The constable was called because of me

The night before every election, Foster School drags two large bulletin boards out of storage.  Facing the entrance, the "Republican Board" is placed on the left hand side and the "Democrat Board" is set up on the right side of the entrance. When I arrived at 6:45 AM at Foster School, signs had already been posted on the Republican board. Since I spent no money on signs or posters, I recycled a 11"x17" poster from my campaign in 2011. Steve McLean's signs and door hangers took up most of the space. Fortunately, my small sign with "Write In" handwritten in the upper left hand corner could squeeze in the remaining space. Steve was really nice about it when he warned me that the committee may take down my sign, but personally, didn't have a problem with my sign being posted. [Queue the Imperial March music, Darth Vader's Theme.] Then Tommy Dunn, head of the Mt. Lebanon Republican Committee showed up and said that my sign is not to be posted on the board.

Republican Board 

I was ready for Tommy. Back in 2011, Tommy pulled the same crap on me. See my May18, 2011 post, I'm tired. Jim Cannon and I were not permitted to post our signs on the board because we were not endorsed candidates. As I wrote on May 18, 2011, the boards belong to the school district and are stored on site. I told Tommy that I was a Republican and had every right to be on that board. I was a write in candidate and will have little impact on the election. Tommy had bigger problems, I told him. In Ward 1, Dan McNichol didn't have contact information on his website. No email address. No contact form. Nothing. I tried to contact him and couldn't. I told him that there were residents of Ward 1 who couldn't reach him. Both he and Temp Smith pulled out their phones and pulled up his website. They were quiet. (John Bendel crushed him at the polls.) Then I asked Tommy what the official color was for Republicans. Red. What's the color for Democrats? Blue.

Democrat Board

What color is Steve McLean's sign? Blue. They cringed. I said to Tommy, "You are really threatened by me, aren't you? You need to choose your battles."

By this time, the Judge of Elections stepped in. He had no idea how to call it, so he called the constable. The first call, the constable said that there are no other locations permitted for signs. Tommy was going to "let it go for now." The second call to/from the constable was that if the signs are owned by the Republican Committee, then they had the right to do that, but since an agreement was reached, it's OK. In the future, he suggested a third board for Write-in or Independents. 

Here are my questions. 

1. Where does the third board go?
2. Who pays for the third board, if the parties allegedly bought their own boards?
3. Can the parties prove that they bought the signs?
4. If the Republican board only posted signs for endorsed candidates, where was sign for the only Republican running for school board?
5. Does this violate my civil rights? 

The Mt. Lebanon Republican Committee is nothing but a bunch of good old boys. Their website is an embarrassment. LeboGOP See the empty blocks on the left? Until recently, they listed Sue Rose as a Republican school board director. Ms. Rose, who switched parties and became a Democrat, missed most 2011, her last year in office, due to illness. The list of Republican elected officials has been removed from their website since there are few remaining in office. Do you see anything on the bulletin board for Matt Kluck, the only Republican running for School Board? Neither do I.

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who helped me with my write-in campaign. I had to keep reminding them that I would not win, but we were taking a stand. Thank you to the voters who took the time to write in my name. I'm not going away. I am not upset. I am here for the long haul.

What an idiot

Do you ever have so much to write about something that you don't know where to begin? If not, you're lucky. It is very frustrating. I am at that point with the PG's latest article Mt. Lebanon elections could mark critical juncture for municipality's deer debate. I'm particularly frustrated with John Hayes, Susan Morgans, and the Ward 3 candidates on the ballot.

First, please understand that it isn't a case of sour grapes. A press release was sent out announcing my write-in campaign. No mention of my write-in campaign. It's not that. I guess it starts with Andy Reinhart. He had said to me, when we met in Dunkin Donuts for coffee, that he was an avid reader of this blog. That is how he stayed informed about Mt. Lebanon. He also told me that he was anti-kill. It is odd that 1) Reinhart wouldn't subscribe to the blog when it went private, and 2) he told everyone else that he was pro-kill. Hayes missed Andy's page on deer "management"as pointed out by a submitted comment. However, Reinhart's website is ambiguous. I had told Andy back in the spring that he had my vote because McLean is an idiot. When I found out that I was lied to, I launched my ill-fated write-in campaign.

Second, where do I begin with Susan Morgans? Words like "rancorous" and "tempers have cooled" are over the top. "Acts [of] sabotage" is not what made national news, Susan. It was the cruel act of corralling those poor, six deer which took eleven shots to kill three of them.

Then there is Steve McLean. His quotes are insulting.

“I’ve been going door to door in my district,” Mr. McLean said. “About 10 percent of people bring up [lethal control of] deer. It’s a loud minority. I appreciate their passion, but I’m concerned about the conduct they have displayed.” 

His website touts his support for, “effective and responsible deer management with bow [hunting] and sharpshooter.” 

“It’s responsible and effective,” he said. “It has been done in the past in Mt. Lebanon — I’m not sure why they stopped it — and other communities do it.”

What an idiot. He is concerned about "the conduct they have displayed." Nothing like insulting voters, Steve. He is also for fiscal restraint and public safety, yet isn't sure why the killing stopped in the past. What an idiot. Back in 2006-2008, "sharpshooters" were killing close to schools, not counting bullets, lied to police, and were too costly. In 2008, allegedly about 200 had signed up for shooting in their yards but were denied because of their locations in our densely populated community. The yards were too small and were not suitable. "Other communities do it" is the dumbest reason yet. Where were you when we were discussing density, Steve?

I hope to stand tall tomorrow at Foster School with these idiots. I'm disappointed with all the candidates in Wards 1 and 3. November 3, 2015 will be a dark day for Mt. Lebanon.

Tuesday's Forecast - high of 72 and sunny!

Tuesday is Election Day. Based on the forecast, turnout should be good at the polls. I am still looking for some volunteers to pass out voting literature at Foster, Mellon, and Markham. The schools are closed that day. Want to get your teenagers out of the house that day? Volunteer them. ;)

Looking for Volunteers for my Write-In Campaign

The polls are open on Tuesday from 7 AM to 8 PM. The polls for Ward 3 are located at Foster School, Mellon Middle School, and Markham School.

I could use some help passing out voting cards. Any volunteers? Email me privately at EGillen476@aol.com if you want to help me out.

Time slots are:
6:45 AM- 11:15 AM
11:00 AM - 3:15 PM
3:00 PM - 8:00 PM

Any amount of time is welcome. Thanks in advance!

Why I am doing a write-in campaign

In April, I interviewed for the vacant Ward 3 seat.



As I said in the interview, I believe the most important responsibilities of a commissioner are:

Public Safety
Fiscal Responsibility
Infrastructure

I'm not seeing a lot of that with the current commission.

Here is the link to the video that I posted above. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSTc-TXyXDA

The polls open in less than thirty minutes.

The time has come to elect the Mt. Lebanon School Board. You now have more choices for the Mt. Lebanon School Board since others have entered the race through a write-in campaign. If you support the write-in campaign, please take this handout to the polls. Whatever you decide, please vote today!

Meet the write-in candidates

About that write-in campaign...

We have five seats open for school board and six candidates running for those seats. Sounds like a game of musical chairs, doesn't it? To make it a more interesting election, I thought it might be fun to ask for suggestions and set up another poll with those names to see who would win. So far, I have heard Giffen Good, Mickey Mouse, and even James Fraasch.  Maybe we can make a difference and get a message out to the board after all.  I will take anonymous comments on this thread, but only if they are reasonable.