Four years ago today, I rolled out this blog. Wow, that is longer than four-fifths of our commissioners' years in office.
Some totally useless stats, courtesy of Google Analytics:
- I have had 55,321 new users on Lebo Citizens Blog
- From 122 countries
- All time Pageviews 1,128,132
- I have published 1,456 posts
- Approved 30,529 comments
- I have 470 comments in my spam folder
- I may have had a visit or two from the Municipality (7,749) and the School District (5,803)
- My most popular article remains "Parent offended by article in The Devil's Advocate UPDATED"
- The Top Ten Posts
- 1 impostor blog shut down by Google
During this time of Thanksgiving, I want to thank all of my readers, trolls and all, for reading my blog. Thanks goes to my friends who send me countless links, photographs, digital recordings, videos, Right To Knows, and tips. I want to thank my awesome graphic designer who is looking for work. And most of all, I want to thank my entire family for their support.
Happy Birthday, Lebo Citizens!
13 comments:
Elaine:
Congratulations, and thank you for providing this forum. It is one of the few (and perhaps the only) Blogs in Mt. Lebanon that is open to all opinions on any subject presented.
Keep up the good work, and remember: Discouragement is not an option! :)
RG
Thanks to you, Elaine. This blog is not only unique to Mt. Lebanon, but is probably one of the top 5 local blogs in the country.
- Jason M.
Wow, Elaine -- talk about a contribution to your community -- thank you.
Thank you, RG, Jason, and 6:37 PM. It is a group effort. I get lots of help from my friends. I couldn't do it without your help.
Elaine
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand. —Vince Lombardi
Happy Birthday, Lebocitizens
-WS
Congratulations, Elaine!
Running a blog is surprisingly hard work. Few people can do it for one year, let alone four. I would say that your congratulations are well earned.
Here's looking forward to the big five-year milestone ☺
Cheers,
Tom
We turn to Elaine to hear about the problems and mistakes. We will NEVER hear about these issues from the municipal staff. Ever. Their refusal to address problems and admit mistakes makes this blog possible.
Elaine You forgot to add that you have caused Brumfield x number of sleepless nights and has taken x number of tums for his upset stomach. Good Work!!!
"A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives."
-James Madison, 1822
Elaine, you're doing a good thing. Without this blog, and without your pitbull-like tenacity, even in the face of childish and vicious attacks, many of us would still be oblivious to how our town is governed.
I won't belabor this because the conclusion is simple: Thank you. Thank you. A million times thank you.
Thank you everyone. You all play a major part in this blog's success.
I'm not going to lie. It is no fun, but the Spartan in me won't let me quit.
Elaine
Elaine,
Thank you for all your hard work. It takes courage and tenacity to shed light on what goes on with our governance, especially when the truth is an embarrassment to our community.
We all know that there are many positive aspects to living here, but it is frustrating that some terrible decisions made by our elected officials who will eventually leave office will cause harm in many ways for years to come. The excessive over budget spending on our high school renovation that many saw coming and now the additional unplanned spending on the turf project are only a few examples of why your blog is so important. Without it, these situations would just be swept under the rug. In fact, we all know that efforts have been made to hide the truth about such things – e.g. glossy mailings with deceptive information going to all households and a public forum controlling the information presented about the turf project.
Until our leaders are willing to have honest dialogue and open-minded respect for citizens who have reasonable and credible input, your blog is a necessary check and balance operation.
Press on, Elaine, and congratulations!
-Charlotte Stephenson
Elaine,
Has Susan Stroyd asked interview you for any of the MtL articles that recognize local residents for their contributions to the community?
Congratulations on a job well done!
Elaine,
I would wager that few (if any) of those of us who have become dependent on Lebo citizens for its truthful and accurate reporting about what the heck those crazy community leaders are up to now have ANY idea what it costs you to stay at the helm of the ship through these storms. Fact is, I suspect that you have had to lash yourself to the mast more than a few times just to ride through the tempests. You have been a woman on a mission, a mission to deliver TRUTH, no matter the personal cost. And we know this has extracted costs. I am one of the countless who are grateful for your efforts on our behalf. If it weren't for your pronouncements, we might not realize that this isn't Kansas anymore and we certainly would have no idea what the heck (there's that word, again) is going on behind the curtain.
Realizing that you must be feeling both stress and fatigue from it all, let me propose the following: IF, and ONLY IF, you are interested in meeting with John in the paint department at Rollier's Hardware to pick-out a lovely (and relaxing) shade for your basement; and IF, and ONLY IF, you would like to move down to your basement until all this community insanity has passed; and IF, and ONLY IF, you would like someone to purchase said basement paint in of a lovely and soothing palate, I am prepared to sponsor a fund-raiser to defray the costs of materials. Labor may be a tougher issue. And, IF and ONLY IF, you are interested in getting into therapy, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN WITH THAT ONE. See...Kristen's stupid advice DID out-last her!
We need to celebrate, but first we need to get enough rose petals to throw in your path and peel some grapes. You're not allergic to ostrich feathers, are you? Oh, and there's the matter of the sedan chair for carrying you. I wish we'd had more time to plan this thing!!!
Please know that you are both appreciated and deeply admired and that you are one of the very BEST things about our little "Exceptional Community"!
We really SHOULD get t-shirts that say, "I'm a LEBO CITIZEN...see Lebocitizens.blog.spot." Please make mine PURPLE!
In closing, let me say that I'm glad we're on the same team. I just hate losing...
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