Commissioner endorses McDaniel, Moore, Rinschler, Weisberg
Our friend, Julie Plotnik, writes:It has been my honor and pleasure to serve the residents and merchants of the City of Birmingham as one of its commissioners, and I thank you for putting your trust in me. I am proud that the city has made such progress over the last four years, including revitalizing our downtown with new investment, outside dining and bistro licenses, looking to our future with progress in the Rail and Triangle Districts, exciting developments in our park system (most notably Booth Park), and lowering the millage rate each of the last four years. I am especially proud that many of these developments took root during the term for which I was elected along with fellow commissioners Tom McDaniel, Scott Moore and Diane McKeon. We had a vision for Birmingham, and I am gratified that much of it has been realized.
Deciding not to seek re-election was a hard choice, but the needs of my family and my business took precedence. However, the overriding reason for my decision is that the political discourse in Birmingham is too often bitter and without substance, and I felt I needed to protect my children from it. While I believe it helpful to have truthful discussion about the positions and records of candidates, there are some who characterize such disclosure as negative campaigning. How soon those same people conveniently forget their own track record of dirty tricks, such as circulating an anti-semitic 2001 flyer claiming that I and the rest of my slate were supported by "Italian and Jewish developers," using a phony and misleading return address.
I urge the voters of Birmingham to beware of those who seek to limit what Birmingham is, and can become. I urge voters to support candidates who are honest and forthright about their positions. For these reasons, I am supporting Shelli Weisberg, Gordon Rinschler, Scott Moore and Tom McDaniel for city commission, and urge all who supported me in 2003 to join in voting for them.
Posted by on 10/31 at 05:16 AM
Previous entry: Number 63-BULLETIN-Nov. 4, 2003