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News :: Elections & Legislation |
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www.urbanarepublic.info: A report on the report card |
Current rating: 0 |
by Paul Kotheimer
Email: herringb (nospam) prairienet.org (unverified!) |
08 Feb 2005
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Someone's advertising that "It's Time to OVERHAUL CITY HALL" in Urbana. Who is that someone? |
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This morning I noticed a new billboard facing south near the corner of Vine and Main. The ad announces that "It's time to OVERHAUL CITY HALL," and includes a reference to the website www.urbanarepublic.info.
The website's front page is set up as a "City of Urbana Report Card." The city receives and A+ in Language, and an A in International Politics, a C- in Engineering, and F's in Safety, History, and City Planning. Some Urbana residents would call these harsh marks.
The website includes no statement of intent or ownership, nor does it endorse a specific candidate in any election. The site promises that a section on "Tod's Campaign Claims" is "Coming Soon!"
The billboard at Vine and Main includes a statement which reads "paid for by ____," but I couldn't read it as I was driving past. Any further information on this billboard or its author(s) would be welcome here. |
This work is in the public domain |
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More Info |
by Dose of Reality
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
08 Feb 2005
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The billboard actually went up a week or so back.
The name at the bottom of the billboard is "D.M. Joncich". There is a David M. Joncich on West Illinois St. in the phonebook, who appears to hold an appointment as a visiting scholar in the Physics Dept. at UIUC.
The Republican candidate for city clerk in Urbana, John Farney, claimed in a letter to the editor in today's (8 Feb. 2005) News-Gazette that "...the Republican Party has no involvement whatsoever with the new billboard..." Like similar claims of no official Republican support for Tod Satterthwaite, John Farney's claims should be taken with a grain of salt. Farney is correct that the website is confusing, but being a Republcian, Farney is probably an expert at confusing the public about what his real motives and intentions are. I see nothing relevant on the website that gives the public any reason to vote for _him_, in contrast to the Democratic candidate, as Farney asserts in his letter.
From what I've seen, the website seems to rehash many commonly heard gripes by a certain vocal anti-student minority on the WUNA email list. If D.M. Joncich is the same person as David Joncich, then he's kind of biting the hand that feeds him with his gripes. However, a google of "D.M. Joncich" brings up a number of hits that indicate that Joncich survives on government research grants (including some from the military), so he may feel a comfortable removal from the needs of students, despite his involvement in the academic institution that brings so many of the students that irritate him to town. |
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Re: www.urbanarepublic.info: A report on the report card |
by dave joncich
djoncich (nospam) uiuc.edu (unverified) |
Current rating: 0
25 Feb 2005
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i am NOT anti-student - only anti-slumlord. to say that i am anti-children is ludicrous.
this is only one of many issues that i raise (overoccupany).
i would be happy to discuss any of these issues at any time with anyone. |
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Re: www.urbanarepublic.info: A report on the report card |
by another voter
(No verified email address) |
Current rating: 0
25 Feb 2005
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Two quotes here from Dose:
"Farney is correct that the website is confusing, but being a Republcian, Farney is probably an expert at confusing the public about what his real motives and intentions are."
"However, a google of "D.M. Joncich" brings up a number of hits that indicate that Joncich survives on government research grants (including some from the military), so he may feel a comfortable removal from the needs of students, despite his involvement in the academic institution that brings so many of the students that irritate him to town."
Again, we see the apparent inability or simple unwillingness to engage someone of an opposing viewpoint without resorting to "evilizing" them. Is it possible that Dave has an opinion that doesn't automatically make him a, what? . . .
WHY can't people argue the ISSUES without tearing each other down?! |
