Sam Rosenberg, Mailings, and the 103rd District

O.k....let's get this out of the way first thing. YES, being inundated with Rosenberg mailings, seemingly daily,  is irritating me too. O.k? I get that. I don't like them either. But let's think more seriously than that about who we want representing us in the 103rd District. I believe Sam Rosenberg will reflect most of my political positions and will also work with others in Springfield in a positive way---building bridges as they say, rather than finding or creating divisions. I may not agree with every single vote of his but I don't expect that of anyone (apart from myself). What I do believe is that he will represent me ethically and in a positive manner.

I will also admit to not always being a Laurel Prussing fan but I think her letter to the editor the other day knocked it out of the park, and I'm not sure I can state it better so I am copying it here in its entirety (of course I can't speak to her personal issues with Carol but the rest of the letter I agree with).

I support Sam Rosenberg for state representative. Sam will continue Naomi Jakobsson's standards: honesty, competence and respect for all people.

Sam's family bridges the gap between Christians, Muslims and Jews. Sam worked seven years for degrees from the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois Law School. He was an assistant state's attorney in Champaign County and is now in private practice. He has earned the support and trust of current and former colleagues.

His opponent's troubled record: an inflated resume plus bullying tactics which deeply alienated county board and city council colleagues.

A bachelor's degree in 18 months? After news that it was from a diploma mill, she says she has contacted them to find out the truth. Good luck with that.

Was Carol Ammons an innocent victim or did she cynically use fake credentials? Either way signals difficulty navigating tough issues in Springfield.

Unfortunately, her supporters attack anyone who questions her record. They tell me I should not say anything because people will take me seriously. Please do.

Although I helped and supported Carol over many years, she deliberately misrepresented me at a city council meeting to make herself look better. Amazingly, she wanted my endorsement.

Most legislators are decent and hard-working. We cannot afford to send a bridge burner to Springfield whose shaky ethics convert friends into adversaries.

Sam Rosenberg is a bridge builder. His education, hard work and ethics will serve us effectively in Springfield. I hope you will vote for him.

LAUREL PRUSSING
Urbana

I also wholeheartedly agree with Eric Jakobsson's recent letter (interesting Smile Politely interview with Eric here).

This year's primary campaign has taught me something about myself. I knew I was an economic liberal, a social liberal and a political liberal. What I now realize, being faced with a candidate who shares my position on issues but is seriously ethically challenged, is that I am an ethical conservative.

Carol Ammons' mail-order diploma and her dishonesty during her run for the school board are very serious to me. They are compounded by the fact that her continued representations about those issues are not credible.

Her statements about her degree are inconsistent with the fact that there is no evidence that Walsingham has ever offered any courses, online, correspondence or otherwise. It seems never to have been anything but a website designed to offer a thin veneer of cover for people who sold fake diplomas, a website that has disappeared since the issue about Carol's diploma became public.

Her statements about the school board issue are directly contradicted by the minutes of the school board meeting at which, faced with an investigation that could have resulted in criminal prosecution, she declined to be seated.

I have been called some seriously bad names for revealing the truth about Carol's diploma. This reminds me of President Harry Truman, whose speaking style in the 1948 campaign caused one of his supporters to cry out during a speech, "Give 'em hell, Harry!"

To which Truman replied, "I don't give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it's hell."

ERIC JAKOBSSON
Urbana

My father would have really liked that Truman quote, so on top of agreeing with the letter, that made me happy!

As I stated before, I don't think having a degree is necessary to be a State Representative. Having a questionable degree however does raise red flags, particularly when set side by side other ethical issues that have been pretty clearly documented. This comment by wayward from a post on bigdebshouse.com sums it up pretty clearly for me

What concerns me about Ammons’ candicacy in 103 is the pattern of discrepancies. For example, her website talked about getting a bachelor’s degree and a certificate of completion from UI. Most people reading that would assume that meant she got her bachelor’s degree from UI. Nope — her resume listed it as coming from a “Walsingham University,” which has pretty much been established as a diploma mill. She then cast herself as the innocent victim of an online scheme.

Then there was the matter of the residency in the 2003 Urbana school board race. She was unable to take office when it emerged that she hadn’t actually met the residency requirements to be on the school board. Her explanation for that was that she’d only lived in Rantoul for three weeks with her mother when her family had no other place to stay. But some FOIA’d documents from the school board meeting include a strongly worded letter from Phyllis Clark on Urbana city letterhead saying that Ammons had told her that she’d been living in Rantoul since the previous July.

The FOIA school board document is athttp://www.scribd.com/doc/210057375/2003-Urbana-School-Board-meeting .

Additionally, she received three traffic tickets (as Carol George) between 2000 and 2003 that list the same address in Rantoul (searchable through the circuit clerk’s website).

Last but not least, I wish this weren't quite so contentious....I'm not even talking about between the candidates but in the various war of words that goes on between people in person and online, etc. My personal beliefs and thoughts---and my gut feeling----have led me to support Sam Rosenberg. If your thoughts lead you to a different place that's fine. Let's all just be thoughtful about what we're basing our positions upon. Then we can get this primary over and move on!