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A Marco Island Web site hoping to give residents a glimpse into Marco politics has recently been updated to reflect current hot topics.
Bill McMullen, a Marco Island resident and founder of marcopolitics.com, has updated his Web site and is urging Islanders to e-mail the Marco Island City Council about election rollback and not to consider a 7 percent public utilities increase. McMullen said in an e-mail that more than 1,000 e-mails have been sent to the council since he’s updated the site.
Lisa Douglass, the city’s public information officer, said the city has received 354 e-mails since June 25. Duplicate e-mails are not counted, she said, and the majority of the e-mails were sent June 27.
The majority of the e-mails received were pertaining to the election date and public utilities increase, she said.
The City Council will discuss the election date during Monday’s meeting. Earlier this year, the City Council asked staff to draft an ordinance that would allow the city to hold elections in November 2008. The change would make the terms of current councilmembers nine months longer.
McMullen said the current goal of his site is to encourage the city to hold elections on Jan. 29, which would coincide with the Florida presidential primary.
A screen shot of marcopolitics.com.
“With the approaching city election, some candidates starting to announce and major issues surfacing ... it was natural to reinvigorate (the site) to influence the issues that the candidates will be addressing in their campaigns,” McMullen said in an e-mail Thursday.
McMullen said sites like his give residents another viewpoint about island politics.
“It’s another vehicle to reach folks and even more important for them to respond in a manner if necessary,” McMullen said. “(The fact that) 1,200 people in five days sent e-mails to the governor from around the world blew me away. On marcopolitics.com homepage I saw ‘Let’s get involved! The silent majority can make a difference!’ I truly believe they are, and will, continue to make a difference for our island paradise.”
Douglass said while sites like McMullen’s often creates outrage, it also gives the city a chance to better explain their positions.
Douglass said she has personally answered all 354 e-mails, and the city has since set up a frequently asked question page to direct concerned citizens to.
“Since we posted those questions and answers, the number of e-mails we’ve received has significantly decreased,” she said. “We want residents to sign up for our information systems too.”
But Douglass said the number of people who are signed up for the city’s newsletter is significantly smaller than those who are signed up to receive updates from outside information sources.
“We’re posting to the Web site, but we’re not able to compete with (other sites) far reaching e-mail lists,” she said.
The election date will be discussed at Monday’s meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Mackle Park.
Comments
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Bill McMullan is a Marco hero. He spends a ton of his personal time and a lot of his own money in order to keep Marco well informed. He rarely interjects his opinions or bias. He quotes recent news articles and often asks his readers to send their own personal thoughts and comments to our various government organizations. His efforts have been extrememly effective as of late.
John Putnam
#1 Posted by jwputnam on July 14, 2007 at 12:24 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"Douglass said she has personally answered all 354 e-mails, and the city has since set up a frequently asked question page to direct concerned citizens to."
I've never heard from you Lisa on any of my emails sent during the month of June with the exception of some pictures I sent as a possible guide to future Veterans Park development. Not that I expected to, but you shouldn't tell the press that you personally answered all emails.
Bob Brown
#2 Posted by rcbauburn on July 14, 2007 at 7:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
We need the early election- the council has served their term- we need new blood on the council-the city is in turmoil- this article is very informative and not biased as so many are against the citizens who are against so many of the decisions the city says are in the citizens best interest.
#3 Posted by darambler on July 14, 2007 at 10:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)
If the concerned citizens of Marco Island need to find out what is going on, then they should visit the City's site and sign up for the updates via email. How is it that people who have not consulted the city or had access to the information provided to the city make these claims of being informed?
At best it is opinion and conjecture.
The right of free speech allows anyone to voice their opinion but if citizens want to really know the facts about our city plans they should consult the official source (The City) not all the "wanna be" authorities. Ask the city first, at least be informed from both sides.
#4 Posted by marcogirl on July 16, 2007 at 5:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
marcogirl, the city has a credibility problem. Our City likes to practice deceit whenever they try to explain why we must expand the sewer on Marco Island. Or why contractors are not held accountable for damages and legal expenses they caused (asbestos). Why does the City continue to say the STRP is on schedule when some Councilmembers do site visits and confirm that work is not being performed within the schedule? Sometimes the City simply refuses to respond to our questions, like do we still have a reserve? What are we going to do with the lift stations we bought for Lamplighter and Sheffield? Or why must the capacity of the WWTP be as large as it is, or is the City going to get to the bottom of the pinhole copper pipe problem. We are tired of hearing expert opinions and excuses from the City manager as to possible causes and reasons, we want solutions. I could go on and on, but what's the use. We used to ask the City, the City used to respond in a truthful manner, we used to trust what the City told us, now we verify and look to other sources. We are tired of being lied to. Thanks anyway.
#5 Posted by Hawke1 on July 25, 2007 at 6:04 p.m. (Suggest removal)
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