Interesting race in the East Ward, I call it “the Mother vs the Brother” race. It features the Mother, incumbent alderman Tanya Finn and newcomer Brian Stevenson, the Brother. A bit about both.
Tanya Finn is running for re-election on the East Ward, she is one of two alderman, Pat White, her colleague East Ward alderman, is not up for re-election this year. Tanya indeed is a mother (and wife), very involved in Weatherby Lake organizations, a resident for 33 years. My observation of her at Board of Alderman meetings reveals an alderman who is thoughtful, independent and has a keen eye on the budget. She is worthy of consideration by her East Ward constituents. Her slogan, “Committed and Involved”
Brian Stevenson is attempting his first run at public office, he is the brother…of Pat White. Yes, the other alderman from the East Ward. Looks like the East Ward could be a family affair. Nothing illegal about it, but more than a few people have voiced their concerns. While his campaign literature mentions he has “siblings” living in Weatherby Lake, nothing about Pat being the other alderman. Brian mentions in his brochure, “I promise to be straight-forward and forthcoming…” Brian is highlighting his business experience as a senior vp at a local company as making a difference in city government. Hard to find one of his campaign signs without a companion BOS sign in the yard. His slogan is “Delivering On Our Future”.
And of course, what would this be without a sign update. A white haired gentleman was seen removing a Finn sign from a yard. The witness got a pretty good look. Gold Camry or Lexus. We got any ordinances against sign rustling?
Bill reminded me of the rest of the lyrics for "Signs"... so here they are, love and peace, right back at ya brother!
V1 And the sign said long haired freaky people need not apply So I tucked my hair up under my hat and I went in to ask him why He said you look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do So I took off my hat I said imagine that, huh, me working for you
woah!
Chorus:
Sign Sign everywhere a sign Blocking out the scenery breaking my mind Do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign
V2 And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight So I jumped on the fence and yelled at the house, Hey! what gives you the right To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in If God was here, he'd tell you to your face, man you're some kinda sinner
Repeat Chorus:
Bridge:
Now, hey you Mister! can't you read, you got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat You can't even watch, no you can't eat, you ain't suppose to be here Sign said you got to have a membership card to get inside Uh!
V3 And the sign said everybody welcome, come in, kneel down and pray But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all, I didn't have a penny to pay, so I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own little sign I said thank you Lord for thinking about me, I'm alive and doing fine
Repeat Chorus Repeat Chorus
© 1970, 2002 Five Man Electrical Band
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
While running around the lake today I sure did notice a lot of those blue signs, some in the yards of people who are away for the winter. hmmm I wonder how that works.
There are no rules as to whom may or may not be related and run for office. Have you people nothing better to do than complain. Hmmm a thought to ponder: maybe you are worried that you won't be able to run things the WRONG way any longer, that the citizens of the lake are speaking up and want someone to do the RIGHT thing for once. The last few years in Weatherby have been a joke, as I know some feel you are. Get a life and worry about the important things, such as family.
Mike and Blog Readers,
For the purpose of Full Disclosure and being Straightforward, here is the full description of my family. I trust you will find this explanation fulfills your need to know. It may be a little more than you would have bargained for, but perhaps you and your readers will find this interesting. If you or anyone has any questions about me or my family, please feel free to send me an email. The address is included in the brochures that you got in the mail or at the Meet and Greets. Anyway, at the risk of betraying my local family members this is the account or our family as this matter seems to be very interesting to some people.
My parents, Don and Shirley Stevenson raised six children on a small farm and in a little town in Northeast Missouri. There are three boys and three girls. In general we all enjoy reasonably good health and have had interesting experiences in our lives. I am the oldest son, second oldest in the family. My father was a farmer and my mother was a book keeper at the local Coop. My mother lives just off of 64th Street and my father lives in a care home. We estimate that he is in the middle stages of Alzheimer's. All six children of Don and Shirley Stevenson have College Degrees. Three of those have graduate Degrees. One is expected to earn a PhD within this year. As of 13 years ago, only one of the children of the family lived in Missouri (St. Louis area). The rest of us were running about chasing careers.
My wife Doris and I moved to Weatherby Lake in 1997. We will celebrate 30 years of marriage this June 10. We have two children that we believe were helped by some good friends and great neighbors around the lake. It my strong opinion that Culture matters. The WL culture had a very positive impact on our children's lives. Both of our children graduated from Park Hill High School. One in the top few percent of the class, the other first in the class. Our daughter has an undergraduate degree in Animal Science, Graduated on the Dean's List, and is about 2 years away from a PhD in Human Physiology and Pharmacology. Her interest lies in finding a cure or to help women overcome Heart Disease. We wish her the best. Our son went directly from Park Hill to King's College, Cambridge University in England. He graduated from Cambridge University with honors in Economics and expects to earn his masters in Economics from Cambridge University this fall. Like the Fynn family, our son also worked as an investment banker for JP Morgan. He now lives in London where he works in Finance for an Icelandic Investment firm. We miss him and hope that his career will bring him back to the States soon. He has now been in England for over 6 years. Doris and I are very proud of our children and what they have accomplished in their young lives. For you guys out there, you know how this deal works, I married up. I highly recommend that strategy to any young man that will listen.
When we first moved to Weatherby Lake in 1997, we invited all of our family here for holidays. We have celebrated several Christmases and many July 4 weekends, as well as the occasional reunion with our family here in Weatherby Lake. It was though those celebrations that some family members also saw the uniqueness of Weatherby Lake and began to love WL as we did. When asked, where do you go on Vacation?? Our response was we live our vacation a little bit at a time here at the lake.
About three years ago, my sister Pat and her husband Tony moved here to WL. Pat had just finished a very successful career with a J and J company. They lived in South Fla and felt the pull of the midwest as we did some years ago. They sold their place down there and moved here on the lake. Tony works from home managing an IT group for a J and J Company. Pat and Tony decided when they got here that they really wanted to get involved with the lake and all it has to offer. Pat felt a responsibility to "pay back" and not be just a taker. She now sits on the City Council. Her term will expire next year.
My youngest sister was also living in South Fla and had visited WL a few times. She and her husband looked and got jobs here in the KC area and moved here just about 2 years ago. Kathy directs a part of a company that tests athletes for Drugs during competitions. Rick is a Wal-Mart Executive.
Finally, my brother and his family had lived in the Smithville area for some time. They came to visit our house often to enjoy the lake and what it had to offer. About 1.5 years ago, they made the decision to sell in Smithville and move to Weatherby Lake. Paul is a consultant and his wife Michelle works with overseas customers as they prepare for financial presentations in English.
All of us siblings share the weight of our father's care. His care did have an affect on some family members moving to the Kansas City Area as my father is about 40 minutes away.
There was no intention to leave out the fact of my relationship with Pat in my trifold. There are only so many lines and so many facts to get out. In any mailings or any communications, this campaign has excluded no one on the mailing list. Even Ms. Fynn got all of my letters and Fliers. Can all other candidates for office this term say the same??
Now about my relationship with Pat. Please understand that she is my sister and I care very deeply for her. I hold her in very high regard and I am delighted to be associated with her and Tony. That being said, we are two very different people. Please readers think about your relationships with your siblings. Do you agree on everything?? Especially Politics?? Pat and I share our family values in that we believe we should serve when we can do so. As far as the interest of the city is concerned, I feel some burden of having brought these family members to Weatherby Lake. They all have invested their savings into properties here at the lake. Some are still raising families here. Sometimes the most obvious answer is the correct answer. I want what is best for Weatherby Lake. Though I believe that I can work with my sister Pat on the Board (if elected), we both understand there will be many issues where we will disagree or will need to work to come to the compromise that is best for Weatherby Lake. I expect to seek the council of the citizens when working towards that compromise. That is our duty and I believe that our family understands the meaning of Duty.
For some of you this family issue will be "THE" issue. I can not change that. For some of you, I understand that you will support Ms. Fynn. I too understand that. What I hope is that this blog entry will give all of you a look into our family and what matters to us. Nothing would delight me more than to have our children return to the lake. That may not happen for many years. I have no intention of hurting the investment of my brother and sisters. I have a window where I can serve. I am offering my services to the community.
So, there you have it. Full disclosure (and only a couple of sentences of outright politicking). I hope you find this Straightforward enough. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Brian Stevenson
Excellent response, Brian. Now, I suppose we need all other candidates to go into the same detail you have here so those who seem to have a problem with Pat and possibly you serving this community as alderpersons can feel relieved that there are no other such situations!
I can not imagine why anyone would have a concern about the two of you very competent, talented people serving in this capacity for W.L. What is important to some people while it is not to others is always going to be a part of our society, but this one seems, to me, to be a bit off the charts.
Thank you for taking your time to address this, Brian.
We should vote for the candidates on their merits. Brian has been forthcoming and transparent in his campaign.
The Stevensons are a decent hard working group. We are lucky to have them as neighbors and fortunate to have Pat White and Brian offer their service to our community
Post a Comment