IVI-IPO (Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization) decided not to endorse a candidate in the 41st Ward. Why do you think they made this decision?
Update: I emailed the IVI - IPO and asked them to respond to their endorsement procedures and process...
There were only 4 candidates that filled out the lengthy Q/A. Incidently I was given 1.5 days to complete the Q/A that should really take 3 weeks to address properly. Additionally IVI-IPO requires that a candidate be at a non-changable interview date that they make without candidate input or schedule accomodations. As luck would have it, the interview was the same time as my daughters Christmas play. Need I say any more. I chose my daughters play.
ReplyDeleteBrock Merck
I am a long-time member of IVI-IPO's Political Action Committee and can provide some information about the endorsement process. The day after filing, all candidates were mailed notice of the endorsement process, directing them to our website which contained the questionnaires and detailed instructions on how to apply for the endorsement. We also spent quite a lot of time attempting to find websites and email addresses for the candidates and emailed all we could find. This was nearly 3 weeks prior to the application deadline and nearly 4 weeks prior to the first scheduled endorsement interview.
ReplyDeleteAfter the application deadline, committee members called every candidate for whom we could find a phone number who had not applied, to give them a second chance in case they somehow missed the information that had been mailed to them. Those people had only a day or two to complete the questionnaire. The questionnaire is very lengthy, but anyone with good knowledge of the issues could complete it in less than a day.
As for the scheduling of interviews, each chapter picks one or more days when their members are available to meet, and when they can secure a public facility for a meeting place. It is simply not possible to schedule for the convenience of every single candidate in every single ward. Candidates who are unable to attend in person are encouraged to send a surrogate; most who have scheduling conflicts send their campaign manager or other knowledgeable campaign representative.
IVI-IPO is a grass-roots organization with only one part-time staff person; the majority of the work is done by volunteers who put in many hours of their own time to allow for a thorough and thoughtful process. The task of interviewing dozens, often over a hundred, candidates, reviewing their questionnaires and deliberating over who to endorse, all within about a month of filing, is a daunting one. I think we have a good process and achieve excellent results. People who fail to garner our endorsement may disagree.
Aviva Miriam Patt
I would like to assume that a membership organization that makes endorsements of candidates bases their interview dates on the needs of their members and not on the needs of individual candidates seeking their endorsements. If Mr. Merck was running a serious campaign, I would believe that he would have chosen to attend the interview and not his child's play. I do believe in family first, but then again I am not running for elected office.
ReplyDeleteRicky Hendon wrote a book called Backstabbers. On page 150, under the section of "Key Ways To Keep The Momentum", key point number 6 states...
"6. If you can't schedule enough time to campaign, you should not bother to run for office."
Hardball by Chris Matthews repeats a similar saying.
There are going to be many important council votes in the next 4 years that can't be missed for family or social events. Is Brock going to choose his responsibility to his family over those of the residents of 41st Ward and miss those votes? If so, I would rather vote for a more dedicated candidate.
IVI-IPO mostly endorses Liberal Democrats, who pay them money!
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe other side of the story is much more interesting.
ReplyDelete1. Merck was the only one of the 41st ward candidates that gave a speech at the candidate forum night for IVI-IPO. That starts out saying a lot.
2.Merck was given 1 day to complete the lengthy formset as confirmed in Aviva's post.
3. Only 4 candidates completed the formset with Merck being one of them.
4. Candidate Gonzalez is a member of IVI-IPO and didn't even get endoursed.
Merck has a history with IVI-IPO so to say that it is a red flag because of family scheduling is not above board.