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14 As area residents make up their minds during the next nine days on how to cast their ballots in area elections, we encourage readers to check out candidate profiles in our online version or drop by the office at 3103 Bee Cave Road, Suite 102, and pick up back issues.
Our online version, www.westlakepicayune.com, also contains comments and letters to the editor relating to area elections. We caution everyone reading the online version to be cognizant of the fact that anonymous comments often contain subjective points of view designed to make a political point. We urge everyone posting comments or writing letters during the week before the election to consider that these candidates are doing what more than 99 percent of us will likely never do – seek an unpaid elected position. For their willingness to open their lives to scrutiny and for their clear dedication to our community, they deserve some measure of civility.
No one is saying that criticism should be off limits when it comes to candidates, but we certainly hope area residents will think twice before perhaps alienating the already small segment of our population who are willing to serve.
Online comments to stories and profiles on candidates have been difficult to read in recent weeks because they border precariously on being disallowed. Our policy is not to censor, but to disallow comments that we know for a fact are untrue. We also disallow comments that involve profanity, name-calling or a quote that requires verification. We hold these comments in a folder that is appropriately we call “questionable comments” in the event the person submitting one calls to inquire why it wasn’t posted. Sometimes, it is simply a matter of pointing out the policy violation and asking the caller to repost the comment after making the appropriate edits. It is not our position to put words in the mouths of people making comments. Rather, it is simply a way to apply a measure of the responsible journalism we insist upon in our print version of the Picayune.
The most compelling reason to take the high road when it comes to making comments is that these candidates are often neighbors or people whose paths will cross ours in the grocery store. Their children often attend the same schools as the person they are attacking.
The only forum featuring both Eanes school board and Rollingwood City Council candidates will be held tonight at Rollingwood City Hall, 403 Nixon Drive. The Eanes segment will be at 6 p.m. and the Rollingwood part will begin at 7 p.m. It would be a great opportunity to meet the candidates, shake their hands and thank them for being willing to serve.
I would like to see the Westlake Picayune require people to identify themselves when posting online comments. When letters to the editor are submitted for the print version of the paper, the name of the author must be included. I do not understand why this is not the case when it comes to online postings. Perhaps this would help to alleviate the negative anonymous posts that might inhibit neighbors from volunteering their time and talents to their communities.
Nicely said Mr. Allen. Civility should always be the rule of the day. Isn’t it interesting how the supporters of a movement are usually a window into the soul of the candidate? Yes, I have always found that to be quite revealing.
Window into the soul? Until you’ve walked a mile in the shoes of the children who have been harmed by this district, in the shoes of parents who have experienced retaliation, and in the shoes of those who have spoken out using their real names rather than anonymous pseudonyms, your insight is quite limited. You have no window. And when children are hurt, civility is often not the first response. Especially when the harm is intentional. Especially when you have a heart.
Lordy.
I am reminded of the great saying: “ACADEMIC politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small.”
Evidently some folks have gotten their feelings hurt and can’t get over it. As retaliation, they want to stack the board and fire the superintendent.
Lordy.
Dear Window. Your tacky, snipey little post is really what I was talking about and most assuredly is a window into one candidate in particular. God Bless our children and our district.
Nobody wants to fire the Superintendent.
Silence Dogood? I don’t see how “Window into the heart” is being tacky or snipey at all. I am just an objective observer.
Cast your vote for Colleen Jones! If elected, she and Paul Stone will be the only board members with children attending EISD schools.
Dear Immediate Needs. I’m sorry dear, but you are quite wrong. One candidate in particular. You should ask them.
And Dear Observer: Thank you. I am also just an observer.
Kal Kallison currently has a Junior at Westlake……….
The people also deserve to be treated properly. Civility, as well as honesty in emails to the community regarding city issues are to be expected, right Alderwoman McKee? When giving of their time and talent, public servants should be honest in communication with the people they represent. Alderwoman McKee’s email sent to every household in Rollingwood was rife with misinformation in order to sway the vote. It was out of line and lacking in integrity.
Kallison’s kid will graduate next year.
Roxanne McKee, a sitting Rollingwood council member, just sent an email to everyone in Rollingwood which was full of misinformation! This is happening during our election! There is little time to correct her deliberate skewing of the facts before voters cast their votes. McKee criticizes the commenters in her first comment above, yet she has no problem lying to all of us. When her email is determined to be false (which it is) and her personal candidate favorites win, can we call for another fair election?
Well said Ed Allen!