In less than 48 hours all this election madness will finally be over. I’m closing comments on most of the election-related posts, so feel free to share any final thoughts you have about the various candidates right here.
If you want, you can also use this forum to get any generally off-topic comments out of your system. Just be sure to play nice with each other.
[Note: I moved this comment from another thread where it was very off-topic -- Joseph]
Hey Lee-
You mentioned somewhere you were a musician…are you in a band
’round town?? Do I know you???
Oh wow, are you the same Trish I’m thinking you might be? Yes, I play in a band called What The…?, and if you are who I think you are, then yes, you’ve met me and you know several of my friends/bandmates very well.
Either way – hiya!
I would like to start up a predictions conversation.
Let’s see who comes the closest.
Anybody up for that? And be honest about your predictions, not just picking who you presonally like.
I’ll start the bidding on the mayor’s race.
Hadden – 52%
Jenkins – 37%
Hart – 11%
Whoever wins gets to live in Bob Roche’s
house for 16 months!
LOL!
I’ll be honest, I don’t have a clue. Except that I think Maria Alexander will win, and Brian Bates probably too. Since they are the candidates with my strongest support, I’m happy that their seats would seem to be in the bag.
Haven’t got a clue who will win with Avers vs. Roche or the mayoral race. They will both probably be close races. I imagine that Noonan will win the other seat, and that Ed Lowe will be a distant third. But maybe Pam will have a surprise showing, who knows. I heard she was the only Tilly Mill candidate present at the planning commission meeting Friday night, and since the proposed rezoning was in that district, you’d think the other two might show some interest.
I’m so ready to have this thing over with!
I am a Doraville resident and I live on Brook Park Way. I have to say I am disappointed in the negative campaign from some of the candidates. It is rather sad that most of these folks have spent little time telling us what they plan for the city and what their actual goals are and have decided to talk about each other and what they haven’t done or what they have done that they should not have.
I have lived here over 30 years. I love the city, my neighbors and being so close to eveything. I am not going anywhere. I am not politically inclined , but, I do vote and will vote on tuesday. I do not care for the tactics Chris has used in her campaign and I have to say also tto Jason. You are no longer part of the city of Doraville, you are not part of the governing body and you should stay out of our politics.
I would hope that after this election is over that whoever is elected will spend as much time doing what is best for the city as a whole and less time being concerned about someone else’s business.
Thank you for allowing me to vent.
Pat Blair
This is my first election to really live in Doraville, and all I’ve picked up on from previous elections is that this blog is not representative of the city as a whole. I’m hoping that the largest part of people who think they like things just the way they are will vote for Mayor Jenkins and not for Mr. Hart. If it goes that way, then your predictions might be right, GG. I hope so, anyway, since I think Mrs. Hadden has the best plan for the future of Doraville. Mayor Jenkins could be good as mayor, too, with a sane city council. I’m hoping that all of those Tom Hart signs I see around town are people that just don’t want to make him mad. Given the number of them I see paired with Hadden or Jenkins signs, it could be that most of those people don’t plan to vote at all.
One sign I have barely seen at all (besides Brian Bates, who’s not displaying signs this year) is Ed Lowe. I have seen three of his signs, that I recall, this election, and two of them are in the same yard as 5 other signs, for 3 other races. I haven’t heard any support for him, either. I have only heard a couple support Hart, though he is the center of all the rot, but somebody will probably still vote for him.
That’s just my way of saying that I have no idea. I don’t even have a guess for total number of votes, although with all the excitement, this one may go over a thousand.
I’ll remind everybody that Tom Hart just got 27% of around 600 votes in the first round last time, then in the runoff beat the guy who got 48% in the first round. I think we’ve gotten what we deserved from that, though, especially the city council member who supported Mr. Hart then got to spend nearly two years with that insanity.
Pat – Boo Hoo! So you had to hear something negative about someone else.
Are you going to make it?
Two Reminders:
1. Election is at City Hall and not the schools. Address is 3725 Park Avenue and polls open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
2. District 3 has a special election and a regular election for the same seat. The Special Election is to fill Jason’s term which ends December 2007. The regular election is to fill the 4-year term for the same seat.
Confusing I know . . but you get to vote twice in District 3 for the same candidates.
Whatever! Yes,I am ging to make it and I will be ok and I will vote and yes, I will continue to live in Doraville and love it.
Have a great day. See you at the polls
Pat
Brian, getting to vote twice for District 3 means that we can follow the old pol advice: vote early, vote often.
Rich, my memory is that the excitement over last election was as high, so I don’t know if we’ll hit 1000. That would be nice, though.
I stopped making predictions for elections in 1988.
I couldn’t help but notice the “good government” leaflets scattered around the Northwoods as I walked this morning. It’s a selection of candidates to make everything okay in doraville, and the leaflet is in the form of a yellow ballot with big circles around the people to choose. From memory, they were Tom Hart, Bob Roche, Matt Harner, Ed Lowe, and Clint Howard. I think that whoever distributed that (illegally, again?) onto mailboxes based it on my selections from the candidate forum, then picked the opposite.
In general, I’d say that guide presents a great list of people to vote against. Although I still haven’t made up my mind about the Roche-Avers race, I would suggest to Mr. Roche that this is part of the problem about not being too careful when picking your political friends.
And, by the way, the house I saw that has two of the only 3 Ed Lowe signs I’ve seen IS Tom Hart’s house. Today, I noticed he added the first two Matt Harner signs I’ve ever seen.
I’m sure we’ll hear about it at the city council meeting tonight, but what and where counts as illegal electioneering tomorrow on Park Avenue?
I’m voting for Mayor Jenkins and hoping that this doesn’t end in a runoff, which it probably will.
“I’m sure we’ll hear about it at the city council meeting tonight, but what and where counts as illegal electioneering tomorrow on Park Avenue?”
Rick Powell explained it at Council tonight. No candidates within 150 feet of City Hall tomorrow. (Ray Jenkins will be working from home and available there for City business.) No election buttons or clothing, etc., allowed within 150 feet of City Hall, either.
That is, Ray will be available taking calls from home and cell.
Thanks. If it does end up in a runoff, and Mr. Hart is eliminated, I’ll consider that a victory for Doraville already.
LOL Rich… no kidding!
Now if we could get rid of Spangler . . . .
Well, for now, at least his lone-wolf opposition is tempered by the other 3 on Council!
To Joseph: Do you think you could fix the features on the right of the blog — e.g., the most recent posts and all? It’s practically unusable because of having to sift through all the html. Thanks!
I don’t see the HTML you’re talking about. There may have been an error at the webhost last night, but if there was I can’t see it now. If you’re still having this issue, you can send me a screenshot at joseph -at- doraville.org and I’ll do my best to fix the issue.
Can all you nice candidates go around the city and clean up all your signs on Wednesday morning???
I hear that Tom Hart is the one who really cares about the city’s appearance, according to the campaign propaganda that Kay Bird and Bonita Hoffmeister put out yesterday. His signs have been out the longest, too. He’ll probably be out cleaning them up this afternoon.
FYI from Susan Crawford. I agree with her 100%!
Susan F
I hope everyone out there takes the time to vote today. Polls are open from 7:00 this mornng until 7:00 tonight. We have some great candidates, so it will be hard to decide who to vote for in some of the races. I just want to put in a plug for Maria Alexander. I like her opponent very much too, but Maria is one of the most dedicated, dependable people I have ever met. She works on a project until she finishes it – even the tedious, boring ones nobody else wants to deal with and I know from personal experience, she will drop what she’s doing to come help a friend (whose computer has gone black-screened in the middle of reviewing 200 pages of work! etc.) Anyway, best of luck to all you candidates out there. To a large extent, you are our future.
Susan C.
Hey All,
Well, it looks like this is it.
I sure have had a lot of fun, mainly at Bob’s expense.
Even though I clearly disagree with Bob’s politics, he did serve his country and he can even fly a helicopter (pretty coo1)- so in all seriousness he deserves my respect…and he’s got it.
I’m confident that Doraville will be on the road to recovery, regardless of the victor in this race.
Like Brian says…vote early and often!
Yes, WGOH, it has been fun. I wish Bob would have spent some more time here, as his input was always amusing.
Signing off until the polls close ….GG
This is it for me too!!
There has been one comment on this site I totally agree with and that is this site really isn’t representative of the Doraville population. I think there are maybe two obvious winners and both would be a very welcome addition to City Council. The others are going to be a total toss up!! The race is going to be very close and I really hope all the races are definate winners and all the campaigning and such can be put to rest. So as the saying goes, “fasten your seat belts we are out for a bumpy ride!!” Meaning there are going to be some surprises, some good and maybe some bad. Then again, I guess it’s the way you look at it?
Unfortunately, many people in Doraville don’t have or use computers, but for the folks that do, this site has been an excellent means of getting information out to the masses. This is probably one of the first elections where people have gotten the facts from modern communication. And that is moving forward!! So this time, hopefully, there will be better educated voters.
May Doraville put its best foot forward and the best men / women win.
I feel pretty certain from reading this blog that “the telephone” is still alive and well in Doraville. LOL
I voted late this morning. There was a crowd there, a couple of dozen people while I and my wife voted, and I’ll just say that, from the looks of it, none of the other voters there reads the blog. Or uses a computer.
I was there a little before 7am, and there was a decent crowd there at that time, too. Mayor Jenkins was the first person in line to vote. He seemed to have quite a bit of support from people waiting in line, and I agree that many of the people there at the time probably do not read the blog (and probably not the neighborhood e-mail lists, either).
I voted at a little after 8am. I witnessed the same crowd as Joseph and Rich. And interested observer, you are exactly right!! I bet the phone lines are humming in Doraville!! So I guess there is more than one information channel. I’m wondering, though, about the story of how information changes as it passes through a chain of people?
I was told there are 2200 registered voters in Doraville, about 600 voted in the last election (please correct me if I’m wrong). So between 25 – 30% vote, which is well below the national average of about 50%.
And I, also, heard since the balloting is done by computer, there’s that word again, the results should be ready at about 7:30 pm. I know some of the candidates are having partys and such to wait for the results. Otherwise, I guess some will have to wait for the evening news to find out?
What I’m thinking now is, if one of the mayorial candidates on my mind at the moment wins, I’m taking the advice I’ve given to others, I’m moving!!
Okay. Time to “spill the beans” about the “looks of it.”
Are these carte blanche statements that the voters are “uneducated”? Just curious.
Maybe “uneducated” with respect to not knowing all the facts and basing their motivations on hearsay. I don’t mean to make a generalizations here, this is just what I’ve seen.
It is no secret the senior population has citizens who have lived in their houses in Doraville since they were new (the houses, not the people) and have formed close bonds amoung themselves.
Plus the seniors appear to find change in Doraville objectionable. Most were totally against the new townhomes on Chestnut and the new homes built in Northwoods. They look at their own interest, they are mostly retired, they live on limited income and change could mean higher property taxes and QOL programs which could hurt their interests. You can’t blame them, but I think their are people who are definately willing to work with them to make everyone happy.
It’s also interesting that they are probably the majority who go out and vote. So if you are to face this fact, what can you say?
Again, I think we are all out for some surprises. So be ready for it!!
IO,
No, but you should go up there and vote and see for yourself!
Can anybody post a blogpost when the news is available? Where would it be quickest to get? I might be walking by City Hall about 7pm.
So tell me, SOSO, who isn’t out for “their own interest” in this town, including those that are supporting the QoL for their own “property value?”
From what I’ve seen, as a general rule so far in my life, it is the older population that values the right to vote. And I don’t think anybody should actually be “surprised” if they see an older population voting during “normal working hours.”
Besides the fact that . . . it’s *still legal* for seniors to vote.
Grrrr…I’m 55 and will still be kicking as long as I can, so I don’t consider myself “senior,” but I AM. LOL
“I don’t see the HTML you’re talking about. There may have been an error at the webhost last night, but if there was I can’t see it now. If you’re still having this issue, you can send me a screenshot at joseph -at- doraville.org and I’ll do my best to fix the issue.”
Joseph, I could have e-mailed you again as you quite rightly suggested, but for the benefit of others in this forum . . .
I was able to hit the link and get the recent posts (sans html) before.
However, about a month ago, I had to reinstall Windows on my older computer and also got a new computer. I had NOT reinstalled Firefox until today.
I just wanted to let everyone know that the RSS feeds are not an issue with Firefox. When I hit that orange *button* for the latest posts, I can now see those posts without the html, and it’s really nice! So if anyone wants to be able to do that, too, I suggest you download the Firefox browser (which is also more secure, BTW).
I hate to post AGAIN (lol) but I do agree with you on that, soso.
“I’m wondering, though, about the story of how information changes as it passes through a chain of people?”
Talk about third level hearsay that goes on in this town! The issue still remains that we see it even on this forum unless we challenge it.
IO,
55 would have been fairly young (except for me and my wife and kids) this morning.
The people I saw weren’t all that old. Mostly 40s – 50s. I could be wrong about them not being readers of this blog, but Ray Jenkins got a bit of applause and “alright’s!” when he was moved to the front of the voting line–and he tends not to get quite as much positive feedback from commenters on the blog.
I know it may be hard to believe IO, but there are actually people in Doraville who have interests in Doraville as a whole. Not only in their own property values, but what the increased values will bring to the majority of the city. It’s pretty obvious the turn around other areas of Atlanta have witnessed.
And, I am right behind you in the senior citizen department, so I can understand where you are coming from. It was not a cut to Doraville seniors, just an observation.
“The people I saw weren’t all that old. Mostly 40s – 50s. I could be wrong about them not being readers of this blog, but Ray Jenkins got a bit of applause and “alright’s!” when he was moved to the front of the voting line–and he tends not to get quite as much positive feedback from commenters on the blog.”
I’m really not surprised, Joseph.
I’ve spent some years moderating on the old CompuServe forums, and the fact is (or was) that loads of people choose to read but not post.
I agree with BubbaRich. I hope that voters learn from the antics of Mr. Hart and save us the trouble of more negative publicity and wasted City Council time. He contradicts himself by being for the growth and development of the city when he himself seems to slow and confuse progress. If I were a developer and heard the recent drama in the city government, I would think twice about partnering with chaos. I’m all for a little exciting drama, but I think Mr. Hart’s questionable character and unprofessional behavior speaks louder than his views on the City’s issues. He can talk the talk but obviously doesn’t walk the walk.
Jason A. does need to stay away from Doraville politics. He is obviously in it for himself and will do the city no good, even from behind the scenes. I was surprised and frightened to see him involved with some campaigning. I groaned and shook my head in silent disgust.
Any results yet???
This just in:
Maria, Brian and Bob are in! Marlene and Ray are in a runoff – Tom Hart ELIMINATED!!! WOOHOOO!!! Noonan and Fleming in a runoff – Lowe eliminated!!!
That’s all I have for now.
[...] haven’t seen anything official yet, but here’s what Lee says in the comments: Maria, Brian and Bob are in! Marlene and Ray are in a runoff – Tom Hart [...]
Joseph G
Nov 6th, 2007 at 1:38 pm – Commenter IP Address: “207.69.174.7″
I was there a little before 7am, and there was a decent crowd there at that time, too. Mayor Jenkins was the first person in line to vote. He seemed to have quite a bit of support from people waiting in line, and I agree that many of the people there at the time probably do not read the blog (and probably not the neighborhood e-mail lists, either).
Wrong, Joseph G. I was there before 7:00 and I do read the BLOG. Talk to the candidates, too.
The only reason I was “behind” Ray Jenkins is because one of his supporters put him at the front of the line.
Let’s not generalize.
I said many of the people there at 7am probably do not read the blog. I also later stated that I could be wrong about that, but it was my guess that most are probably not readers.
Also, about Ray being at the front of the line. It wasn’t just one person who put him there. Someone asked him if he wanted to be at the front of the line, and several people voiced their approval.
Well, change, Doraville is definitely getting. As to how much, we’ll have to wait for the election results. I’ll be okay with either way it goes.