The Patch Mayor Endorses Gabriel Piemonte for 5th Ward Alderman

It is a quite-human characteristic to have a delay in adapting to change: but when changes are especially profound, there is no choice but for people, citizens and our political leaders to adapt to and in fact embrace the changes that society and its technology are experiencing. These kind of changes have been occuring at cyclical intervals since prehistoric times ... and there is a history to study of the fading away of governmental and of social institutions that were made obsolete by new discoveries and new tools for human interaction, when the institutions in question did not change their ways, and adapt.

An excessive delay in adapting to our Internet revolution can result in the failure of a politician, a business, or an individual in our current times. Companies that fail to adapt have gone out of business ... for example, just recently Sears. Other examples include all of the other "brick and mortar" stores and companies that are no longer with us.

The Internet revolution is a revolution in universal communication power being given to every adult American who has full access to the internet, and knows how to use that access.

The Internet revolution is a revolution of possibility and success; or of failure to use it and a lack of success ... for every current government official.

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I almost do not need to point out that our incumbent Alderman, Alderman of the 5th Ward for 20 years, has had example after example be described by residents of the 5th Ward, of extraordinarily poor attention to the requests and inquiries to the Alderman from the Ward's citizens. It is almost as if the communications revolution of computers and the internet and of email ... have never happened. It appears to be an exception to the rule, for a citizen to receive an actual written (emailed, these days) response to a request of the Alderman.

I have experienced this lack of response myself: In the urgent hours after Treasure Island Foods announced its going-out-of-business, my emailed questions to the Alderman went unanswered for about five days ... when a 'modern' and responsive Alderman might have taken five minutes!

In fact, the shared testimony of the citizens of the 5th Ward, is so overwhelming with respect to the great number of instances of "non communication" from the Alderman ... that the public might consider itself better off with a vacant chair present in the City Council, instead of the incumbent Alderman!

An empty chair of course is not necessary. There are two challengers to Alderman Hairston's re-election.

I personally have met both Alderman Hairston; and, in greater depth, Gabriel Piemonte, former Editor of the Hyde Park Herald. Mr. Piemonte's campaign-theme is this simple attention to the simple requests of our 5th Ward residents. This attention is, and has been nearly-forever, the basic qualification and job of a legislative representative. Gabriel Piemonte, the candidate who gives evidence of best being able to perform this basic task in an enormously-more-efficient manner than the incumbent ... deserves the vote of each citizen of the 5th Ward, for the position of Alderman of the 5th Ward.