Flikr.com Photo The grapevine has been very good to me. Here's some new scuttlebutt coming out of the Fifth Ward after Saturday's convention...
Some members of the Samuels camp are buzzing about at least "one, confirmed illegal registration in precinct 5-5."
Also, this is just now coming out from an anonymous source: "Jerry (Moore) shouldn't have been even allowed to vote on the credentials committee since he was not chosen from his precinct to represent his precinct on credentials committee--he was just one of the organizer's (sic) to get the committee going. No one realized it or no one called him out on his overrunning of his authority."
Those who have a contrary viewpoint, additional info, or just something to say about this matter are, as always, directed to the comment threads and encouraged to have a substantive discussion.
7 comments:
well, when he's doing time for stealing JACC's photocopier, Jerry can tell his cellmate that he also illegally voted on a credentials committee. that should really bolster his rep.
Johnny, methinks your obsessing a bit about this pidly 5th ward fight. As you should have noted by now, Don Samuels has ruffled more than a few feathers during his tenure on the council. An up and comer, Kenya McKnight, has come forward to challenge him and raised some important issues. I had a dog in this fight, in that the Stonewall DFL or which I am a board member of endorsed Ms. McKnight. My candidate didn't win though and I'll be supporting Mr.Samuels. I've let go of this race aand I'm not going to waste my time writing page after page berating Mr. Samuels and his supporters. Instead of looking like a "sore winner", maybe it's time for your blog to move on to more important issues.
To the first anonymous: that is merely an accusation, and has not been proven in any court of law. For the record.
To Dyna, I'm in the Green Party. I'm not affiliated with the Samuels camp. I call 'em as I see 'em, though, and it's pretty hard not to call a poodle versus pit bull fight for the pit bull.
Also, the race is not over. Kenya is still in it. So I find post convention fall out relevant and, clearly, other folks commenting do, too. I'd agree that when Kenya drops out of the race (if good sense rains down from heaven like manna) then coverage of the non-contest would become less relevant.
By the way, I'm surprised the Stonewall DFL endorsed Kenya. I'd be fascinated to hear some of the reasoning behind that.
To John and Dyna:
I was at the Take Action screenings for the 5th and 10th Wards. Neither Samuels nor McKnight gained an endorsement there, and although Don was ahead in each ballot, his lead diminished each time until we maxed out the number of times we cast ballots and by rules had to move for no endorsement. A few observations.
The support for Kenya came from a variety of folks across many demographics, and the same tended to be true for Don. I found this to be a positive aspect of both campaigns. The main themes behind folks' positions seemed to be youth vs. experience. Both sides rightfully claimed their candidate had "energy." Looking at each candidate's list of endorsements, it seemed like many of Kenya's endorsees were entities that placed a premium on giving political newcomers a chance, and that was the theme that led to the inability to endorse at Take Action. I must say that I find that train of thought to be intellectually and politically immature, and if that's the course Take Action takes in other endorsement screenings I won't be renewing my membership.
But the buzz regarding why Kenya got the Stonewall endorsement was that Don's written answers to them were submitted late (still within the deadline, however) and were very short and unsatisfactorily lacking in content. If that was indeed true, one would have to chalk it up to a rare misstep on the part of the Samuels campaign.
What proof is there Kenya and those affiliated with her campaign support the spirit and goals of the Stonewall DFL?
Dyna - the process and standards must be upheld - and when there are people who repeatedly break the rules ( or the laws!) for their own personal gain it must be called out!
The weeks leading up to the 5th ward convention were full of shadiness, questionable events, surprises, challenges, accusations etc etc.
The convention ended in an endorsement and cheating and lying did not prevail.
We must raise the bar for our community and prosper - whether it's education, behavior on the streets and neighborhoods - or even in the political process - we must raise the bar and not allow the bar to be lowered just to allow someone to cross the finish line so to speak.
that's exactly the right question. it's time to grow up and stop letting ourselves be ruled by the outrage artists who make their careers out of telling us that our "feathers have been ruffled." there's just too much at stake to make all this about the addictive pleasures of indignation. in case any readers have never been to a city council meeting, our neighborhood is fighting every day against impressive vested interests. it may feel good to give the job of standing up to these vested interests to a well-intentioned young college dropout, but it won't feel good to watch her, and our Northside hopes, be chewed up and spit out for the next four years.
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