Now that the die is cast and we know that the candidates are incumbant Chris Jones and challenger Lisa Marie Coppoletta, I thought a separate thread should be started for this city council race as it has already spilled over to the place 3 thread.
At this early point in the election process I'm leaning strongly toward Lisa because she's not Chris Jones. Chris has been little more than furniture on the city council.
If her main selling point is "I'm not Chris Jones," then Chris has little to worry about. That kind of campaign has a tendency to fall flat. Witness John Kerry, who ran at a time when liberals, moderates and a fair number of conservatives were hoping for a better option than Bush. Look where his "I'm not George Bush" campaign got him.
I Don't Speak For Lisa Marie, But I'll Vote For Her
[QUOTE=semi-native;6079]If her main selling point is "I'm not Chris Jones," then Chris has little to worry about.
I didn't say that was how she was selling herself, I said that was enough for me. What did Chris do about Sagewood while on the council? While it was his job to serve the citizens of SM. If you ask any politician about any subject they will express concern and some level of support. But action is the only measure of success.
Re. Kerry and Gore before him - they set new standards for poor campaigning. Kerry let a draft dodger "swift boat" him and Gore [who did create the internet, through legislation (even Newt Gingrich says so)] didn't care to take credit for what has been called "the greatest economic boom in history". Go figure. The result is in the White House and the subject of jokes on late night talk shows literally every night.
What did Chris do about Sagewood while on the council? ... But action is the only measure of success.
Most recently, he went door to door with a number of students and citizens, to welcome people to the community and try to make an impact *before* the problems start up again.
I don't recall seeing Lisa there. Maybe she was. I'll have to go back and check the photo.
It was hot and humid and nasty out there and anyone who showed up to try to put a dent in this problem earned a couple of points in my book
I do see Chris Jones and Mayor Narvaiz. I think I also see David Newman. I would not recornize the other candidates. Are any of them in there? Just curious.
Sounds like Chris might be more effective as a community organizer than a city councilman. Good luck on trying to solve the Sagewood problem going door to door. Since that was recent I'd file it under campaigning and not expect an unanounced opponent (at that time) to be involved. I think you are trying very hard to find a reason to support him. I find his record to be an easy reason not to.
Did the mayor have Chris on a leash?
The unannouced candidate for mayor was there. Come to think of it, there were a lot of people there with *no* political aspirations and some of them live nowhere near the problem.
I'm not trying to find anything. I answered your question about what he did regarding the issue with Sagewood. If you didn't like the example, I'm sorry.
I'm not here to campaign for Chris or anyone else.
Why don't you elaborate on the things he should have done, that he has not done?
As for the mayor having Chris on a leash, I'm not sure where this comes from. In most of the council meetings I have attended recently, the two were barely cordial and were snipping at each other at several points. I don't think they agree on much.
We have two candidates for this city council position. One is the incumbant, Chris Jones, and he has a record. What is it? Will he, can he, run on it? I just moved back to town and I'm sorry but I don't know. The other candidate, Lisa Marie, I've heard called a socialist but I think that's a bit much. Her positions aren't exactly radical in a college town. Everyone seems to be concerned about growth. What if the other shoe drops and we 86 again? Who will know how to manage economic shrinkage? I was here in 1986 and believe me this area shrank. It got so bad that by '90 opening a new convenience store made tv news as a "shot in the arm " for the local economy. Hopefully it will never get that bad again but few politicians ever learn from the past.
Like I said, I'm not here to campaign for anyone, so I am not going to trot out anyone's record and start defending it. I'm waiting to see what each candidate has to say.
Pythonlee is the one that said s/he was planning to vote for Lisa "because she's not Chris." I only pointed out that this was not a great way to win an election. Pythonlee then asked me what Chris had ever done. I provided a couple of examples and was accused of "trying very hard to find a reason to support him."
At this point, Pythonlee said that Chris's record is enough reason to vote against him. I asked for examples. Fair is fair, right?
Then, Pythonlee mysteriously disappeared and now you're here.