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February 18, 2008
Message to
all on the eve of the primary
We are about
to come to the, almost, end game of this election, when we finally get to
vote and see some results for all of our labor. It has been a long year
and a half - I have had two birthdays since we embarked on this journey -
but it has been a great experience. I have made a lot of new friends; I
have solidified a lot of old friendships.
I want to
thank all of the people who have made this campaign a truly remarkable
experience. I cannot begin to name names because there is not enough time
or space. I will be eternally grateful to all of the people who have
given their time and energy to this campaign.
No matter
what happens on Tuesday, we can be proud of our effort and I am truly
humbled by the support that I have been given.
In these last
few days before the election, please remind people to vote. Make that
extra phone call or send an email. Touch base with friends and relatives
who may be on the fence. We can take nothing for granted.
Please join
us, on Tuesday night, at TG’s on 7th Ave., as we compile the returns and,
hopefully, begin our journey to April 1. The polls close at 8:00PM.
February 5, 2008
Great day for
the campaign!!
I want to thank all of the people who braved the terrible snowy evening
weather to attend our Meet & Greet at the Brat Stop. It was a great event
and a good time was had by all. Thanks to Jerry and Mickey and the staff
at the Parkway Chateau for the fabulous buffet.
It was a great effort on the part of all who attended, and I want to say
that I appreciate that very much. We have a lot of wonderful people in
our corner.
I was also very excited to get the endorsement of the Kenosha Education
Association today. The future of the City of Kenosha, the KEA and the
KUSD are intertwined. I look forward to working with these groups to
reach our common goals.
We have gotten a lot of great reaction to our large signs that went out
last weekend, courtesy of the firefighters. We placed over 100 signs on
Saturday in about 3 hours with a crew of 28 firefighters. Thanks to all
who gave their time and energy. We could not have done this without your
help.
Since Saturday, we have gotten over 60 more requests for our large signs
with the firefighters logo. We will have them out this weekend, weather
permitting. If you need a sign, shoot us an email at
kdaaboz@wi.rr.com and we will get
one out as soon as we can.
Only two
weeks to the primary.
February 2,
2008
Great day today!! Thanks to the firefighters, Local 414, for getting
over 125 of our large campaign signs out today. It was a tough job with
all of the snow that we have on the ground, but the signs look great and
we have others going up in the weeks to come. If you have a location
for a yard sign, big or small, email me at
kdaaboz@wi.rr.com.
We also had
a lit drop on the west side today. We expected 15 to 20 volunteers and
we got over 30, so we wasted little time in getting out our 2000
invitations for our Tuesday Meet and Greet, at the Brat Stop. Thanks to
all who participated.
We have
lost a lot of signs over the last week with the wind and the snow. We
are trying to catch up with our list of locations, but if you need a
replacement please email us with your location and we will get one out
to you.
We are
looking forward to a nice crowd at the Brat Stop on Tuesday night. All
are welcome to stop in from 5 to 7. Please enter on the north end of
the Parkway Chateau.
Only two
weeks until the primary. Be positive; forward Kenosha! See you at the
Brat on Tuesday.
January 26, 2008
Street
Crimes and Gang Activity
One of
the highlights of this week’s activities was attending a conference
on street crimes and gang activity on Thursday morning.
The
conference was attended by members of the law enforcement community,
government officials, officials from the Boys & Girls Club and many
other community leaders.
Chief
Morrissey and Sheriff Beth spoke about the scope of the problem and
the ways that they are dealing with the issue. Dennis Bedford and
Gary Vargas, two gentlemen with over 50 years experience in local
gang intervention, both gave their take on the situation. All are
active with the Boys & Girls Club in identifying kids who may be
leaning toward gang involvement and trying to get parents involved
and getting them into alternative activities.
Bottom
line: Kenosha has a gang problem but has been proactive in dealing
with the situation and is in far better shape than some of our
neighbors. Many of the incidents that are reported in the media as
“gang related”, like the Lincoln Park assault, are not tied to
street gangs but just gangs of juveniles. We all need to be aware
of the signs of gang activity and report what we see to the
authorities.
People
need to stand up to the criminal element in the community, but often
they do not for fear of retribution.
The
city’s role in this is to identify and deal with the leadership of
these gangs, intervene with the “wanabees” before they become too
entrenched and work with the Boys & Girls Club and other agencies to
get kids into alternative programs.
We need
to stay ahead of the problem.
January
20, 2008
SHOULD WE
LOOK FORWARD
OR COMPLAIN ABOUT THE PAST?
Well,
folks, one month from Tuesday to the primary election.
We've had
many, many opportunities to get out into the community, and I can't
stress enough how much positive feedback I have gotten from those
who have said they appreciate our positive message of "Forward
Kenosha."
I think
Kenosha is a great place to live. With some of my opponents running
campaigns based solely on a negative perception of where we are and
what we have accomplished in recent years, it is important that
those of us who don't feel Kenosha is such a bad place to stand up
and say so.
You know,
I don't agree with everything that our current mayor has done during
his time in office. But, by and large, for 16 years, I think Kenosha
can be proud of the progress we have made.
All you
have to do is take a look at the communities to the north and south
of us, and you will realize how fortunate we have been to have a
visionary leader in the mayor's office for the past 16 years.
Yes, we
have a lot of work to do. We need to concentrate over the next
mayor's term on keeping our streets safe; we are facing challenges
unlike at any time in the past.
We need to
be sure that our property taxpayers continue to get the best return
for their dollars. We can do this by taking good care of our roads,
making sure we have good public services such as snow and garbage
removal and by doing everything in our power to continue to push for
more and better jobs for our residents.
When you
vote, you need to ask yourself who is best positioned to accomplish
those things. If you choose to look backwards and run a negative
campaign, as some of my opponents have chosen to do, I am not the
man for you; but if you believe Kenosha is doing ok and we have our
best years in front of us, you should consider our message of
Forward Kenosha.
I
appreciate all the great feedback I have been getting and I look
forward to getting a lot more over the next four weeks.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
RETIREMENT
PARTY FOR POLICE CHIEF DAN WADE
I had an
opportunity to attend the retirement party for Kenosha Police Chief Dan
Wade at the Parkway Chateau tonight. Lots of strong supporters of our
Police Department, including many of Kenosha's finest.
Dan has done a
great job as Chief of Police for over 35 years. He is a low-keyed kind
of guy and has been a great administrator over a fine department.
John Morrissey
is going to have some big shoes to fill. But he's hit the ground running
and will do a fine job himself.
Congratulations again to Chief Wade and best wishes for a well-deserved
retirement.
YARD SIGNS
If you haven't
already noticed, we have begun our "yard sign" campaign. Norm Buchholz,
Kenosha's "sign guy extraordinaire," was a big help along with Ed Kubicki
and my brother Bruce. They constructed all of the signs out on my family
homestead.
We have several volunteers who have stepped forward to assist with
distributing them.
If you would
like a sign, please email me at
kdaaboz@wi.rr.com and we will get one out to you.
Larger signs
for the busier thoroughfares will be put up in a few weeks.
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