Tuesday, July 8, 2008

It's quiet, almost too quiet...










Like a calm before the storm.

The heated rivalry between State Rep. John Burnett and John Joseph Rizzo is no big secret. The two have gone back and forth for years in an exchanges of political left hooks and right jabs.

Already some political watchers throughout Kansas City are predicting that Northeast’s State House race is one of the hot races to watch as the two will undoubtedly duke it out for the chance to represent us in the Missouri house. The attack ads, we are sure, are merely waiting in the shadows before being sprung on one or both candidates.

Some of the attacks, which have mostly remained said behind closed doors or in confidence, have even bordered on eerily personal.

In their last go around for the seat, Burnett beat Rizzo by only seven votes — and don’t think that has not gotten some in the Rizzo camp fired-up for this next round and vice versa for Burnett.

Tonight (Wednesday, July 9) though, is the first chance the two will square off publicly and once again open the flood gates of what could become another bloody political season for Northeast.

This pup has only one dog in this fight and it is the neighborhoods that these two claim they can better represent.

But let’s cut though the fur and get to the heart of what is at stake here: the success or failure of these neighborhoods that more than 30,000 call home. Northeast as a whole stands in a very unique position as major projects and some help begins to trickle in through neighborhood revitalization and crime prevention.

At the same time, though, the city is shrinking its support and the neighborhood groups that already give their hearts to this area are going to start looking to county and state leaders to keep that success rolling.

Reducing this seat of authority into a pile of hateful mailers and vindictive ads is not going to serve anyone any good.

Now, this dog has some years in her and is not naive enough to think one editorial is going to make every politician fly straight this election season.

Still, we hope through this we can maybe remind every candidate that there are still a lot of good people counting on whomever takes this seat to turn right around after the campaign party and get to work. The winner will be expected to immediately begin giving every last bit they can to get resources, projects and money to flow from the State to the streets of Northeast.

As we ride this calm before the storm, it might be good to ask how any candidate for any position representing Northeast will accomplish this though another hateful flyer clogging our mailboxes.

6 comments:

Taurus said...

I though Mr. Rizzo’s plan to build economic stimulus in Historic Northeast was disappointing at best. Small businesses along The Avenue and St. John make our neighborhood unique. His idea to build a Costco or a Home Depot would shut down those small businesses. Not to mention, that historic homes and businesses alike would have to be torn down in order make room for such a plan. Our current State Representative, Mr. Burnett, stated that he has been working on a plan to make the small businesses along The Avenue sales tax free. This sounds like a plan that will protect Northeast residents and small business owners.

Unknown said...

DING DING DING...ROUND 1!

This is why I can't get enough of Northeast Politics!

Hey Johnny Joe...I got some signs you can come clean up!

pieceofcake said...

I was disappointed in Mr. Rizzo's public speaking skills. Jeff City is not a place for a kid to start out his political career. State representatives are held to a much higher level of acheivement, and I can't picture him properly communicating our issues while in office. I think Mr. Burnett has gotten a lot of respect in Jefferson City, and he has a better mindset of what Northeast deserves.

kate said...

It is obvious that Mr. Burnett is the more qualified candidate for the job. He has served Northeast well in Jefferson City. Just look on the state rep. website for Missouri. You can see his participation on committees and votes that support Northest.

Rizzo has no business even thinking that he could compete in an arena like the House of Representatives. He has no credentials. He is a used car salesman, which does not qualify him to make decision for an entire community. Does he live in Northeast?
Rizzo will do what he always does; attempt to lie and send out hate mail on Mr. Burnett. This demonstrates his true character and background. It is a horrible thing to lie and personally attack anouther candidate (as Rizzo always does). Rizzo would be a poor represenative for the community.

Taurus said...

I completely agree with Kate. I have personally seen Mr. Burnett in action and debate in the House of Representatives. I also receive Mr. Burnett’s newsletter every week detailing his work in the house. Mr. Burnett is well versed and knowledgeable. Out of curiosity, I have been visiting http://johnrizzo2008.com/, John Rizzo’s website, frequently. On Mr. Rizzo’s website he writes, “We live in a forgotten area of this city and state, written off by politicians who spend more time making excuses than solving problems.” I resent this statement. I know many people, Mr. Burnett included, who work hard everyday to see that Northeast Kansas City gets the attention it deserves. By insinuating that Mr. Burnett only makes excuses and doesn’t get anything done is incongruous and insulting. I signed up for Mr. Rizzo’s e-mail list and have not received anything. Mr. Rizzo has a section on his website in which he claims to be making journal entries to provide updates and news from the campaign trail. However, I have not seen one entry yet describing any of his work. The Rizzo family has a horrible reputation in this city. I can not begin to comprehend how anyone would believe that Northeast would benefit from having John Rizzo as our voice in Jefferson City.

Unknown said...

BURNETT SUPPORTERS: If you want a replay of the BuzzBlog form last elction we can do that. I didn’t attend the forum because the neighborhood assoc.s running it MEAN NOTHING! BURNETT’S TAKE MONEY FORM THE PORN INDUSTRY. No offense to the Northeast News but no one believes that these people honestly believe that Burnett is doing a good job. Burnett probly uses the money he gets from strippers to pay them to say this stuff.