My Take on Tuesday's Primary Election For TC Member

An election is only as effective as the number of persons who come out and vote. The campaign staff of each of the candidates can be expected to vote on Tuesday; but this shouldn’t simply be a contest to determine how many campaign workers each candidate has, the rest of us have a stake in this election too. At least one of the persons elected on Tuesday will end up serving on the TC and that person(s) will be in a position to have a major influence on how the town operates within the next three years. If you are registered and eligible to vote on Tuesday, please do so.

Despite what you may have read and/or heard, this election is not a referendum on what if anything should be done with the post office site, nor is it a referendum on PILOTs. There are a wide variety of issues facing the township at this point in time: economic development, capital budgeting philosophy, preventative and corrective maintenance, animal control, optimal commitment of resources, traffic calming, increased development of multifamily housing, shared services, crime prevention, continuation/support of the first aid squad, emphasis on youth and senior oriented programs, use of public space, to name just a few. All of the candidates have expressed their position publicly on a number of these issues. In those areas in which the candidates have been silent, they are still available between now and Tuesday to respond to individual queries should any of these unaddressed issues (or others) be of concern to you.

Issues are only part of the equation; we also need to consider the skill set that each candidate would bring to the job. How good a listener/speaker is each candidate? How flexible are they in their thinking (could be viewed as a positive or negative attribute depending on one’s point of view)? How good are they at taking in information, processing it, and reaching a supportable conclusion? How well do they work in a team setting?

Another thing to consider is how much time and energy a candidate can be expected to bring to the position of TC member and how available they can be expected to be when members of the community seek them out.

Please consider all of these criteria plus any others you may have and cast your two votes on Tuesday for the candidates you honestly believe will do the best job for Maplewood.

Thank you, Joan, but I think posting this on MOL is "preaching to the choir".

See you at the Polls.

It seems people respect Joan's opinion. This would be a good OpEd.

ArchBroad: Thank you. This thread has been posted to MOL as a comment on numerous pre-election threads where some posters assume that the election is all about the Post office site when it absolutely should have a much broader focus. It seemed easier to start a new thread than to cut and paste the above statement to each of the numerous existing threads in which the point has been made or implied that the election is all about the post office site. I hereby give Mary, Joe, and any other hyper-local journalist who thinks what I wrote above may be of some benefit to reprint my OP statement on their website if they so wish.

Lost: You may think that posting on MOL is preaching to the choir but I am not convinced this is the case. There are still plenty of persons on MOL - posters and lurkers - who do not seem to get the broader implications of this election. If nothing else, I hope this encourages at least some of them to give a more comprehensive thought to how they will cast their votes on Tuesday.

And what are the broader implications.?

JC lists all of the issues ...not only the PO ...I know that I heard most of these issues expressed throughout the campaign in many venues ..ice cream parties, forums and street conversations .....even all the signs gave us a clue of the issues at stake ....and if one connected the dots they were able to deduce the common elements in conversations ...how things were managed with the process in all of the development ...how committee meetings were held...how committee meetings were dismantled ...that gave the answer to the broader implications .

It would interest me if you were to list the 'broader implications" as well as the issues ..then we would not have to wonder ....I feel that most know what is at stake here..but what are they for you? .any one choose to be a "you." and share ?

Well said, if you do not vote, you have no right to complain about the TC. Also true the post office deal will be well underway before any new person takes office in January.

luvmaplewood..........construction on the proposed building was scheduled to start a year and a half ago.

As matter of fact it should be finished just about now.

It is the nature of this world that nothing is certain and I will skip the cliche' about death and taxes.

Precedent has shown us that this project is among the most uncertain in terms of starting dates.

I agree that it would be great if people get themselves educated on all the issues and get out to vote. I think some people are counting on this being a low turnout election. One out of every 4 years there is no important statewide or national election on the ballot, and turnout in those years is usually quite low. It would be a shame if a lot of people sat this one out just because president, governor or senator isn't on the ballot. Arguably on a day to day basis these TC seats affect us more than who's in the White House.

icdart: By broader implications, I am referring to considerations beyond where each candidate may or may not stand on what should be done with the post office site. Not just the issues, but time and energy each candidate has to devote to the job, skill set each candidate would bring to the position, and each candidate's approach and philosophy to addressing the wide range of issues which exist at the present time and can be expected to arise within the three years that will comprise the winners' term of office.

As you state in your post, there are many issues to consider and the candidates have addressed far more than the post office site in their responses to questions, printed material, and private conversations. There are also real differences in style and substance to the way in which each has approached their response to the questions asked of them. I am not advocating support of any combinations of candidates but urging each eligible voter to learn as much as they can about the candidates running for office on Tuesday and to cast an informed vote in the primary election.

everyone has a right to complain even if they don't vote, but if they don't vote, I don't want to hear their complaints.

hankzona said:
everyone has a right to complain even if they don't vote, but if they don't vote, I don't want to hear their complaints.

I'll keep my trap shut then.

I agree with the premise that it is important to consider a broad range of criteria in making a decision (which Joan outlines intelligently), and to get out to vote. Im not sure I agree with the premise that there are many people out there who believe this election is "all about the Post Office site," though sure, there are always folks who go to the polls with one issue in mind.

I also think the number of posts about the redevelopment is misleading. If one looks closely (or not that closely) one sees that about 20% of the posts are from one person, and the majority come from about 12-15 people (though it's been great to see a few newer voices more recently). The new, younger candidate may win, but if that happens I'd suspect it would be less about the P.O. issue, and more that he is "new blood" and as a younger person with young kids he "looks" like a growing part of the population. I think there are younger folks with young kids who feel underrepresented, and whether they get out there and vote will be a bigger factor than the building. And my concern is that if he does win, supporters will say, "That proves it, we need to start from scratch on the development."

But I do agree, people should think more broadly than one issue or one attribute, and get out there.

hankzona said:
everyone has a right to complain even if they don't vote, but if they don't vote, I don't want to hear their complaints.

Hank: Since that sounds suspiciously like a complaint to me, I hope you vote on Tuesday so you won't have to listen to your own complaints.

Village Green Poll as of 10:45 am: 135 votes cast. Jerry - 70. Nancy - 40. Greg - 24. Write-in - 1.

Results thus far are very different from the Maplewoodian Poll which showed 89% of the votes going to Greg.

Hard to tell whether different results reflect a a difference in political leaning of the readership of the two sites or whether opinions are shifting as we get closer to the day of the election.

One conclusion that can be reached is that anyone having the least preference as to who should represent the Democratic Party in the November election and who is eligible to vote, needs to get out and vote tomorrow.

I think if there are Maplewood residents that are not aware of the candidates and issues today, they are not interested period. Can't wait for it to be over.

joan_crystal said:

Hard to tell whether different results reflect a a difference in political leaning of the readership of the two sites or whether opinions are shifting as we get closer to the day of the election.

Results of polls like these should come with a disclaimer: "For entertainment purposes only."

These kinds of non-random, self-selecting polls are utterly meaningless and should not be used to draw any conclusion other than the desire for page views on the part of the publication that posted it.

joan_crystal said:
Village Green Poll as of 10:45 am: 135 votes cast. Jerry - 70. Nancy - 40. Greg - 24. Write-in - 1.
Results thus far are very different from the Maplewoodian Poll which showed 89% of the votes going to Greg.
Hard to tell whether different results reflect a a difference in political leaning of the readership of the two sites or whether opinions are shifting as we get closer to the day of the election.
One conclusion that can be reached is that anyone having the least preference as to who should represent the Democratic Party in the November election and who is eligible to vote, needs to get out and vote tomorrow.

Amended: "For entertainment and business purposes only."

What about feel-good purposes? Not that much about this election feels that good at this point....

I thought it was a clean hard fought by all sides concerned election. My congratulations to all parties. No matter what the outcome tomorrow, we are all the better for it.

With nearly 200 votes, Nancy and Greg are neck and neck and Jerry is slightly ahead. Quite a horse race. One valid point that the poll makes is that every vote is going to count in this election.

The election is tomorrow...so no one is actually ahead...yet.

VOTE! Tuesday June 2....Vote for GREG!

deborahg said:
With nearly 200 votes, Nancy and Greg are neck and neck and Jerry is slightly ahead. Quite a horse race. One valid point that the poll makes is that every vote is going to count in this election.

joan_crystal said:
Village Green Poll as of 10:45 am: 135 votes cast. Jerry - 70. Nancy - 40. Greg - 24. Write-in - 1.
Results thus far are very different from the Maplewoodian Poll which showed 89% of the votes going to Greg.
Hard to tell whether different results reflect a a difference in political leaning of the readership of the two sites or whether opinions are shifting as we get closer to the day of the election.
One conclusion that can be reached is that anyone having the least preference as to who should represent the Democratic Party in the November election and who is eligible to vote, needs to get out and vote tomorrow.

The write-in was from me, as I couldn't find Bryan Adams listed among the candidates.

Thanks for the clarification @IndaSechzer -- I thought this was the actual election.

Amended: "For entertainment, business, feel-good and immigrant British spawn, guitar-carrying or otherwise, purposes only."

Inda et al...................The woman in my life and I voted via absentee ballot last week. No telling if any others have but in the strictest sense the voting has begun.

I can't wait for this election to be over so I can get Summer of 69 out of my head.

I've still got another 4-5 devices to vote on.