An Open Letter to Alderman Moore From Democratic Candidate for 49th Ward Alderman Don Gordon
As a neighbor and activist, I have worked with 49th Ward voters for decades on community issues that concern us all. As a candidate, I have listened carefully to them for well over a year. I have written scores of position papers and responses to civic group questionnaires giving my stand on these issues and offering in-depth solutions. I also have noted the shortcomings of your 16-year tenure and explained why voters feel it’s time for change.
Since the beginning, I have remained positive and not made personal attacks. I will continue to talk about community issues and solutions, in spite of innuendos and half-truths made against me by your staff and ACORN, a group that supports you.
As a citizen, I find that type of campaigning reprehensible and I know that many residents of our community feel likewise. Yet, in just the past few weeks, you have alarmed voters by promoting blatant lies and absurd claims about me, both in print and in TV ads:
* You said that I would remove all low-income housing. I will not.
* You attacked my character by suggesting that I am a racist. I certainly am not.
* You tried to associate me with statements of individuals who are not active in my campaign.
* You accused me of saying things I never said and take my statements out of context.
* You raised doubts about my being an Independent Democrat because I have received support from an individual who donates across the political spectrum, including to Senator Obama.
* You belittled my 25 years of volunteer work, suggesting I don’t complete what I start. I do and I have a long record of accomplishments to show for it.
Alderman Moore, I will not stoop to your campaign’s polarizing rhetoric when what we need most in our community is the dialogue of unity. Let us celebrate our racial and economic diversity by honoring and respecting it.
Do not use our diversity as a weapon.
I have urged you to join me in a dialogue about these and other issues that are key to our community’s future. An “independent and progressive” alderman would do that. Yet, you have refused to participate in two candidate forums to which we were both invited. You also refused my offer to debate the issues at Loyola University.
Voters in our ward are not fools. We are all appalled by the contradictions in what you say versus what you actually do. Long ago, some of us felt you might help our ward. There was hope that you would be different from the other aldermen in City Council.
Sadly, by your own actions, you have destroyed that hope. Publisher Max Lerner once said of Richard Nixon – “The politician has overcome the man.” Clearly, that statement rings true for you as well.
Sincerely,
Don Gordon
Democratic Candidate for 49th Ward Alderman
19 comments:
Joe damned near never got the hole dug for the Gale Field House! It took 10 years of thinking and electioneering to get the topsoil scraped off. It still isn't moving too quickly. But Block 37 has added several stories since I took a photo in January!
We'll see how long it takes for the rest of his visionary projects to actually get started. Look at the Coe Hole on Morse? It hasn't changed since? Still waiting on permits?
Imagine that! Moore political promises.
I have a problem with the letter. The words "To" and "From" are pretty important when you consider what the top line of the page says. I think that they are not prominent enough and thus could cause confusion in a casual glance.
I wonder, will Don put these up on doors like Moore did with Schoenberg's letter? I think its a good idea.
Very well said Don.
To Joe Moore's staff and supporters; I know you read this blog so I will tell you that I have voted for Joe Moore in past elections. Recently I have become disillusioned with what I perceive as his attention grabbing interest in national affairs at the expense of ward concerns. It seems that many in the 49th ward feel as I do although we might not be as vocal or as strongly opinionated as some of the regular bloggers. I seriously considered voting for James Ginderske. I liked what he was saying but when his campaign chair used this blog (which he curiously now condemns) as a forum to attack Don Gordon's daughter I dropped him from consideration. Don Gordon earned my respect for refusing to get down into the gutter, despite the highly personal attack on his family, and instead stayed with the issues he feels are important to the 49th Ward. Now, Joe Moore is using the similar tactics and I have gone from disillusioned to outright hostile.
Well spokem, Don.
By now it should be clear to everyone that Moore is a compulsive liar. He has continually distorted the truth for 16 years. Now that his political career is in real jeopardy, Moore's need to lie his way out of trouble is only intensified. Fortunately, the voters of the 49th Ward will be able to finally take care of this disgrace to the community come Tuesday.
RANDALL SHERMAN
Secretary/Treasurer, Illinois Committee for Honest Government
This letter is too little too late from a clearly floundering campaign.
Don claims to have been an activist for decades. Other than a notably abandoned Rogers Park Conservancy project, what else has Don been involved in? Was he involved in the effort to elect David Orr alderman? Did he get involved in Harold Washington's historic campaign? Did he help elect Jan Schakowsky or Barack Obama? Did he help bring CAPS to the ward, or Blue Light Cameras for that matter?
He decries Half-Truths, but refuses to acknowledge the words posted on THIS VERY blog by some of his most ardent supporters? Craig, to his credit, had the appropriate response, that the comments were shameful. Why doesn't he just come out and state the obvious, that when people say things like "section 8 housing is like underbrush, and needs to be burned," that it's disgusting and should be condemned.
You claim that Joe Moore's campaign is claiming that you'll tear down low income housing, which it isn't. The fact that Don Gordon wants to wait a year to release an affordable housing plan speaks for itself.
No one is suggesting that Don Gordon is racist. What ACORN is stating is that Don Gordon supporters have made hateful comments towards low income housing residents, and Don has refused to distance himself these people.
To say that people like Toni Duncan (North Coast), Hugh Devlin (Hugh), and Laura Louzander (Paradise) are not associated with your campaign is an outright lie. These people campaign for you on a daily basis, and at least two of the three were actively campaigning on 2/27.
The Joe Moore campaign has leveled serious attacks on the Don Gordon campaign, mainly that Don Gordon does not support the Living Wage ordinance, which 77% of the ward voted in favor of last election, and that Don Gordon opposed the Blue Light Cameras, a point which Don emphatically reinforced on the second Chicago tonight debate.
David Herro donated more than twice as much money to Jack Ryan, one of Barack Obama's GOP opponents. Of the money that David Herro has donated to political campaigns, a vast majority has gone to Republican candidates and causes. To say that he donates across the political spectrum is a gross distortion. It is more accurate to say that David Herro has a history of giving to Republicans, those opposed to the living wage, and a few big Democrats.
I urge Don Gordon to provide a list of projects he was associated with prior to the year 2003, after which his community involvement would have been entirely geared towards building a resume to run for office.
Don Gordon's campaign won't stoop to polarizing rhetoric because it's not neccessary to stoop. They've been stooping all along. Gordon supporters are positively vicious in their insinuation and distortion of the truth.
Gordon ends his charming obituary with an interesting byline, "Democratic Candidate for 49th Ward Alderman." I challenge Gordon to name all the Democratic campaign (besides Bobby Kennedy's) that he has worked on. If he's such a wonderful Democrat, I'm sure he has something to show for it.
Truth? an upstart blog with no blog members, hidden profiles but a comment by our own closet racist, Thomas Westgard.
Thomas Westgard said...
"...All you have to do is use racial fears to your benefit. They're stuck on intent - I'm looking at effect.
April 12, 2007 9:36 PM
So you're one with Moore and trying to start another civil war huh? Using it for Moore's benefit? What's in it for you Tom? Jim's got the coveted seat on the zoning committee maybe you can replace the late Mr. Reif?
But you ALWAYS were a MOORITE weren't you? You should be ashamed of spreading the TRUTH for once in your Moorite career and returning to the folds of his CLAN.
Keep spreading your hate but put the blame where it started...with yourself.
I gotta say that I'm just loving this. It's unfathomable to me WHY Don would associate himself with Craig after what he did to his daughter! Don shows that he will do anything, say anything and align himself with the foulest elements of the community to get elected. I know that "politics makes strange bedfellows" but crawling into bed with the guy who splashed those 'girls-gone-wild' photos of his little girl across the web...? Failing to repudiate the horrific statements of 'supporters'?
Just as using the blogs as a political hammer hurt Ginderske, it will hurt Don. The reality is, most folks don't want an alderman who, if they get crossways with him, will cause them to end up being splayed across the blogs and humiliated. Toni, Craig and Tom: expect a big "thanks" from Joe on the 18th for all your help!
Bloggerdaddy49:
You said " It's unfathomable to me WHY Don would associate himself with Craig after what he did to his daughter!
You make a statement that is left open to speculation. Care to explain in more detail?
Joe is really going all out to blow smoke up the voters ass!!
Read this bs comeing out of joes ass.
Joe says he and his staff walk & drive all the streets and alleys.
When at midnight with their eyes blindfolded??
2007 Infrastructure Improvements Map of the 49th Ward Now Available Online
April 13, 2007
Dear Neighbor,
My Ward Service Office staff and I have just completed our annual infrastructure assessment of the 49th Ward and submitted our menu of infrastructure improvements for 2007 to the City of Chicago. Thank you to the many community residents, block clubs and neighborhood leaders who assisted in this effort by reporting needs in their areas.
We now have an interactive map on my website that shows new sidewalks, alleys, curbs, streetlights, speed humps, street resurfacing and more. We have uploaded those improvements completed over the last four years and those slated for this summer and fall.
We hope this will be a useful tool for you so that you can anticipate any construction that may occur near your home.
My staff and I walk and drive every street and alley each year as part of this assessment. But nobody knows the needs of your block more than the people who live there. If your block has a particular need that is not addressed in our 2007 plan, please contact me so we can evaluate it and hopefully add it to the queue for 2007 or 2008.
Very truly yours,
Joe Moore
Well said, Don. Thank you for taking the high road and not getting down in the gutter with Joe.
I hope that Don's campaign volunteers will be posting copies of this letter on many doors and prominent places in the ward in the next few days. Many voters need to know.
To 49th Ward (un)truth Squad.
For starters, my name is spelled LOUZADER, not "Louzander". There is no "d" in the name.
Secondly, I don't see how my comments are "hate-filled". Anger-filled, yes, they surely were. I get VERY ANGRY at parents who do not take proper responsibility for their children and breed irresponsibly, and I don't care what socio-economic group they belong to.
Your ACORN flier is misleading and false in that it does not quote every remark I made on the thread.
If you don't quote everything I say on the subject, but merely quote one remark out of context.
But you people are so opposed to the idea of personal responsibility that, to you, anyone who advocates it must be "anti-poor" or "racist".
Most of all, none of you people are doing the things ACORN is supposed to be doing to help the poor. It would seem that ACORN would do better to spend time FIGHTING UTITILITY INCREASES and FIGHTING PROPERTY TAX INCREASES, than to spread little "hate" sheets allover the streets, yet I don't hear a peep out of either Moore or ACORN over our electric rates, which are among the highest in the nation.
That's correct- while ACORN is attacking a bunch of little local bloggers nobody outside the north side ever heard of, ACORN is saying, and doing nothing, about the catastrophic, 40% increase in our electric bills, that is surely making life unliveable for our poorest people.
Just like ACORN said, and did, completely NOTHING about the vicious natural gas tax, that impacts poor people so much more than the rest of us, because they are living in places with very old, inefficient furnaces or are using extremely uneconomical and dangerous space heaters that cause fatal fires every year. Why aren't the ACORN chumps screaming their heads off about these brutal and non-survivable taxes, and about the outrageous utility rate hikes?
Yet I can't think of anything more destructive to the poor, or that does more to impoverish the near-poor, than escalating utilities, and there are no other taxes that are so brutally regressive and do more damage to those at the low end of the economic spectrum than UTILITY TAXES and PROPERTY TAXES.
What has the Mooron done to fight the escalation in utility rates? This would have been a far more helpful to low-income people than the fois gras ordinance.
Most of all, what has your Mooron done to fight the brutal utility and property tax increases. NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Instead, Joe has rubberstamped every tax increase and almost every TIF that Da Mare has asked for.
Believe me, everyone notices the increase in their taxes while Joe "mooron" Moore and his fellow AlderThieves get salary hikes. No one else out here is getting 20% raises, trust me.
So speak not of Joe's "progressivism" or my "hate-filled" attitudes.
You people are beyond pathetic when you fall to attacking bloggers, anyway, and do it anonymously, no less.
By the way, truthsquad, The North Coast and Paradise are the same person, in case you haven't twigged that.
Is that YOU hiding behind that moniker, Joe Moore? If so, you are dimmer than I thought.
Laura "paradise" Louzader
AMEN! to 49thWardTruthSquad!!
i'll just say ditto~
and to BloggerDaddy-
*maybe Don G isn't a rascist, but anyone claiming leadership in 2007 needs to be sensitive to the impact of language and when it is wicked and nasty, HE needs to have the character to directly denounce it and remove anyone from his campaign who corrupts the dialogue by using hate as a tool for his benefit... i don't care what the bloggers say, but i do care what HE says if he wants to lead my community and he has been mighty silent which speaks volumes. doesn't the evil thrive when good? men look the other way for their own personal care and advancement? is he not striving to represent all of his "neighbors?"
he should pick a street coner as the beat alderman and start addressing this, and Joe M should join him... without the shelter of anonymity that the blogs provide, they would have to engage each other, which would be the most informative event of the election so far.
and yes Westgard can be a dolt, but like all of us occasionally brings interesting things to light, so just get off it. he is irrelevant to this race.
and Jim G is no longer running so enough on him too- why not give him a little chance to do some good in the hood on the zoning board or whatever and then you can jump on him like a pack of wolves after? oh- wait! you will regardless- so might as well get it out of the way now.
and lastly- if there is a real conservative hate-mongering fiend out there, Tom Mannis could use removal from Team Gordo as well... the ex-friend of my friend is my enemy and will be Don's too before this is done with. anybody who loves their own ego more than their candidate will in the long-run not end up being very useful.
Craig - I'm not sure who posted the comment under my blogger name, but it wasn't me. Please delete it.
Thanks!
Sheesh
I'll match the ip address and time and track it against the one you just used.
Try changing your password.
Hey, Joe, is that your nose or are you happy to see me?
What language you talkin' there "fish"?
Le mot rennett n'exist pas dans la langue francaise. Vous etes completement jetee ou quoi? Je ne peux pas renifler des couillons comme vous. Retournez dans votre banlieue de merde...pauv'con.
Oh, and the English part was crap too.
Post a Comment