Taking part in the governance of communities is basic, important stuff. Of course people disagree and argue about it. Politics is just as inescapable a part of the human condition as childbirth and sewage.

Let Eddie waste hours on his Nintendo. Next time you see a midwife, a civil engineer, or a township supervisor, be sure to thank them for the critical work they do for all of us.

Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that everything you believe in is just meaningless rabble. Nothing you have ever thought of or even hinted at has any ultimate meaning. Your whole life has been wasted. How does it feel to amount to nothing? That's right, you have not accomplished anything, jerk.
So stop being so self important and start to realize that you really don't amount to anything. Sorry to burst your little tiny bubble. It was just too easy. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haha ahahah ahahahahahahahahaahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111

I believe that you are all a bunch of worthless lowlifes that need a huge reality check. Life is short so why waste it on such meaningless crap like this? Get out and do something worthwhile. Know what I mean, dumb asses?
I hate you.

Um, if you guys are doing this for my benefit, you can stop now.

If you think there's a Great Unseen Audience following the debate and keeping score, let me assure you: you're speaking to an empty hall. There's nobody reading this exchange but me.

The recall election is over. I for one am glad to concede that people on both sides were well intentioned and worked hard. It's time to move on.

Bob,
If you measure your intellectual superiority by the number of witty and denigrating retorts you make to in public online forums, then I will cede that you are the smartest man in Pittsfield. It is not my interest to engage in that type of exchange.

I am not politically savvy nor have I tried to present myself as such. In fact, I have stated here previously that I wasn't much into local politics. This attempt at a recall was my first foray into political activism. Yet, that is all irrelevant.

I have stated my position and now for some reason you feel it necessary to attack me personally. That is not a very mature approach to take for the smartest man in Pittsfield.

If you have taken offense to my assertion that people by and large remain out of the loop on local political issues, then I am sorry you feel that way. Go out door to door as I have done, however, and you will find that most people haven't a clue about local issues. And I should know, I was once one of those people. Most of the people can't even identify the names of our township officials.

As far as Wal-mart goes, it isn't Wal-mart itself that will endanger the children at the schools. People like to cite issues with selling alcohol, firearms and inhalants near schools, but I have no opinion on that. My issue is the cut-through traffic. There are 4 routes through the school, including two neighborhoods. The main entrance to that development is directly across from the main entrance to the schools. The school soccer fields lie along one of those routes as well. Anytime you put children in close proximity to cars, then you create safety concerns. The WCRC maintains the site plan for the school originally called for connecting roads to those neighborhoods. Several months ago we met with WCRC engineers regarding all the cut-through traffic. At that meeting they admitted that those neighborhoods indeed have excessive cut-through traffic and it is a problem. With the pending Wal-mart, the traffic is only going to get worse. Unfortunately, the traffic calming measures offered by the WCRC will be deemed too expensive by our township to implement. As a result, I fear that children who stand in the way of shoppers reaching their destinations will ultimately be the hapless victims.

Now, I have no doubt that you believe that I am stupid for having concerns about the safety of my children, so there is no need for you to continue to call me stupid. We already know that. So instead try adding value to this discussion by explaining to me how my concerns are unfounded. If you can do that, then I will certainly give a personal call to the Big 3 and apologize for my actions.

Ahhh... got you off message and you don't have anything to say. IF you really knew what you were talking about, then you'd have a real comeback.

OK, explain (in the way you've been told to - i.e. little words) how Walmart will harm your kids. And don't just blame it on traffic, that's a given everywhere.

PB

Bob,
You are definitely taking a warped interpretation of my words. Good luck with participating in your government...counting toads or whatever it is that you do. The safety of my children and community are more important to me and I will continue to fight for them.

Takes one to know one... ;) Besides, your wrong again, I'm being truthful and sarcastic, not vile and bitter like you. I know that hate is not a family value.

If you can't take the criticism, then you shouldn't be dishing it out in the first place.

And I did learn about the founding fathers in the 6th grade, I remember what they gave to me and that I won't let the likes of you take it away.

PB

Edited by author 08-14-2006 02:21 PM

That's odd. I'm accused of being bitter and then ol' Bob here goes off on me like he's still in the 6th grade.

Kirk (to quote a famous line) you ignorant slut...

You points have been baseless, your organization flawed, your reasoning absent and your words are not even your own. If fact, I can't even tell that you have a thought of your own in your head. You quote other's views, you spew vileness and hatred against good people, you show a complete lack of knowledge and you smell funny.

Honestly, sit down, take a deep breath and learn about government and the law... here's a suggestion - take a civics course and listen. Sure, you attended a few commission meetings, but you must admit that came with your own (or perhaps someone else's) agenda and no understanding of what was really going on. You were mad that your requests were not immediatly accepted and acted upon (after all the world does revolve around you..
                              NOT!)

That's not taking part in government, that's just heckling and Sunday morning quaterbacking. To take part in government is to volunteer, to learn and to participate.

In your posts you show that without a thought of your own you go on through life, speaking from the heart instead of the head. The founding fathers would be sick to see the gift of democracy squandered by the likes of you. You reap the gains of their effort, but, don't understand what it means.

You accuse us of not caring and seem to believe that we want your children to be in danger, that the "no" voters did not understand that your children are in deep and desparate danger of the dreaded Wall-Mart gang (wait 'till they mix it up with the Target cripts and the Meijer bloods). Well, if life is so dangerous for you here in your $400K subdivision, then I suggest you go move to somewhere safer.

Take off hoser and leave the township to those that really care.

PittsBob

JQ,
I am certainly not bitter. I learned alot about people, the township and politics during the last 8 months. I am glad I was able to participate in the political process and have my voice heard. It was a great learning experience. Indeed there is a bit of disappointment in falling short of our goal, but that is to be expected.

My words were not meant to offend. Thinking that a bunch of Democrats would fall prey to some Republicans conspiring to oust the Democratic leadership, however, was indeed naive. You repeated the same statement that Tina made that was nothing more than a baseless attempt to rally the Democrats to vote no. Congratulations to her...it worked. If this was some Republican conspiracy, then what genius Republican was leading this effort? I participated in meetings with ANP and I can honestly say it was a group effort. There was no one leading people to believe anything that they did not already feel was true.

As for the others, I don't believe it is insulting at all to state that people are uninformed. I attended several Planning and Board meetings and there were typically very few other citizens in attendance. How can people be informed if they don't participate? I used to live east of US23. People over there don't feel part of the township to any significant degree. And again, those people do not send their children to Saline schools, so they had no equity in the outcome of the vote.

By the way, I don't get the feeling that a vote "no" was a vote of confidence for the officials. Rather, people didn't seem to feel comfortable with ousting leadership outside the normal elections. Yes there were people who supported the three, but by and large people felt that breaking laws are the only justification for ousting leadership before their terms expire. Since there were no legal proceedings against these three that could be resolved prior to August 8, then those people simply didn't have just cause in their minds to vote "yes."

Bret,
Your elected officials went door to door to the homes of petition signers to demand an explanation for why they signed. Those visits fell outside their job responsibilities. That was personal time dedicated to save their jobs. Of course you can characterize that as hard work...their jobs were on the line. The next time you have a local concern and want action, then visit a Board meeting and see how far you get.

What the recall showed me was that character assasination is alive and well in America. Our family had the opportunity to meet each one of our elected officials as they went door to door to respond to the recall efforts. The elected officials are bright, concerned, hardworking folks who are working in our best interest. The current Pittsfield administration is excellent.

Our educated voters saw past the manipulation and voted down the recall. Pittsfield Township makes me glad to be an American.

Bret

kirk,

What do you do for a living?

Kirk,

If I was in your shoes today, I probably would be bitter too. But when you say this:

"The rest are people who by and large didn't understand the issues, didn't care, or like you, are too naive to believe that there is better leadership available to this township."

you're telling the voters, who made the effort to get out and vote yesterday, that they are too stupid, too uncaring or too ignorant to have made the right choice. Insulting the voters isn't a good way to start off your effort to change the board in 2008. Consider that these voters, who had access to all of the information from both sides, simply decided that your claims weren't supported by the facts or didn't represent their viewpoints. Just because people don't agree with you doesn't make them stupid or ignorant.

"the precincts that voted in favor of the recall are those most impacted by the development"

Yes, that makes the point that your efforts to make this about anything other than the development didn't take hold with the voters. It probably didn't help that many of your claims were either false or misleading. Even in the areas directly affected by the development, many voters still said "no" to the recall.

"They sold out to outside developers in order to keep their jobs and now those same developers are going to have their run at the township."

Really? Keep us informed every time it happens so you have a record of it for 2008.

"People deserve the governments they elect."

Yes they do. I think the government Pittsfield has today, whatever its flaws, is better for the community long-term than if the recall had succeeded.

Edited by author 08-09-2006 01:52 PM
Yes, the recall effort failed to reach its goal. Nevertheless, I am proud to have been a part of this group. And I would do it again in a heart beat. My children are far more important to me than lawsuits and low priced goods from China.

To think that this effort was a Republican conspiracy is so incredibly naive. Looks like you fell for Tina's propaganda yet again.

If you'll notice, the precincts that voted in favor of the recall are those most impacted by the development...i.e. the ones who send their children to Saline schools. The rest are people who by and large didn't understand the issues, didn't care, or like you, are too naive to believe that there is better leadership available to this township.

At any rate, Tina and Homer have been exposed for who they really are. They sold out to outside developers in order to keep their jobs and now those same developers are going to have their run at the township.

People deserve the governments they elect. Good luck with that.