(73rd in a series of posts on candidates for election)
Gadfly doesn’t want this to turn into the thread that never ends.
But suffer him one or two more on the election.
He can’t resist a shout-out to ALL the candidates — winners AND losers.
It takes some inner fortitude to run for office. Seriously.
And we not only had good people with that fortitude, but we had enough candidates that we had choice.
You know that Gadfly was urging you to be informed voters.
And that the goal of this thread was to provide information.
There were audios and videos, but the key part — the part that you could get nowhere else — was the Q & A’s.
It is utterly remarkable that the candidates did one or two mini-essays each week for two months — that’s 8 weeks — and that’s in addition to the usual neighborhood canvassing, the meet ‘n greets, the candidate forums, and the etc., and etc., and etc. that it takes to run for office.
When was the last time YOU wrote an essay?
Amazing!
In his Lehigh Valley Ramblings blog Wednesday, Bernie O’Hare noted that voters where he was were complaining about the scant information on the candidates.
Not here, not here.
We had lots of that information.
And so Gadfly wanted to give a loud shout-out to all the candidates. I think we shared the common understanding that the Q & A’s were fostering informed voting.
Gadfly gave that loud shout-out at City Council last night. Listen!
As part of the shout-out Gadfly prepared a list of memorable soundbites from each candidate. Unfortunately, in the limited time-frame of public commentary at Council, he could not do them all.
So he did the three “losers.”
The point is that all the candidates gave us something to think about. And the “losers” deserved to be highlighted.
Here is Gadfly reflecting back on his own memorable soundbites from each candidate.
- Will Carpenter: “It is most important that people are looking when the sunlight is let in.” Will urging us to be active, not just sitting back and waiting for Council or the Mayor to do something for us. An important prod.
- Carol Ritter: “It’s so good to feel comfortable walking our streets — it’s a gift.” A gift from our police, our city Administration. Carol reminded me of what I may be taking for granted without giving thanks.
- David Saltzer: “Everyone goes home.” The motto of those working in public safety. I will certainly remember that phrase when the support for our professionals is on the table. We forget how dangerous their lives are.
- Paige Van Wirt: “I see a Bethlehem that uses data to drive decisions, not campaign donations.” And I’ve seen evidence of the latter, yes I have. I look forward to discussions of ethics.
- Willie Reynolds: “[describing the planning process] It involves government leveraging the best assets we have — the passion of our citizens.” I, like many others, feel strongly about some things and want to participate.
- Michael Colon: Some people have the image of Bethlehem as a “rusty old steel town,” but Michael envisions a litany of vibrant activities, for “when we stop moving, the rust comes back.” The Tin Man from Wizard of Oz comes to mind. Oil us up, Michael.
- Grace Crampsie Smith: “My family of 9 would never have survived had it not been for the good will of our community.” There are lots of such families out there. We need to be that kind of community.
7 candidates — all winners.
Gadfly learned from them all, celebrates them all!
