Another Unsolicited Letter of Support

Writer urges voters to retain Ellison

William A. Nesbitt

Connersville News-Examiner

The upcoming primary election may be the most important election for a mayor that has occurred in the city of Connersville. It is of utmost importance for the economic well being of this city that the current administration stay in office. The people have chosen. They chose Max Ellison. He has done a superb job in an extremely difficult position.

When the people chose Max, they chose someone of high integrity, a great work ethic, a wealth of knowledge about how city government works, and a huge desire to better this city. I know of no one who wants anything more then to bring new jobs into this area.

Max has worked, with great economic hardship to himself, long hours diligently pursuing all prospects of new economic activity. Let's not ruin this progress with negativity. Let's re-elect one of the best mayors this city has seen. All this from a confirmed Democrat.

Listen to the New Campaign Radio Spot

If you would like to listen to my NEW Campaign Radio spot, click here! Then click on the Audio Play Button or "Play in Pop-Up". Depending on your Internet connection it might take a minute to load so please be patient.

Washington D.C. visit paying dividends

2 U.S. Senators Request Aid for Visteon Workers

I was delighted to read the article in local newspapers regarding the letter sent by Senators Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh to the Department of Labor asking for TAA for the workers at the local Visteon plant.

This is exactly what we asked for when we went to D.C. to ask for their assistance in pushing the request for assistance for local displaced workers.

This could potentially help with health care, extended unemployment and job training.

Click on the title above to view the full article.

Local Citizens Write in to Newspaper.

Recently in the "Letter to the Editor" of the Connersville News-Examiner

April 20, 2007

OUR READERS WRITE
Ellison gets support in primary race

RICHARD WOOD
Connersville
Since Max Ellison has been mayor, there have been major improvements. We now have a park pool and a theater to be proud of and our children can enjoy themselves.
Max has worked diligently with our state government to improve Connersville and bring jobs to our community. He has met with Gov. Mitch Daniels several times to remind him of our struggling times. He has always returned with new contacts and a positive outlook
Max appeared on "Inside Indiana Business" and went to Washington to promote our community. Max has a large agenda to accomplish and I feel that he has earned that right. I want our town to flourish and I 'can not think of anyone who has worked as hard as Max.
We need to continue the momentum without pause, because if a new mayor is voted in, we will have to start over and that will be a grave injustice to our community.


• Urban not the man to run city, writer says

Susie Taylor
Connersville
Leonard Urban has been on council for the last three years and hasn't accomplished anything for his district up north. How can he seriously be considered running for mayor?
Councilman Urban did attend a recent APC meeting and talked against a new shopping area getting zoning for property behind his home and the motel that he owned. He also got special treatment for one of his friends by changing city ordinances that now allows, a business to be opened in a residential area with out the owner living in the residential business.
It doesn't take a genius to see that he is only interested in taking care of himself and his friends.

Faith in Connersville.

The quote "Theres' a sucker born every minute" has often been attributed to the famous circus man, P.T. Barnum.



Actually, the quote was made by the less well known, famous con-man Joseph ("Paper Collar" Joe) Bessimer and the actual quote was:

"There's a sucker born every minute..., and two to take 'em"

I was out today picking up some things from a local Department Store and someone I knew asked me if I was concerned about winning the Primary. I responded "not really". He gave me a curious look and I proceeded to tell him why. As I drove home I thought, "If someone only caught the first part of that conversation, I'll bet they thought I was either very confident or very arrogant". The simple truth of the matter is, I have a lot of confidence in the people of Connersville. And I also have confidence in the process.

In a small town like Connersville, people know each of us that are running for office. People here in Connersville know of our history, they know our character, they also know whether we have integrity and they definitely know if we walk the walk, or just talk the talk!

I also think the people of Connersville are a lot smarter then some of the folks running for office give them credit for. While I have said many times that education is important, that does NOT mean I think the citizens of Connersville are dumb! To the contrary, I think when it comes to common sense, we rank pretty high on the scale here.

And that 's why I have a lot of faith in the citizens of Connersville, they can see through the hype, the smoke and mirrors and see things for what they really are.

Most people see what has been accomplished in Connersville over the last few years, the plans we have for the future and will not fall for empty guarantees and promises. We have accomplished some good things here, and I know we will continue our work for the next four years.

Telling Slips of the Tongue.

During the recent taping of the Candidates Forum we as candidates had the opportunity to share with the voters what plans and visions we have for the future of Connersville. Both on my website and during that taping, I have tried to share my hopes and aspirations for our community. I also spoke about what I would like to see accomplished in the next four years and how I planned to accomplish those goals.

The Director of CTV 3 offered each candidate a copy of the DVD or Tape of the forum prior to its showing on Sunday evening and I was anxious to see what the other candidates had to offer voters. I will leave it to the voters to make the final determination on May 8th as to who is the best choice to lead the city for another four (4) years.

What amazed me was that no one else took advantage of their time to offer the voters a plan to keep the city moving forward, or to offer a viable plan to make the city better.

I did hear the use of the word "I" a lot during one particular candidate’s presentation.

As Mayor, "I" cannot do or accomplish anything without a majority of City Council's blessing and approval. As Mayor, it is my job to build a positive consensus among City Council and bring at least a majority (4) of the Council members to support my ideas or the direction I would like to see a particular issue go.

"We" have accomplished much as an administration over the last 3 1/2 years. I say "we" because each time an issue was considered at Council, at least 4 others voting members must have agreed to achieve our goal.

It is the job of Mayor to bring ideas, goals, vision and leadership to the other elected officials they serve with and hopefully build understanding and to be of one accord when making decisions for the community. Even then sometimes the Council is split in their views and individual members seek alternative solutions to the same problem. That is where a Mayor’s leadership skills are at their most important.

One thing is for sure, there is no room for “I” when it comes to making the city a better place, dealing with people or attracting new jobs. The Mayor can neither take all the credit, nor take all the blame for what has or has not been accomplished. It must be “WE” or we are never going to accomplish much!

As corny as it may sound, "there is no "I" in TEAM". Someone has to want to be a team player in order to be a part of that team. Just as there can not be two coaches on a team, there couldn't be two Mayor over the last 3 1/2 years. You can't be Q.B. Payton Manning and Coach Tony Dungy at the same time. As in Grade School, Middle School and High Schools sports the coaches require their players to show up for practice and can't miss 20% of the "team practices" and then expect to be a starter. Some people just don't understand that!

Mayor's Responsibilities

The mayor is the chief executive officer of the city and is responsible for all operations of city departments. He also presides over the Common Council, which constitutes the city's legislative branch. The mayor's term of office is four years with no restrictions on the number of terms served. A candidate for mayor must have been a resident of Connersvillefor at least one year. The mayor must reside within the city of Connersville.
The Mayor's powers and duties include:
• Enforcing the ordinances of the city and the statutes of the state
• Providing a "State of the City" summary to the Common Council at least once per year
• Providing information regarding city affairs that the Common Council requests
• Recommending action to the Common Council
• Preparing the city budget based on information provided by the Clerk-Treasurer
• Calling special meetings of the Common Council when necessary
• Supervising subordinate officers
• Signing all bonds, deeds, contracts and licenses issued by the city
• Approving or vetoing ordinances and resolutions of the Common Council (veto power subject to Council override, may be exercised on an item basis on appropriation measures)
• Appointing heads of executive departments and many board and commission members
• Suspending or removing officers or employees appointed by the Mayor
• Setting the salaries of appointed officials and employees, subject to Common Council approval
• Adopting rules and regulations for individual departments and conducting meetings department heads
• Solemnizing marriages

Candidate Forum Taped.

The Candidates Forum was taped this evening in the CTV 3 studio. All the incumbants and challengers had their time in front of the camera. It will be interesting to see how everyone did.

This will be the first opportunity for the public to see how the candidates answer questions and how they view their role in city government. To view this taping, watch CTV 3 for air times.

More on this later...............

Lincoln - Reagan Dinner...

Another Lincoln - Reagan dinner has come and gone. This years dinner was very nice. Of course, with it being an election year attendance was up but I think a lot of the credit goes to our new Chairman and his Vice-Chair John and Lena Pause. The dinner has traditionally been a fundraiser for the party and is an important kick off function to unify the party just prior to the primary election.

Congressman Mike Pence gave a very eloquent and exciting speech and their were over 13 ovations from the crowd as he spoke about issues ranging from property taxes to the war in Iraq and the Mid-East. I must say, he does a pretty good impression of G.W. but it was all done in good taste and fun.

There were over 175 people in attendance and I believe everyone had a very good time. The Committee to Re-Elect Mayor Ellison place a new T-Shirt at every place setting and everyone seemed to really appreciate the gesture. Another big hit of the evening was the printed program was one of the nicest sovenigner programs I've seen at this type of function. Good job Pause's and thanks Brunsman Graphics!

Never Truer!

No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true. Nathaniel Hawthorne US Author (1804 - 1864)

Even though this quote has been attributed to Nathantiel Hawthorne nearly 150 years ago, it still holds truth today. There are those that feel that the comments they make today, will not be compared to the comments they made one (1) year ago, or even a few months ago.

Candidates Forum

There will be a Candidates Forum at the CTV 3 Studio's on Thursday March 12th. The Forum will be taped and re-broadcast on Channel 3 TV several time until the election on May 8th. This will give people an opportunity to see first hand how the candidates respond to questions and how informed they are about issues here in Connersville.

Questions for the Forum will be provided by the Connersville News-Examiner and Daryl Smith will be the moderator. I look forward to hearing what the other candidates have to offer.

The Signs Are Out!

Well, Sunday morning will see the majority of the Max for Mayor signs are out. A crew of about 10 volunteers made the rounds and put the signs in strategic locations. While you won't see 500 signs out in vacant home yards and 2-3 signs per yard, I think there are enough out to get the message across that I'm running again for Mayor.

And just like everyone agreed, we put ours out exactly 30 days prior to the primary election.

Thanks again to all the volunteers that helped, and Diana for organizing the work party!

Keep the Momentum Going!

It's amazing how many people have talked to me in the grocery, department stores and restuarants about the upcoming election. Nearly all tell me to "keep up the good work" and "we need to keep the momentum going". I can't help but think we are doing something right, and the people of Connersville are noticing. One lady in particular comes to mind, she thanked me for getting a property cleaned up on here block, That alone she said "was worth keeping you in office". I thought that was a hoot!

It's funny what people consider important when selecting who will get their vote. Some people want someone who will save tax dollars. And we have done that to the tune of $1,500,000.00+ last year alone. Some people want a clean neighborhoods, and that has been an ongoing priority since taking office. Some people want their streets paved, and we sure have done quite a lot of that in the last 3 1/2 years. And some even DIDN'T want their streets paved, and complained about it when we paved their street. Sometimes it's difficult to figure out, but we keep trying!

Everyone is looking for something when trying to select who they will be voting for with their elected officials. I guess the simplest way to determine who to vote for is to ask yourself, who's doing the MOST for the majority of citizens. And who's doing the MOST for "themselves and their little circle of friends". If you've watched Channel 3 TV for any length of time, it is fairly apparent what the answer is to that question!

Goodness knows every decision I have made has not been exactly perfect. Sometimes, when I have been given some additional information, or found that perhaps some of original my imformation used was bad, I have changed my mind. I think ANY public official that is so egotistical that they can't admit their wrong and change their minds isn't much of a public servant at all!

So I'll continue trying to "keep the momentum going" and make the best decisions possible, with the information I have.

Thank you Supporters!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all those supporters that have contributed their time and funds to my re-election efforts. You can't imagine how uplifting it is to know that there are so many people out there that are rooting for me. Your notes of encouragement always seem to come at just the right time and it is very much appreciated. A special thanks to Renee', Di and all the "team" that are quietly working to get the message out. Without everyone's help, I simply couldn't do everything needed to run for my second term in office and still effectively run the city. I am very much looking forward to 4 more years.

Signs a Sore Spot on Many Peoples Mind!

I continue to be asked "when are you putting your signs out". My reply has been "when I am allowed too". A recent letter to the editor took one candidate to task for jumping the gun by over 1 full month and putting his signs out too early and too many. Another stipulation of political signs is that no more then 5 signs in any residential block are to be placed. I have observed signs in un-occupied houses yards, 2 and 3 of the same sign in a single yard, and the most curious, several signs of different candidates running for the same office in the same yard.

This makes me even more convinced that people here in Connersville are nice folks, and don't want to tell a candidate NO I prefer not to have your sign in my yard. Therefore they let everyone who asks put a sign out. I'll say it again, signs do not vote! As a matter of fact, given the phone calls, recent letter to the editor and number of people complaining to me in person, it may actually hurt the candidate who abuses the sign rules!

As for me, I'm happy too follow the guidelines, 30 days prior to the primary and 5 of a candidates signs per residential block is way more then enough time and placement! But hey, that's just me.........

New T-Shirts to be out soon!

The new design for T-Shirts has just been unvieled. Looks clean, simple and I must say rather nice! If you would like a T-Shirt to wear drop me a line and I will see that you get one! Only one catch, you have to promise to wear it! The T-Shirts will be a nice quality and in size Large and Xtra large. I have found that most people like their T-Shirts a let baggy. I know I prefer a more relaxed and comfortable fit, so I always grab a large. They will be available the first of next week, so you should start seeing them around soon after that. I'm sure their going to be verrrrry popular, so you better get me an email fast to reserve your T-shirt!

New Calendar Feature

I have added a NEW calendar feature to my web Site. I will update it on a regular basis and this will give the visitors an opportunity to see upcoming events throughout the campaign. If you have anything you would like to see added to the calendar, just drop me a line at:

contact@reelectmayorellison.com