The One With My Endorsement for RISD

Yesterday, I announced my endorsement for mayor of Richardson. I admit I was conflicted. After going from being very happy with both candidates to beginning to wonder if Richardson would be better served by having a third choice, I ended up endorsing more out of necessity than enthusiasm. Negative campaigning does as much harm to our city as it does to the opposing candidate. Anyone who engages in or tolerates negative campaigning loses stature in my opinion.

That's completely different from my attitude towards the Richardson school board race (RISD). After the jump, my endorsement.

The One With My Endorsement for Mayor

After weeks of growing despair at the increasingly negative tone of the mayor's race in Richardson, after going from being very happy with both candidates to beginning to wonder if Richardson would be better served by having a third choice, the time to vote is finally here. Early voting begins today. The general election is less than two weeks away, May 11. My weeks of waffling are over. I have to decide how to vote.

After the jump, I come down off the fence.

Of Inner Cities and High Density

Amir Omar is doing his best to lose whatever sympathy he gained by being the victim of personal attacks during this election campaign. He's doing that by taking quotes from Laura Maczka out of context and spinning a "vision" for her that people who have paid attention this election campaign would never recognize (and by "people who have paid attention" I mean me.)

Here's the quote from Omar's latest mailer.

Source: Amir Omar mailer.

This quote is all that appears on a full page. Omar is clearly trying to play it up as something huge.

After the jump, my thoughts.

No Knockout in Mayor's Race

After weeks of campaigning and a dozen or so rounds in the ring, the two candidates for Richardson's mayor were bloody but still standing after the last round, the big forum in the Grand Hall of the Richardson Civic Center, sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Richardson.

I won't provide a blow by blow account because the city recorded this one and made it available for all to stream from the city's website for viewing at your leisure. It's only 82 minutes long. Inform yourselves.

After the jump, the highlights, from my point of view.

Airbrushing the Voters Guide

Wikipedia

In the old Soviet Union, the men in power had a habit of airbrushing the photographs in each new edition of the history books, removing the images of leaders who had been purged from government since the last edition. Often, Western analysts learned more about changes in the Soviet hierarchy not from any official announcements, but from who disappeared from the photos.

The same kind of analysis is still useful today. After the jump, what's missing from the Richardson Coalition PAC's 2013 Voters Guide?