The Rumors of My Coma...

Were false...

I started a new job in April that has taken me out of town, and that, combined with new responsibility of the position, and this historic presidential campaign, has left me cold to blogging on local politics. I thought I would blog on the road, but my family is kind of a muse for me. I watched the national campaign with interest as the wind left Mitt Romney's political sails, and as the zombie McCain campaign resurrected--

Don't even get me started about Obama.

I got so far out of the habit, that I had even forgotten I'd ever blogged. I got an occasional reminder of my former life when I saw a guest blog post happen across the screen. (Thank you Natalie). I even got nominated to do some citizen journalism as to what would be done about the unincorporated part of Davis County. Is it too late to refuse? My wife asked me tonight if I'd read a particular political email tonight. I realized that I had not because it had been sent to my blog email, which I had forgotten.

In the time I've been away, the idea has been floated of merging the five southern-most cities of Davis County into one town. North Salt Lake has decided to try a 4 day work week, and I'm seeing local ultra-conservatives endorsing Democrats. (More on this later)

I do think that my best days of contributing to Davis County Watch are behind me.

That being said, I'm accepting applications for more guest bloggers to keep the blog moving. I see the blog as belonging to the community and achieving a consensus of opinion will be less important than having a common forum to share those views.

To qualify for a position on the blog you must meet the following criteria.

1. You live in Davis County.
2. You have a blogger account.
3. You will abide by the Scout Law

Please leave a comment if you want a shot at blogging here.

Fun With Polls

Blogger has added a polling engine, which I'm now testing. You may remember that I garnered some local fame for admitting to hacking a local Clipper poll.

Of course, lots of folks hacked that poll, but I alone admitted to it.

Just understand that I have very little faith in the legitimacy of this poll that I will be running. If you hack it, then it will be fairly obvious.

I think it more than likely that I will only have one or two votes anyway.

Update: I see two votes! I can sleep tonight.

Update: It's been pointed out to me that the 49.5% increase is not a tax increase, but an increase in this years proposed budget! This is far more damning for the current commission than the lame-duck commission! The County portion of the increase approved last December is actually 32.3%.

Did your spending this year increase by 50%?

It seems that there are none innocent in this affair!

Centerville Citizen Breakdown

It appears that WP at Centerville Citizen has had enough and has shutdown his political site.

I don't know when the funeral arrangements will be final.

Sad.

When Local Bloggers Attack...

Fight back.

Mark Towner rarely comes up with any original content on his site, meaning he copies wholesale from other sources, but when he does can you say "lawsuit"?

He plans to sue another local blogger, Jesse Harris for "slander"(Does he mean libel?). Jesse isn't taking this sitting down, and plans to fight back.

Is it any wonder that Towner has garnered so many enemies, both liberal and conservative?

2006: The Best and Worst ideas in Davis County

Best

• Running an campaign with no Special Interest money--This concept needs to be picked up by more candidates. What better way is there to keep special interest from influencing a candidates judgement than keeping money out of the equation?
• Citizen Bloggers that question the Candidates--Many have done this, but few have gone the extra mile that this anonymous individual has.
  
• Early Voting
• Blogging Politics--Special thanks goes to my guest bloggers: Natalie, and Allie for bailing me out while I was away.

Worst

• 37% tax hike--There are two reasons this is a bad idea. First, it was a lame-duck commission that passed it. Second, the tax increase, itself, could not be justified.
• Twenty-one(21) years of defrauding the School district--Need I say more?
  
• Running an campaign with no Special Interest money--It turns out that running without Special Interest money may not win elections in the real world.
• A poorly implemented online poll--The Clipper gets all the credit for this one.
• Hacking a "poorly implemented online poll"--I, and my anonymous adversaries, will take the credit.
• A NSL Name change--Can an idea that never came to fruition be a bad idea? Yes!

The jury is still out on whether a lawsuit against the school district was beneficial. I think the parents may have taken things too far with fake stories, and inflammatory comments, but it did shed some light on a government body that could do with some light.