So "clean sweep" is synonymous with voting for all democrats. What happened to picking the best candidate? The dems have put up some good candidates in Bloom, White and Hairston. Ms. Ludden does not have the experience necessary to be our mayor. If voters get rid of Vernotico, the bickering will end. Dickson will make a great mayor.

Dickson has served well in the council, and has the experience and skill to be a great Mayor. Don't vote for an inexperienced person to be our mayor, or worse yet, one who has left his party to run on his own, and who could split his party's vote.The choice for Mayor is clear --Ellen Dickson!

Ms. Dickson is far from a clear choice - I am as yet undecided amongst mayoral candidates. There have been numerous questions asked of Ms. Dickson about her performance on City Council and not one response. Ms. Dickson has been front and center in many controversies effecting Summit which have gone without explanation. BTW - I have voted primarily republican in the past in local, state and national elections. I do not understand the current direction of Summit's Republican Party. Pat Hurley for Ward 2? Clearly, there has to be a less inflammatory republican candidate in Summit? It appears to me that Mr. Vernotico did not voluntarily leave "his party to run on his own" but rather differences with Ms. Dickson on Council had him removed from the republican ticket. Ms. Dickson's husband is the local Chairperson for the GOP. I am not defending Mr. Vernotico here only stating the obvious that the Summit Republican Party has created this ticket and surely should have thought through all voting possibilities. I do wish the republican candidates would be more visible and direct in this campaign. Avoiding questions or otherwise keeping a "no-profile" does not inform the voter what is important to the candidate.

Agree with summit43 and harry. This article should have been entitled "Time to vote for all the democrats." Not surprising, since Bill Coons is a repeat donor to various democrat pols and the DNC (opensecrets.org).

Re. Max-M comments, I plan to vote for both Ellen Dickson and Pat Hurley. We need elected leaders who are not afraid to shake things up. The democrat agenda seems to be to allow Summit to continue its creep toward the liberal planned-parenthood-in-kindergarten, Upper West Side agenda. Not what we need if Summit is to remain the best small town in America!

Re. Dennis White (Ward 2) - good candidate, but I have a problem with the non-profit part of his experience. Many charitable foundations dole out cash without regard for profit (obviously), and little regard for efficacy or results. The act of giving often ends the accountability chain. I am wary about electing someone to common council whose main experience is in "giving away" money with little accountability. I prefer penny-pinchers who feel accountable to taxpayers for every dime.

The Mayor has served this City well for 2 terms. All 3 candidates will struggle to do so well. Your comments about the others are extreme. Regardless and even if true, those reasons do not justify the “Group of 5” actions and lack of transparency; do not justify their behavior toward their colleagues; and most importantly do not justify their treatment of the public. Maybe the word "transparency" is overused, but I believe, the accusation is not untrue. Council should be forthcoming - fully and always, not sometimes when it suits them.
Last year, the “Group” censured Vernotico for “violating procedure”. If the “Group” were to be consistent, then shouldn’t the group be voting now to censure themselves? They can’t have it both ways.

AMDZ. How is it possible for four letters of the alphabet to be lecturing anyone on transparency and sunshine? How can you judge someone’s credibility given your invisibility? You can’t have it both ways.

Dear S_ _ _ _ ,
Sorry to disappoint you. Will you be collecting my soul? I’ve made no special claim of credibility and others are more thoughtful. I seem to be more provoking. Would you agree with me that the discussion on Council transparency and sunshine belongs in the realm of the ridiculous and weird? Who sent the flying monkey?

Robert - Your comments are more provocative because, from what I've read, you don't live in this town so your comments will always be viewed as having an angle that may or may not have the residents best interest at heart. You're all about the downtown (which of course is critical to this town), but sometimes your comments cross into areas in which a non-resident's input isn't welcome. Good, bad or indifferent, everyone knows where you stand. Some of us residents just don't care, give us your real estate expertise.. not your viewpoint on our council.

Why would transparency and perceived violations of the sunshine law be ridiculous. Its election time.. shouldn't we all "see" where the candidates stand and how they act?

Now we have people deciding who can comment on what? And please don't presume to speak for others as to what comments are welcome or not - as can be seen by your comments - all are accepted for what they are - opinions.

i agree with the premise of overhauling this council. unfortunately there are 3 seats that will remain unchanged after the election. as for voting the entire democratic slate, no way. i definitely agree with Ludden for mayor particularly after my brief conversations with her around town (train stations, farmer's market, etc). based on what has occurred over the past year, if it is a choice between a person with a fresh perspective and little "political" experience vs the 2 other bickering establishment politicians, i will take the fresh perspective this yr. clearly, yrs of experience doesn't equate to effective, non-partisan decision making. we are a small town, and we have elected council people acting like this is washington dc.

i will absolutely not vote for Hurley, do we need more vitriol and animosity on council. I believe rubino and bloom to be high quality candidates with a slight edge to rubino due to bloom's helipad support. alas i do not have a vote in ward 1. would have preferred murphy to remain but have not decide on hairston vs drummond.

looking forward to the debate.

really, ressummit - I've seen your comments... pot, kettle?

I'm not saying I agree or disagree w/ RS. I'm just giving my opinion (which I think is on your list of approved responses) to his own question about why he is perceived as provoking discussion. You, on the other hand, clearly have it out for several posters in this thread. Not sure what your issue is.. but at least you left the spelling of Guy Haselmann's name out of this comment!! lol... its just a discussion thread, ressummit.. ease up! You're starting to sound like summitdude!

Summitmom; Good governance affects all areas of your community. The commercial areas are no exception. These property owners and tenants are significant taxpayers that in many cases don’t live in the municipality and therefore have limited participation. Summit is a sophisticated community and non-resident input should be welcomed. I’d be relieved of my personal sense of obligation to participate if others, perhaps SDI and some independent organization (independent of politics) took the baton. It should be obvious to all that “some of us residents”, to use your words, have made a hot mess of good governance in this town by abusing one another. So for your sin call me a plague.

RS: Is it still a ridiculous conversation?

http://thealternativepress.com/articles/city-solicitor-summit-common-council-violated-su

Much ado about nothing

"Summit Solicitor Barry Osmun agrees with a local resident that four City Council members [including Dickson] violated open government laws by discussing the town's parking ordinance over email and purposely out of the public eye." --Summit Patch

OurTown: What is this about? Is this the crisis of character and violation of public trust that produces an outpouring of outrage and consternation? NO Clintonesque moment with a soiled black dress, NO Spitzer client #9 mid-life drama NO Dwek-NJ politician For Sale sting. Nope. Summit's got an opinion from a tired solicitor, on a one way parking email. Who does the solicitor work for? Is he a prosecutor? Did he violate his ethics oath -conflict of interest? How did the Alt Press get the release? So many pointless questions. My humble opinion is that despite party politics and the election, this should not be operating procedure in Summit or anywhere.

The question is whether the Sunshine Law was violated. Whether you or I agree with the law is immaterial.

OurTown. We are in complete agreement. Will you also agree with me that this is not a settled matter? That is unless you feel that election eve timing permits you to be both judge and jury. That’s material.