Saturday, March 26, 2011

2011 - Deja Vu



Look Familiar?

This is almost identical
to the last minute
attack flier
mailed out in the
2007 election

except then it was called
the "Proviso First Party"
and it consisted of
Robin Foreman, Carla D. Johnson, and Robert Cox.

Even though the flier decried
the district's miserable test scores
demanding that the leadership
be held accountable,
when elected, they turned around
and voted to return the incumbent, Chris Welch,
as President of the Proviso District 209 School Board.


(this time, Theresa Kelly
is still on the hit list,
but Robin Foreman must have
fallen out with her cronies,
so she is being attacked now, as well)

It's these kind of antics
that continue to make the strongest argument
against having public schools at all.

There is not enough public interest
to provide any kind electoral control
over self-serving politicians.

(Note: the Forest Park Review
has refused to endorse
any of the candidates at all
as
"the downward spiral of District 209 continues")

Saturday, March 19, 2011

2011 - Proviso Elections

Proviso Township High School District 209
4 Year Term, Vote For 3


There is incredibly little informaton about any of these candidates.

From what I can gather, the following slate supports Chris Welch,
the incumbent President of the Board and
poster child for self-serving politics.

Readith Ester (once ran on the Serpico slate for Melrose Park)
Francine Harrell
Eduardo "Eddie" Anguiano

joining them on Welch side is incumbent, Robin Foreman


Opposing them are the following:

Carlos Anderson
Frank Montgomery
Theresa L. Kelly
Megan E. Sawa (who is the only one to put anything on the internet)


Kelly is a long time adversary of Welch, Anderson ran for the board last time, and Sawa actually has something to say -- so those three get my vote.

************


Board Member, Forest Park School District 91
4 Year Term, Vote For 3



John A. Tricoci, Jr.
Rafael Rosa
Francis J. Mott
Sean A. Blaylock


There is absolutely nothing
about of these people on the internet.

Shouldn't a member of a school board
be interested in something/anything
enough to be posting something about it?

Since Mott and Rosa are incumbents,
and still remain invisible,
I'm inclined to vote for their opponents.


*************


Trustee, Triton Community College District 504
6 Year Term, Vote For 2

The only information is found here




Jesus "Jay" Reyes (incumbent by appointment)
Roberto "Bobby" Sepulveda
Donna Leoni Peluso (incumbent)
Elizabeth Ann Potter

Ms. Potter wouldn't even be interviewed
for the above newspaper article,
so I'm writing her off.

Nothing stands out about any of the others,
even Ms. Peluso who has been on the board
for nearly 20 years.

And none of them seem to have
anything like intellectual interests.

It seems to be all about business, business, business.

I might not vote on this one at all.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

2011 - Forest Park Elections




The defining moment in Calderone's last term, at least as I see it, was choosing a personal friend and ally, instead of an urban professional, to be Village Manager.


Along with accepting donations from city contractors, this is why so many concerned citizens complain about him and possibly why he was unable to push through the two most recent major developments (the YMCA and the Roos Building.)


So I would probably vote for anybody else - just to get a new face in there and open up new possibilities.

But, thankfully, Tellalian seems to be an honest, serious, efficient alternative.






****************
Candidates for Commissioner (vote for 4)

Michael R. Curry (incumbent)
Matthew Walsh
Eric D. Connor
Chris Harris
Rory Hoskins (incumbent)
Mark S. Hosty (incumbent)
Steven R. Johnsen
Samuel J. Tarara
Tad P. Mossell
Elsie Norberg
Tom Mannix


Why would anybody run for office and not at least put up something on the internet, even if its only a free Facebook page?

So Tarara, Mossell, and Norberg are eliminated immediately.

Matthew Walsh appears to be a fine young man, but he shows no more thoughtful maturity on his website than one would expect from a high school senior.

Hosty and Curry are incumbent members of Calderone's council majority, and their websites show it -- i.e. they have nothing to say (and Curry hasn't changed his since the 2007 election - why bother?).

It does not appear that they intend to be independent minds in the council deliberations, so why vote for either one?

Tom Mannix is the fellow whose mother challenged the petitions of so many of his opponents. His responses to the questionnaire seem shallow, and since he doesn't mention it, I'm beginning to wonder whether he's ever even held a job.

So....

that leaves me with 4:

*Connor
*Harris
*Hoskins
*Johnson



*Hoskins has experience and he's been willing to flout the council majority.

*Johnson has a very heavy resume and also pledges not to take contributions from those doing business with the village.

*Harris at least took the time to answer the candidate questionnaire.

*And I don't know what to say about Connor except that at least he's a few years older
than Walsh.




***********




Commissioner, Forest Park Park District
6 Year Term, Vote For 2




John R Hosty
Cathleen M. McDermott
Roy J Sansone


McDermott and Sansone are the incumbents,
but I can find nothing
about them or the third candidate.
So, I probably just won't vote on this one.