The Wheel's 2011 Voters Guide

It's Friday. Election day is Saturday, May 14, 2011. This is the last chance for voters to do some, you know, ... homework, in order to cast their ballots as *informed* citizens. Everyone else seems to have published a voters' guide. Why not me?

After the jump, The Wheel's 2011 Voters Guide.

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I'll get to how to do your homework in a moment. But let's face it. A lot of voters aren't patient. You know who you are. You're the ones who just want to know who to vote for, not why. So, let's get straight to the bottom line. Here's how I will be casting my own ballot. This is the way you should, too. Just take my word for it.

• RISD Bond: YES (a big fat YES)

• Place 1: Bob Townsend
• Place 2: Mark Solomon
• Place 3: Scott Dunn
• Place 4: Laura Maczka
• Place 5: Kendal Hartley*
• Place 6: Steve Mitchell
• Place 7: Amir Omar

* Endorsement differs from the judges' opinion on Richardson Idol. People are allowed to change their minds, right? It's a free country.

How did I arrive at my decision to give these candidates my vote? I sat through all but one of the many forums (one or two a week for six weeks). I read all the questionnaires. I read much of what appeared on the candidates' campaign websites, Facebook pages and Twitter feeds. I read all the paper litter that filled my mailbox. I read the endorsements that other people made. I did all this so you don't have to. ... You're welcome.

OK, if you're still with me, and you want to do your own homework, feel free to slog your way through all this stuff yourself. Helpful links to many of the resources are listed below.

Websites

• Vote YES RISD: Voting YES for the RISD Bond is so obvious and non-controversial that, as far as I know, there isn't even a "Vote NO" website.

• City Council: I'm not listing any of the candidates' own websites, Facebook pages or Twitter feeds. I'm leaving it as an exercise for the reader to Google them up yourself. Sorry.

Forums

• Richardson Idol Week 1
• Richardson Idol Week 2
• Richardson Idol Week 3
• Richardson Idol Week 4
• Richardson Idol Week 5
• Richardson Idol Week 6 (Video here)

Questionnaires

• The Dallas Morning News
• League of Women Voters Richardson
• Richardson Chamber of Commerce

Endorsements

• Richardson Coalition (PAC)
• Richardson Fire Fighters Association (PAC)
• MetroTex Association of Realtors (PAC)
• Richardson Citizens Alliance (PAC)
• Retiring Mayor Gary Slagel (individual)
• Andrew Laska (individual)
• Mark Steger (individual)
  • One Thing To Remember In Place 1
  • A Second Look At Place 2
  • All For Maczka In Place 4
  • Five Things I Learned About Place 5
  • Place 7: Challengers Never Had it

If you're still reading all the way down here, there's a possibility that you spent two days doing all your homework and missed the deadline before polls closed on Saturday evening. Don't blame me. I told you how to vote right at the top. You should have just listened to me. It would have saved you a lot of time and Richardson would have been the better for it.

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Political analysis not affiliated with any candidate.