Campus Greens back Hentz, Poeschl
This upcoming Tuesday, April 5 is Election Day for local offices.
In this posting, the Oshkosh Campus Greens have included:
- What offices are up for election,
- The candidates we support,
- The reasoning why it is important to vote in local elections
Local Elections: Tuesday, April 5
1. Oshkosh City Council (vote 3): We support Cheryl Hentz and Brian Poeschl Brian and Cheryl are both dedicated working-class Oshkosh residents. Our support is based on their Honesty, Integrity, and support of the Oshkosh working-class. While we may be at different ends of the political spectrum, we feel that both Hentz and Poeschl would be very effective leaders on the council (honorable mention goes to Joe Jungwirth and Brian Bain)
2. Oshkosh Mayor: No endorsement - between Paul Esslinger and Bill Castle
3. Oshkosh School Board: Instead of endorsements, the Campus Greens encourage you to NOT vote for Ben Schneider or John Daggett. We feel that neither have education as their top priority, and that neither are well informed of our current school system. The other school board candidates are Lee Wilson and J Thomas McDermott.
4. Winnebago Cty Executive: No endorsement - between Jane Van De Hey and Mark Harris
5. District Judge: No endorsement - Between Scott Woldt and Dan Bissett
6. State Superintendent of Schools: We support Elizabeth Burmaster. Elizabeth is supported by almost all of the state's instructors, she has worked to secure quality funding levels for WI schools, and she is a strong supporter of civic engagement in our schools.
To see a sample ballot, go here.
Why is it important to vote in local elections?
Local councils are the tier of government which relate in a meaningful way. It is here that communities have a direct say in the development of their areas. Community involvement in debating the local budget will ensure that local revenue is used for the benefit of all in the area.
Local councils provide the mechanism and vehicle to plan and implement the programs that have already been initiated at national and state levels. Local councils provide the political platform for communities to become involved in the decision making processes - decision making that impacts upon individuals, families and communities.
In this posting, the Oshkosh Campus Greens have included:
- What offices are up for election,
- The candidates we support,
- The reasoning why it is important to vote in local elections
Local Elections: Tuesday, April 5
1. Oshkosh City Council (vote 3): We support Cheryl Hentz and Brian Poeschl Brian and Cheryl are both dedicated working-class Oshkosh residents. Our support is based on their Honesty, Integrity, and support of the Oshkosh working-class. While we may be at different ends of the political spectrum, we feel that both Hentz and Poeschl would be very effective leaders on the council (honorable mention goes to Joe Jungwirth and Brian Bain)
2. Oshkosh Mayor: No endorsement - between Paul Esslinger and Bill Castle
3. Oshkosh School Board: Instead of endorsements, the Campus Greens encourage you to NOT vote for Ben Schneider or John Daggett. We feel that neither have education as their top priority, and that neither are well informed of our current school system. The other school board candidates are Lee Wilson and J Thomas McDermott.
4. Winnebago Cty Executive: No endorsement - between Jane Van De Hey and Mark Harris
5. District Judge: No endorsement - Between Scott Woldt and Dan Bissett
6. State Superintendent of Schools: We support Elizabeth Burmaster. Elizabeth is supported by almost all of the state's instructors, she has worked to secure quality funding levels for WI schools, and she is a strong supporter of civic engagement in our schools.
To see a sample ballot, go here.
Why is it important to vote in local elections?
Local councils are the tier of government which relate in a meaningful way. It is here that communities have a direct say in the development of their areas. Community involvement in debating the local budget will ensure that local revenue is used for the benefit of all in the area.
Local councils provide the mechanism and vehicle to plan and implement the programs that have already been initiated at national and state levels. Local councils provide the political platform for communities to become involved in the decision making processes - decision making that impacts upon individuals, families and communities.
8 Comments:
The most progressive cities in our country, great cities such as Madison or San Francisco have a few things in common. One is leadership that is willing to make long term investments that benefit all residents. Another is investment in public infrastructure especially in areas where the market has failed.
It takes some risk and some money to make these things happen. The Esslingers, the Blochels, Brian Poeschel, Cheryl Hentz, oppose public projects like the expansion of the public library, the development of Opera House Square, and the public private ampitheater development. These projects have economic benefit to everyone by expanding the tax base and creating new value that helps keep individual taxes down. There is also enormous social benefit to each project - a community use place for literacy, arts, entertainment. None of it happens with action and money.
It is a sad day when the Campus Greens fall for the false populism and rhetoric of two candidates who offer very little in terms of vision; Whose policies and stances actually do a disservice to the working class? Have you missed the debate on labor issues or the endorsements of the Winnebago County Labor Council? Have you piad any attention to what is happening to cities across the country and which ones make and which ones don't?
Was it the smoking in the bars that the Greens supported?
Do you not like Opera House Square (Peace Park)?
Is the expanded public library you don't like?
What about the piece of environmentally contaminated property the city cleaned up and is developing into a concert venue on the river (ampitheater)?
Was it cutting wages and benefits of city employees?
Because this is what you just supported.
I must correct this anonymous poster's statement that I oppose public projects. Please tell me where you have ever heard me say such a thing. You simply do not have your facts straight, nor do you apparently care to.
For the record, I have said I am opposed to projects being done as they have - with little to no planning and only using TIF money every time a developer comes knocking on our door, or worse yet, as a means to get them knocking on our door.
This is not the same as being opposed to the projects overall. It is a shame that you refuse to hear the words that have truly been said. Perhaps once the amphitheater is built I can shout my message to you and others like you so you can actually hear it.
Cheryl Hentz
"...I can shout my message to you and others like you..."
...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing
-Macbeth
Don't waste your time in a battle of wits, with an unarmed man.
Compassion only comes to those that are faced with lifes adversities.
We continue to hear that those who are concerned with the middle-class and their plight are not progressive. That we must spend in order to move forward,we must indebt the community beyound their abilty to pay in order to make our city worth living in.
This is not creative, nor is it progressive. Who out there actually knows what the average Oshkosh family is living on? Who out there actually knows the highest population age group in Oshkosh. Who out there has shown they give a damn.
The cost of owning a home has skyrocketed. The cost of fuel has skyrocketed, the cost of healthcare has skyrocketed, the job market is flat. Yet you talk of spending on entertainment and arts as though we all have access!
You may not like people like me to speak up or out about my life and common boring issues, like worrying if I can afford to go to the doctor when I'm sick, or making the house payment or can I make it to the store, and once I actually make there what I have to budget for the month for groceries for my entire family. You probably don't want to hear that I also care for my aging parents that never had a retirement plan,401k or extended health benefits.
No, you want to talk about spending money on arts, entertainment government give aways on the river front. Please forgive me for not giving a damn about that right now..I simply can't afford the luxury.
Sorry I have to run I need to get to my second part-time job.
"Yet you talk of spending on entertainment and arts as though we all have access!"
To be honest, you do have access. The monthly art gallery walk charges no admission whatsoever, there is no fee to relax on a sunny day in Opera House Square or in Riverside Park, and even the Business Improvement District organized free outdoor movies for families last summer and is planning on doing so again. The "entertainment giveaways on the riverfront" you speak of also will contain a walking path that will stretch practically the entire riverfront, owned by the city and open to all who wish to walk along the river.
My arguement would be that you have plenty of access to the most important aspects of our city assisted revitilization, you simply choose not to take advantage. The most important facilities in Downtown Oshkosh (those which you apparently have an issue with city funding being involved with) are no cost options open to all. The Leach Amphitheater and potential Five Rivers Resort are economic drivers that deserve some level of city investment, but projects that are free and open to all create the heart of our downtown area. It is a shame that you have denied yourself access to these great places and events out of a sense of misguided outrage.
"We must indebt the community beyound their abilty to pay in order to make our city worth living in."
Sorry, I had to tackle this. Standard and Poor's certainly would not have recently raised our municipal bond rating if we were living at all beyond our means and indebting our community in any negative way.
Denied access to these great places?? First of all, these places are not even open to the public yet or in the case of Five Rivers, not even built. Second of all, you claim they are great, yet how would you know? Their greatness remains to be seen.
As far as Standard and Poor's giving us a favorable bond rating, you are so misguided. It is Moody, not S&P. Incidentally, Moody's does not look at the financial status of the people in a city and the people are the ones who continue to bear the lion's share of the financial burden.
So before we start trying to tackle other comments which have been posted here, you might be well advised to talk to some people not in your own income bracket and actually see how little money they are surviving on and ask them what these continual tax hikes are doing to their personal finances. Or better yet, if you're so confident that everything is swell in the city on the water, how about doing a life swap for a week with someone who is struggling to make ends meet. Then feel free to try posting a comment again, but only after you've walked a mile in someone else's shoes and lived for a few days on the amount of money so many of our citizens are struggling to live on.
My point was that access is not being denied to anyone from any of the events you are criticising. Go sit in Opera House Square and take advantage of it. Go enjoy the art walk at no charge. Check out books from the expanded and beautiful public library. Once the trail along the river is complete (as it is already partially complete), go walk along it. I would argue that these are things that make our great community even greater, as they are open and accessible to all.
How are you being denied access to these things? Not in the least, and to suggest so is merely twisting facts to suit your own political or ideological purposes. My comments are not meant to dismiss the very serious needs of those in our community who are less forunate then others, it was simply to defy the misleading and inflammatory rhetoric espoused by your earlier statement.
For you to suggest anything about my income bracket, or to imply an insensitivity towards less forunate within the community without knowing me or the things I am involved with in the community is fairly presumptuous and innappropriate. My comments, as mentioned, are merely a repudiation of your misleading statements that people are "being denied access" to the items that the city has been investing in over the past few years.
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