We believe these candidates are worthy of your support:

1. A candidate who is opposed to a $69K school bond at this time and who would not BS us about exploding toilets, electrical fires, no locker room practice gyms and bonds to pay interest on interest.

2. We support candidates who back common-sense and withhold support from those who would hire the night shift ticket sales and popcorn stand kid to fill an important city/county job because your biggest donor was his daddy; or one who would set up a city street dept employee to take the fall for your dirt disaster or ask him to lie to the public on your behalf.

3. One who would not crawl in bed with the Chamber-JCIDC-MIDCOR to go a visionless quest with the same old 12 people and call it "community" planning when it's bought and paid for by private special interests.

4. We would support a candidate who would personally uphold ethics, anti-nepotism and code of conduct rules and publicly insist and enforce honest, ethical open governing at all times. Our candidates believe the public should be informed of misconduct and therefore the candidate actively, promptly and civilly confronts ethics violations in a public setting.

5. Would return a honest, common sense approach to decision making by balancing facts, data and truthful information with community standards, available resources and actual need versus favoritism or "pork". The Forum strongly favors those candidates who actively and openly address poor decision making by "calling a spade a spade" and pursuing correcting and/or erasing previous poor decisions through the elimination of wasteful or ineffective programs, ordinances, jobs, including cessation of patronage and favoritism to family, friends and donors.

6. Would work collaboratively within our county to openly and civilly engage citizen activists, community leaders and other elected officials in the governing process . The Forum strongly favors candidates who publicly disclose and oppose efforts to manipulate circumstances intended to reduce or prevent public oversight and input into policy, spending and community planning processes.

The Old-Madison Forum opposes candidates for elected office who:

1. Would actively or passively participate or support in maintaining or expanding a governing approach which continues to exclude or ostracize both elected officials and concerned citizens who seek change and bring forth new views, information and ideas. The forum will STRONGLY OPPOSE those candidates who publicly, passively or discretely intimidate or work to punish, control or silence any citizen and will oppose those elected officials who do not publicly denounce and take action which prevents other elected officials or government employees from continuing any form of intimidation or threat.

If you are a candidate and want us to publish your message send us a copy VIA e-mail.

If we do not act, nothing will change. If our office holders refuse to change, then we need to change them. .