East Campus Neighborhood Association
Information for Residents and Owners in East Campus
BEAT BYTE: April 7 Election Predictions
BEAT BYTES: News Briefs from the Columbia Heartbeat
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com
_____________
1) April 7 Election Predictions
2) Neighborhood president corrects Trib story
3) Trib editor Jim Robertson responds to criticism
4) Trib and Business Times endorsements
I learned a lot of valuable and insightful information about our candidates from the Columbia Heart Beat One Size Fits all survey. -- KFRU Morning Meeting co-host Renee Hulshof, according to some listeners
_____________
1) April 7 Election Predictions
COLUMBIA, 4/4/09 (Beat Byte) -- On April 7th, it's Jason Thornhill and Barbara Hoppe to the Columbia city council; Michelle Pruitt and Sam Phillips to the school board. At least, that's what our reader polls say, and have been saying for the past few months.
I'll never forget the statehouse race between Sid Sullivan and Superintendent Jim Ritter, when Trib publisher Hank Waters introduced the candidate he was about to endorse as, "My good friend Jim Ritter." You knew right then Sullivan didn't stand a chance. After even a few civically-active years in a town Columbia's size, at least one candidate in every race will probably be a friend. To remove the bias that creates, I started putting up Reader Polls.
Rather than personally endorse candidates, I figured I'd let my readers do the chosing, then explain why I think they made their choices. People can't vote twice from the same computer, and the polls are up for months. Even with all their flaws, these polls no longer represent just a "snapshot" of voter sentiment. With every passing week, they represent longer-term trends.
2ND WARD CITY COUNCIL
The 2nd Ward presents two non-incumbent contenders with similar platforms and similar qualities: both young, successful men with a mind for community service, either of whom would make excellent ward representatives. So why has realtor Jason Thornhill maintained a 65% to 35% lead over challenger Allan Sharrock, a teacher and military veteran?
Second warders I've spoken to say it all comes down to crime. Mr. Thornhill has consistently voiced a more solid anti-crime platform, even challenging his own profession by suggesting restrictions on errant landlords who rent to chronic offenders, a problem this publication has exposed and analyzed.
As a long-time local realtor who has sold houses in every part of town, including the central city where he has represented me several times, Mr. Thornhill is also viewed as city-wide knowledgeable, with an understanding of economics and living conditions at their most basic: in the home. If he's taken heat for anything, it was his equivocation on the issue of eminent domain. Mr. Sharrock instead was crystal clear: he would not support eminent domain for private or quasi-public use, including for the State Historical Society Museum. But this election isn't about eminent domain, a largely distant issue in the 2nd ward. It's about crime and public safety there, not only because the candidates adopted those issues, but because crime is the single biggest problem facing Columbia today.
Finally, for people who thought Mr. Thornhill would be a one-issue "developer's candidate," his insightful, extensive, and thoughtful answers to the Columbia Heart Beat survey blew apart that notion. He not only challenged landlords, but he also roundly criticized the developer-assessor collusion that has for decades systematically drained property tax dollars from schools and public services, while shifting that burden to the average homeowners and homebuyers Mr. Thornhill has for so long represented. He spoke about issues, equity, and governance with a global perspective none of the other candidates -- school board or city council -- even came close to matching.
SCHOOL BOARD
The school board race has belonged to Michelle Pruitt (48%) and Sam Phillips (33%) almost since I first posted the Columbia Heart Beat poll. Christine King has run a distant third (25%), about 25 basis points behind Phillips. If it were a three-seat race, she'd surely win too.
In selecting Mrs. Pruitt and Mr. Phillips, voters IMHO are seeking both kick-ass anti-establishmentarian and traditional, pro-establishment board members. They want Ines Segert to have help challenging the status quo and asking questions of powerful, well-paid senior administrators who have a propensity to do what it takes to get their way. But voters also like the idea of tempered debate, and Mr. Phillips -- with his calm demeanor and outstanding professional credentials -- promises a tempered approach.
Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Pruitt have handled their campaigns well, primarily by playing to their respective bases without overplaying their respective positions. They've comported themselves with dignity; raised the most money; and provided the requisite histories of school involvement, Mr. Phillips primarily through his son at Grant Elementary; and Mrs. Pruitt both through her children and her involvement as the instigator-in-chief of the new new math debate, turning a public awareness campaign into a cause celebre that ultimately led to real changes that voters apparently approve.
Along with Christine King, Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Pruitt were also the only school board candidates who answered our survey. The other candidates didn't even bother to respond.
6TH WARD CITY COUNCIL
In so many respects, the 6th Ward council race is different from the 2nd Ward. In our reader poll, council incumbent Barbara Hoppe leads challenger Rod Robison, 67% to 33% with over 400 votes cast. Why? Because Mrs. Hoppe is an incumbent with a long history of public service and voters see her as popular, responsive, hard-working, and engaged.
To Hoppe's critics, her votes against the Landmark Hospital and CrossCreek development were "counterproductive" and "anti-economy." But to her 6th ward constituents, those votes were what they had been demanding, using virtually every means at their disposal, from personal meetings to neighborhood gatherings to public comment. This Trib article
illustrates: http://archive.showmenews.com/2008/may/20080506news001.asp
Mr. Robison is an unknown. He sounds like a great guy, but he's starting his civic activism at the top. Reports say he's never sat on a city board or commission; never engaged in the policy making process at the neighborhood association level; never run for public office before; and never had to publicly defend the positions he's staked out in his campaign, a process that can be arduous and stressful.
Voters tend to turn away from candidates without street cred, and Mrs. Hoppe has street cred by the bushel. I ran for Columbia school board in the same position Robison occupies as a relative unknown 4 years ago. I learned this lesson, among others, the hard way.
RELATED:
Missourian Voter Guide
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/media/multimedia/2009/04/03/media...
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/03/candidates-for-coun...
-- Mike Martin for the Columbia Heart Beat
2) Neighborhood president corrects Trib story
[In a recent Columbia Daily Tribune story, reporter Sara Semelka mistakenly referred to Jim Muench as Barbara Hoppe's campaign manager, sparking a conflict-of-interest uproar].
Mike:
Darn! When I learned that I had been named campaign manager, I hoped that meant a paycheck was in the mail!
While I am certainly available for hire as a consultant, I can say categorically that I have never been anything more than a public relations advisor to Barbara Hoppe, and I have never said otherwise. (“I have not now, nor have I ever been…”)
Barbara has my support because she has been a great advocate for the Shepard neighborhood in the Sixth Ward. She is the candidate who has the knowledge, experience and vision to lead this growing city forward into the future.
Her opponent is a nice, good-hearted man. Unfortunately, his vision can be summed up with an answer he gave at our recent neighborhood candidate forum. When asked about what he wanted to accomplish as a city council member, he responded that he merely wanted to make sure the trash was picked up and the potholes were filled. I believe that is the vision for a small-town councilman, and Columbia is no longer a small town.
Jim Muench
President
Shepard Blvd. Neighborhood Association
RELATED:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/01/critics-assert-barb...
3) Trib editor Jim Robertson responds to criticism
Mike, use this if you want:
Sara Semelka's article Wednesday about the Sixth Ward council race focused on three issues critics have used to campaign against Barbara Hoppe, the incumbent: the Crosscreek development, the Landmark Hospital development, and the extension of Lemone Industrial Drive. Contrary to implications by Nancy Harter and others, Semelka quoted Councilwoman Hoppe extensively in defense of her positions on those issues.
During the course of covering an election, a reporter might interview a candidate several times and write several articles based on those interviews. Writer and editor collaboration results in certain information going into a report and other information omitted for reasons of relevance, context, time and space.
Just because certain information gleaned from an interview does not end up in one day's coverage doesn't mean it won't be used in subsequent articles. Such was the case with portions of the interview Nancy Harter makes reference to. Semelka's report today on jobs and economic development provided a better context for comments from Hoppe that Harter says were edited out of the Wednesday article. Semelka said Harter has never contacted her about the article.
Jim Robertson
Managing Editor
Columbia Daily Tribune
RELATED:
Tribune error sparks 6th Ward brouhaha
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/04/beat-byte-auto-accide...
The Sixth Ward by Hank Waters
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/04/the-sixth-ward/
Economy plays a role in races for city council
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/02/economy-plays-a-rol...
4) Trib and Business Times endorsements
Columbia Business Times -- Schuster for Pruitt, Robison, Sharrock, Flippin
http://www.columbiabusinesstimes.com/category/voices/
Trib -- School Board -- Waters for Pruitt, King, Holt
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/03/school-board/
Trib -- City Council -- Waters for Hoppe, Thornhill
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/02/second-ward/
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/mar/30/the-sixth-ward/
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com
_____________
1) April 7 Election Predictions
2) Neighborhood president corrects Trib story
3) Trib editor Jim Robertson responds to criticism
4) Trib and Business Times endorsements
I learned a lot of valuable and insightful information about our candidates from the Columbia Heart Beat One Size Fits all survey. -- KFRU Morning Meeting co-host Renee Hulshof, according to some listeners
_____________
1) April 7 Election Predictions
COLUMBIA, 4/4/09 (Beat Byte) -- On April 7th, it's Jason Thornhill and Barbara Hoppe to the Columbia city council; Michelle Pruitt and Sam Phillips to the school board. At least, that's what our reader polls say, and have been saying for the past few months.
I'll never forget the statehouse race between Sid Sullivan and Superintendent Jim Ritter, when Trib publisher Hank Waters introduced the candidate he was about to endorse as, "My good friend Jim Ritter." You knew right then Sullivan didn't stand a chance. After even a few civically-active years in a town Columbia's size, at least one candidate in every race will probably be a friend. To remove the bias that creates, I started putting up Reader Polls.
Rather than personally endorse candidates, I figured I'd let my readers do the chosing, then explain why I think they made their choices. People can't vote twice from the same computer, and the polls are up for months. Even with all their flaws, these polls no longer represent just a "snapshot" of voter sentiment. With every passing week, they represent longer-term trends.
2ND WARD CITY COUNCIL
The 2nd Ward presents two non-incumbent contenders with similar platforms and similar qualities: both young, successful men with a mind for community service, either of whom would make excellent ward representatives. So why has realtor Jason Thornhill maintained a 65% to 35% lead over challenger Allan Sharrock, a teacher and military veteran?
Second warders I've spoken to say it all comes down to crime. Mr. Thornhill has consistently voiced a more solid anti-crime platform, even challenging his own profession by suggesting restrictions on errant landlords who rent to chronic offenders, a problem this publication has exposed and analyzed.
As a long-time local realtor who has sold houses in every part of town, including the central city where he has represented me several times, Mr. Thornhill is also viewed as city-wide knowledgeable, with an understanding of economics and living conditions at their most basic: in the home. If he's taken heat for anything, it was his equivocation on the issue of eminent domain. Mr. Sharrock instead was crystal clear: he would not support eminent domain for private or quasi-public use, including for the State Historical Society Museum. But this election isn't about eminent domain, a largely distant issue in the 2nd ward. It's about crime and public safety there, not only because the candidates adopted those issues, but because crime is the single biggest problem facing Columbia today.
Finally, for people who thought Mr. Thornhill would be a one-issue "developer's candidate," his insightful, extensive, and thoughtful answers to the Columbia Heart Beat survey blew apart that notion. He not only challenged landlords, but he also roundly criticized the developer-assessor collusion that has for decades systematically drained property tax dollars from schools and public services, while shifting that burden to the average homeowners and homebuyers Mr. Thornhill has for so long represented. He spoke about issues, equity, and governance with a global perspective none of the other candidates -- school board or city council -- even came close to matching.
SCHOOL BOARD
The school board race has belonged to Michelle Pruitt (48%) and Sam Phillips (33%) almost since I first posted the Columbia Heart Beat poll. Christine King has run a distant third (25%), about 25 basis points behind Phillips. If it were a three-seat race, she'd surely win too.
In selecting Mrs. Pruitt and Mr. Phillips, voters IMHO are seeking both kick-ass anti-establishmentarian and traditional, pro-establishment board members. They want Ines Segert to have help challenging the status quo and asking questions of powerful, well-paid senior administrators who have a propensity to do what it takes to get their way. But voters also like the idea of tempered debate, and Mr. Phillips -- with his calm demeanor and outstanding professional credentials -- promises a tempered approach.
Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Pruitt have handled their campaigns well, primarily by playing to their respective bases without overplaying their respective positions. They've comported themselves with dignity; raised the most money; and provided the requisite histories of school involvement, Mr. Phillips primarily through his son at Grant Elementary; and Mrs. Pruitt both through her children and her involvement as the instigator-in-chief of the new new math debate, turning a public awareness campaign into a cause celebre that ultimately led to real changes that voters apparently approve.
Along with Christine King, Mr. Phillips and Mrs. Pruitt were also the only school board candidates who answered our survey. The other candidates didn't even bother to respond.
6TH WARD CITY COUNCIL
In so many respects, the 6th Ward council race is different from the 2nd Ward. In our reader poll, council incumbent Barbara Hoppe leads challenger Rod Robison, 67% to 33% with over 400 votes cast. Why? Because Mrs. Hoppe is an incumbent with a long history of public service and voters see her as popular, responsive, hard-working, and engaged.
To Hoppe's critics, her votes against the Landmark Hospital and CrossCreek development were "counterproductive" and "anti-economy." But to her 6th ward constituents, those votes were what they had been demanding, using virtually every means at their disposal, from personal meetings to neighborhood gatherings to public comment. This Trib article
illustrates: http://archive.showmenews.com/2008/may/20080506news001.asp
Mr. Robison is an unknown. He sounds like a great guy, but he's starting his civic activism at the top. Reports say he's never sat on a city board or commission; never engaged in the policy making process at the neighborhood association level; never run for public office before; and never had to publicly defend the positions he's staked out in his campaign, a process that can be arduous and stressful.
Voters tend to turn away from candidates without street cred, and Mrs. Hoppe has street cred by the bushel. I ran for Columbia school board in the same position Robison occupies as a relative unknown 4 years ago. I learned this lesson, among others, the hard way.
RELATED:
Missourian Voter Guide
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/media/multimedia/2009/04/03/media...
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/03/candidates-for-coun...
-- Mike Martin for the Columbia Heart Beat
2) Neighborhood president corrects Trib story
[In a recent Columbia Daily Tribune story, reporter Sara Semelka mistakenly referred to Jim Muench as Barbara Hoppe's campaign manager, sparking a conflict-of-interest uproar].
Mike:
Darn! When I learned that I had been named campaign manager, I hoped that meant a paycheck was in the mail!
While I am certainly available for hire as a consultant, I can say categorically that I have never been anything more than a public relations advisor to Barbara Hoppe, and I have never said otherwise. (“I have not now, nor have I ever been…”)
Barbara has my support because she has been a great advocate for the Shepard neighborhood in the Sixth Ward. She is the candidate who has the knowledge, experience and vision to lead this growing city forward into the future.
Her opponent is a nice, good-hearted man. Unfortunately, his vision can be summed up with an answer he gave at our recent neighborhood candidate forum. When asked about what he wanted to accomplish as a city council member, he responded that he merely wanted to make sure the trash was picked up and the potholes were filled. I believe that is the vision for a small-town councilman, and Columbia is no longer a small town.
Jim Muench
President
Shepard Blvd. Neighborhood Association
RELATED:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/01/critics-assert-barb...
3) Trib editor Jim Robertson responds to criticism
Mike, use this if you want:
Sara Semelka's article Wednesday about the Sixth Ward council race focused on three issues critics have used to campaign against Barbara Hoppe, the incumbent: the Crosscreek development, the Landmark Hospital development, and the extension of Lemone Industrial Drive. Contrary to implications by Nancy Harter and others, Semelka quoted Councilwoman Hoppe extensively in defense of her positions on those issues.
During the course of covering an election, a reporter might interview a candidate several times and write several articles based on those interviews. Writer and editor collaboration results in certain information going into a report and other information omitted for reasons of relevance, context, time and space.
Just because certain information gleaned from an interview does not end up in one day's coverage doesn't mean it won't be used in subsequent articles. Such was the case with portions of the interview Nancy Harter makes reference to. Semelka's report today on jobs and economic development provided a better context for comments from Hoppe that Harter says were edited out of the Wednesday article. Semelka said Harter has never contacted her about the article.
Jim Robertson
Managing Editor
Columbia Daily Tribune
RELATED:
Tribune error sparks 6th Ward brouhaha
http://columbiaheartbeat.blogspot.com/2009/04/beat-byte-auto-accide...
The Sixth Ward by Hank Waters
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/04/the-sixth-ward/
Economy plays a role in races for city council
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/02/economy-plays-a-rol...
4) Trib and Business Times endorsements
Columbia Business Times -- Schuster for Pruitt, Robison, Sharrock, Flippin
http://www.columbiabusinesstimes.com/category/voices/
Trib -- School Board -- Waters for Pruitt, King, Holt
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/03/school-board/
Trib -- City Council -- Waters for Hoppe, Thornhill
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/02/second-ward/
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/mar/30/the-sixth-ward/
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