Q-and-A with Galen Gondolfi

Caught at the campaign HQ on Saturday, before leading a group of volunteers into the field for a last, big round of door visits, Galen stopped to talk for a few minutes about the campaign and Tuesday’s election.

Q: Three days out, what’s the feeling?
A: We feel incredibly confident. There’s a lot of momentum and a lot of energy. It’s all about the GOTV effort, at this point. We feel really excited about Tuesday, we’re ready to take it on.

Q: Are there certain comments and feedback that you’ve heard from residents, which were items you didn’t necessarily expect?
A: To be honest, I’m not surprised by what issues people have expressed concerns about. It’s quite evident in our neighborhoods what the issues are, and those are the ones being talked about: vacant properties, crime, the lack of small businesses and a lack of opportunities for youth. There actually haven’t been a lot of surprises. Residents have been talking about what I feel are very evident issues that need to be addressed in the 20th ward.

Q: Being on the ground every day, what have you learned about the ward?
A: I’ve learned a lot. I learned a lot and I’ve been impressed, actually. The more I’m out there, the more excited I am to be out there to partner with people and to make a difference. Everybody has an opinion and it’s quite an opportunity to hear a multitude of perspectives on various issues. People are more concerned and want to get more involved than we give them credit for, so we need to provide opportunities for residents to participate. That’s what I really think this campaign has been about establishing. A beach-head, so to speak, for residents’ voices to be heard.

Q: There’s been a lot of talk about turnout and there’s been talk that it could be low. Why is it so important for people to make it out this week?
A: Oh, it’s most imperative. It all comes down to counting votes. We need as many of those votes as possible. The 20th ward has historically had low voter turnout, which is making it even more important to have those voters come out, as opposed to a ward with a larger voter base.

Q: If there’s one thing that you’d want people to know about you and the campaign, at this point, what would it be?
A: That we have had a tireless work ethic and our commitment’s been to being out there. Our level of energy has been unabated, but I also want to mention that we’ve stuck to our guns, staying away from any purported “character issues,” while talking about the issues.

Call for Poll Workers

Whether, or not, you live in the 20th Ward, you have a great opportunity to pitch in for a progressive, new voice for the Board of Aldermen this coming week. The campaign’s looking for volunteers to work the ward’s polling stations on Tuesday, March 6.

The time slots are varied and you can take a shift that fits into your workday.

For details, call: 314-772-3628.

Promise of Campaign Integrity

In the past week, door hangers and multiple mailers have been arriving at homes in the ward from an unofficial, shadow group attempting to besmirch this campaign and those involved in it. This has corresponded with a noted increase in “comment” activity on local blogs, with many postings taking on a decidedly negative tone. Some of these mailed, attack cards are now circulating on local blogs, so there’s no point in acting as if they do not exist.

In many ways, these types of tactics are unfortunate by-products of current campaign styles. That said, we’re not taking this situation lightly and the campaign will address these matters after the election.

However, for the next week, this campaign will continue to appeal to voters on the issues. If you have any concerns, questions or comments, CALL THIS NUMBER: 314-772-3628. You will get a call back directly from the candidate or campaign chair. Your call will be treated with respect and courtesy. Those will be the watchwords of this campaign, from the day of filing until the conclusion of this race on Tuesday, March 6.

Until then, we look forwad to our opponent’s denunciation of this negative campaigning, while we also look forward to one more week of reaching out to voters, discussing the things that matter in our ward.

The weather is beautiful, and things are going good!

Hello,

This is Glenn again, and I hope everyone out there is enjoying our spring-like weather.  Things are going great at the campaign, and people are excited about the opportunity for progressive change in our ward.  Every day people tell us that they have been frustrated with the ward’s current leadership, that Galen’s vision is just what they have been looking for, and that they are going to go out and vote for Galen on March 6th.  As always feel free to call me at 258-4149.

Hello

This is Glenn Burleigh, the campaign manager, and I just want to say hello to all of the people coming to see our campaign’s blog.  As we move into these last few weeks, we will be stepping up our campaign.  We are moving ahead and doing the things that we need to do, to insure that on March 7th Galen will be our new Alderman-elect.  I hope that everyone finds the blog informative and stops by to check it every now and then.  Feel free to give me a call at 258-4149.

For those of you that might be interested in volunteering, we will have plenty of opportunities.  There are plenty of activities and we will do our best to make sure that anyone who want to be involved has a place in our campaign to better the 20th Ward.