UPDATE, 4 p.m.: Settle down! There will be at least two forums, and Bob Turner will participate, along with John Dickert.
Turner campaign coordinator Josh Stephany says final details have been arranged for Community for Change's forum, which will be held, as planned, on Thursday, April 23, from 6:30 to 8:30 at Gateway Technical College. (The timing originally had been announced as 6:30-10:30, but surely that was a placeholder.)
Turner also has agreed to attend YPR's forum, but not at City Hall, so that organization will find another venue. For the moment, the date is still Monday, April 20, but could change if no suitable venue is available.
Original post:
Will there, or won't there, be any mayoral forums before the May 5 election?
That's the question Kelly Gallaher, who put together Community for Change's pre-primary forum, at Gateway Technical College, is asking. She says representatives of Young Professionals of Racine and the Racine Taxpayers Association -- both of which also held pre-primary forums and scheduled mayoral forums -- are also wondering about the status of their scheduled forums.
Everybody is waiting for word from State Rep. Bob Turner, who came in second in the primary on April 7. So far, he has not responded to calls from the forum-sponsoring organizations to confirm whether he will appear. His opponent, John Dickert, who came in first out of the 11 candidates in the primary, has confirmed his appearance.
We spoke this morning to Turner's new campaign coordinator, Joshua Stephany, who joined the campaign just last Friday. Stephany said he's "making all these calls today," and promised us -- and the forum sponsors -- an answer by the end of the day.
Both Community for Change and YPR are said to be considering cancelling their forums if word from Turner doesn't come quickly. YPR's, may be more in jeopardy, since it is scheduled first, on April 20, and its location would be in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, a site Turner twice refused to appear in during the primary campaign, saying political events held at taxpayers' expense would be illegal.
An opinion by City Attorney Robert Weber, issued afterwards, disputed Turner's position.
Community for Change's mayoral forum is scheduled for April 23, at Gateway Technical College. The organization has offered to collaborate with both the Racine Taxpayers and Young Professionals, if all the forums are conflated into one.
Screw Turner! Let the forums be a one man show if he does not want to come. Leaders lead, they don't hide from what are sure to be softball questions at worst.
ReplyDeleteRun and hide. It's a Turner tactic. Now he has the brother of the Democratic Executive Director working for him. Get the feeling Racine that this race is no longer about Racine but what Madison wants for Racine.
ReplyDeleteIt always has been. Mason, Lehman, Doyle, and others are trying to pick out Mayor for us. Let's not let them.
ReplyDeleteIt that true that the brother of state Executive Director of the Democratic Party is working for Turner! That should be investigated. Two democrats running and one is paid for by outside interests.
ReplyDeleteGuess the other candidate is better for Racine
I guess the Dickert camp could not keep it clean and have already started their attack mode. Well, as long as we know that the game is a foot. Let the games begin!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHe is either intimidated by speaking to the people he may soon be leading or so arrogant that he doesn't care what people think. Either way,is this who we want to be mayor? I don't. I challenge the voters of the city of Racine, get out and vote for the man who will better represent you and our city.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to investigate anything, why don't you investigate all the kick back that Dickert and Mayor Becker got from all the failed development. All one would ask on these blogs is fairness in your comments, but no you threw thee first stone. There are a lot of things that need to be investigated. Do you want more???
ReplyDeleteI supported Harding, not Dickert in the primary. I went to school with Stephany, he's from Racine.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone make a comment or thought against Turner and not be from / for Dickert? I have my own thoughts on Racine and do not like what is happening.
I guess, according to Turner, if a person thinks for themselves they are for Dickert?
I think I am going to move. A conservative has no place in Racine anymore.
Hey Jason, Let's see if we can convince Harding or Helding, or Charon to run a Write in..We conservatives should have a choice. Anyone of u 3 want to run a rogue campaign? First step would be to accept the invitation of these forums.
ReplyDeleteMaybe we diluted the primary with 11 candidates.
At the moment i'm leaning to Dickert but if a true Conservative will lead I will throw my support that way!
Hey George Meyers !!!How about you??
I think it's arrogant and outrageous that someone running for an elected position would refuse to attend any debates. Does Turner think he doesn't have to prove himself to the voters? And if he were to get elected, he would receive our tax money to pay both his State Rep and Mayoral salaries. Apparently all he's interested in is milking the system for all that he can.
ReplyDeleteIf being an assemblyman make him too busy to attend deabtes. I guess he is too busy to be mayor.
ReplyDeleteSo his excuse that the forums were illegal was garbage. He just doesn't want to do them because he knows he'll do poorly. And no, for the record, I am not part of the "Dickert Camp". As far as I can tell Dickert's "camp" has run a very clean and decent campaign.
ReplyDeleteIt's BS like this that helps me decide who I am going to vote for. If Turner can't even participate in a debate I sure as heck am not voting for him.
I am beginning to think the "Turner Camp" has people hired to get on these blogs and accuse anyone who supports Dickert and/or criticizes Turner to be nothing more than hateful people and part of the "Dickert Camp"
I think Turner was right about the forums.
ReplyDeletei would also investigate Dickert's ownership stake in the shell companies that own parcels of land around state street transit center.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder he supports KRM !
Joyce Smith, please go get an ice cream cone or something.
ReplyDeleteHopefully Dickert won't stoop as low as using Push-Polls again against Turner like he did years ago. And then he refused to turn the questions over to the media. On top of that, he got physical (pushing) a citizen out of his office years ago. A true gentleman. Moron!
ReplyDeleteIf Dickert gets in, there will be PLENTY of dirt uncovered, trust me. It will be, to say the least, embarrassing...........Imaginarium for starters??? Gary Becker all over again. LMAO.
ReplyDeleteThere isn't any evidence that either Dickert nor Becker received any largesse as a result of failed development in the city. What would they have to gain, anyways?
ReplyDeleteI would like to point out the tone and attitude of some of the posts.
ReplyDeleteI guess he/she is representative of Bob Turner supporters.
Can you imagine if he is elected mayor?
Turner Campaign = Dirt
ReplyDeleteUPDATE on the "RIGHT IN" campaign!
ReplyDeleteI spoke with George Meyers, and he is excited but doesn't want to be the "RIGHT IN candidate". I have spoken with Jody Harding via E-mail and she is willing to discuss the idea. And I am waiting to hear from Greg or Jaime.. I don't think we can be effective if more than one of them run..but we could pull an upset if we can all coalesce behind one of these candidates.
Question; will a registered "Write In" candidate be eligible to attend the Forum's?? Thanks for lighting the Fire Urban!! Lets see where it goes...
These multiple comments from Joyce Smith keep getting more and more bizarre. Here's a hint, wait more than few minutes before posting the same negative comments. We are not that dumb.
ReplyDeleteImaginarium!
ReplyDeleteA
B
D
Joyce Smith!
ReplyDeleteB F D
You can run Bob, but you can't hide!
ReplyDeletehaha that dickert being like Becker is to true!!
ReplyDeletehas anyone been paying attention to who is in the dickert campaign?!
Wow we've got Joyce Smith and friends out in full force don't we!!! Jim and Joyce, seriously, quit embarrassing yourselves.
ReplyDeleteDoesn't matter how many times you post anonymously, we all know it's still just you. We know your style, we know your way of thinking, we know your way of ugliness during campaigns. Go away, Racine was a better place whie you were dormant.
ABD?
ReplyDeleteAardvarks
Being
Delicious?
No evidence of Dickert & Becker not structuring kickback deals for themselves, are you serious!?
ReplyDeleteResearch NHS for starters....
Turner will make the best Mayor of the two candidates. He is a nice guy, honest, has years of public service experience, is a veteran, and he knows the inner workings of city hall. He has my vote!
ReplyDeleteyou probably can't even vote for him since your probably working out of town working for turner's campaign
ReplyDeleteWho is the Dickert campaign? Who is in the Turner campaign?
ReplyDeleteJust ask yourself what has Turner done for Racine in his 19 years representing us! NOTHING!!! Expect more of the same, he had his chance.... he really needs to go from Madision as well....
ReplyDeleteAnon 4:45 you know very well that it was a certain former Mayor who killed the Imaginarium out of pure political spite and pettiness. His political ‘enemies’ were doing something genuinely good for the city that was going to get them traction and he just could not abide by that. Is this seriously a direction you guys are going to take to bash Dickert?
ReplyDeleteOf course Anon 4:45 knows, she is Joyce Smith.
ReplyDeletePeople are going to stop reading these comments if they are campaign workers being nasty back and forth. I am so dissappointed with my choices for mayor. I would love to vote for a write in. Turner appears as if he is asleep all the time. I have written to him in the past and was disappointed in his responses. I would love to see him gone from Madison as well. All that said, I don't think I am going to vote for Dickert either.
ReplyDeleteAt least the community organizations are working together to bring about the forums. This is great to hear. Hopefully someone close to Turner will tell him how bad it looks when he screws them over. Why would anyone be their own worst enemy, by alienating community groups and not appearing in forums? How can you do that and win?
ReplyDelete