No Machesney president debate
March 10th, 2009 at 03:46pm Wally Haas
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.
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1 Comment Add your own
1. Mike Luke | March 11th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
This my friend is exactly what we don\’t need. Are you for real Mr. Strickland? He lied about what I said. Do you really think that people that step to that podium in the board room each week aren\’t going to lie about what you have said? Are you going to shut them down too? That\’s what got President Vaughn in trouble. Come on, be a leader and let the people of Machesney Park know who you are. I want to know what direction you\’re going to lead our village. Mr.Terrell doesn\’t appear to be affraid to let us know his direction. This is a critical decision that our voters are going to have to make. Don\’t make the mistake that president Vaughn made and think that you\’re a shoo-in just because you\’re running as a democrat in democrat town. People are obviously looking for a change and that change could very well be electing our first republican village president. They want leaders that are going to say what they\’re going to do and then doing what they say they\’re going to do. Reconsider Mr. Strickland, reconsider. We on the board need someone who is not going to be affraid to take on a challenge, someone who is going to be true to himself and not cave in the face of adversity. The voters have a right to know what direction you and Mr. Terrell are going to take us. So reconsider Mr. Strickland. Mr. Terrell doesn\’t seem to be affraid to take on a challenge. Why would he invest 6 years of his life attending our board meetings and serving on our committees knowing that the cards are stacked against him. I want to know if you know where we are on the real issues facing our village. I want to know how you feel about development? How will you work with our developers? What are your philosophies for dealing with our crumbling roads? Do you know where we are in our infrustructure plan? How are you going to deal with our debt to income ratio and declining economy? How are you going to inter act with the public, what kind of spokesman are you going to be for our village? What kind of people are you going to surround yourself with in appointments? How are you going to bring this disfunctional board over to your side? CAN YOU KEEP OUR VILLAGE MOVING FORWARD? I don\’t want to see your campaign propaganda, I want to hear YOU say it with your own lips. So reconsider Mr. Strickland because I don\’t believe you can answer those questions and you haven\’t shown me that you can. Reconsider and prove me wrong. Because Machesney Park needs someone who can answers these questions and gain a consensus among the voters. Give the people of our community the opportunity to make an informed decission. Reconsider Mr. Strickland, because we need a leader. Show yourself as a leader and take on this challenge HEAD FIRST.
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