Bonnie called today and spoke with us about a new local web site called the Patch. It is new, has low readership and touts Roger Claar's favorite people. We had a lengthy discussion about it and we decided to write an article about it.
Bonnie wanted to find out who the inside person was. After discussion, we realized that Brian does the majority of the articles. So who is this "Brian" guy and what is he getting paid?
He helped with features about Lindsay Claar and Wayne Kwiat. He removed the bad comments from the incumbents election articles and removed the good one's from the top runners like Bob Bowen. We contacted Bob Bowen last week to inform him of this biased site. Bonnie "flagged" comments to test it and so did Jay Washington. None of their "flagged" comments were removed. However, ALL the incumbents flagged comments were removed.
Brian has also written a recent article spewing false information about missing signs. Now, if he was working for the incumbents, who are removing or flooding around the signs, that would make sense for him to cover this by stating they were on public property and public works picked them up. However, Brian personally called Bonnie about this and she told him the RULES of where signs get place, to help him understand public vs. private. He knows the candidates know the rules, yet he reported otherwise. This is very slanted.
What we have concluded is that this site, started at election time, was only started to advertise a political party. They deny that they are biased, yet solely support incumbents. They are NOT a watch dog group. They do not have advertising support (except the incumbents). They are not a multiple person organization. They are a campaign web site.
Brian, you might as well change the web site name to reflect what it is. Call it the local Republican Party trying to run a media site to combat the issues they have caused...
The Patch article you refer to, says nothing of the same.
ReplyDeleteHas anyone gone to Public Works to see if the signs are there like the article says?
Or, are you just going to run with another unsubstantiated blog post?
March 21: Alleged Stolen Signs Likely Confiscated by Public Works
Campaign signs that were allegedly stolen last week were likely confiscated by the village's public works department, Bolingbrook officials say.
Public Works Director Michael Drey said people claiming signs have been stolen has been an issue for nearly every election over the past decade, when really, those signs are taken by village crews because they violate the Chapter 29 of the village's municipal code.
"It was a problem back 30 years ago as it is an issue today," Drey said. "The zoning ordinance clearly tells (candidates) cannot place any signs on village property or in the right of way of village property. And as long as I can remember, it's been a directive of the administration to enforce that."
The signs aren't taken for good. Rather, they are pitched to the side of the public works building on Canterbury where they can be picked up for no fine or fee.
Bonnie Alicea, who was booted off the village board ballot in January, said dozens of the signs she put up for candidates including Bob Bowen and Rhonda Reed-Slaughter went missing last week.
"I know exactly where they were," she said, inferring she put the signs in a legal space. "I went through all this last time."
Alicea said hundreds of signs of hers were stolen last year, when she attempted to dethrone Mayor Roger Claar.
As of last week, Bolingbrook Police said there had been no reports of stolen campaign signs.
We go to Public Works daily. We reported the STOLEN signs. This web site is intending to discredit people by swaying the truth. All the Village candidates know the rules.
ReplyDeleteBonnie commented on the patch telling Brian to print a retraction. This is a good idea because he blatenly lied on the site.
ReplyDeleteYah, he is losing readers fast. People see he is political ploy for Roger and people are sick of him and Roger. Give him until after the election and nobody will give him any more money. Just watch, he does the dirty work now but whatever they promised him will not come through. I know I won't read the site anymore!
ReplyDeletePatch is an AOL owned company that runs several local news web sites, like Bolingbrook Patch, around the country. From looking at the site, it looks like the Chicago suburban sites were started around August.
ReplyDeleteBolingbrook Patch was not started to promote The First Party For Bolingbrook. Instead, it's part of a national chain of news websites, and Brian is the editor of the Bolingbrook site.
You can go to http://www.patch.com/ for more information.