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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
In a message dated 5/14/2000 11:30:34 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
TJREIDY1@... writes: Zydeco or Zodico music is a Louisana Creole form........french influence,way that is distinctive to southern Louisana.Thanks, Terry. Sounds wonderful. I am sorry I missed the party! M |
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Re: Trying this for the first time
Jessica:
Glad you made it onto Watercooler! But boy, you ask some tough questions that may take a lifetime to find an answer. How to build a community? First, what is a community? An area within certain political boundaries? A neighborhood? A group of people chatting online about things that interest them? I think these are all communities, each with a unique way of sustaining (and building) itself. We are all members of many communities, life being a multi-faceted process. I just returned from a trip back to my hometown in upstate NY, where I spoke to the local historical society on historic preservation. I have not lived there for 30 years, and yet I felt like I was home. I had shared their news via my parents and had agonized with them over the loss of town landmarks over the years. In my introductory remarks, I recalled the demolition of "my" library -- the mansion of one of the town's most prominent citizens -- as being the event that led me to the work I do today. Do you know that people came up to me afterwards and told me how much they related to that incident? Many of them had felt the same sadness with me. In remembering that loss with them, the 30 years disappeared. It was as if I had never left them -- I was and always will be a part of that community because of the connections I had there made in my childhood. So I think "community" is a very fluid concept, stretching over time and place and memory. As for the focusing on the "broad issues" -- I think we all need to focus on the micro before we can get to the macro. Life is a process of moving between those two visions. Mary |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
Dear Mary,
Zydeco or Zodico music is a Louisana Creole form........french influence, African influence, blues and country............all mixed together in a way that is distinctive to southern Louisana............once you hear it, you will never forget the rhythm.....its been around for generations.......however, it was made popular several years ago in a movie with dennis Quaid called "The Big Easy"............. terry |
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Trying this for the first time
Signing on for the first time was difficult enough, both literally,
figuring out how to use my ID, and because I'm in the process of self redefinition. How do we engage the community on broad issues? How do we build community? And, if we don't build community, does anything else matter? |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
I agree with Kevin on this one.............I am appalled at the visual litter
in our community..........all communities.........I see our challenge as figuring out a way to do the business aspects of getting people where they need to go with the least amount of signage possible Terry ps...............Downtown saturday night was a great party..........especially terrance Simmeon (a Zydeco band) |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
Kevin Allen
I differ, horrible idea.
I would like to disallow all those signs, including contractors and for sale signs, we have enough visual clutter, there must be other ways. -- Kevin Allen Principal Designer Kevin Lee Allen Design, Incorporated klad@... 973.744.6352.v 201.280.3841.c |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
In a message dated 5/13/2000 9:26:29 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
aot@... writes: lawn signs for election inGreat idea! It might help, if memory lapses are the reason that people don't vote. I wonder.... News coverage of the election was very slight this time around, with the Mtc Times having shifted its focus to "soft news" during the past year or so. I would love to see more reporting of political and land use issues, like we had before the Times was acquired by a syndicate. Mary |
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Re: Curious Pockets of History
In a message dated 5/13/2000 9:26:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
aot@... writes: commemoratiang something, I'll check it again when I go out.Then of course there is the 'smallest national park in the USA" at the corner of Claremont and Valley -- the boulder that marks the site of "Washington's Headquarters." It was a Crane homestead, the oldest house in Montclair, where Washington stayed during the Rev War. His troups encamped in the meadow around the house for several weeks. Can you imagine a meadow sprinkled with tents at that busy corner? Washington's scouts would travel up Valley Road to the top of Great Notch to check out British movements from the encampment there. It was so high up that they could see the dust kicked up by troop movements. Amazing huh? The air must have been a lot clearer than today! I ran across a series of articles in the Montclair Times around 1900 when there was an attempt (later successful) to tear it down. It was HUGE preservation battle (this time PRO-preservation, unlike recent years when property rights has dominated). Lots of letters to the editor from organizations like the DAR or some such, a number of articles about its history, lots of public lamenting and wringing of hands. I haven't found the last chapter yet... I am only up to 1902 in my whirlwind scan of the Times. Mary |
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Re: Curious Pockets of History
In a message dated 5/13/2000 9:26:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
aot@... writes: what was the name on the plaque?I don't know. I will have to drive by to check it out.... have you ever noticed the little park next to cvs on valley roadYeah, right next to Photo Cullen? I have passed it so many times, and never stopped to read it. Let us know... Mary |
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Re: Curious Pockets of History
what was the name on the plaque?
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have you ever noticed the little park next to cvs on valley road -= an eagle, on the bldg - commemoratiang something, I'll check it again when I go out. something about Lafayette I think adriana MDK10@... wrote: I was chatting with Mark Porter, editor of the Montclair Times, who said that |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
I think we might have to consider tacky, but useful, lawn signs for election in
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off years, so that voters remember - it turns out there is no regulation agains them = ( it would be unconsidtutionnald ( whatever) and might help bring attention to an election date adriana MDK10@... wrote: In a message dated 5/11/2000 4:52:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time, klad@... |
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Curious Pockets of History
I was chatting with Mark Porter, editor of the Montclair Times, who said that
there was some person who had come across a plaque in Glenfield Park commemorating the gift of the park by a large estate owner. He wanted to know more about it. I didn't have a clue. Apparently, the land was part of his estate, and he wanted to donate for public use as a park. As I recall, this is a county park. My questions: who was this person? When and why (no really, why) did he donate it? Who put up the plaque? And what has become of his legacy? There are all sorts of other strange remnants of our history around. Some we pass by without really noticing. For instance, there is a metal "garage" -- very near the Glen Ridge border on the north side of Bloomfield Avenue -- old and kind of rusty. I didn't realize, until I read an advertisement about it in a 1911 Montclair Times, that these were early structures that resemble our modern garden sheds -- Home Depot types. They were just the right size to house a Model T (even though they didn't come out until a few years later). They were inexpensive, quasi-temporary structures for a particular purpose -- i.e., cars. The manufacturer was a company in Glen Ridge. There were other companies who advertised these, too. One in Newark, I think. I had seen one near Oak Place and Label Street. A friend has come across more of these funny structures around town. Anyway, I thought that some of you would have come across other curious artifacts -- lampposts, plaques, clocks, or some funny other thing that must have a story. They make going around town so interesting. Mary |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
In a message dated 5/11/2000 4:52:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time, klad@...
writes: but I can't help butWe were fantacizing that physical evidence of the person would still be required, so that people would still come to a central voting place, but have to put their thumb on a print-reader to verify they were who they said. Given the latest hacker successes, I have a feeling that balloting will not be online anytime soon! M |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
Kevin Allen
For some while, we will ned the old methods, but I can't help but
imagine that voting online is something soon to arrive. a userID, a password, and viola. Maybe more people would participate, they can vote from the office in the city. Either you have to choose electronic balloting or the voting machines have to be replaced with computers or the folks who man the polls need a database linked to the internet offering a realtime check of who has voted. Could be the end of vote early, vote often. -- Kevin Allen Principal Designer Kevin Lee Allen Design, Incorporated klad@... 973.744.6352.v 201.280.3841.c |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
In a message dated 5/11/2000 7:57:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time,
wesegil@... writes: My challenger was wearing a Remsenbutton. What is the deal? Can they be advertising their candidates right there inLouise: Each political committee can register 50 challengers. They are stationed at the polling places and have a list of voters arranged by street name and number. Their job is to make sure that everyone who comes to vote is actually a registered voter in that district. For each challenger, the election commission provides a ribbon that prominently shows the name of the candidate for whom the challenger is working. I would guess that there is no prohibition to wear a supporter's button, too, but that is a finer point that I don't have a clue about. Something about First Amendment. I know that you are not permitted to pass out campaign literature or talk to people within 100 or 200 feet of the entrance to the polling place. Each shift of challengers has its own list, which is collected periodically and entered into a central list at the candidates' campaign headquarters. At 6:00, the committees start making calls to supporters who have not voted yet. At yesterday's election, both sides were making calls, and it was amazing how many people came through who said "Gosh, I had forgotten all about voting today, but just got a call from ___" Pretty neat, huh? -- Mary |
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Re: Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
Louise and Gil Brodnitz
Thanks Mary.
My husband Gil and I were wondering about something. This is the first time we noticed Challengers at the polls and since we voted at different times they may have been different people. My challenger was wearing a Remsen button if I remember correctly, while Gil's was wearing a DeKonninck button. What is the deal? Can they be advertising their candidates right there in the polling place? Louise |
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Thoughts of a Poll Watcher
I served as a Challenger in the last municipal election. It was the first
time ever. It was a great experience -- one I recommend to anyone interested in the political process in America. The first thing that struck me was that our elections -- local, state, and national -- are tallied by incredibly low-tech methods. No electronic sign-in, no cell phones to Voter Registration headquarters, no digital anything. Voters show up, they say their name and their address, they look them up in a book or on a list, then they sign their name. Yes, their signatures have to bear a reasonable resemblance to their signature from the one they registered with (sometimes 20 years+ ago...) but other than that there seems little but trust to say that this or that voter is really who they say they are. In our fluid society, there are many voters who have moved from the residence they had at the last election. Those folks wander around (at least in Hillside school, where there are 4 voting districts) looking for the right spot to vote. Sometimes, the records didn't make it in time. They vote as "provisionals," and have to manually fill out a ballot. Sometimes folks are frustrated because they can't find the right polling place. But for those who have been coming to the same place for years, it is a great experience. The people from the Election Commission, many of whom have done this job for years (some are children of past election officials, some long dead) are dedicated individuals who think of what they do is a great trust. The election process -- where the People make their choices for who will govern them -- is sacred to them. Well, at least in Montclair, I think. When the polls close, the machines (which I do not think have changed in design in 50 years....) are sealed with a little metal tape and the officials crank out the sheet that has all the numbers on it. Standing around the machines are representatives from both slates (or parties) and, in a national election, there are people who have been enlisted by the national news services -- AP, UPI -- who are ready to run to the nearest phone and call in the results to a central 800 number. As I sat there, greeting my neighbors and seeing many faces that I have never seen before (some who live only a few houses away), I was filled with a sense of community. Nope, we didn't support the same people, nor did we necessarily agree on ANYTHING. But here we were, trusting in this low-tech, manual process that would determine who would guide our destiny for the next four years. Amazing. I loved it. I recommend it to anyone who wants to see what and who your town is really made of. Mary K |
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Montclair Election Results
Here are the unofficial tallies from the Town Hall reports phoned in:
Mayor: Bob Russo (Adv Mtc) - 2923 William Farlie (MB2K) - 2600 At Large: Albertus Jenkins (Adv Mtc) - 2831 Theresa Aurora O'Connell (Adv Mtc) - 2662 Joyce Michaelson (MB2K) - 2626 Florence Denning (MB2K) - 2556 1st Ward: Gerry Tobin (Adv Mtc) - 880 Rob Bianco (MB2K) - 865 2nd Ward: Edward Remsen (MB2K) - 795 Jessica DeKoninck (Adv Mtc) - 766 3rd Ward: Don Zief (MB2K) - 539 Adriana O'Toole (Adv Mtc) - 457 4th Ward: Charles Smith (Adv Mtc) - 556 Sandra Land (Ind.) - 534 (Sorry, do not have figures for the other independent candidates at this time, but Smith has been declared the winner) |
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