Point - Counterpoint

There is a well mannered but otherwise very interesting discussion about voting records, campaign signs, politicians and habeas corpus in the comments section of the previous post on campaign signs.

This is exactly the kind of discussions that community blogs like Laurel Connections were created to encourage.

It looks like we have the attention of our most wired and digitally-enlightened elected officials such as Laurel Councilman and 21st District candidate Mike Sarich and Prince George's County Council President Tom Dernoga.

While they may disagree with each other, their discussion is both courageous and informative. It takes significant courage and skill to engage in this new kind of public blog forum and the electorate is much better prepared because of their efforts.

Now that we have them engaged, please read and add your opinions, comments and questions to the discussion here.

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=10814078&postID=115530161347135456

Sign Debate Grows

Tom Dernoga Announces 2010 Bid for Gov or Senate

The political sign debate in the comments section is heating up. PG County Council President Tom Dernoga offers his views in the comments section of the previous post in response to Laurel City Councilman Mike Sarich's comments. Tom also announces his future political plans :^)

Please see this link to read and add your own comments.

You'll need to scroll down to see all the comments.

What do you think about all of the campaign signs this season? Does it make you more or less likely to vote for the candidate with the most signs?

I can't get the following song out of head: http://www.fivemanelectricalband.ca/signslyrics.html

-rick

Campaign Signs

I think the candidates have gone completely overboard with their campaign signs this season.
Name recognition is important but the overload I'm seeing cannot serve them well this time. Everyone I meet on the street is talking about how bad it all looks and it may backfire.
There are only two good uses for campaign signs in my opinion, name recognition and informing people of the election day.

I don't see the election date on any of the current signs around Laurel. A pity.

I was only a one-term city council candidate that ran unopposed. But I did learn a few campaign lessons from my brief time on the stump. It doesn't matter how many signs you have in the neighborhood. CAMPAIGN SIGNS DON'T VOTE!

(The picture above is not from around here so I don't offend any of our hardworking current candidates.)

Main Street Gets Re-Treed

Nope, the Farmer's Market has not turned into a plant nursery. These trees are part of Laurel City's Main Street rebuild project. The project started with the new brick sidewalk, new street lights and now many of the existing trees are being replaced because of disease or because they have gotten too large for their planters.

Mike Lhotsky, Laurel's Director of Parks and Recreation told me yesterday that there will be 70 trees planted. Four city-friendly species have been selected, Southern Wax Myrtle, Sargent Cherry, Paperbark Maple and Zelcova.



The Southern Wax Myrtle's will be planted in ten of these big containers. The containers will be placed along Main Street. This one is located caddy-corner from Billy Miles Meat Market.

All of the redevelopment and rebuilding of Main Street shows how vibrant Laurel is becoming. I'm excited and pleased to see it. Mega-Kudos to the Mayor and City Council and to the Public Works and Parks Departments.

-rick