Here's a comment that was made to the mayoral candidate posting that deserves to see the light of day as a posting of its own.
I am accepting it as a posting from Graeme Thomson, democratic candidate for mayor in Morrisville. If it later turns out not to be his posting, this will be removed.
In the interests of full disclosure, I believe this is the same person who was the administrator of several websites many of our readers are familiar with, but I would provide the opportunity to let the poster make that disclosure. It might make some people wonder how fervently this poster advocates investment in Morrisville while his friends would not.
Graeme has left a new comment on your post "3 Dems running for Morrisville mayor":
I guess it is time for me to chime in and introduce myself.
I am running for mayor I decided to run for mayor the day our incumbent told the school board and citizens at a school board meeting something to the effect that he had spoken to 1000 people about the school issue. It is time for absentee mayor to end and to bring someone in to the position.
I moved to Morrisville, I decided to live here, because of the town and because of the people.
When I chose Morrisville for my home I worked in New York, it was certainly not because it was close to where I worked but I wanted a home where I could raise my family. I can’t think of any place better then Morrisville.
I worked for 12 years in "Advertising and Public Relations", I know better then any of the other candidates how to talk to business leaders, and I know how to show them what a great opportunity Morrisville is.
Morrisville has some hard times ahead if we do not select a business leader. The Calhoun Street Bridge is about to be shutdown for an extended period of time cutting seriously into the number of consumers coming in to Morrisville. To make matters worse PA has increased the taxes on tobacco, making it more expensive for people from New Jersey to here and buy cigarettes then buy them in NJ. I do not smoke and wish we had a better “draw” in Morrisville but at the moment it is the biggest “draw” we have for consumers. More people come to Morrisville to buy cigarettes then any other single item. While they are here people stop at some of our other business. Weather they buy a slice of pizza or a haircut every dollar they spend while they are here adds to our economy.
We need to take strong action to remind Morrisville residents of Morrisville, this is the prime time to do just that. With the cost of fuel on the rise again it is time for the town to learn how to shop local again. During the 2nd world war there were billboards all over reminding people to conserve fuel. That combined with letting people know what businesses and services we have will bring local consumers into our shops. As the shops do better in the area we will be able to meet with business owners and show them that stores in Morrisville can make profit, if you gave a business a tax free ride they will not move here if they do not think they can make profit. It will be a long process, bringing more business into Morrisville but together we can.
As for my being a puppet, life would be a lot simpler if I were. The only person who tells me what to do is my wife, and honestly even she is not completely happy with those results☺ I have always stood up for what I believe and will fight for what I think is right, and though I am willing to listen to other opinions, my decisions are my own not what I was told. I think about my words and actions before I speak or act, so I do not need handlers.
With the work and this campaign keeping me busy I can not promise to keep popping in to this blog, but I am a computer nerd both professionally and at home so this is as good of place as any to leave questions.
Even if you do not vote for me in May I hope you will get out and vote. I also hope you will support who ever is elected in November.
Think Green, Buy Local
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
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8 comments:
Tom Wisnosky is not an absentee mayor. I've been at plenty of meetings where the mayor has been. He has always been an active promoter of Morrisville. I do not always agree with him but I put up "Wisnosky for Mayor" signs on my lawn twice now and if he asked I would do it a 3rd time.
First off, I commend Graeme for commenting on this blog.
I'm having a tough time with this Mayoral election. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of any of the 3 candidates. I know the least about Graeme, and wouldn't recognize him if I saw him. So, yes, in that sense, I guess April 15th is about time Graeme introduced himself, since the May 19th election is coming up fast. At least I know what Pat Schell & Rita Ledger look like, although I generally don't agree with what they say or how they say it.
That having been said, this was Graeme's chance to shine, to tell it like it is in his own words, to inspire. In my opinion, he fell far short.
Grame's main "plan" for improving Morrisville's business climate seems to revolve around keeping the Smoke Shops humming, especially with NJ smokers (who, despite his admonition to Think Green and Buy Local are doing neither because they're getting in their cars and driving across state lines to buy their cancer sticks).
His "plan" also mentions billboards and other WW II-style admonitions reminding Morrisville people to shop in Morrisville, which will apparently then encourage other businesses to come to Morrisville in search of profits. He seems to be against tax breaks (e.g. LERTA's) to incentivize businesses to come here.
I'm not impressed.
For starters, Graeme could help his case with me and many others by coming clean on his role in the June 2006 posting of the Bath School Bombing story on the QSRE website. You were the webmaster at the time, weren't you? Even if it wasn't your original idea & you only posted it, who came to you with it?
Jon,
I am less concerned that Graeme Thomson is, or was, or is suspected to be the anonymous administrator of any blog, and whether (not weather, Mr. Thomson) he published a controversial e-mail. Should STS run for office, I would judge him on his (or her) publicly stated positions, hoping that he (or she) was honest enough to put forth truthful intentions and opinions.
That having been said, I am believing that Mr. Thomson is doing just that in this tome that bears his moniker.
I perceive that he believes that the mayor is not effectively interactive with the community, and I will judge this statement against the statements of friends like Kevin who say "I've been at plenty of meetings where the mayor has been. He has always been an active promoter of Morrisville."
I perceive that Mr. Thomson believes in regressive methods to revitalize this town, as he has honestly put forth in this public statement.
I perceive that the mayoral candidate believes that cigarettes are Morrisville's single greatest commodity based on his public statement "More people come to Morrisville to buy cigarettes then (SIC, though the proper use would be 'than', Mr. Thomson) any other single item." It would appear from his comments that he fully supports this methof of revitalizing Morrisville, and I can draw the conclusion that he would support other types of unwanted revenue sources, such as burlesque shows, if they proved to successfully increase traffic to our town in hopes of stimulating (something?) our economy.
I can and will judge Mr. Thomson on his public statements rather than on allegations and rumor, because, quite frankly, I believe he will paint a clear picture of what he is about by the time I visit the polls. And Mr. Thomson, you can believe me when I say I will be out to vote in May and November!
I generally agree with you Borows that the decision to vote or not vote for him should be mostly based on his positions related to the office of Mayor. And like I said, I wasn't impressed with his first posting. Maybe he'll wow me with additional postings.
The Bath School thing gets to a character issue with me, though. If you say you're not a puppet and your words and actions are your own, then explain what you yourself did. That incident upset a lot of people, and rightfully so.
Comment posted for a third party"In response to Jon and Borows - In case readers are unaware of what this discussion is about, a link was posted on the QSRE website in June 2006, when the "Stop the School" debate was at its ugliest. The link went to a story about the Bath, Michigan School bombing, carried out by a school board member angry about the cost of construction of a new school. 45 people, mostly children, were killed and many more were injured. The posting on the QSRE website, as I recall, told readers to "Click here for an amusing story", or some such words that many of us found chilling."
For reference sake, here's the link to the Bath School site that was referenced on the QSRE's website.
Additionally, FYI, here is that QSRE (a.k.a Morrisville Citizens) domain registration in Mr. Thompson's name: http://www.networksolutions.com/whois-search/morrisvillecitizens.com (the Stop The School registration has lapsed so it is no longer in his name)
Mr. Thomson,
Let me start by saying thank you for reaching out to our little community of blogheads. I am hoping we can engage in some discussion and better understand your candidacy.
I'll be frank, your association with the QSRE makes me skeptical. I realize this may be unfair as we've never met (AFAIK) and I know nothing about you other than your name is attached to the QSRE and Stop The School crowd. In my experience, people can generally be judged by the company they keep, and in my opinion the QSRE/STS crowd is what this town does not need; they (or at least the most vocal among them) stand for stagnation, status quo, anti-progress.
That said, I am interested in knowing how you would improve Morrisville's position in the world. How did you feel about the Gateway project? How would you handle the legal wrangling of the proposed burlesque club? Smoke shops? In your mind, what are the top 3 things that are wrong with MV and how do we fix them? (notice the inclusion -- this is task for us all) What are the top 3 things that are RIGHT? And how do we capitalize on them? Have you read the 10 year improvement plan that was done last year? Please give us your thoughts on that.
If the other candidates are out there reading, I'd love to hear your responses too.
I suspect most of this blog readership will be voting in May and November. I know I certainly will.
To Jon, Peter, STS and others:
I appreciate your clarification of the Bath School posting on the QSRE site. I in no way mean to ignore the importance of this association nor the extremely unsettling reference made by someone (anyone) who seeks to guide our own school district.
In the manner of other posters here, I wrote my above missive in a rather subtle tongue-in-cheek manner in order to show that regardless of any alleged anonymous postings, the candidate has made clear, in my mind, that he has policy positions I cannot support.
Serendipitously, on NPR's Morning Edition this morning there was an article on the Bath School bombings with interviews.(Disclaimer: I am not bringing this to the readers attention with the intent of making light of the subject, nor of associating it in any way with the Morrisville School District, nor of implying that this might or would happen here. The editor of this blog, should he/she decide to include this, is not responsible for my opinions nor my references.)
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