I could think of was Rob Schneider in Water Boy. You can do it!

    Where do these council members come from? Pridgen doesn't take the time to meet them individually, and then the only thing he can ask them are two inane questions, one of which is a total set up? Kudos to Burke for being the only respondent to call him out, and with a deft touch as well. You could tell Verel wasn't going to bite on that one either, with his knowing smirk being the initial response. Who the hell is Michael Locurto, and why was he not more engaged? Franczyk was about as patronizing as one could be, while at the same time trying to play gotcha with his trivial questions.

    By the way, I have no horse in this race. Don't even live in the district, but obviously have strong ties, which is why I watched. Overall a pretty vapid exercise, with not much meat on the bone. Verel really impressed me, and he obviously cares, based on the commitment he has shown via his involvement in the political process on several fronts. It will be fascinating to see who they pick. The cynic in me says they want someone they can run roughshod over in the budgetary process in the short term. Let the people of the district hash it out after that in November. I hope for better, but after watching that dog and pony show I doubt that will be the case. Oy!

    As an aside, you should lay off the attack on Fischer. He handled himself very well, and was impressive. Your attack is obviously based on the fact that he bad mouthed you. You are in the business of creating controversy via your blog, and routinely say you don't care what people think. Don't attack them if they say something derogatory, it damages your credibility as a "call 'em as you see 'em" kind of guy. Pretty transparent, especially when you bring it up in your posts. Any attention is good attention, and you look petty and vindictive when you go after him. He was far from the empty-suit sycophant you're trying to portray him as with your recent posts. I thought he was very thoughtful and showed a lot of maturity and capability. Just not the top guy, in my opinion.

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  3. Thank you for a very good analysis. I'd like to print it if you don't mind, as a separate post.I agree with you on Pridgen's question. What is the point of grading the group interviewing you? In regards to Locurto, I have to give him a pass, because I think he might be recovering from a serious illness. Franczyk needs to go. He's had his time if you ask me.

    In regards to Fisher, this is what happened. I've known him for about four years. He knows me. At one of our parties, he was sitting by himself so I went over and made small talk with him. He and a very good friend of mine met with a former elected official the night before. I didn't think anything of it. On the way home, I saw this friend of mine outside his business and I stopped to chat with him. At the same time, Fisher called him on his cell phone. Unbeknown to him, I'm hearing the entire conversation. Fisher starts out by saying "Guess who I just talked to?" Then he tells my friend, "Don't worry, I led him on but didn't tell him anything that happened." Then, he says something bad about me and refers to me as "that guy." Is he that dumb that he would criticize me to someone I've known for 32 years? Completely two faced. I believe he wants nothing more than to be in the clique.

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  4. wheres mr burkes video? how can he be so critical of his opponents but not be included in this video, thats stupid. wont get my vote playing the b**** role and dnt think u can win a campaign like that. if the guy with a record can speak clearly and make sense then you should too.

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  5. Anonymous,
    You obviously didn't WATCH the video before commenting, or you would have seen Mr. Burke's interview, he was the third person to speak.
    (You might also want to use spell check before submitting any more written statements criticizing someone else's grammer or elocution).

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