[Prairiegreens] RE: [UCprogressives-discuss] Re:
[Peace-discuss]Fw: Election Commission
Ken Urban
kurban at parkland.edu
Wed Oct 27 14:40:59 CDT 2004
Mr. Fabri,
1) The letter to Green candidates asking them to run from a government
official is intimidation, especially when that letter was used in court
as evidence against them. Intimidation is not a progressive value.
2) You tried to exclude third parties from the ballot over such weighty
issues as petition signers not using Jr. and Sr. after their name. SLAPP
suits are not a progressive tactic.
3) You talk in the champaign county Democratic party newsletter
(http://www.champaigncountydems.com/newsletter.pdf) of how the "Local
Democrats are used to having the cards stacked against us." and the
"Republican attempts to block two Democratic candidates from the ballot
aren't too surprising.", yet you turn around and do the same thing to
another party. Bullying is not a progressive action.
4) The living wage was agreed to by the Republicans too. That's a
blatant misrepresentation of the facts. (Again, not too progressive)
5) You say the 'presumably well-intentioned people' are helping the
'Republicans' to win. One of the ways that the established parties can
suppress others is to say that we are naive and that we should go away
and let you get on with the business of running government, the other
tactic is to call us un-American, socialists, communists and terrorists.
David Cobb said this in he speak Monday evening. Fear-mongering is
not a progressive tact.
6) "Green Party candidates are on the ballot in Districts 7, 8, & 9"
_in spite_ of your best effort to keep students from running. David
Cobb is on the ballot in at-least 29 states despite the efforts to keep
him off. David Cobb is a write in candidate in Illinois in all 102
counties and 10 municipalities despite the Democratic Party efforts. As
I stated in my letter to the ACLU, restricting ballot access is not a
progressive cause.
7) "Their candidacies give real hope to local Republicans that they can
defeat incumbent Democrats Janet Anderson ...". This is not true.
There are 2 open positions, there is only one Green (myself) running in
this district. Also, everyone is getting tired of the 'spoiler'
argument. Rather than doing the _hard_ work of convincing people to vote
for you on the issues, your are spending your time convincing people not
to vote for me based on allegiance to the party. This is the problem
with the county board, too much time is spent attacking the other party.
Partisanship is not a progressive value.
I heard from a very reliable source that the Democratic leadership
tried to get Steven Shoemaker to run, even though he could not fulfill
the full term in office since he's moving, this is the place for you to
deny such a deceitful act and, as you stated in your object to me, to
prevent a fraud again the voters in Champaign county.
8) If you do not like the way an elected official is operating, you
should vote him/her out of office. This is called democracy. If you
employ sleight-of-hand to remove that person, this is called partisan
politics. Democracy is a progressive value, creating partisan
commissions that are not answerable to the public is not. If Mark
Sheldon has broken the law, you should press charges.
I've given 8 facts showing how I define 'progressive' very differently
from you.
Additionally, I am proud to be associated with an anti-war, anti-NAFTA,
anti-WTO, anti-Patriot Act, pro-peace, pro-Gay Marriage candidate for
President; David Cobb. The Democratic Party cannot say that! (Well, they
can say it, but they'd be lying)
I'm proud to be a member of the fastest growing political party in the
United States despite the comments of many, many 'presumably
well-intentioned people' like yourself.
Ken Urban
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Ken Urban
Assoc. Prof., Computer Science
Parkland College
Office: B129A
(217)-353-2246
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>>> "Tony Fabri" <tonyfabri at hotmail.com> 10/27/2004 9:41:04 AM >>>
In my relatively short time participating in local politics (12 years),
I've
come to the opinion that splitting the progressive vote between two or
more
parties will only improve the already strong odds of electing
conservative
Republicans in Champaign County. You may disagree. Gina obviously
disagrees. I don't think that disagreement warrants name-calling and
personal attacks. Gina obviously disagrees with me there, too.
For the record, I did write a letter to Susan, Zach, and David Sacks.
It
was not "intimidating," as Gina suggests. (I'm also not Chair of the
County
Board, as Gina suggests. I'm Chair of the Democratic Party. Tricia
Avery
is Chair of the County Board.) I merely said that I was "disappointed"
to
see that they're running, because I fear their candidacies will help
Republicans win back the County Board majority, and undo the
progressive
gains made since 2000. Anyone who remembers "Bud" Barker and the days
of
GOP control know what a dramatic difference Democrats have made on the
County Board in a very short amount of time. The Living Wage, sexual
orientation protections, environmental appointments, an end to
Union-busting
at the County, and support of social services like the County nursing
home
and public health all would have gone nowhere if Democrats hadn't won
the
majority. I am genuinely disappointed to see progressive, presumably
well-intentioned people helping Republicans to undermine these
progressive
victories.
Regardless, Green Party candidates are on the ballot in Districts 7, 8,
& 9.
Their candidacies give real hope to local Republicans that they can
defeat
incumbent Democrats Janet Anderson and Jenny Putman (two of the most
progressive and effective elected officials I've ever known), and win
back
Republican control of the County Board. Some will say that's a victory
for
progressives, but I just don't see it.
What does any of this have to do with the Election Commission? Well,
nothing, really. I sent out a message asking progressives to support
the
Election Commission, based on a long history of voter suppression and
partisan abuse in the Champaign County Clerk's office. Gina took the
opportunity to call me a hypocrite, because I don't share her support
of
third party politics.
The County Clerk's office has been used for partisan Republican
advantage
for years. Employees of the office report abuses ranging from
withholding
voter registration forms from Democratic volunteers to putting together
Republican campaign mailings inside the taxpayer financed office. We
recently caught Shelden red-handed working for the Republican Auditor
candidate out of the Clerk's office. Regardless of how you feel about
third
parties or Ralph Nader, I'd hope we could all agree these abuses are
bad and
should be stopped. If so, then I'd encourage everyone to vote "yes" on
the
Election Commission.
Good luck to everyone working for progressive victories on Nov. 2nd
(however
you personally define that)!
Tony Fabri
>From: "Regina Cassidy" <rcassidy at parkland.edu>
>To: <recotton at earthlink.net>,
><peace-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com>,<ucprogressives-discuss at lists.cu.groogroo.com>,<prairiegreens at lists.groogroo.com>
>Subject: [UCprogressives-discuss] Re: [Peace-discuss] Fw: Election
>Commission
>Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 09:50:20 -0500
>
>Tony Fabri is a hypocrite!
>
>Fabri is actively involved in voter and candidate suppression. He
was
>part of the faction attempting to keep third parties out of the
coming
>election. He went so far as to send certified letters to the two U of
I
>students running as Greens for County Board warniing that their
>candidacy threatened progressive change. As Chair of the County
Board
>it is highly inappropriate for him to engage in this type of
>intimidation.
>
>These letters are a matter of public record since they were submitted
>into evidence at hearings for Susan Rodgers and Zach Miller this
>summer.
>
>Additionally, the referendum for the Election Commission is worded in
>such a way as to confuse voters.
>
>This referendum would be a boost to the two-party duopoly (really
>monopoly).
>
>Any attempt at replacing an elected official with an appointed panel
is
>a step away from democracy
>
>
>Gina
>
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