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Friday, September 25, 2009

Milton Councilwoman Karen Thurman says she welcomes the showdown with challenger Bernard Wolff...

By John Fredericks / Beacon Media

Milton Councilwoman Karen Thurman says she welcomes the showdown with challenger Bernard Wolff. To her benefit, so does Milton Mayor Joe Lockwood.

“I’m kicking off my campaign next week and we are getting geared up to mount a very vigorous and spirited re-election effort,” Thurman said. “The stakes are high.” Thurman says she is taking her challenge, and the race “very seriously.”

Thurman is launching her campaign on Tuesday night with a kick-off party at the Olde Blind Dog Irish Pub, which is owned in part by Milton political icon Ron Wallace, who supports Thurman’s re-election bid.

Lockwood, an enthusiastic Thurman supporter, says her financial acumen and sound judgment are critical to Milton’s future advancement. “Karen brings a wealth of financial experience and an astute knowledge of zoning to our government team,” said Lockwood. “She understands the delicate balance between financial stability and maintaining our rural culture, which defines our city,” Lockwood pronounced.

JULIE AND BERNIE

Wolff, who was personally recruited by Councilwoman Julie Zahner-Bailey, is still working on his campaign apparatus, and is late getting out of the gate.

Thurman wasted no time in defining her opponent. “He says that we are not living up to our promises,” she said. “What promises are those?” she asked. “I’m running on my record, not [hyperbole],” Thurman added.

Wolff has promised to slow Milton’s growth down, and prefers to reduce services to balance Milton’s budget, rather than grow commerce to add tax revenue.
But Thurman said that’s fuzzy math. “We can’t balance our budget now,” Thurman charged. “I challenge my opponent to come forward with a financial plan that supports his position.”

Wolff said last week his team is in the midst of getting the details of his policy platform nailed down, and indicated they would be available for public consumption soon.

Thurman, in a veiled dig at her arch political enemy Zahner-Bailey, fired this opening salvo: “Some people think saying ‘no’ is the answer to everything.”
The one-term incumbent, who ran un-opposed in her first election bid, said her vision for Milton goes well beyond knee-jerk politics.

“We need to find and maintain the delicate balance of considering commercial development that can provide us with the resources we need to be financially viable while working tightly within our design guidelines and strictly following our master plan,” Thurman asserted.

“Maintaining this sensitive balance provides us with the resources we need to bring our community together. It gives us the financial leeway to invest in passive and active parks, to add bike, hike and equestrian trails and to perhaps add a community center where we can gain [fellowship] with our friends and neighbors, where people can walk together and children can play together,” Thurman maintained.

“We will always be rural. I hope we can make Milton a city with a soul,” Thurman concluded. “That is what I hope my [legacy] will be.”

For now, at least, Thurman has defined the debate in this race.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Didn't realize Joe Lockwood would be knocking down doors for Karen Thurman especially since she went after his head at the beginning of Milton with every ethics charge she could come up with under the sun. This seems rather strange, since he doesn't seem like or acted like he was pro development. I guess that has changed over 2 years time, shame. Someone should have run against him, if he's promoting her re-election. We need people that are representing the people, not special interest groups, foundations, or developers. Isn't it bad enough we have to deal with everyday stress of watching our Congress vote based on the people who have lined their pockets. The buck has to stop locally, at the bottom level for Americans to get rid of the corruption at the National level. Too bad I liked Joe, past tense.

Anonymous said...

He is. I was at home the other day and heard a huge crash and when I went to see what it was it was him knocking down my door and he threw it in the street. Later as I drove thru my neighborhood I saw about 18 other doors in the front yards of homes. The only ones that still had a door were the metal kind.

Then I thought I heard him using a chainsaw and it was cold but then I noticed Karen was with him.

Anonymous said...

Hey didn't Joe support Julie Bailey also 2 years ago? Look how she treats him now!

As for someone running against him, they should have! Maybe Laura Bentley could have rather than trying to run other people against council members?

Anonymous said...

Don't blame poor Laura Bentley. She is only doing what Julie tells her to do. For a control freak like Julie, she is smart enough to understand that she will be in complete control of the city if she can get rid of either Bill or Karen. She knows that she controls how both Tina & Alan vote. Just look at the voting records. One more or her clones on Council and the city is hers.

Anonymous said...

They just dont get it do they? Its like a class full of young children without a teacher or adult supervision. They can run wild, chew gum, goof off, whatever but at some point they will get hurt or in trouble. They need structure and supervision.

They can run around and fight everything, trash our elected officials, try to stop what is legally right, but at some point the responsible leaders have to take care of the city, the majority of its citizens, keep the roads safe and repaired, keep us safe from fires and crime, balance our budgets etc.

If we get one more person on council like Julie and her followers, our city will be doomed.

Anonymous said...

Then be sure to get out and vote for the RIGHT candidates - actions speak louder than all this talk!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I disagree with you. There needs to be a balance. You can't have council all pro development no matter what, and you can't have a council that won't let anything get through either.

Very interesting how you know so much about Bailey, Bentley, how Julie treats Joe, and who tells who how to vote, you must be very very very close to the situation to know so much or to be so intuitive, or you could even be Karen herself blogging these comments. Makes ya go Hmmm. or is that mmm mmm mmm? The average citizen not attending city council meetings, or even those that go all the time would never be able to pick up on such amazing details of the ins and outs of the thinking and controlling that you say apparently goes on. Karen, you outed yourself!!

Anonymous said...

It is not me!

Anonymous said...

How much more "balanced" can it be? Yoou got JZB on one end and Karen Thurman on the other. That leaves Tina, Burt, and Joe in the middle and sometimes Tina swings either way.

Anonymous said...

Wow Joe. If you think we don't remember what has gone down over the past two years, your wrong. What a joke this town has turned into.

Past tense here too, Joe.

Anonymous said...

I am certainly not Joe, not even the same gender, and wouldn't want to be him.I am not even a big fan of his. I am however on a city board and attend many council meetings so I feel I know what is going on.

The city was a joke when we used to have a kangaroo court type atmosphere with certain people trying to drag things on and on until the council started working together a little bit better.

I am not posting my name because the attacks that you will use on me, and besides I think I know who you are.

Anonymous said...

November 12, 2007
In an article Nov. 12, 2007, Joe Lockwood states he wants to work with a council that isn't set against him. (Meaning Karen Thurman, Bill Lusk, Mohrig, and O'Brien).

If Bill and Karen had been up for re-election at the same time Mohrig and O'Brien were you can bet on it Joe would have never supported them since it was those 4who were set against him.

Here's the quote from the article:
"The three candidates Lockwood supported, incumbent Julie Zahner Bailey, and challengers Burt Hewitt and Alan Tart, were dubbed Team Lockwood by the opposition."He had an impact," said defeated Councilman Rick Mohrig. "He's prominent and well-known in the community. People listen to what the mayor has to say. It was a deciding factor."

Lockwood, a building contractor, made appearances on behalf of Tart, Hewitt and Zahner Bailey. He helped raise money, put up signs, sent e-mails and published political advertisements.Lockwood polled about 4,100 votes in his race for mayor last year, more than the number of people who voted for cityhood.

"I had a number of people tell me they supported me because of Joe," Hewitt said. "But I had just as many say they supported me because I wasn't the other guy. The mayor's support certainly didn't hurt. A lot of people like Joe. But I can't say how it would have turned out if he hadn't been involved. I'd like to think I got a vote or two myself."

Lockwood said he just wanted to be able to work with a City Council that wasn't set against him.It was a calculated risk. If Lockwood won, he would send a signal that his popularity could help shape the council's agenda. If he lost, he was toast. The reigning majority would steamroll him for the rest of his term."It's very unusual for a mayor to get that involved in City Council races, especially against incumbents," said Councilwoman Karen Thurman, who supported the losing slate. "He rolled the dice and he won."
Posted by Accessmilton Admin at Monday, November 12, 2007

Anonymous said...

This post has been removed by the blog administrator.

Anonymous said...

Interesting retrospective, except it is a reminder that Joe is a bully and likes people to bend as he sees fit. There never was a gang of four and Joe had lots more support than he admits. It is too bad the taxpayers were & continue to lose in this big political play that is Milton.

Anonymous said...

The gang of 4 existed.
Can't call 2 people a gang though. They lost part of their posse last year.

Anonymous said...

Anyone that knows Joe and has dealt with him will agree he is a "bully" as the above poster stated.

Anonymous said...

Probably a great neighbor and life of any party, but-

don't cross him.

Anonymous said...

The candidates with the most blog comments will win. Watch.

Anonymous said...

The real surprise is that the mayor's vocabulary includes acumen.