Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Election Day is Here. I Ask For Your Vote.
Polls are open. Please go vote. One last time...I am Jay Ovittore and I am not owned and operated by real estate developers. I ask for your vote today.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Since They Have Asked For a Statement
A few weeks back I inquired with the local Board of Elections about NoRestaurantTax.com and if they should be considered a PAC or a 501c4(soft money organization). The local board called the State Board of Elections and they investigated the website.
The State Board ruled, without a formal complaint, that the site did not have to file as a PAC or a 501c4. Immediately after this was news, I received requests from Marty Kotis(Kotis Properties) and info@norestauranttax.com(minutes apart mind you) for an apology and a public statement.
On the apology-Well, I do not feel the need to apologize for inquiring about the validity of this organization and here is why. In a democratic process, where questions should be raised and concerns answered, I feel I did just what I should have...I asked the question. If we come to the day that questions like this cannot be asked, I would say that day is the end of our democratic process.
The "statement"- Whereas the laws that are written are interpretable and not legislated with concrete intent, I reserve the right to disagree with the State Board's interpretation of the law. I accept their judgement on the matter for what it is, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it. I still feel that the website NoRestaurantTax.com is at least close enough to crossing the line into PAC or 501c4 territory. The money spent by more then one individual for domain name, website, yard signs, literature and advertisements on the covers of local news publications; mixed with the color coding green for against the tax and red for approves of the tax- constitutes a need for scrutiny and investigation. The use of those particular colors, like traffic signals for stop and go, could be interpreted as endorsements for and against candidates.
The larger issue is that it is a non-issue. There is no proposed tax in front of, nor has there been one in front of City Council. So, the website may have won the right to do what they are doing with their Faux issue from the State Board, but in that victory they cannot try to silence those who disagree with what they are doing and certainly they have won no apology.
The State Board ruled, without a formal complaint, that the site did not have to file as a PAC or a 501c4. Immediately after this was news, I received requests from Marty Kotis(Kotis Properties) and info@norestauranttax.com(minutes apart mind you) for an apology and a public statement.
On the apology-Well, I do not feel the need to apologize for inquiring about the validity of this organization and here is why. In a democratic process, where questions should be raised and concerns answered, I feel I did just what I should have...I asked the question. If we come to the day that questions like this cannot be asked, I would say that day is the end of our democratic process.
The "statement"- Whereas the laws that are written are interpretable and not legislated with concrete intent, I reserve the right to disagree with the State Board's interpretation of the law. I accept their judgement on the matter for what it is, but that doesn't mean I have to agree with it. I still feel that the website NoRestaurantTax.com is at least close enough to crossing the line into PAC or 501c4 territory. The money spent by more then one individual for domain name, website, yard signs, literature and advertisements on the covers of local news publications; mixed with the color coding green for against the tax and red for approves of the tax- constitutes a need for scrutiny and investigation. The use of those particular colors, like traffic signals for stop and go, could be interpreted as endorsements for and against candidates.
The larger issue is that it is a non-issue. There is no proposed tax in front of, nor has there been one in front of City Council. So, the website may have won the right to do what they are doing with their Faux issue from the State Board, but in that victory they cannot try to silence those who disagree with what they are doing and certainly they have won no apology.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Another Huge Endorsement(updated with link)
I just saw I have been endorsed by Yes Weekly. http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-13010-yes_-endorsements.html
From the endorsement article: "The two men are the same age, but have taken completely different paths to this juncture — and that is the deciding factor. If we truly want all of Greensboro represented, then we already have our business and real estate contingency set with Perkins, Kee and Hoffmann. And while there are tens of thousands of people like Ovittore living in the city, they do not have a voice on council — maybe they never have.
Ovittore is smart and feisty; his commitment to government transparency is stronger than that of any other candidate on the slate; and after years bouncing around the fringes of the game, he is ready for elected office."
From the endorsement article: "The two men are the same age, but have taken completely different paths to this juncture — and that is the deciding factor. If we truly want all of Greensboro represented, then we already have our business and real estate contingency set with Perkins, Kee and Hoffmann. And while there are tens of thousands of people like Ovittore living in the city, they do not have a voice on council — maybe they never have.
Ovittore is smart and feisty; his commitment to government transparency is stronger than that of any other candidate on the slate; and after years bouncing around the fringes of the game, he is ready for elected office."
Early Voting Expands Today and More
Early voting sites will expand today from just the Old Courthouse downtown at 10am. The 5 new sites are as follows: Ag Center at 3309 Burlington Rd, Brown Recreation at 302 E Vandalia Rd, Bur-Mil Club at 5834 Bur-Mil Club Rd, Craft Recreation at 3911 Yanceyville Rd and Leonard Recreation at 6324 Ballinger Rd. All sites are open from 10am- 6:30pm November 2-4 and 10am-1pm on Saturday the 5th. Please go vote, it is your voice after all.
And now for the more. There has been several forums over the past few weeks. It has been pretty heated at times. Here are several links to coverage on these forums and candidate profiles:
From the News and Record-
http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/11/01/article/challengers_aggressive_in_council_contests
http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/10/28/article/editorial_the_price_of_water
From Yes Weekly-
http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/taxes-and-spending-where-greensboro.html
http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/matheny-and-ovittore-on-teen-curfew.html
http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/candidate-profile-jay-ovittore.html
http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-12955-district-3-candidates-spar-over-teen-curfew.html
And now for the more. There has been several forums over the past few weeks. It has been pretty heated at times. Here are several links to coverage on these forums and candidate profiles:
From the News and Record-
http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/11/01/article/challengers_aggressive_in_council_contests
http://www.news-record.com/content/2011/10/28/article/editorial_the_price_of_water
From Yes Weekly-
http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/taxes-and-spending-where-greensboro.html
http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/matheny-and-ovittore-on-teen-curfew.html
http://yesweeklyblog.blogspot.com/2011/10/candidate-profile-jay-ovittore.html
http://www.yesweekly.com/triad/article-12955-district-3-candidates-spar-over-teen-curfew.html
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