Buresh, Ortiz Show Real Conviction

As it should be in any given election season, communities are having debates between candidates for any contested race, to give the voters a chance to know who each candidate is and what they stand for.  This allows the voter to make an informed decision at the voting booth.

Or so the theory goes.  Unfortunately, it doesn't always work out that way.

Sometimes, there will be a candidate like Scott Walker, who appears to be simply unable to tell the truth and routinely misinforms the voters about who he is and what or who he stands for, i.e. union busting.

Sometimes, there will be candidates like Bill Buresh and Sylvia Ortiz, who are are running against incumbent Milwaukee County Supervisors Marina Dimitrijevic and Peggy Romo West, respectively.

Unfortunately, Buresh and Ortiz would rather play dirty politics and snipe at the opponents from the bushes, using deception and misdirection rather than talking about the issues.  Case in point is an upcoming debate sponsored by the League of Women Voters, in which Buresh is a no show:

Because Bill Buresh, who is running for the Milwaukee County Board District 4 seat, has elected not to participate and because there is no challenger for Milwaukee County Board District 14 seat, the incumbents will share the stage during the portion of the forum featuring the local county board races. 

So why would a serious candidate turn down the opportunity to make their case and win some votes?

The unethical Aaron Rodriguez slips up and tells us the real reason:

Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic took issue with opponent Bill Buresh declining participation in a County Candidate Forum.  On her Facebook page, Dimitrijevic wrote: 

"Just found out that my opponent has also declined to participate in the Candidate Forum sponsored by neighborhood groups serving the south side on March 20th. Seems there was a claim that some how these neighborhood associations are biased. Layton Blvd. West Neighbors, Voces de La Frontera, and the Southside Organizing Committee cannot make candidate endorsements as they are non-profits." 

Although Dimitrijevic is correct, Buresh didn't claim that these associations endorse candidates.  Sylvia Ortiz, candidate for the 12th district, declined the forum as well citing that all but one of the board members of the Southside Organizing Committee had either contributed or supported her opponent.  Buresh and Ortiz declined the forum because the host and sponsors support their opponents.  In the interest of transparency, Marina Dimitrijevic and Peggy West should have just hosted the forum themselves.

In other words, they refused to attend because they didn't want to hear from or answer questions of people that weren't necessarily in line with their candidacy.  That's some real conviction in their positions!

However, this does raise a serious question that all the voters in those two districts need to consider: Do they want a supervisor who will represent all the people in the district or one that will only work with the people that agree with them?

I think we've seen enough of the latter kind of "leadership" with Scott Walker and we all know how well that's not working out for anyone.

Furthermore, I would just add that even though I don't live in either of those districts, and have disagreed with both Dimitrijevic and Romo West on a fair number of issues, they have always listened and had a dialogue with me.  They never took their ball and went home, refusing to discuss the issues, like Ortiz and Buresh are doing.