April 18, 2009

Harding not invited to Community for Change forum

Community for Change is sticking by its initial decision not to invite write-in mayoral candidate Jody Harding to its candidate forum... um, debate.

But the organization which put together the most successful of the pre-primary forums -- certainly from the standpoint of audience size -- is willing to accommodate all official write-in candidates to a certain degree, by posting on its website their answers to the same questions posed to the two primary winners.

Community for Change issued the following statement this afternoon:
Write-In Candidates who have submitted State Elections Forms EB-1 and EB-162 are invited to respond to any or all questions from Thursday's Debate. Community for Change will be happy to post them on our website in their entirety so the public may compare their answers and ideas to the candidates at the Debate.

Official Write-In Candidates may receive a copy of the questions by submitting a request to the Community for Change email address.

Community for Change as a grassroots organization celebrates the initiative of all people to become active participants in electoral politics. However in the interest of fairness, our forum was announced and planned for the candidates who won the City of Racine Primary Election. We acknowledge the support Jody Harding has in the community and we invite her to add her voice and ideas by responding to the questions in writing.
Harding won't be participating in RCEDC/RAMAC's forum Monday morning either, as far as we know. But, of course, we aren't allowed there, either... (so much for being a former RCEDC board member.) UPDATE, 5:30 p.m: See HERE.

As we noted in an earlier post, Harding filed the requisite paperwork with the Racine City Clerk on Friday. As she said at the anti-tax rally at City Hall Saturday afternoon, it won't matter whether voters write in Jody Harding, or even just "Jody" ... all such votes will go to her.

18 comments:

  1. Will write in votes for "Crazy Lady" also be counted for Harding?

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  2. Community for Change you are doing the right thing by not allowing the self-absorbed, antagonizing, all important write-in candidate to participate in the forum.

    Besides myself and my family, I know many conservatives, that wish this write-in candidate would go far away.

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  3. Why should she be invited? She ran and did not make it through the primary. She should not be entitled to speak at the forum.

    Jody needs to respect the wishes of the people, they did not vote her through, get past it already. Maybe if she gets her act together and runs for an office again down the line she could be better, but she is not capable of being mayor.

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  4. Dear Anon 3:48

    Thanks for the Inquiry..No I'm afraid "Crazy Lady" will not be accepted, however Crazy Jody, Nice Jody, Crabby Jody, "The Jody who wants to control Spending"; Mrs. Harding and most other variables of Jody and "That Harding Lady"..will be accepted! We look forward to your votes, if you think Racine is Taxes ENOUGH already.

    PS if You vote as a Write In ..Mark the Box "Write In" or the Ballot reader might miss your vote.

    We only need about 37% to win folks that's not that many.. Mssr's. Turner and Dickert will probably tie! And only 13% even bothered to vote in that primary!

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  5. TaxedTooMuch4/18/2009 7:41 PM

    Well, none of you people know what Jody is or isn't capable of. None of you really know her, do you? But, that's not the point. Now that what's happening SECRETLY in STURTEVANT is actually being acknlowledged as a DEBATE between the two primary winners, I doubt that Jody would try to intrude. You see, I do know her. But, a FORUM is a completely different thing. Also, Jody has made it absolutely clear that she would refuse to engage in any campaign activity that is not 100% open to the public and the press. This can not be said for any candidate that appears at the, so called, "debate" on Monday morning. Because it's only being held for the RAMAC and RCEDC members, and behind closed doors, it's more likely to be a deal making session between the two liberals and these left leaning organizations. Ethics boys, ethics. Any candidate that shows up for this is showing the people of Racine that they have none.

    If you want to see REAL transparency in government, come and see Jody on Monday morning at 7:30 on the Memorial Hall steps. She'll answer any questions you put to her IN PUBLIC!

    And as for Anon 3:48, could you sound anymore hateful?

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  6. Thanks for your input Kay. I certainly understand your point, but since less than 1 person in six even bothered to vote in the primary, it's really unfair to point out that "Jody" was rejected. She was a virtual unknown just 2 months ago. And we managed to raise quite a bit of energy in a short time, with very little money, in a very crowded field.

    If Mssr's Dickert or Turner represents you and your "Conservative Friends' views then by all means vote for them. Our team waited to see if one of the primary finalists would demonstrate a seperation of issues within the first week. Or if they would make an appeal to You, me, and your "conservative" friends, but neither felt it was necessary to appeal to the Moderate or right.

    Everyone knows that Write-ins NEVER work.....except when they do! Conservatives NEVER win in urban areas, except when they Do!

    Maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle this time? I hope you will look at your "Conservative" ideals and realize that only Jody can be your candidate. It won't matter otherwise.
    As for the forum, we thank them for consideration and will consider responding to their Questions. We will post Jody's answers on her web site jodyformayor.com

    Jody will be taking Questions from Citizens and the press on the Memorial Hall Steps at 7:30 AM Monday Morning. If you can't make the event please feel free to e-mail questions, to Jody's web site.

    Thanks Racine for the enthusiasm behind our Write-in candidacy!

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  7. Harding has been invited to be interviewed by the Insider News publisher Ken Lumpkin and she has accepted.

    The video tape of the interview will be posted Tuesday.

    If you have questions to ask Harding, email them to insider@wi.net-Attn. Ken in the subject.

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  8. Dear Jody,

    Why do you hate Racine? Every time I hear you talk about this city I want to kill myself. According to you this is the most depressing, over taxed, crime ridden, soaked in despair wasteland you have ever seen. But the lake is nice! You want to be our Mayor and work with Alderman that today you openly mocked by calling them "mindless and inept." Maybe your approach is so genius that I'm the real idiot and don't even know it, cause it seems pretty stupid to me. But then again, I was raised here and don't have any marketable skills because of my public education which you so readily point out. It's really unfortunate that all of these uneducated people that you said can't even show up to work on time are the ones you are counting on to be able to actually write your name on the ballot. Maybe that's why you keep pointing out that it can even be spelled incorrectly! You know we're dumb. Man, you are a genius!

    Yeah, good luck with that.

    And by the way, this Team Jody! campaign troll has got to go. I'm going to act all happy to put out the positive vibe to counteract my candidate's openly outward divisivness!

    I can paraphrase his comments on this blog with a quote from Dumb and Dumber (how ironic!)

    "What are my chances, like one in a hundred?"

    "No, ah, more like one in a million."

    "(Excited) So you're saying there's a chance!"

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  9. TaxedTooMuch4/19/2009 3:28 AM

    Anon 1:10AM, you're not listening. The past 36 years of Democrat Demolition that's been going on in Racine have been driving businesses out of here at a steady pace. The reason we have such an uneducated and underdeveloped workforce is because those that have excelled with an education have been forced to follow those businesses out of town in order to work for them. The cream of our crop has no choice but to leave town when the City Council consistently over-taxes and over-regulates businesses into oblivion. Those that are left DO have the attitudes of dispair because they know Racine's government isn't going to do anything to entice business back. You get leaders like Gary Becker that think painting the buildings downtown and prettying up parks is going to bring people and business back to Racine. Talk about braindead, WAKE UP!!!

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  10. taxedtoomuch

    You're funny. Jody Harding for the past two months has been calling you an uneducated, depressed, unskilled and chronically late to work. And you're like, yeah she's right. I do suck! This is the candidate for me!

    Be honest, all she had to say was tax cut and you were salivating waiting to sign up. Like that solves all of our problems.

    And then in a moment of brilliance you actually said this:

    "those that have excelled with an education have been forced to follow those businesses out of town in order to work for them. The cream of our crop has no choice but to leave town"

    You just called everyone currently working in Racine stupid, including yourself. Congratulations.

    I know a lot of people that work here that respectfully disagree with you and the Racine Hating Jody crowd.

    And about the "prettying up parks and painting buildings" not bringing business in - it's called quality of life. Hello! It is a part of the whole package of attracting business. The same way a clean park alone will not bring business, neither will a tax cut for $1000. But maybe it's just me because Jody Harding did say after all that I'm undeducated and you confirmed it by saying all the intelligent people left town.

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  11. Jody Harding is a joke. She has no idea how government works. She blames the city council for mindless spending and thinks she has veto power. 99% of what the council approves has been iniated by the the administration. The council does not have the abiity to add earmarks or pork barrel spending. And these cuts that Harding was proposing-she has no clue how budgeting works. Anyone who thinks Jody will get more than 100 write in votes is delusional-she will have to raise and spend more money than dickert or turner combined.

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  12. I'll chip in on the Jody campaign. Here's an idea for a new sign:

    Jody for? Mayor

    - I'll hate you so much that you'll love me for it.

    Despair, despair, despaaaaaiiiiiiir! muhaahhhahhahhahahha!

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  13. TaxedTooMuch4/19/2009 9:00 PM

    Again, you don't get it. She is not calling the people that live and work in Racine stupid. You're doing that, and proving just how much it applies to you.

    In 1st grader terms, and I'll type slowly so you can understand:
    1. The previous administrations refused to offer tax incentives to businesses that wanted to come into Racine. That brilliant move kept them out of Racine (ergo Renaissance Business Park sprang up because ANOTHER TOWN had the good sense to listen).

    2. Over taxation and over regulation forced even more businesses out of Racine. Thanks to the same lame brained thinking. What were those qualified workers left to do? They had to move with the businesses. That means well educated, qualified workers were forced to leave town to follow those jobs. Get it?

    3. What does this leave behind? The less skilled and undereducated workers. Not stupid people, as you like to call them. Just not the same caliber of workers that had to follow the companies out of town to continue to work and make a decent wage.

    4. Now, the previous administrations have chased business out of town. Here comes a new crop of high school and college graduates. What are they supposed to do? Theres' no longer any manufacturing or tech companies here to work for. Johnson's and the few other companies that are left can't employ them all. So, this new highly intelligent cream-of-the-crop educated workforce has to leave Racine to find good paying solid jobs.

    Everything Jody stands for does not revolve around tax cuts. Everything does not fall under that umbrella. But, when you have a mayor that thinks painting buildings and cleaning up parks is going to bring people and businesses back to Racine when he refuses offer any other type of incentive to businesses to come here, lets crime run rampant, continues to waste the citizen's hard earned dollars on interactive fountains and the like when our education system is suffering, and thinks just throwing money at every problem is going to fix it, you've go another think coming.

    Please sit back and remember, if you can, what Racine was like 30 years ago. It has nothing in common with what you see today. Then a beautiful, thriving, active community, and today a depressed shadow of what it used to be. Wake up, please!

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  14. Hey, I didn't say the people in Racine are stupid - you and Jody Harding did. Was this not you?

    "those that have excelled with an education have been forced to follow those businesses out of town in order to work for them. The cream of our crop has no choice but to leave town"

    Anyway, you just wrote, what may go down as the dumbest thing in Racine Post history. Maybe Jody was right about you!

    AND I QUOTE!

    "I'll type slowly so you can understand"

    Thanks for the laugh! I'm not sure what alternate universe you live in that your typing speed has something to do with my comprehension level, but hey what do I know! I live in Racine and am thus not the cream of the crop or educated according to you and Jody Harding.

    After that brilliant prose, I'm not sure if I could take anything else you wrote seriously, but what the heck I'll give it a go.

    "The previous administrations refused to offer tax incentives to businesses that wanted to come into Racine"

    Yeah, I'm sure that was 100% the reason. And by the way, if they would have given them some enormous tax cut (whew! I get chills every time I hear that) I bet a bunch of fake Christians would be on the lawn of city hall on a Saturday afternoon complaining about it. Jody Harding would call the aldermen "inept and mindless".

    And with this enormous tax incentive that you proposed, what should get cut in return? How much are you willing to pay in taxes to let the city go buck wild with all of these incentives? I'd love to see these conservatives step up and offer to front the money since they have so much disposable income.

    And since when is it impossible for a citizen of the city of Racine to work in Mount Pleasant or the surrounding areas? If the job ended up there I think most people are smart enough to go apply. And you get to save your precious tax money! Sweet deal for you I'd think. But I forget that you and Jody Harding said I was stupid. Of course the idiot people of Racine wouldn't think to apply for a job that is not located within the city limits. That would be nuts!

    "What were those qualified workers left to do? They had to move with the businesses. That means well educated, qualified workers were forced to leave town to follow those jobs. Get it?"

    Actually I don't - please see above. Manufacturing jobs aren't moving from Racine to Michigan. They're moving from Racine to China. But the good news is that I've always wanted to visit China. I'll be sure to go there to get one of our jobs back and go hang out with all of the Racine expats you think are living there.

    "What does this leave behind? The less skilled and undereducated workers."

    Wow! You and Jody Harding have labeled the Racine population yet again. It sounds like a gross generalization to me. Did you hear that Racine - if you live here you must be stupid because all the smart people already left. What a great message from Jody Harding. What does that say about the businesses that are here and operating as well. They must be really, really stupid according to Jody Harding. Not only are they here in this pit of despair, but they are over-taxed and are forced to hired stupid people because all of the educated ones are gone.

    You and Jody Harding have just managed to insult every professional working in Racine. Good work. Are you sure you're on her side? It's hard to tell.

    "Please sit back and remember, if you can, what Racine was like 30 years ago. It has nothing in common with what you see today."

    Ok, I'm fully reclined. Should Racine be like it was 30 years ago? Well, no - times change and we have to change with it. That means forward thinking and making investments in the future which may mean....oh no! Taxes! I know what you're thinking. Probably something like: But, but, I want everything for free! I want everything and I don't want to pay taxes! I'm overtaxed as it is!

    Tough. If we want to move forward and improve this town, the reality is it is going to take some money. Progress isn't free.

    Did I type that slowly enough for you?

    Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

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  15. Anon 10:49-

    I love you.

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  16. I love you too, anon 10:49. You have groupies now. Have you ever considered running for an elected office?

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  17. I have no doubt Jody will get way more than 100 votes. You can pick at her personality and looks if you are so bored. She is obviously not trained in public relations, but I can overlook that to get someone in there who will start working at the city's debt. I am glad she is running. I don't see a reason to even cast a vote for Dickert or Turner. I don't think there is a difference in what they will do for Racine.

    Kay, I don't know why you are so nasty. Write in candidates are legit. I would have written in some nonsense name, and now I have a candidate. I am happy, what is your beef with that?

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  18. Technically 150 votes is way more than 100. It's like a 50% improvement, so you might be right. She will get way more than 100 votes.

    Wait, did I just do math? Surely I don't live in Racine then according to Jody Harding and the Racine Haters.

    "She is obviously not trained in public relations, but I can overlook that to get someone in there who will start working at the city's debt"

    Wow, the endorsements from what I though were supporters just keep getting better. How is someone supposed to work on the city debt with alderman that are "mindless and inept" according to Jody?

    Yeah, I'm sure they would be dancing in the streets at the mere possibility of working for this intellectual superior. Bow down before Jody you mental midgets! Behold......thought!

    Teach us, oh master of sadness Jody, of this this magic you call thinking. Is it as I have been told? Do you have the power to restore intelligence to this land? I fear your mysterious magic sharp pencil but believe in its many powers.

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