KLEPT, using government money to promote name recognition [FP]
In the past some Proviso pols have used government money to promote name recognition. Westchester Village President Paul Gattuso did it in a misleading, perhaps deceitful, way. And of course, Emanuel "Chris" Welch, president of the District 209 board of education, had his face or name in newsletters more than anyone else when he was running for state representative.
For those of you that aren't political junkies, most elections are determined by name recognition. There are some races where important issues are decided but mostly people think to themselves, "Yeah, I've hear of her/him." So local politicians like to get their names plastered on stuff to help in future campaigns.
Forest Park Mayor Tony Calderone decided to use the Forest Park newsletter for this game.
In a newspaper or newsletter, where is the most important information? On the cover, right? The only time sensitive information on the front of the Forest Park newsletter is a letter from Calderone. Inside there is other information which may or may not be useful.
The newsletter is printed on thick glossy paper.
So Forest Park decides it needs to do a newsletter starting about eight months before the village election. A quarter of the newsletter is devoted to letting Calderone have his say. BTW, how much did this newsletter cost? And who made money from it?
If Forest Park needed a newsletter, here's how it should have been done.
1. It should have been printed on simple paper.
2. Any statement by the village should have been generally from the village or signed by the village administrator.
For those of you that aren't political junkies, most elections are determined by name recognition. There are some races where important issues are decided but mostly people think to themselves, "Yeah, I've hear of her/him." So local politicians like to get their names plastered on stuff to help in future campaigns.
Forest Park Mayor Tony Calderone decided to use the Forest Park newsletter for this game.
In a newspaper or newsletter, where is the most important information? On the cover, right? The only time sensitive information on the front of the Forest Park newsletter is a letter from Calderone. Inside there is other information which may or may not be useful.
The newsletter is printed on thick glossy paper.
So Forest Park decides it needs to do a newsletter starting about eight months before the village election. A quarter of the newsletter is devoted to letting Calderone have his say. BTW, how much did this newsletter cost? And who made money from it?
If Forest Park needed a newsletter, here's how it should have been done.
1. It should have been printed on simple paper.
2. Any statement by the village should have been generally from the village or signed by the village administrator.
posted by Carl Nyberg at
12:28 PM
8 Comments:
I don't know what the costs are to produce this piece of fluff, but it's not even updated on the forestpark.net site as of 1:58PM on 7/5/06. And it would be free to post there but I guess they've been too busy?
By
Anonymous, at 2:03 PM, July 05, 2006
What Mayor would you like to see in the newsletter? Many mayors are featured in the towns newsletters.
This simply does not make sense Carl, is there anything you do like about anything?
Mayors are responsible for the affairs of the public and are entrusted to do so even if it is over the objection of you or a few.
Come on get with it.
By
Anonymous, at 8:48 PM, July 05, 2006
Let's see a Forest Park publisher, perhaps with a street named after them................and it's so important of a piece of fluff that they still haven't added it to the official forest park website. It would be nice if A) it was sent out before the 4th of July B) actually had some useful information in it.
By
Anonymous, at 7:04 PM, July 09, 2006
A Forest Park publisher with a street named after them?
What kinda crack U smoking ?
By
Anonymous, at 9:06 AM, July 10, 2006
No usefull information inside????
Did you read the darn thing??????
Goofy Goofy comment.
What do you consider useful? Crap rumor and inuendo, ha.
Lotta good stuff in there I was glad to receive it.
By
Anonymous, at 5:53 PM, July 11, 2006
I don't like the paper that it's printed on, like nails down a chalkboard. River Forest does one and it's on non-gloss paper, could have saved some money and still gotten the same point across. It was informative and well done though. I do like hearing from the mayor and the goings on around town. Not a bad idea, most Villages/Towns have a newsletter. I wouldn't make too much of an issue out of it.
By
Anonymous, at 9:54 PM, July 18, 2006
Carl gets it, the rest of you don't. Look at the Oak Park newsletter. Plain, recycled paper, two color, green & black, a listing of the names, titles and contact numbers of vital village personnel and loaded with information. No political message ah la Melrose Park, no need for gloss and glamor. It is supposed to be informative, not fancy. Mayors are spokespersons, that I agree. A political, self-centered message from a know political hack is a waste of space. Read the Forest Park newsletter and especially Calderones message. You will see many "I's", "My's" and "Me's". This is self promotion on the tax payers dollar. How does a generic message from Calderone make this newsletter more informative to the residents that ultimately pay for it? It doesn't and real public servants do not play this kind of politics. Therefore, he is not a public servant, he is self-serving and that is undeniable.
By
Anonymous, at 4:27 PM, July 24, 2006
Who the hell cares if Carl gets it or not. What sense does that make anyways. Glossy paper, non glossy paper, yellow paper white paper, you all write about the most absurd stuff.
Newletters are just that, they share news, don't blame anybody if they do a nice job.
What a bunch of sour faced folks.
By
Anonymous, at 1:22 AM, July 26, 2006
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