Can’t write in Chuck Sweeny

Add comment 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.