Isn't it strange...
Here's a guest post from Cheshire resident, Ira Kushner:
For the past 3 weeks I have noticed a full page color ad in the Cheshire Herald. The heading of this ad is: DON’T “MALL” CHEHSIRE! Now I know what you are thinking…another letter for/against the North End Development. Well I am not going to state my view because I feel that there is a bigger issue here than my view on the matter. That issue is what the people of Cheshire are allowed to know…who is trying to sway public opinion. Sure the ad has the names of elected officials, it even suggests a website to go to for more information. But what does the ad not have, what information is missing. That’s right…who is paying for the ad, who is trying to sway the decision making process. I spoke with folks at the Herald, I spoke with some of the elected officials listed in the ad and I spoke with some members of the Town council. Guess what, either they did not know, were not willing to share or in the case of the Herald were asked not to share the name of the person (or persons) responsible for the ad. Now I don’t think the intent of this ad is questionable, it is clearly taking a side on this issue…
Here we have a very expensive ad, yes even a somewhat informative ad but also an ad whose purpose is to influence the folks of Cheshire yet we don’t even know who is paying for the ad, who is standing behind the ad…I find that strange. I feel given the impact of the North End Development decision, given how involved the people of Cheshire are in this decision and yes just to add some sort of credibility to the ad, the people of Cheshire should know the source of the ad.
Ira A. Kushner
Cheshire
p.s. As always, guest posts are welcome and appreciated.
13 comments:
It's strange and crazy. Did you see this weeks full page ad by "The Citizens of Cheshire" with pictures by Mr Justin Adinolfi? I'm a citizen of Cheshire but have not contributed to that ad. Where does that leave me? Should your question apply to this ad? With all these ads and glossy inserts by W/S don't you think those were placed to influence? The Cheshire Herald would be foolish to tell you. They are probably laughing all the way to the bank when they are making their deposits.
I know some of the folks behind the ad, and they're regular old residents. There is no one person and it is not the westfield people. Beyond that, I don't see how it's anyones business. Public officials open themselves up in an official sort of way, but this is just a bunch of activists.
I mean no offense, but do you see many other advocacy groups posting their member lists at the bottom of their ads?
Why should the newspaper disclose any information to you or anybody else about who paid for an ad? If the party that placed the ad wanted the public to know that info they would have said so. Can't you accept that someone or some people felt strongly enough against the WS project to point out their objections? Shame on you for contacting the Cheshire Herald to try to get that information. I would have been disappointed had they revealed that information to you.
should we haul them out to the green for all to see? what if one of them worked for milone or calcagni and wanted to protest and keep their job at the same time? does that not fit into free-speech and issue advocacy as you see it?
It's great to see a guest post, but it reads as something aggressive to me.
on the other hand, you are a democrat on the energy commission, so you're probably used to getting a lot of phone calls and public attention. you are also probably pro-mall. http://www.cheshirect.org/energy/default.html
"Isn't it strange" how all this discussion is happening among writers who are anonymous or writing under a pseudonym?
At what point should speakers identify themselves? Blogs are an interesting phenomenon because they allow writers to float ideas and opinions without fear of being cornered for them later. This is useful for individuals still trying to decide about an issue.
But when "FACTS" are being spouted by anonymous individuals, then I really do want to know who the source is. It makes a difference if China Daily News is claiming that air pollution is not a problem in Beijing or if its a study by the University of Connecticut, for instance.
If Westfarms Mall is publishing this advertisement, it makes a difference (that would be ironic). Or if it's the same person publishing the same information over and over again, it shouldn't really create the impression that many more people feel the same way. Both sides on the Northend development issue claim to be "the silent majority". Until people are willing to be counted, we won't really know.
Come on it is Westfield and you all know it.
Annon. 8:41 you don't know that Westfield , paid for the ad, you say we all know, where's your proof? Had this been a news article, most definetly it would need a source. But this was an ad, just like all the other ads in any newspaper who tout their message. One has to take any info in an ad with a grain of salt. That's just the way it is.
Do you remember the CTAC group a few years ago in Cheshire? They were against most appropriations in town. Did we know by their ads if there were 5 members of the organization or 1000? Did it make a difference to anyone?
Who paid for the latest ad filled with all the misleading inaccurate and deceptive information?
The only people that support the mall and housing are the people that will profit from it. Even their petitions were misleading.
It's a win for the developers and a lose for Cheshire.
Citizens of Cheshire, even this is misleading. For a better idea of who paid go to
http://leversandpulleys.com/cheshiretownpost/
If Justin Adinolfi is involved, can bet that W/S and the owners paid for the ad.
Justin works for them. He ran their three petitions over an 8 month period and could only get 600 signers which included many relatives and people who will profit from the mall and all the housing.
Who are they trying to fool with Citizens of Cheshire.
Cheshire Smart Growth is a one-man show run by Justin. It's a jekyll and hyde thing.
...surprising. no?
If common sense were applied the "Don't Mall Cheshire" ads wold be paid by people that are opposed to the Mall. A group of individuals pool their money and buy the ads. Makes sense to me.
NOTA BENE
3 more malls are on the way, shopping shopping night and day and they are coming soooooon. So, get your friends, and get your partner, hop in your buggy and just go shopping. It's time to celebrate.
For some of you who can't find restaurants and shopping in Cheshire, you can finally relax, no more reason to chant, More Malls, More Malls, More Malls.
Soon you'll have malls wall to wall where you can shop, shop, shop until you drop and eat, eat, eat until you can’t walk or talk. Who needs more in life?
So here they are:
(1) Southington Commons – 280,000 sq ft Mall
Average traffic passing daily 24,000 cars
This will be just 2.6 miles from the W/S mall to the intersection of 84 and W Main St. For Southington residents it will be closer than the W/S mall.
http://www.northstarcenters.com/southington_ct.htm
Checkout the map
http://www.northstarcenters.com/southington_map.htm
(2) North Haven – Eclipse Development Group has started a 200,000 sq ft mall across from Home Depot and near BJ’s.
(3) North Haven – Rabina Properties will transform the 170 acre Pratt and Whitney site into a $500,000,000 mall with upscale shops, a hotel and housing. It will be on rt 5 near the Big Y. For Cheshire residents this will close, 7.4 miles the start of Cook Hill, and it's 7.0 miles to the proposed W/S mall.
I'm not a lawyer but you can bet that the Westfield people didn't pay for ad. They would jeopardize their intervener status. On the other hand W/S can spend all they want??????
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