Archive for March, 2009
March 27th, 2009
Even with the two-letters per candidate limit, we have tons of letters pertaining to the April 7 election. I’ve asked for an extra page to run them all and I think I might need two or three extras. We’ll maximize letters space all week so we can get as many in as possible.
Here’s a reminder on the letters policy.
A maximum of two letters about each candidate or ballot issue will appear in the print edition. Additional letters may be published online at rrstar.com.
All campaign letters — published in print or posted online — will be subject to the newspaper’s letters policy. There is no guarantee of publication or posting.
All letters must be signed and are subject to editing for brevity, clarity, grammar and spelling. No more than 200 words will be allowed. All letters will be verified; writers must provide a home address and daytime phone number.
We will automatically reject abusive letters, letters to someone else, letters from candidates and letters endorsing family members.
All letters related to the election are due by 5 p.m. today.
Letters may e-mailed to opinions@rrstar.com, mailed to 99 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61104 or faxed to 815-987-1365.
March 24th, 2009
Spring weather means more people will start riding bicycles for fun and transportation. A friend pointed out THIS editorial and asked me if I were writing for the Sun-Times, too. Nope. There are other bicycle advocates out there.
March 19th, 2009
You can’t win if you’re a member of a school board. No matter what you do, you’re probably going to displease someone. The job requires long hours, dedication and a thick skin. School board members are scrutinized as much, if not more, than any elected position and they do it without compensation. I’m sure you could name a dozen or so elected positions that require less effort and get more pay than a school board member.
And I’m sure many of you could name the seven members of the Rockford School Board before you could name seven aldermen.
Nancy Kalchbrenner and Mike Williams decided not to run for re-election this year. You may not have agreed with what they did in the years they were on the Rockford board, but you should appreciate the effort they and the other members of the board have put in.
Harmon Mitchell, who was appointed to the school board in 2007, said at the Chamber of Commerce candidates’ forum that being on the board was the most time consuming thing he had ever been involved in. He went on to say he didn’t know how anyone with a wife and kids could devote the time needed to do the job.
Many family folks have, which is even more reason to thank a school board member for the work they’ve done.
March 17th, 2009
Last week we did the Rockford mayoral debate. This week we did an interview with LaVonne Sheffield, the Rockford School Board’s choice to be superintendent of schools.
The mayoral debate had a lot of viewers; the superintendent chat, not so many. So what should we try next?
Executive Editor Linda Grist Cunningham wrote on her blog, “Editor’s note,” that we need to find a way to do a real Editorial Board meeting and not the “stilted back-and-forth.”
Linda and I talked for a bit yesterday about how to proceed. She thinks that the audio is what’s important and it doesn’t really matter what the camera picks up as long as you folks out there in Web land can hear what’s being talked about.
One thought was to set up a single, stationary camera in the room the Editorial Board usually meets and then hit record. You won’t see us all, but you would hear our conversations.
Would you view an edit board meeting if it were presented like that, or do you want to see more exciting video? We’re new to this moving pictures game so we appreciate your feedback.
March 10th, 2009
I would have liked to do a live stream debate with the candidates for Machesney Park village president, but Thomas Strickland, who upset Linda Vaughn in the primary, declined my invitation for him to debate Joseph Terrell.
I first offered the invitation right after Strickland’s primary victory and called him again today to see if he had reconsidered. He said no. He will not debate Terrell because Strickland says Terrell was untruthful about the transparency in government pledge.
Strickland said he and Terrell exchanged e-mail on the subject. Strickland said he asked Terrell how much transparency would cost. Terrell e-mailed back that costs would be minimal. Strickland says his reply was “is minimal $10 or $10 million?” Strickland says he didn’t get an answer to that question.
Later Terrell issued a press release that quoted Strickland saying “I can not support your transparency in government pledge at this time. The people of Machesney Park can not afford any more increased costs in government. You should be looking at cutting costs, not adding costs for the residents.”
I told Strickland that during a debate he could refute anything his challenger had to say, but he again declined, saying he intended to run a clean campaign and would not debate Terrell anywhere.
I asked Strickland if he would be appearing at any candidate forums and he said he hadn’t been invited to any yet. If he does attend a forum, I said I’d talk to him then. Meanwhile, the editorial board will take a look at his answers to the questionnaire that was sent by the news side.
Terrell was disappointed that he wouldn’t get a chance to debate. He said he’d debate in front of a cardboard cutout if that were his only option.
I told both candidates that the editorial board is not going to do individual interviews this election. We’ll contact them by phone, e-mail or other forums if we have any questions.
Strickland, who’s running as a Democrat, beat Terrell in the 2005 Republican primary for village president.
March 9th, 2009
Tomorrow’s debate with the four candidates for Rockford mayor will be quite a production. The 90-minute debate will be streamed live on our Web site, technology permitting. We have some reader submitted questions, including three via video, that we will try to work in.
This is the most ambitious project for a mayoral debate we’ve had here in the News Tower. We hope it will provide useful information for voters as they head to the ballot box April 7.
Chris Soprych, the mastermind behind this effort, said “we’ve done more complicated projects — but not well.” He thinks this one will go well. Tune in at 1 p.m. tomorrow.
March 6th, 2009
Here is the Rockford Register Star policy on publishing campaign letters related to the April 7 election.
A maximum of two letters about each candidate or ballot issue will appear in the print edition. Additional letters may be published online at rrstar.com.
All campaign letters — published in print or posted online — will be subject to the newspaper’s letters policy. There is no guarantee of publication or posting.
All letters must be signed and are subject to editing for brevity, clarity, grammar and spelling. No more than 200 words will be allowed. All letters will be verified; writers must provide a home address and daytime phone number.
We will automatically reject abusive letters, letters to someone else, letters from candidates and letters endorsing family members.
All letters related to the election are due by 5 p.m. March 27.
Letters may e-mailed to opinions@rrstar.com, mailed to 99 E. State St., Rockford, IL 61104 or faxed to 815-987-1365.
March 5th, 2009
The Rockford Register Star Editorial Board will host the four candidates for Rockford mayor for a debate at 1 p.m. Tuesday. Video of the 90-minute debate will be streamed live on rrstar.com. You can send questions as the debate is in progress or you can submit them in advance by e-mail to opinions@rrstar.com, by FAX to 815-987-1365 or you can post questions here.
March 3rd, 2009
G. Lee Cecil of Rockford recently submitted a letter to the editor advocating that people write in Register Star Senior Editor Chuck Sweeny for Rockford mayor.
You could do that, but it wouldn’t count.
Write-in candidates need to register and the deadline has passed. That’s another election law I think needs to change. It was probably put in place to eliminate the Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck votes and to protect the establishment guys.
But I think if voters are dissatisfied with the choices they have on the ballot, they should be able to write in whomever they want. Maybe if Mickey Mouse won an election, politicians would get the message. I doubt it, but it’s a nice thought.
Here’s Mr. Cecil’s letter:
Chuck Sweeny of the Rockford Register Star suggests in his column on Sunday, 03/01 that if he were mayor he’d hire Karen Lemmons away from Machesney Park to handle Rockford’s Community Development needs. I agree, Rockford should do just that. She’s done an excellent job in Machesney Park and is familiar with Rockfords challenges. While Rockford is at it, it should also hire Chuck Sweeny away from the Rockford Register Star to be its new mayor via a massive ‘write-in’ effort. He states a few times, ‘if I were mayor…’ in Sunday’s column.
Chuck Sweeny would be an excellent write-in candidate in this election. His views and visions are widely known and chock full of common sense and good for Rockford. The primary turnout was dismal and we only have a couple of really serious candidates for mayor of Rockford and two of them are likely to unintentionally make the election a referendum on the police leadership controversy. Some of the main and pitched issues and ideas of the last mayoral election such as the ‘Riverwalk’ that in large part isn’t even on the river, increased city services, etc, are still just ideas. Rockford needs a mayor that can actually get things done in a timely manner and make things better like Charles Box did. Perhaps Chuck can do it. Rockford has known his platforms through his columns for years. Vote For Chuck.
March 2nd, 2009
Rod Blagojevich has signed a six-figure book deal. Read about it HERE.
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