By: Diane Benjamin
WGLT, League of Women Voters, and the Pantagraph held a debate last night for 8 of the candidates running for 3 Trustee seats. Write-In candidate, Karl Sila, was not allowed to participate.
The audio frequently “blinked” making it a little difficult to listen to, I haven’t listened to the audio at the link WGLT posted in this story to see if it is better: https://www.wglt.org/post/town-council-candidates-connect-dots-housing-wages-and-economic-development
One thing is clear: Capitalism is close to dead in Normal.
The majority of the candidates think everything is government’s job: Control housing, control where grocery stores can be built, control how much employees are paid and what benefits they receive in the private sector were a few mentioned. David Shields thinks he is entitled to a seat because he “has been doing the work of a trustee for years”. (Koos’s pick)
Most of the candidates don’t believe in personal responsibility. Most of the candidates believe government must intervene and control every aspect of life in Normal. Most of the candidates don’t believe free markets . Yes, socialist candidates abound.
The WGLT story begins with the only two candidates who believe in free markets: Stan Nord and Karyn Smith. They are the only ones who know government doesn’t create prosperity by “shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic”.
Capitalism encourages people to improve their lives by improving the lives of others. Most of these government elites think they can decide what people want instead of consumers.
The voters in Normal need to decide if a market economy produces more prosperity than a planned economy. Right now Normal is a centrally planned economy that rewards friends of government with incentives. The 1st floor of 1 Uptown Circle is still empty, central planning eventually fails. Lorenz and McBride want to follow “the plans”. Some of the others think the “plans” aren’t being executed fast enough.
Need more evidence? Illinois is a failing state because free markets are not allowed to thrive. Citizens are not allowed to decide their own future, excessive taxation and regulations are preventing the economic rebound the rest of the country is experiencing.
At the last Town Council meeting a presentation was made on affordable housing by the Executive Director of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission. The presentation should horrify you. The plan is to provide high quality housing for every one, public housing needs to be located in neighborhoods where citizens earned the money to buy their house.
Personal responsibility to improve your own life is immaterial. The debate proved many of the candidates feel the same.
Voting for Nord, Smith and writing in Karl Sila can slow the madness of central planning.
The Pantagraph story has a few more details on the debate: https://www.pantagraph.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/housing-incentives-central-at-normal-council-forum/article_d6c1bedc-98c1-5f56-bb1a-cd3e4be3de5a.html#1
Just hit play to hear Vasudha Gadhiraju explain her vision of affordable housing. Do voters want to live under socialism?
Really sad state of affairs & as ISU continues to be disrupted, the economic bell is tolling for Normal. It appears that the leadership does not hear it….
What are the rules for a write-in candidate like Sila? I have no problem writing him in, and plan to, but will Normal even honor the results if he were to get more votes then the others? I have concerns that officials will find a way to disallow him on the council if he were to win. Could be very interesting to see.
He officially filed to run as a write-in. If he wins he will be seated.
Illinois’ incumbency-protection laws require write-ins to file their intent well in advance. If ISU President Dietz decided today to run and every student, faculty, and staff voted for him, none of their votes for him would be counted.
If Karl wins, I’m sure the powers that be will demand a recount and try to throw out any votes for Carl Sila or Karl Silas. Not sure what the rules or standards are for that. If he still has the votes after that, yes, he will be seated.
Voter intent is all that matters, spelling doesn’t.
WGLT, League of Women Voters, and the Pantagraph have all now become Left-wing, extremist organizations. Might as well have Antifa, The Communist Party, USA, and the Animal Liberation Front hosting a debate. The total dominance of local events and imbalance of viewpoints could not be more on display.
Enjoy your Marxist dominated local government!
Yes you are correct and people don’t bother to vote so they will continue to dominate (and destroy) our towns.