Monday, November 05, 2007

Report on Moline Democrat's Candidates Forum

My wife and I just got back from attending the Moline Democratic Central Committee’s candidates forum held at the Moline VFW hall on 7th Street. Rock Island County Board member Virgil Mayberry spoke briefly in support of Hillary Clinton. No one showed up to speak for any of the other presidential candidates. Pat O’Brien spoke for Congressman Phil Hare.

Both incumbent State Senator Mike Jacobs and his challenger Paul Rumler spoke. Mike Jacobs emphasized the bills he had passed and the money he had brought home from Springfield. Paul Rumler talked about his commitment to Education and promised that he would conduct himself in Springfield in a professional and dignified manner. (Although he did not put it that way I took that as a promise that he would not embarrass us.)

Pat Verschoore spoke briefly. He was relaxed because again he has no opposition. Both incumbent State Rep Mike Boland and his challenger Jerry Lack spoke. Both men have a long history of working for the people of north-western Illinois. I suspect it will be a hard choice for a lot of people.

Rock Island County Recorder of Deeds Pat Veronda, Rock Island County Auditor Diana Robinson and Circuit Clerk Lisa Bierman spoke next.

The last to speak were the three candidates for Rock Island County Coroner. Incumbent coroner Sharon Anderson is retiring after 20 years, so the race is wide open. The Democrats of Rock Island County will have to choose between Dr. Ronald B. Fiscella (a licensed physician and surgeon in the state of Illinois since 1977), Brian Gustafson, a Registered Nurse and the current chief deputy coroner in Sharon Anderson’s office and Joel Moore, a Registered Nurse and a deputy coroner for Rock Island County. At this point at the very beginning of the campaign Brian Gustafson appears to be the better speaker and campaigner – he had campaign literature to hand out and worked the room better than the other two.

5 comments:

Beastied said...

Dave - did you get to talk to Rumler at all? What did you think of him?

Dave Barrett said...

beastied,
Yes, I had a personal chat with Paul Rumler. I was generally impressed with him. We talked about a few issues that the Illinois Senate will be dealing with and I was impressed by his grasp of the issues and his passion even though we did not see completely eye-to-eye on everything. I will be supporting him. I already have one of his signs up in my yard.

MainstreamUSA said...

Was Jerry Lack there? He seems like a better choice than the incumbent. Also, noticed he has a website-> http://jerrylack.com which is more than the incumbant can muster.

Gustafson seems like the guy for that office, has been pretty much running it for some time.

Barb Johnson said...

Hello, Dave!
I always enjoy reading your comments and perspectives! Just wanted to let you know that Joel Moore recently knocked on my door. Up until that moment, I would have voted for Brian - especially since he is the chief deputy coroner. I have to admit I was very surprised by Joel's commitment, enthusiasm, ideas and abilities. You should check him out - maybe you'll be as surprised as I was.

Barb

Dave Barrett said...

Barb,
My wife also was impressed with Joel Moore. She thought his was the best speech of the three. I have not yet decided who I will vote for in the primary. I was just commenting that Brian was the only one who came up to us and handed us literature.