[Southsider2k12]

Its kinda like April Fools Day, except you already know the punchline!

[JHeath]

[RedDevilMC]

So far the turnout is very low at all of the polls. It is soooooooooooooo cold out there. I'm home making lunch for all of my high school volunteers and starting the chili for tonight. Please get the word out about hitting the polls. So, I'll see some of you at the polls after I get the kids, I mean young adults all fed.

Angie

[Southsider2k12]

Too bad attendence is so low, but that isn't a surprise with the lack of compelling races. The top races are council races, which just doesn't do it for a lot of people. Unfortuantely, all that really means is that the status quo will continue on.

[Ang]

Yeah, people probably figure why should they vote, nothings going to change anyway.

[Southsider2k12]

Angie Starks is the leading vote getter in both of the first reports!

[Ang]

Yeaahhhh!!

[kharris]

Yeaahhhh!!

Wanted to offer Marc Espar my congratulations here tonight. I can take pride in the fact that we ran a clean campaign. I really don't know what I mcould have done differently. The low voter turnout didn't help, but the voters did make their choice I can respect that. Congrats to all those who were successfull, and thanks to all of thoise who supported me and all those who came out to vote!

[Max Main]

I am very disappointed that Mr. Harris did not get in. The extremely low turnout means that most people have no figurative investment in their own community. That may be why MC is in the dumps. That and crappy leadership. Except for Angie Starks.

[Southsider2k12]

Wanted to offer Marc Espar my congratulations here tonight. I can take pride in the fact that we ran a clean campaign. I really don't know what I mcould have done differently. The low voter turnout didn't help, but the voters did make their choice I can respect that. Congrats to all those who were successfull, and thanks to all of thoise who supported me and all those who came out to vote!

You ran a very nice and spirited campaign. You should be proud of the work that you did.

[Ang]

Mr. Harris, I'm sorry that you did not win. I like your attitude and think you would have made an excellent councilman.

Having said that, now that the election is over, I hope that you won't abandon us here. We are more than an "election/candidate resource" and your input is always welcome.

Same goes to Mr. Lindborg. I hope that you stick around as well.

[Roger Kaputnik]

Hear, hear!

[kharris]

Mr. Harris, I'm sorry that you did not win. I like your attitude and think you would have made an excellent councilman.

Having said that, now that the election is over, I hope that you won't abandon us here. We are more than an "election/candidate resource" and your input is always welcome.

Same goes to Mr. Lindborg. I hope that you stick around as well.

I certainly do appreciate the sentiment. I believe the weather seriously effected turnout, and had we been able to bring 25-30% of the voters out the outcome just might have been different. In any case, it is politics afterall, one if the most fickle beasts we know.

With that said, I plan on going nowhere ... my intent is to stay involved and continue to put my best effort forward in making Michigan City a better place to be. And, as time permits, I will remain here on the message board as well. Glad to hear support is out there.

[Mr. Mark S. Lindborg]

First of all, THANKS to all of you for the support I've generously recieved! Although the weather was nasty, the voter turnout a representation of apathy and lack of discernment. I feel I accomplishished great strides on my mission for better not bigger government yesterday. I'm very pleased with the results that this ONE person accomplished as I single handlely challenged the Punch Ten Mentality on a shoestring budjet and garnered into the double digit percentage. Depressingly, I feel it is this voting practice this has led to our current One Party control of all Three branches of our municipality. My Congratulations go to all that were elected yesterday. Good Luck! I wonder if I would have been elected if I ran as a Democrat as I have been told this redundantly such would be the case. Why not? Well, I ponder this question often and it pounds my head and this resounding message... CONSCIENCE! I just do not completely share the same views, but admirer many of them. Punch Ten and the like is a of disparage of my intelligence. I feel the respect I achieve from my peers is earned by my persistence in not by taking the easy road out to achieve a low effort livelyhood. Simply put, this voting practice is perverse to me and is UNCONSCIENCE! Whether I will recieve an openess from our newly electorate. I have been enriched by many citizens with a variety of issues and do feel it pertinent to answer questions anyone may have as I do belive those who truly cared about our city made the effort to exercise their right dispite any obstacle in their way. In response to those that freely chose not to vote by whatever belief they may have. Should you expect more than nothing? What effort did you really support; not only to yourself, but to your family, to our electorate, to your neighbors or to any of our fellow citizens you may not know. How can you expect better govnernment when you essentially chose to deny your input and added nothing. And as the song says nothing from nothing leaves NOTHING! Is that what you want? And to the person who belligerently ridiculed certain students at the Neiman poll. Please lighten up! Did you stop to think of the sorry impression you gave to those students on a day of such inclement weather about the importance of the voting process? You could have gotton your message across more politely while informing them of the distance they should remain from the door. Once again to my fellow patriots, all poll workers, the election staff and opposing candidates. THANKS!

[Roger Kaputnik]

I hope you stick around.

[Southsider2k12]

The one thing I would say to all is that you can't just be active during the election cycle. If you want to be a true proponent of change, you have to be an activist 365 days a year. I think that was the biggest lesson I learned during my school board election run. I could have crawled back under my rock for a year and a half and popped back up the during the next filing period, but what good would that have done for the causes I believe in? You have to be active and working for change. Pick a cause or project that appeals to your great sense of purpose and throw yourselves into that fully. There are a lot of problems and organizations that need help and leadership. Anyone who is willing to put themselves on public trial and run for office is an invaluable person to an organziation like the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA, Dunebrook, etc.

I wish you all, including the winners of the election, the best of luck. There is a lot of work to be done, and now is the time to get past our differences and get something done. Let's move forward!

[Roger Kaputnik]

No glib answer here...I am thinking about this.

[Mr. Mark S. Lindborg]

Your right S.S. and I'll continue to forge ahead. I feel it was mostly my fault of the poor results I recieved because I didn't do enough to make the difference. There is still so much I must learn, must do and must contribute. At a bare minimum I owe that to the 729 citizens that believed in me. Thank You for the encouragement!

[Dave]

I served as the Inspector at one of the polling places this election, and we were all pretty disappointed in the turnout. We only had 54 voters out of about 700 show up, for a total less than 10%. Considering the ward's Councilman was unopposed (congrats to Rich Murphy!), and we were the only precinct to not go for Oberlie in the primary, maybe it isn't too surprising a lot of people decided to sit on their hands this time around. I have to say that if I would have lost time from work, I might not have gone to the polls, but if all it would have taken me was getting out of bed an hour earlier, well, that I would have done.

Tuesday was a long day for me. Getting up at 3:30 a.m. in order to be presentable and cogent when I met the other poll workers at 5 a.m., working the polls until 6 p.m., then running the results and materials back to LaPorte, getting home about 8:30 p.m. People don't do stints as poll workers to get rich doing it. Considering all the time invested, it works out (for me anyway) to less than $10 per hour. I consider it to be something of a civic responsiblity, like jury duty.

One thing I did notice about the machine voting system here that is substantially different from how it worked in Chicago is that the machine does not tabulate the number (or at least does not show on the print out I saw) of straight party voters. No idea how many people decided to "Punch 10," which I would find of interest.

[Southsider2k12]

Dave: It is cool that you worked the polls. Even factoring just the 12 hours that the polls are open, that is a long day.