[Peace-discuss] Todd on WDWS

[Sandra Ahten]

I understand that Mayor Todd Sattersthwaite is going to be on Penny For Your 
Thoughts (WDWS 1400AM) this morning airing his outrage that the city council 
did not approve his nomination for ward 7 councilperson. (Lynn Barnes -- who 
is a Republican in Dem's clothing, much like Todd these days)

I called in yesterday and spoke to this issue, which host Jim Turpin was 
outraged about. In response to me saying, "Don't I think that it IS and 
issue that a candidate had never voted in a city election." He said, he just 
didn't think that was the real reason they voted her down. When asked what 
the real reason was.. he replied so they could get "their candidate" Ben 
Grosser in.

I asked why he thought Todd would be so bold as to nominate a candidate that 
really had such a vulnerable point and so had no chance of being approved if 
there was a preferred candidate. He said he didn't know and was going to ask 
Todd that tomorrow when he was on the show.

He did go on and on about Barnes qualifications because of her 
administrative job at Carle. I recieved some fodder on this from an 
anonomous source. I've posted it below, if you want to use it when YOU call 
in this morning. I am going to be calling in myself if they have an open 
line and talking about the suicides at the jail. I likely won't be "Sandra" 
because I  was Sandra yesterday. Who should I be?
SANDRA

message from a friend:

I'm struck that the street doesn't go two ways with this issue. If Patt, 
Wyman, Chynoweth voted against Barnes because Barnes was not a member in 
good standing with the "Patt Group", as Turpin and Sattherwaite suggested, 
does that mean that Barnes was a member in good standing with the 
"Sattherwaite/Turpin Group"?

The assumption by the Sattherwaite/Turpin Group that a vice president of 
Carle hospital, by virtue of her being a vice-president, makes her qualified 
for the council is not necessarily the case. At a time when health care to 
the poor is being denied by Carle hospital through their use of overpricing 
services to the uninsured, the denial of services for people on Medicaid, 
and the for-profit status of Carle Clinic; her vice-presidency of Carle 
Hospital- her silent cooperation with body attachments to collect on medical 
debt, her silence over the medicaid issue- more than makes her unqualified 
in my opinion. Her lack of interest in City politics up till now is 
suspicious at best. Never attending meetings, never voting, and now all of a 
sudden when Carle is facing questions regarding their tax exempt property 
status, she wants to "get involved" with the council? Turpin says Barnes 
brings a business savvy to the council that is much needed. Sorry Jim 
Turpin, but the way Carle Hospital does business in our community leads me 
to conclude she is a busniness savage, and not the kind of thing we need for 
ALL the residents of Urbana. If King Tod is allowed to excersise his 
perrogative to select one candidate from the pool of applicants, no surprise 
other council members excercised their perrogative at saying no to that 
applicant. But because it was done by those girls......
It was telling that Sattherwaite left his chairmanship, to smear the ladies 
in his superfluous "narrow-minded" speech, then left the council meeting 
altogether to smear further in the small press pool outside chambers talking 
to Barnes. Tod wants a show down with the gals more than he wants to fill 
the vacant council seat. Period.