Tomorrow is the primary for President and Brookfield Aldermen in Districts 1 and 2. I have no aldermanic primary in my district. But if I did live in the 1st or 2nd district...
I would be casting my vote for Dan Sutton. I have watched Dan Sutton during his first 4 year term and I like what I see. Dan showed he had good instincts with some of his comments during those early council meetings and even though he was a new alderman, he voted against the flow. As he matured in his role as alderman, his votes reflected his good instincts more and more. In recent years, Sutton went to bat for Brookfield taxpayers:
JSOnline Nov. 2006 Aldermen Jerry Mellone and Dan Sutton argued that the budget had some
areas where reserves were high enough and expenses low enough to cut
tax collections, even for one year of relief.
If you attended that council meeting or saw it on cable broadcast, you witnessed Dan's leadership skills:
From Brookfield7, Dec. 2006 Rick Owen, in his usual condescending way, in essence put down Alderman Jerry Mellone for bringing up further budget cuts. Then
a remarkable thing took place: Alderman Sutton eloquently put Rick in
his place by reminding the council that Jerry Mellone had every right
to bring up those cuts.
Is it any wonder that earlier in 2006, many of Sutton's fellow aldermen thought he would be a good leader too?:
Brookfield7, April 2006 Last real bit of business for the council was to elect a new Council
President. Scott Berg had been promoting his name and Steve Ponto was
too. The surprise candidate was Dan Sutton. The first ballot was Ponto
7, Sutton 5, and Berg 2--no majority. Second ballot was Ponto 8, Sutton
5 and Berg 1. Ponto wins. Ponto was the better choice than Berg, but am
disappointed that Dan Sutton did not prevail. Although Dan frequently [not always]
votes with the crowd, he has good instincts and raises valid questions
during the discussion. I am hoping that with the new aldermen on the
council that Dan will trust his good instincts more and vote
accordingly.
It did not take long for Dan Sutton to trust his good instincts more and more. He deserves your vote.
Now, if I lived in the 2nd district...
Terrence Halmstad would be getting my vote. Mr. Halmstad, according to Brookfieldnow's article and voter's guide, reflects my values.
Halmstad said the relocation of the fire station coupled with
further development near the intersection could make traffic in the
area "horrendous."
Halmstad also said he's been frustrated with the city's approach to
development and redevelopment in the district and across Brookfield.
"We're not really looking at these (projects) really hard before they're passed," he said.
Rick Owen's quote in the guide, "I supported the 2020 Master Plan and continue to endorse it. One of its essential doctrines is the preservation of single family residential neighborhoods.", from my perspective, seems rather in conflict with Will the real Rick Owen please stand up? Rick dismissed the 2020 Master Plan's specificity and Alderman Jerry Mellone's efforts to protect Mellone's single family neighborhood from an over enthusiastic Calhoun Road widening project.
Rick has always been very polite to me personally. But his civility does neighborhoods little good as his hand consistently reaches for the vote YES button on development issues.
I don't know that there is much of a difference between Jennifer Donze and Rick Owen. They both serve on the Plan Commission. If the colossal Fountain Brook Crossing project is any indicator, they both voted "to recommend rezoning to allow construction of a four-story office building." The Journal article stated, "Commissioners said Monday that the concept is growing on them for its potential as a striking gateway as motorists enter the city from New Berlin. 'In a way, the height is an important part of that,' said Commissioner Jennifer Donze."
Jennifer and Rick seem to think our taxes are low enough too. Terry Halmstad sees that there is "no longer a distinction between wants and needs; this has to change."
The choice is yours, District 1 and 2 residents. Please research this for yourself and make an informed decision.
As for my Hillary Clinton vote, no, I have not become a Democrat. But since McCain will get the Republican nomination with or without me (he is now my 1st choice for president), I am at least going to vote tomorrow for my 2nd choice for president.
Why Hillary Clinton? Because she is more conservative than Barack Obama*. She is considered to be the 16th most liberal senator, while Barack is considered to be THE most liberal (1st). They both are making promises to fund all sorts of government programs with taxpayer money, but Barack even out-gives Hillary. I see him as much more charming and thus will be able to get his measures through Congress easier.
So that is it. Tomorrow I vote for my first ever Democrat for President, Hillary.
*One of the reasons I view Barack as the most liberal...
"Who would oppose a bill that said you couldn't kill a baby who was
born? Not Kennedy, Boxer or Hillary Rodham Clinton. Not even the
hard-core National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL). Obama,
however, is another story. The year after the Born Alive Infants
Protection Act became federal law in 2002, identical language was
considered in a committee of the Illinois Senate. It was defeated with
the committee's chairman, Obama, leading the opposition."
Links: Betterbrookfield, Vicki Mckenna
