Election day open thread
7 April 2009
RS
53 Comments
Today’s the big day. Feel free to post comments here about your experience at the polls today. How was turnout? Did everything go smoothly? If there are any irregularities or problems, we want to know about them!
If you want to make last-minute endorsements or promote certain candidates, this is the place to do it.
Good luck to all candidates. To everybody else, go out and vote!
Possibly related posts:
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Daily Herald endorsement to the left and Common Sense Clarence Hayward’s endorsement to the right.
City Council (full endorsement)
Bob Gilliam -NO TO BOB GILLIAM
Juan Figueroa - NO TO JUAN FIGUEROA For the four year position I will supersize my vote by only voting for RICH DUNNE.
John Walters - NO TO JOHN WALTERS
Mike Warren (2-year seat) NO TO MIKE WARREN I will vote for EMI MORALES
Elgin Area Unit District 46 (full endorsement)
Kevin Echevarria I WILL VOTE FOR KEVIN ECHEVARRIA TOO
Joyce Fountain -NO TO JOYCE I WILL VOTE FOR PERCY
Dale Spencer I WILL VOTE FOR SPENCER AS WELL
Elgin Community College (full endorsement)
Bob Getz I WILL VOTE FOR GETZ TOO
Donna Schuring-Redmer I WILL VOTE FOR SCHURING-REDMER AS WELL
ELGIN LIBRARY TRUSTEES
I WILL VOTE HERB GROSS, RANDY HOPP, AND JESSICA THOMPSON.
Elgin Township
Supervisor (full endorsement)
Annette Miller I AS WELL WILL VOTE FOR ANNETTE MILLER
Elgin Community College: Yes (full endorsement) I TOO WILL VOTE YES
Endorsements given by Common Sense Clarence Hayward - The Taxpayer’s Watchdog- May the Lord give us all the wisdom to vote the best candidates into office today.
I AM PROUD TO SUPPORT RICH DUNNE FOR THE FOUR YEAR ELGIN CITY COUNCIL POSITION because of his positions regarding Proper Development, (the current council has made big money losing mistakes with development), Fiscal Responsibility, the current council is using our tax payer dollars wastefully, and Unification of the City, currently not all areas of the city are treated the same.
There are a number of service groups that I deeply appreciate for what those groups have done for all of us in the past. That is our veterans, firefighters and paramedics, and policeman. Rich is a veteran of the Air Force, and a Lieutenant in the Elgin fire department so he belongs to two of the groups that have given much for all. I thank Rich and all in those groups for keeping us safe.
As a resident, raising his family in Elgin the last 21 years he has a vested interest in making our neighborhoods safe, opening up citizen communication, and taking pride in Elgin.
MY FAMILY AND I WILL VOTE FOR RICH DUNNE FOR THE FOUR YEAR ELGIN CITY COUNCIL POSITION. Rich will help build a stronger, safer community through reliable change.
Common Sense Clarence Hayward - The Taxpayer’s Watchdog
WE CAN ONLY ELECT ONE PERSON FOR THE TWO YEAR ELGIN CITY COUNCIL POSITION. I am going to vote for a life long resident of Elgin, who has a veteran’s track record of positive service to the people, is a graduate of my own St. Edward High School, has a Political Science degree from Depaul University, a J.D. Law degree from Northern Illinois University, and along with all these accomplishments she is in the prime of her life at age 27 - EMI MORALES.
It is extremely important to have a variety of backgrounds on the city council and it is sadly lacking a more youthful perspective and all the positive energy and perspective that a late 20’s life long Elgin resident can bring to our city council.
In education and service she is already both a seasoned and experienced positive presence fpr our city equal to any of the incumbents or challengers and when you couple that with her younger age relative to the present council you have a triple winner to help move Elgin onward and upward to being the best city in Illinois.
In the primary she finished second in the voting, in my next posts I will explain why the top vote getter in the primary will not get my vote.
I WILL VOTE FOR EMI MORALES.
It is looking more like Warren if elected to the two year race might be another vote for the mayor’s agenda in my opinion. With that being said and the fact that Warren is also an Elgin Symphony trustee I HAVE TO SAY I WILL NOT SUPPORT WARREN FOR THE TWO YEAR CITY COUNCIL POSITION.
The mayor campaigned saying the Centre would support their operating budget with memberships and we have been funding that deficit ever since. I am afraid the mayor before he leaves office will want to build a new symphony center.
The symphony is really nice but they are dependent on the donations of many because they are not a stand alone money making machine so to speak. I don’t want the mayor to have the votes to build unless he has the funds that will not take away from our ever growing list of basic services that the city is required to provide to the taxpayers.
Besides, if you really have a desire to listen to the musical West Side Story you don’t have to attend the symphony. All you have to do is hang out on a street corner a few blocks from the police department and some days you can hear the gunshots for free.
I just can’t take the chance that the mayor will have all the votes he needs.
TO ALL THE CHALLENGERS FOR THE ELGIN COUNCIL POSITION AND THEIR SUPPORTERS I suggest that if your supporters don’t have any particular interest in voting for anyone other than their challenger friend then coach them that they don’t have to vote for three - four year council positions. They can super size their vote so to speak by just voting for their favorite challenger or a combination of challengers only.
One of the reasons the incumbents have a total of 65 years on the council is because they have the name recognition advantage and the more challengers there are the more this advantage plays into their hand.
A new challenger will bring out people who really are only going to vote for their friend and so they vote for that friend and since they don’t have a strong reason to vote for anyone else then because of the name recognition of the incumbents to fill out their voting they pick two incumbents and consequently you multiply that voting by all the other challengers voters and the incumbents end up getting the most votes.
It is ok to only vote for one four year council position and by not voting for any incumbents it will super size YOUR voting power.
As we go to the polls in April for Elgin City Council it is easy for me to state who I am already positive I will not support. I WILL NOT SUPPORT ROGERS, FIGUEROA, or WALTERS They were all on the wrong side of the Elgin council issue to one degree or another regarding whether the city should hire the law firm that is now currently hired by the parents group to sue our own U46 school district.
Rogers, Figueroa, and Walters should have exerted proper tax payer steward leadership and not even brought up the thought of hiring a law firm to sue the district. Although because Walters changed his mind which was going to result in a tie vote so the proposal was tabled, he as well as Rogers, Figuroa, and our own Elgin mayor were initially considering suing the district.
So the parents group goes on to hire that law firm, the district has spent about 6.7 million dollars defending the suit with no end to costs or resolution in sight, and any informed property buyer knows that this suit is costing the taxpayers big time.
If they would have done their taxpayer steward homework they would have realized that the same law firm resulted in a Rockford district having a lawsuit bill of over 250 million dollars. What leader in their right mind knowing that would want to even say the word lawsuit if they are elected to be excellent stewards of our tax payer dollars?
This is real money we are talking about and they need to be held accountable for such reckless talk by being voted out of office. That will send a message to the other council members to think twice before talking about suing another taxing body.
I WILL NOT VOTE FOR ROGERS, FIGUEROA, OR WALTERS.
One of the best values for your education dollar is Elgin Community College. Illinois State University is about 22,000 with room and board. I believe you can do two years at ECC for somewhere around 4,000 or less.
At a cost of about 7 cents per day for the bond referendum on a 200,000 home I think it will be money well spent to continue to improve the best value in our college education dollar.
Their library is sadly lacking, increasing programs for the health and fire safety programs, as well as working on infrastructure, this will be money that will benefit Elgin because of the programs it will give needed improvements to as well as the local jobs and dollars that will be returned to the local community.
MY FAMILY WILL BE SUPPORTING THEIR BOND REFERENDUM THIS TUESDAY - APRIL 7.
Common Sense Clarence Hayward - The Taxpayer’s Watchdog
We can vote for three U46 school board members. The fact that school board incumbent Spencer voted against Connie Neal’s contract will get my vote.
I am quite sure thanks in part to Fountain and Smith voting for her contract Neale is enjoying her lifetime family medical benefits in retirement and laughing all the way to the bank. I THINK THE VOTERS WOULD BE BRAIN DEAD TO VOTE FOR FOUNTAIN OR SMITH BECAUSE OF THE LAVISH CONTRACT THEY GAVE NEALE. IT WAS A CONTRACT THAT MOTIVATED HER TO RETIRE - NOT CONTINUE WORKING FOR U46.
Of the others I like PERCY AND I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH KEVIN ECHEVARRIA. HAVING GONE THROUGH ALL U46 SCHOOLS AND HAVING YOUTH ON HIS SIDE I THINK HE COULD BRING A WISER YOUTHFUL PERSPECTIVE TO THE BOARD.
With the current board being up there in years you would think that they would have the wisdom that should come with age. All you have to do is look at Connie Neale’s contract details if that were fully allowed and you can see that of the incumbents running SPENCER IS THE ONLY ONE WHO GETS MY VOTE BECAUSE HE DID NOT VOTE FOR NEALE’S CONTRACT.
I WILL VOTE SPENCER, ECHEVARRIA, and PERCY to better serve our taxpayer’s and students of U46.
The library board race is an easy one for me. Our Elgin library is a precious jewel in a downtown treasure chest that is increasingly bare so to speak. It is one of the most popular destinations for citizens. Business is booming there because they have the product that practically all in Elgin want and seek. It is second to none in America.
That being said when choosing your three to vote for, first and foremost HERB GROSS WHO IS AN INCUMBENT NEEDS TO BE REELECTED. Herb is one of the most approachable Trustees you will ever meet and twice a week he greets at the library so say hello.
Secondly RANDY HOPP WILL GET MY VOTE in part based on the fact that since 2004 he has attended every regular and most of the special library trustee meetings. Clearly he has a passion for our library.
Thirdly JESSICA THOMPSON, with an MBA in I believe Urban Planning with experience working on issues with the Chicago library as well as having youth on her side IS MY SENSIBLE THIRD VOTE. Our world is changing at lightning speed and having a younger person with both education and experience with other libraries are qualities we can’t afford to pass up.
I WILL VOTE GROSS, HOPP, AND THOMPSON.
“To any anonymous posters out there who are critical of my cut and paste I have this to say. Our freedom of speech is one of the most precious liberties we have in America.
In my opinion the letters to the editor rule of leaving your whole name should apply to these blog posts as well. They would perhaps be more civil.
The fact that my posts are all election related makes them on point in any article about the election coming up.
Besides, it is so easy to scroll past my words if you don’t want to read them. There are others perhaps who have not read the other articles so an informed voter is a better voter.
May God bless America and a special blessing for Elgin.
I am not afraid to leave my name at my posts. It would be nice to know who the true name is of anyone critical of my views and reveal it in your posts otherwise why bother to be critical of me anonymously?
Like many animals who only come out in the darkness are the posters who use the darkness of a moniker for their post rather than their real names. Boxcar, Herguth, I am referring to both of you.
Common Sense Clarence Hayward - The Taxpayer’s Watchdog
I love our country and I love Elgin. Everyone please get out and vote.
I don’t have an opinion one way or another at this time as to if the council - manager form of government is the best form of government but I do have some observations regarding it.
With this form of government in Elgin our mayor gets paid 15,000 per year last I knew and our city manager gets paid over 150,000 per year. I would say the mayor doesn’t get paid enough and the city manager gets paid too much, in my opinion.
Probably one of the reasons that the three incumbents running for the four year Elgin city council position have a total of 65 years of elected service is because of the Council-Manager form of government. I expanded on this in the post above regarding how some, not all incumbent council members were incorrectly thinking in my opinion regarding hiring a law firm to possibly sue Elgin U46 in 2004.
This election season has seen more passion on each side of issues than ever before as far as I can recall. I hope that everyone who is eligible to vote will exercise that right and come out and vote. If you are not willing to vote then I don’t see how you could later criticize how elected officials are doing without having egg on your face so to speak.
I will back up my sometimes critical remarks by voting today. I hope anyone reading this will to.
Common Sense Clarence Hayward - The Taxpayer’s Watchdog
I see Clarence has hijacked this thread like he does to all of the Daily Herald threads.
I voted today for PRIGGE, DUNNE, AND ROBINS.
How can anyone proclaim they love this country and then proclaim they will vote for an anti-American candidate in Emi Morales?
Read the LULAC platform and tell me if YOU get a warm and fuzzy feeling about anyone who is a member of that group. And she is running for an AMERICAN office?
Oh, please. Fraud. Special interest. Token candidate.
my votes are as follows…
4 Year City Council- Figuora, Gilliam, and Lenora Scruggs
2 Year- Emi Morales
Good luck eveyone!I like your insight clarence..youve clearly done your research and are not biased in your decision making like boxcar!
Not biased?
Being an anti-American candidate who supports law-breaking sounds pretty biased to me. Biased AGAINST our country.
A vote for Morales, Warren or Rodgers means there is more room for illegals. Any volunteers to open up YOUR house for them?
A vote for anyone BUT Prigge, Nowak or Dunne means more illegals can come to Elgin to take jobs, choke schools and unjustly drain city services.
Last call: Anyone want to volunteer THEIR home for MORE illegals to live?? Better vote, then. Otherwise, Elgin’s border with Carpentersville will disappear and there WILL be two Elgins just like Carpentersville.
Remember, Morales, Walters and Figueroa all said it was ok to serve as a sworn-in city council member and be AGAINST laws dealing with illegals. Say no more.
Vote those people in and here they come! And THAT’S for the next FOUR years, mind you!
I have decided one thing in the four-year race and that is Prigge needs Dunne and Dunne needs Prigge. Without each other they are useless to change Elgin. Alone, neither will be able to stand up to Schock, his stable of misfits and his newly-adopted son: Mike Warren IF he gets in. They will be the only two I will vote for in that race.
Robins in the 2-year race is the only candidate who believes Elgin has been devoured by illegals and their enablers like EMI MORALES, Mike Warren and Brenda Rodgers.
Remember Emi Morales’ trick: Get RESIDENTS involved in decision-making not JUST citizens. WRONG, Emi.
Thank you Clarence for your insight. I voted for Gilliam, Dunne. I didn’t like the others. For the 2 year race- Emi Morales.
Yes to ECC. Boxcar- people like you scare me.
Good day-see you in 2 years.
KJ
Boxcar, your posts from the beginning have been very informative and factual from the start! Thanks for the info throughout all of this. I voted early for Prigge and Dunne, and Robins-2yr! When I talk to people at the forums about you, 90% of them like your facts and uncanny insight into matters the rest of us miss. Harry Hitzeman once tried to find you at a forum, he had you paged, LOL. You must have impressed him and Jim B. I know of two of the candidates who want to look you up after this election if they win! Maybe you can reach out later. Thanks again!
Another vote for an anti-American candidate…
At this rate, our U.S. flag will be changed on the pole at city hall by Friday.
A vote for Gilliam means you love current day Elgin.
A vote for Dunne means you don’t.
Looks like two wasted votes and a third for more illegal aliens to crawl Elgin.
You must know a good Realtor.
I voted for Robins, Dunne, Prigge, and Nowak.
I voted for Percy and Spencer for U46.
I voted for Jessica for Library board.
I voted against the ECC bond.
I voted for Redmer and Green for ECC board.
As you can see I left some votes on the table. Again, good candidates are scarce.
I vote at the Am Legion on Liberty street. I think it is home to four precincts. About 200 people had voted as of 1 pm.
Oh yeah, and I voted for the Republicans for Elgin Township, mainly because of all the talk of a mental health board from the Democrats. Ronnie Reagan was surely right when it comes to the mental health issue- “Government IS the problem.”
That and the unfounded accusations of million dollar salaries for staff.
VOTE EMI MORALES
If you want MORE ILLEGAL ALIENS in Elgin, vote for Emi Morales, Mike Warren or Brenda Rodgers.
VOTE FOR EMI MORALES
If you want a council person who is a sworn-in board member of an anti-American organization (LULAC) who believes, among other un-American things, that our military should NOT patrol our border with Mexico, vote for Emi Morales.
Want to get REALLY sickened by LULAC? Go to http://lulac.org/advocacy/platform.html
Then get ready for THAT platform to come to Elgin. Say goodbye to real estate values, quality of life and be prepared for more people to get jammed into Elgin houses. Emi thinks that is ok.
If you want a token, anti-American candidate to push her anti-American agenda onto citizens then vote for Morales. Then look for a Realtor who specializes in selling to buyers who will overcrowd a house. They are out there, you know.
EVERYONE VOTE FOR EMI MORALES
No.
I voted early for Dunne and Prigge. Hubby voted today for Dunne. Keeping fingers crossed.
Also voted for ECC.
Here’s the breakdown of the 2-year candidates as I see them:
Mike Warren: Handpicked puppet of Mayor Schock. No original ideas or initiatives - none needed when you are a puppet. Selected not for his ability (none) or charisma (double-none) but for his last name because it begins with a “W”. He will be the last vote cast BEFORE it gets to the mayor, therefore giving the mayor the last TWO votes on issues. I believe if his name began with an “A” or even an “M” he would be another empty box in the “boring” store. Totally out of place in this race and, obviously, void of a conscience. Why? How could any self-respecting man go to bed at night KNOWING his only existance in this race is because of someone else. Now I know how clay feels.
Brenda Rodgers: Ineffective. Smart. No support. Hides behind the Feds when it comes to Elgin’s disease of illegal aliens.
Emi Morales: The most un-Awerican, agenda-laden candidate in both races. A friend to the uneducated. Those of us who can see thru her have altready dismissed her as what she is: a token of LULAC and SOAP, perhaps picked more for her looks than her ability to unify or even consider a CITIZENS VIEWPOINT OR CONCERN. Weak in her convictions or forgetful of her LULAC and SOAP script, she said she WOULD accept an AFLA endorsement. Her bottom probably took a big spanking after that night!
Mike Robins: A bit quirky but knows what is important in Elgin. No agenda. A no-name ’til now. No connections at city hall (a good thing) and one who can communicate. Many people like him, even his competitors and THAT’S important on this council. No push-over - another thing this council needs.
So will Ed Schock’s living puppet cash in on all the favors people in town owe his father, Mayor Geppetto?
Will Brenda sneak in on sympathy and the female vote?
Will Morales bring out the anti-American and/or liberal voters or pray that Elgin has enough anchor babies old enough to vote and stab the citizens of Elgin in the back for the next two years?
Will Mike Robins see his intense campaigning pay off as he wisely pushed the fact that he is the only candidate in his race that will do anything about the Elgin poison of illegals aliens?
I pray for the latter.
what a racist bigot you are, boxcar “A friend to the uneducated??” these are your fellow citizens you are talking about! that is very un-american if anything… Mike Robins has never came up with anything of his own..he just follows prigges advice!! the only thing he stands for is dog thetering ordinance!! VOTE AMERICAN VALUES! VOTE MORALES!! ..and btw, I talked to Robbins after a forum and he told me that he only wants to get out law breaking illegals, not Illegals who are here working hard and raising families! Something i know you wouldnt support Boxcar! better get to know your candidate!
Gee-n-Jay, are you the one that ruined a once great little ice cream stand, added horrible “Chinese” food, use cheap mix instead of ice cream for shakes, and has little kids working behind the counter?
Oh, and they are not citizens.
Another piece of evidence indicting the east side’s degradation.
I want to reiterate our watchdog comments…
It is extremely important to have a variety of backgrounds on the city council and it is sadly lacking a more youthful perspective and all the positive energy and perspective that a late 20’s life long Elgin resident can bring to our city council.
In education and service she is already both a seasoned and experienced positive presence fpr our city equal to any of the incumbents or challengers and when you couple that with her younger age relative to the present council you have a triple winner to help move Elgin onward and upward to being the best city in Illinois.
In the primary she finished second in the voting, in my next posts I will explain why the top vote getter in the primary will not get my vote.
I WILL VOTE FOR EMI MORALES.
You will vote for an anti-American, agenda-carrying candidate then.
Maybe that doesn’t bother you.
American values do not contain themselves in LULAC, like Morales is immersed in.
HER kind of energy-one of promoting illegals to scar our city further-has been going on long enough. Morales is not American. She advocates breaking laws.
That’s enough disgust for me.
Post script.
There were 17 points to pick up after Al and Charlene were eliminated.
Emi DROPPED 2 points, making that 19.
Brenda sprinted ahead, picking up 9.
Warren and Robins each added about 5%.
Interesting results.
It has been approximately 4 months since the installation of the new councilmen and I started to think about how, or if, they have made an impact on this city.
I see Rich Dunne’s name in the newspaper talking about how unsafe the Tower Building may be and other safety-related issues and, of course, recently the fire department. I AM worried about how he is going to be impartial on fire fighter topics, though. I never found out why he abstained on several votes at the last meeting.
John Prigge was an advocate of giving Senior citizens Elgin-only rebate cards. He correctly called it a “gift”. At council meetings he speaks up at least. I heard he’s also the one writing a pitbull ban. Good. No, GREAT. I wonder what, if anything, he’s done about our curse of illegal aliens and our reputation.
I will admit Mike Warren has been ok so far. He and Prigge worked on a project together (I don’t remember which one) and he does pay attention at meetings. I do think his heart is in the right spot but I would like to see him vote differently than the mayor on something. The mayor really pushed him in the campaign.
ONE THING FOR SURE: What a pleasant change from the last two councilmen, Figueroa and Walters, even after four months. There past caught up with them, thankfully.
I am afraid if the pit bull ban is written as breed specific all it is going to do is cause a lot of tax payer dollars to be tied up in litigation.
Glad to see Prigge being on the side of the people who have inadequate sewers that back up in Elgin when it rains too hard.
Clarence, why is a hundred year old sewer system in an area with 75 year old houses the central issue now but wasn’t an issue at all for you 4 months ago, last year, 10 years ago, or 25 years ago? And what about the near northwest neighborhood basement flooding that was extensively reported on a few years ago?
Because until recently when I started reading the newspapers and hearing the tragic stories live at the council meeting I wasn’t aware or the problem or was just indifferent.
Sorry I don’t remember the northwest basement flooding.
Why should Jim Johnston and others have to pay 50% of the 10,000 overhead sewer cost that might make his sewer keep from backing up. Are they 50% citizens. I have a working sewer that does not back up.
Do you think we should rally more for the bison than for these people with sewer problems?
“Why should Jim Johnston and others have to pay 50% of the 10,000 overhead sewer cost that might make his sewer keep from backing up.”
Because Jim Johnston has lived in his house for decades and has put up with it for many of those years. He also is a realtor and he never thought about moving?
If he would have saved his $200 senior gift from the past 14 years he would have had $2800 to apply to his sewer issue. If he sells his house with the overhead it will increase his home’s value.
Excellent point, boxcar.
If the problem has been an ongoing problem for many many years, city government payments to these homeowners to fix long existing problems UNFAIRLY increases their property values at my expense.
Evidently, Clarence must think City of Elgin has unlimited resources. $10,000 for homeowners in SW Elgin, another $10,000 for homeowners in NW Elgin, $10,000 for homeowners in Bluff City Blvd neigborhood, and $750,000 “gift” to senior homeowners. Did you get your $200 gift this week, Clarence?
Close the Zoo! Hell, we better be closing the parks and selling off the land to fund the above.
Also, I know people who are affected by this. I am closer to them than to the bison.
Paul,
Regarding the northwest basement flooding a few years ago I did not have as much time back then and believe it or not I did not blog.
I came late to the blogging media as for some reason I had a misconception that it was a real hassle to sign up to be a blogger. Like an elephant who thinks something is holding him back from escaping I for a long time did not venture into the blogging world.
This blogging is one of the best inventions for the common man and I would encourage readers that it is very easy to sign up for posting at any blog.
I am partial to people using their full name as it keeps you more civil if you back up your opinions with your real name but I do read anonymous posts as well.
Let’s do a quick review of the past 4 months:
Elimination of 4th of July long tradition of fireworks celebrating our country’s freedoms.
Elimination of petting zoo and proposed elimination of 100 year traditional elk, deer, and bison at Lords Park.
Elimination of free admission celebrating Elgin at FoxFirefest resulting in massive decrease in attendance.
Continuation of NEW tradition gifting seniors $200 costing city 3/4 of a million dollars because, in the infinite wisdom of the city council, seniors need (deserve?) $200 more than the poor and single mothers with 5 kids working at Walmart.
The last item proves without any doubt that the City of Elgin has plenty of money to fund anything they want to! Just a matter of priorities - amenities for everyone’s benefit or “gifts” (in the words of the mayor) for seniors.
The new council members are just like the old council members. Same old same old, with the exception of Dunne, who’s preoccupation with fire safety probably would have resulted in the closure and abandonment of the Tower building due to prohibitive costs of retrofitting it. Luckily sanity prevailed amongst the other council members.
Is anyone happy with the current direction of Elgin given the events over the past 4 months?
I have always felt since the first gifting of 200.00 that it was designed to get more votes at election time. I would bet that there are a lot more seniors with the time to go and vote than the Walmart working Mom with five kids.
I don’t think that many of us realize just how bad a situation we are in at all levels of government. The spending party is over unless you want to have your taxes raised eventually. I DON’T WANT MY TAXES RAISED.
I for one don’t think we should be spending on Foxfire Fest. So charging an admission price is a step in the right direction.
If there is no way to persuade them to not spend money on a band next year then how about lead singer Dennis Deyoung of Styx and the Elgin Symphony Orchestra backing him up? I would pay 20.00 to see that if it isn’t raining. There is tradition as Styx played at the Larkin Prom in 1973 at Blue Moon.
“I have always felt since the first gifting of 200.00 that it was designed to get more votes at election time. I would bet that there are a lot more seniors with the time to go and vote than the Walmart working Mom with five kids.”
I agree with you 100%.
Here is a defining moment for you, Clarence. In terms of ethics, integrity, principles and morals, is the vote for the $200 “gift” to seniors a correct vote?
I can image that this $200 senior “gift” is now the 3rd rail of Elgin politics. Any council member voting against it won’t get re-elected. So they sell their souls to get re-elected. They don’t do the right thing. They do the corrupt thing and sell their vote. I’d rather lose an election and keep my principles, integrity, ethics and morality intact. But then, I don’t run for election.
Which brings the question - does politics corrupt or are the corrupt the ones in politics? A lot of people claim the former. I never agreed with that and this Spring at the council candidate forums gave further evidence of the latter. It was clear to me that they were all running to primarily serve themselves. They all had a degree of preening arrogance that they were special and rather than kissing my ass for my vote I should be kissing their ass for the privilege of voting for them.
“Elimination of 4th of July long tradition of fireworks celebrating our country’s freedoms.” (Was decided under the past council)
“Elimination of petting zoo and proposed elimination of 100 year traditional elk, deer, and bison at Lords Park. (Petting zoo closing decided before the new members were sworn in. CORRECT: This council may close the zoo)
“Elimination of free admission celebrating Elgin at FoxFirefest resulting in massive decrease in attendance.” (A very SMART move. Kept the freeloaders, gangbangers and probably many illegals out of a city event. I applaud this move)
“Continuation of NEW tradition gifting seniors $200 costing city 3/4 of a million dollars because, in the infinite wisdom of the city council, seniors need (deserve?) $200 more than the poor and single mothers with 5 kids working at Walmart.” (True, although Prigge expressed his displeasure at city staff not being able to add 750K into the local economy by making seniors use their gift only in Elgin this time around. Gilliam and Schock wanted it that way, also)
“Is anyone happy with the current direction of Elgin given the events over the past 4 months?”
I am, but not overwhelmingly.
By the way I caught a glimpse of the presentation by the city if they would go to vouchers and it was a bureaucratic nightmare costing way more than it was worth in operating costs.
What do you guys think about the upcoming 2012?
Planet X Nibiru, if really exists and approaching, can be a big threat to the earth and its people.
Michel de Nostredame predicted some kind of huge space collision that will occur around year 2000.
Will the comet or asteroid really fall in the aegean sea (Greece) and huge tsunami will hit the mount Olympus (2917 metres high).
If he is right and mayans as well, it looks like the end of the world is really close.
I think something is going on alrdy… so many earthquakes in the last year, h1n1,irak….
What do you guys think? Should we worry?
Hello hello
I’m new…Nice forum !
My name is Jonathan, 25 years old (French).
Nice to meet you !
I agree with Common Sense Clarence Hayward’s comment - there is always a need for fire safety programs! Better to be prepared before the event and never need it!
Don’t spend a quarter when you only have a dime.