Candidate Questionnaires and responses now posted http://bike-pgh.org/blog/2011/05/10/bike-the-vote-2011/
Thank you for this. It's the only way we would ever even know what they think even though for the most part they are saying the same things.
I love that the two Republicans running for county executive didn't respond. Guess they feel Bike Pittsburgh members can't vote for them in the primary?
Scott, thank you so much for doing this. I'm amused that the responses range from some 5 minute cut and paste job that ranks just barely above "did not respond" to "wow, this person really gets it". I thought the responses from Chris Zurawsky are a decent example of the latter.
So glad you find it useful. Please feel free to circulate among your friends. We'll be sending out the eMessenger this week with a link as well.
I am writing in ray lahood
@rsprake: I agree that they are saying very similar things, but it's pretty clear that Ceoffe hasn't given this a ton of thought.
He did drop some nice lines about walkable streets in Lawrenceville which I can't really argue with.
yeah - i started with Wander since he was first and thought "not too bad, especially for a (R)"... but then Zurawsky - wow, definitely no doubt he's done a lot of riding and understands.
thanks to bp for doing this!
not terribly impressed with either fitzgerald or flaherty though - but at least they took the time to respond.
personally i was impressed with RF's mention of bringing ciclovias to Pittsburgh. Pretty obscure reference for lay-folk.
my above comment was directed at dowd vs. ceoffe. it was late when i read it and i completely forgot about the other districts.
derp.
I want to encourage all of you to reach out to the candidates too. Ask your own questions! Go to their website and get their contact info and simply call or write them an email. It's important they hear from you.
Election time is when I wished I lived in Pittsburgh proper. I really wanted to vote in the last mayor primary.
share arrows... i guess i never made the connection!
i just wish we had open primaries so i could vote in them. eventually i may give up on my principles and register as a democrat instead of as a non-affiliated independent. stupid pa laws.
just rationalize it that the question they're asking isn't really "what party do you affiliate yourself with?" but "which primary do you want to vote in?"
or you can register republican and try to torpedo their primaries. i like to write in my friends for half the positions anyways.
eventually i may give up on my principles and register as a democrat instead of as a non-affiliated independent
Been sayin' the same thing for years. Haven't done it yet either.
I'm with you guys, cburch + reddan. WA state had open primaries when I lived there. I miss 'em.
top. just want to make sure this thread is read. please "like" the blog post it if you have fb and retweet it if you're on the twitter.
@cburch, reddan, and pseudacris: huh. i thought i was the only one stubborn enough to do that.
We need "Decision 2011 - A Plague On Both Your Houses" tee-shirts
... just waiting for the Commonwealth to change and allow me, an (I), to participate in the primaries.
nice that Fitzy wants ciclovias - it shows he has young, hip staffers, I guess...
Mad props to Phillips, too... bad he doesn't have to gears to overcome the incumbent.
My Facebook page used to say "Political: Too independent of mind to give the 'R' on my voter card much credence." Sarah and I chose parties by coin toss a few years ago so we could vote in primaries. We confer on both parties' candidates.
Sometimes we pick the candidate on the "other" side based on our liking, and sometimes we vote for a lesser candidate on that side in hopes s/he will lose to the other party's candidate in November.
Primary Winners:
County Exec - Fitzgerald-D, Raja-R
Council D-1 - Harris
Council D-3 - Kraus
Council D-5 - O'Connor
Council D-7 - Dowd
Council D-9 - Burgess
Thanks to everyone who checked out our voter education candidate survey. I hope it was helpful.
Well, I guess that explains why I didn't remember seeing Zurawsky on the ballot - I thought I was in D5 but I guess I'm really in D8...
@scott - it was helpful; given the relatively small differences between candidates, especially in primaries, it's nice to have something to differentiate them. Does BikePGH ever endorse candidates?
As a general statement, I do not like organizations (of any stripe) endorsing candidates. Just give me the facts and I'll make up my own mind. Thus, the Candidate Questionnaires were a great idea! but I'd leave it at that.
@willB -- BikePGH is a 501(c)(3) non-profit IRS tax exempt organization. (Click on the About link, then Mission above.)
They are not allowed to endorse candidates or actively engage in political activity that promotes candidates. If they do, they lose their tax-exempt status if the IRS learns about it. Providing information for individuals (like Marko82) to evaluate and make up their own minds about is OK.
501(c)3 organizations can't endorse or support candidates.
http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=154712,00.html
The fact of whether or not a candidate even fills out such a survey often decides the race for me. I'm sure they get dozens of these. If Candidate Such-and-such doesn't give a hoot about bicycles, they're not going to spend the time filling it out.
OTOH, for those who do, and it's clearly gotten the personal touch from the candidate, as opposed to a stock answer that might have been completed by a staff intern, that helps distinguish between two candidates.
