wyankee49 (anonymous) says...

I agree Rob has it All

February 23, 2011 at 11:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

methusla (anonymous) says...

I am sorry, but I tend to diagree that Rob Gilligan is what Emporia needs !

He talks a good talk, but I don' t think he can walkd the walk of a Carl Didde or Don Glazer or a Joe Cannon !

I suggest one listen more closely to how he answered the questions that were prepared by KVOE, and that fact in itself does not impress me at all !

How did he or any of the candidates do in answering the questions put to them by the people who have to pay for either good ideas or bad ideas, you know the taxpaying people, all of the taxpaying people ?

I don' t feel that his answers were sufficently good enough to convince me that he has it all or is THE MAN for the job .

To me the most importan question is, Does he have the " WILL " and the " SAND " to say " NO " when he is pressured by an influential citizen who WANTS something, rather than what is NEEDED for the good of everyone ?

I don' t believe he does have the " SAND " to say " NO " and stick to his " NO " decision, to useless, unneeded spending, when he is pressured to say " YES " by either an influential individual, organization or another Commissioner !!

February 23, 2011 at 3:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

oh4theluvof (anonymous) says...

I have no opinion about this candidate, but every time I see this headline, all I can think is, "The skipper didn't think so."

February 23, 2011 at 4:25 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...

A 3 Hour Tour.

February 23, 2011 at 4:30 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...

Methusla, I don't know man, I kinda like him.

I asked him my trick question for all city commission candidates the other day.

Rob, do you know how to say "NO"

he answered, "yes".

Get it?

February 23, 2011 at 4:39 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

rgilligan (Rob Gilligan) says...

Methusla,

I appreciate your comments and opinions and want to thank you for your input and concern during this election season. I am sorry that i didn't get a chance to sit and talk with you at the Candidate Forum earlier this month at the Flint Hills Technical College, and I hope that I can have that opportunity in the near future.

Even though I would like to be, I don't think that I am, or have a business idea that would put me on the level of Don Glaser, Earl Sauder, Joe Cannon or Carl Didde. These individuals were all talented entrepreneurs who were able to start and grow great businesses and industries right here in our community. What I do feel like I have is the skills and ability to help create a community environment that can encourage those future inventors and entrepreneurs to choose Emporia to grow their new business.

I am proud to be one of the two facilitators that is part of the Start Your Own Business class at the Flint Hills Technical College each spring. This course seeks to encourage entrepreneurship within the community to help grow new, local businesses. This program is only in its fifth year but we have seen many new businesses that have grown out of this class and added new opportunities for both shopping, and employment in our community.

To answer your concerns about my ability to say no, the only thing I can offer is the fact that I am confident in my ability to listen to Emporia citizens, regardless of their age, race, gender, socio-economic status, or place of residence. After listening to everyones thoughts and input I believe that I can make an informed decision that I will be able to justify and support when asked to do so. In my opinion, our community doesn't just need leaders who can say "No". We need leaders that can find the most necessary and/or beneficial projects to say "Yes" to, that will help our community grow and improve.

While I would certainly appreciate your support in the upcoming election, I just want to share my appreciation for your decision to be involved in the democratic process. If you have any other questions or concerns feel free to contact me directly any time.

Rob Gilligan, Candidate
Emporia City Commision
gilliganforcitycommission@gmail.com

February 23, 2011 at 5:08 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

rgilligan (Rob Gilligan) says...

Methusla,

Sorry, I mistyped my email address. It should read:
gilliganforcommission@gmail.com

Thanks,

Rob Gilligan

February 23, 2011 at 5:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

yev_kassem (anonymous) says...

Great response Rob! I appreciate that you took the time to address these forums and give an honest answer. You already had my vote, but now you have sealed the deal!

February 23, 2011 at 5:24 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

formerhornet (anonymous) says...

I don't recall Rob being student body president; I remember him being student body vice president, though. In addition, I believe he vacated that position just a few weeks into the school year.

Hmm....

February 23, 2011 at 6:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

StovePipe (anonymous) says...

I've know Rob for several years and worked with him on a few projects. While I don't always agree with him, I know that making informed decisions is important to him and he has always been current on local and national issues. I don't think any of our candidates will/should be able to answer everyone's questions right now or have solutions for all of Emporia's issues and needs. We need to find the right type of people who will make informed, responsible decisions.

Roger is right when he says Mr. Gilligan "approachable", the guy will stop and talk to pretty much anyone about whatever is on their mind. I think that's going to be a great asset for Emporians.

February 23, 2011 at 7:28 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

methusla (anonymous) says...

Rob Gilligan,

Thank you for your response to my comment and concerns ! I would like to ask you more questions about what you can and are will to do or not do to turn the City around from the Debt abyss that has been caused by, I believe, terrible dicisions and mismanagement of our City !

I may converse with you by email, however I would like the oppertunity to meet with you in person, face to face ! That is the way you can tell a lot about a person !

February 23, 2011 at 7:31 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

methusla (anonymous) says...

I am sorry Rob, your answer to my comment about have the will or sand to say NO, just wasn' t what I was looking for ! Your answer, was I am sorry to say a typical avoid a direct answer, political type answer !!

February 23, 2011 at 7:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

methusla (anonymous) says...

I am certain that at least one or two candidates have the " Will, Sand and Grit " to definately say " NO " to anyone it it is not going to be good or benefit all the people !

As for the rest, I am still not sure about any of them !

February 23, 2011 at 7:44 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

StovePipe (anonymous) says...

And which candidates are those? Rarely does something "benefit all the people".

I'd rather our commissioners find the best solution instead of take the easy way out and say "no" and move on.

February 23, 2011 at 7:48 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

rgilligan (Rob Gilligan) says...

formerhornet,

I was elected to ASG President in April of 2000, with Justin Manning serving as my Vice-President. I served as the Student Body President during the 2000-2001 academic year. The following spring I decided that during my final year of school being the Student Body President again would take to much time so I switched positions with my running mate that year, which was Greg Watt. We were elected as ASG President & V.P. for the 2001-2002 school year. Over the course of the summer and the start of the fall term I realized that my level of commitment and dedication to the Vice-President position was not where it should be. While I may have thought that I would be able to step back from the Presidents role, I found that the challenges and experiences in that position were not duplicated in the V.P. role and I felt it was appropriate for me to step down to allow someone else to take on that role. The current ASG secretary at that time Aly Madelen was selected by Student Senate to take over my role.
I am proud of the accomplishments that we achieved during my tenure as the Student Body President, including the start and completion of of the Student Recreation Center, working on ESU's Non-Discrimination Policy and representing the student body of ESU on the state level. I hope that this answers your question about the experiences that I had while a student at ESU.

Thanks,

Rob Gilligan, Candidate
Emporia City Commission
& Proud ESU Alumni
gilliganforcommission@gmail.com

February 23, 2011 at 9:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

methusla (anonymous) says...

StovePipe

Don' t you think that every decision
and every expenditure made by our elected officials on behalf of all of the people / taxpayers should be done for the benefit / good of all the people / taxpayers, instead of benefiting the Wants of just a certain few of the people / taxpayers or at the very least every effort should be made to do so ?

February 23, 2011 at 10:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

justaflushaway (anonymous) says...

I would not vote for you Gilligan, because, you work for the gazette and walker will tell you what the high and mighty want, and you will have to go with him, dont say you wont. Next reason is your association with sissy boy who runs main-street, he will be asking for a lot of money for projects, and you WILL try to convince the other commissioners to vote your way, remember, smooth talking will get you any were. SO NO wont vote for you

February 23, 2011 at 10:21 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...

justaflushaway,

Do you even live in Emporia?

Would you consider listing the three candidates you are voting for?

I would like to see if I could come up with equally vitriolic descriptions of your favorite candidates.

Maybe, you should take some of your own advice?

"remember, smooth talking will get you any wHere."

let's discuss?

February 24, 2011 at 7:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

newtoemporia (anonymous) says...

justaflushaway,

On the flip side, it's good that Mr. Gilligan works for The Gazette. It appears, even The Gazette, has been out of the loop on an issue or two. With Mr. Gilligan as a commissioner, it would be hard for the media not to remain current on city government.

February 24, 2011 at 7:34 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

yev_kassem (anonymous) says...

Meth-

I think you are missing the point that stove pipe is trying to make. There are very few projects that everyone in emporia would benefit the same from. People have different priorities in their wants and needs. So what that means is that we need a commissioner who can look at all of the projects and see which ones best improve Emporia as a whole for the majority of the people. For example, fixing potholes on Industrial street benefits a lot more people than fixing potholes on Exchange street. However it may benefit me far greater to have Exchange street fixed because I travel on it all the time, so it would be higher on my priority list and I could be sourpuss about the whole issue and make some comment about how the NW side of town gets everything and the lowly east side never does.

February 24, 2011 at 7:45 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

methusla (anonymous) says...

Yev,

I do understand that all of the people have their different views and needs of what is important !

But, the wasting of all of the peoples tax moneies have come from the suggestions and influence of just a few people, who just happen to serve on the certain Boards, Committees, Organizations !

Do we not all pay taxes, are we not all Emporians, Do we all not deserve consideration when it comes to benefiting from " OUR " tax funds and deserve the same City services as anyone else in the City and deserve to have our voices, thoughts, suggestions, concerns, etc., given the same consideration as any other citizen taxpayer of Emporia ?

The influence over " OUR / THE PEOPLES " elected City Administrators by a certain few people, that just happen to live in a certain section of Emporia, has gone on for far too long and hence, the serious problems that are not facing " ALL OF THE PEOPLE " of Emporia and the Country !

I agree, " Rarely does something "benefit all the people".

However in the past few decades, in Emporia, " Rarely HAS anything " benefited all or most of the people ", rather the decisions of our City leaders have done harm to most of the people !

February 24, 2011 at 10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

StovePipe (anonymous) says...

justaflushaway - I think your comment is uncalled for and irrational. I hope it get's removed soon. I rarely leave comments here because the discussion always seems to get hateful and unkind. I've seen several comments angry about the community here having generalized, negative things printed about them, but then nobody cries "foul" when you leave a disparaging and bigoted comment about a specific person.

February 24, 2011 at 11:10 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

yev_kassem (anonymous) says...

I would agree that not all of the decisions have had the best timing and I would agree that some people in our community speak "louder" than others. However, I do believe that even those "loud" speakers have good intentions. Maybe they are ignorant at times of some of the needs of others, but I do not believe they speak "louder" in order to be malicious. It is the jobs of the commissioners to listen to all of the different ideas and decide which ones are most worthy of taxpayers dollars. In my opinion, Rob will do a good job of listening and a good job of weighing the pros and cons of any decision that is brough before him.

February 24, 2011 at 11:17 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

StovePipe (anonymous) says...

Well said yev, well said.

I think a small group of people have held most of the decision making positions in Emporia because of a lack of interest from the general public. It's easy to think: "well, they've been doing it for so long and are more informed, they must be the right person for the job". I'm thankful for this "rock" fiasco. I think it has happened at the perfect time to create a strong interest in our local government and allowed some fresh minds to feel like they can run and win an office even if they aren't as influential as other candidates. This election will be won on merit, not name recognition and I love seeing how closely people are paying attention to a City Commissioner election.

February 24, 2011 at 11:29 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

jackslap (anonymous) says...

How about those rocks?

February 24, 2011 at 11:38 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

justaflushaway (anonymous) says...

Steve, I have property in Emporia, so you I am concerned about what happens.

my comment was towards Gilligan as I do know who he has his nose close to.

I am sure that YOU can find something wrong with any one who I would list!
Just as I could find with SOME that you would vote for. JMO signed, justaflush

No I am not going to get into a TIC for TAT, with you, because you would WIN!!! you need to realize that MY COMMENTS are my comments, the way I SEE things, that is my right on the blog, I will continue to make MY COMMENTS as I see fit. The Gazette does watch every word I type on here just as they do some others, but then there are those who make comments and they dont even look closely to the content of their"s because of who they are,and how they follow like good little soldiers. And NO, I am not giving my name as some do, anonymous means just that, so I guess those who see justaflushaway, should just pass it up, or if you or others dont agree or hate what I type maybe you should just hit the "suggest removal" Anonymous also means that I can go to your bar and anywhere else I want and be that way, unless it is impossible to. So I will continue being the one who says it like I see it, OK, now it yours and some of the rest to tear me down, go for it, I like it, remember anonymous, just like the talk-jock that Sauder has on his radio every day, so if its OK for Sauder, damn it OK for me.

February 24, 2011 at 11:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

StovePipe (anonymous) says...

Just because a candidate works closely with certain someone, doesn't mean they will have to bow to their requests. And why is it automatically a bad thing if one of those people should make a request to the CC? Your comment about the Main Street Director is just plain wrong and inappropriate.

Also, none of us have any rights here. This is a privately owned web site and the Gazette can do as they please. Even if they wanted to completely change my comment to say that I supported funding the "rocks" with increasing property tax on homes worth less than $100K, doubling the City Managers salary and building clock towers at every off ramp for Emporia on I-35. And, on that same point, leaving a comment on an article does not make someone a blogger.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog

February 24, 2011 at 12:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

justaflushaway (anonymous) says...

?????

""Your comment about the Main Street Director is just plain wrong and inappropriate."" <<<your opinion, not mine.

"Just because a candidate works closely with certain someone, doesn't mean they will have to bow to their requests", Have you lived in or around Emporia long?? once again, your opinion, not mine

and your last , comment,maybe you should explain what the hell you tried to say??? jmo, signed justaflushaway

February 24, 2011 at 12:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

Steve_Corbin (anonymous) says...

justaflushaway,

O.K.

Never wanted to debate anyone's right to post here, anonymously or not, Your opinion is just as valid as mine or others on here. As someone who has posted some pretty nasty opinions on here myself, (during the smoking ban debate), I have found out that lately, speaking more gently does more to make my point than my usual rants. By all means, continue posting your opinions on here, in any manner you decide will help make your point.
So far, we all have that right.

February 24, 2011 at 1:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )

jackslap (anonymous) says...

Can anyone tell me where I can get a Reddog Sign?

February 25, 2011 at 7:19 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )