How very misleading that the amount of signatures each candidate had on their petitions was listed.
The two candidates that had the highest number of signatures did not even have the courtesy or integrity to go around town themselves and ask for residents to sign their petitions. They had between 4-7 comrades scour the township and do the leg-work for them.
If the rest of the candidates (including me) had asked 5 of our friends to get signatures, I have no doubt that we all would have gotten as many if not more signatures, than those two candidates. Speaking for myself, there were residents (township workers and appointees ) who asked me to sign my petition, but I wouldn't let them, because I was concerned that the current in-power-majority would retaliate against them - like (in my opinion) I have seen them do to others. Also, many signers of the two candidate's petitions said that they felt put-on-the-spot and signed the petitions, but they would definetly NOT be voting for those candidates.
The only numbers that count are the ones that are reported - after the Primary election.
Judy Iradi
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Sponsor's comments
I was not trying to mislead anyone with the petition specifics. The petition signature numbers were posted to illustrate one of activities of the political process that many people are simply not aware of - that a candidate must get at least 25 signatures on their petition in order to file for the campaign.
In Ron Francioli's case, he was on record as saying he was not circulating a petition and that a decision to run for office would be based on the results of the petition drive being conducted by his supporters. In fact there were seven separate petitions totaling 218 signatures which was ultimately the basis for Ron's decision to run.
It should also be pointed out that Ron is on record as seeking one of the two open seats and not teaming up with any of the other candidates, including Ken Schleifer the other incumbent committeeman seeking re-election. If there was a calculated "team" against you as you have suggested, the people circulating the petitions for Francioli could have easily carried and gotten the same signatures for Schleifer. That was not the case and Schleifer had roughly half the number of signatures (116) of Francioli. You and I know that Ron is a principled and honest person and I take his intentions on his word.
You are correct in that the only numbers that count are the votes cast on Election Day. The same can be said for lawn signs which can certainly not act as an accurate barometer of voter turnout.
There is no way to predict the outcome of this election and each candidate will have their work cut out for them in a crowded Primary. Each candidate has to ultimately run on their past record of achievements and ideas about how to best handle the economic challenges of today and those that will certainly face us in the months and years ahead.
