Editor's Notebook: How to Support Your Candidate on Patch

The Verona and Cedar Grove Council elections are May 14. Just as the weather is suddenly warmer, campaigning is heating up.

Candidates and their supporters are welcome and encouraged to post on Patch. There are a few important points:

First, you may write a letter to the editor or an op-ed piece.  Word length is your choice, and photos are welcome. You may also post events.

Second, we don't publish anonymous pieces. If you represent a group, your byline or credit can read as the group name (for example, a local theatre group posts as "OrangeDrama"), but there must be a user name attached to each post.

Third, we encourage readers to comment on posts and pieces. These comments are approved by the editor and don't immediately appear on the site.  We welcome dialogue; comments that are rejected by the editor are generally spam or violate terms of service in using inappropriate language.

Fourth, please remember that students read Patch. It's our job to keep discourse civil.

And, finally, an editorial note: For a long time, I taught school.  I encouraged students to think of their readers as "intelligent but uninformed on this particular topic."  Personally, I think that is a good guideline for writing about election issues. Those who read your words are already interested, but may not have all the relevant information to follow an argument. Please write with that in mind.

General help info is here.

I look forward to the discussions.

Click here to post now.

Questions? Email eric.goodman@patch.com