posted by Joe Polk at 1:58 AM /
15 comments
The following letter to the editor was submitted by Robert Gardener:
Dear Neighbors,
Election time is here again. Included on your ballot this year will be five openings for new School Board members and 3 openings for Commissioners.
Early this year I reached out to residents who I believed would make strong candidates. Far too often potential candidates said they were interested, but they were not willing to risk the ridicule that came with public office. They were not willing to have their spouses, their coworkers, and their children hear their intelligence, ability, and (worst of all) their integrity being questioned with the vehemence we have seen over the past year. They were willing to work hard and undergo public scrutiny, but they were not willing to have their character assaulted.
The reaction of these potential candidates leads me to these questions: Are the best possible candidates heeding the call to public service, or is the field stunted by the super-charged rhetoric that we’ve now come to expect? Are the few residents that often drive this rhetoric making Mt Lebanon a better place to live? Or are they hijacking the discussion and in doing so, suppressing the wider view the community could be offered if the field of candidates was broader? I believe the latter.
A fresh example of this hijacking came to light this week. Elaine Gillen, candidate for Commissioner in Ward 3, has served her potential General Election opponent, Kristen Linfante, with legal papers challenging the authenticity of the signatures on Ms Linfante’s nominating petition…including a challenge to the signatures of Ms Linfante’s CAMPAIGN MANAGER and her HUSBAND. Obviously, this is a calculated attempt by one candidate to distract another candidate. It is a cynical attempt to keep a candidate from having the time and resources (Ms Linfante will have to pay a lawyer to represent her in court against this frivolous charge) to reach out to voters…to reach out to us. (Full disclosure: I am a supporter of Kristen Linfante).
This is by no means a call to limit Free Speech. It is, instead, a call to Speak Up. A call for the community to reject the nay-saying negativity of a few residents with the same vehemence with which they have foisted it upon us. Go to a meeting. Write to a blog. Write a letter. Demand that our candidates offer positions on issues so that we know what they stand for, not just what they are against. Most importantly…VOTE.
Sincerely
Rob Gardner
Dear Neighbors,
Election time is here again. Included on your ballot this year will be five openings for new School Board members and 3 openings for Commissioners.
Early this year I reached out to residents who I believed would make strong candidates. Far too often potential candidates said they were interested, but they were not willing to risk the ridicule that came with public office. They were not willing to have their spouses, their coworkers, and their children hear their intelligence, ability, and (worst of all) their integrity being questioned with the vehemence we have seen over the past year. They were willing to work hard and undergo public scrutiny, but they were not willing to have their character assaulted.
The reaction of these potential candidates leads me to these questions: Are the best possible candidates heeding the call to public service, or is the field stunted by the super-charged rhetoric that we’ve now come to expect? Are the few residents that often drive this rhetoric making Mt Lebanon a better place to live? Or are they hijacking the discussion and in doing so, suppressing the wider view the community could be offered if the field of candidates was broader? I believe the latter.
A fresh example of this hijacking came to light this week. Elaine Gillen, candidate for Commissioner in Ward 3, has served her potential General Election opponent, Kristen Linfante, with legal papers challenging the authenticity of the signatures on Ms Linfante’s nominating petition…including a challenge to the signatures of Ms Linfante’s CAMPAIGN MANAGER and her HUSBAND. Obviously, this is a calculated attempt by one candidate to distract another candidate. It is a cynical attempt to keep a candidate from having the time and resources (Ms Linfante will have to pay a lawyer to represent her in court against this frivolous charge) to reach out to voters…to reach out to us. (Full disclosure: I am a supporter of Kristen Linfante).
This is by no means a call to limit Free Speech. It is, instead, a call to Speak Up. A call for the community to reject the nay-saying negativity of a few residents with the same vehemence with which they have foisted it upon us. Go to a meeting. Write to a blog. Write a letter. Demand that our candidates offer positions on issues so that we know what they stand for, not just what they are against. Most importantly…VOTE.
Sincerely
Rob Gardner
Labels: elections, letter to the editor, robert gardener
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