Posted: 3/15/2009 6:20:58 PM EDT
| Any advice for a new Henderson voter? I don't know anything about any of these candidates, so I defer to y'all for wisdom and guidance. |
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Quoted:
My vote is for andy Hafen. Any reasons? I can give you reasons for and against several of the candidates. I am personally going to vote for Amanda Cyphers. My Firefighters union is co-endorsing both her and Steve Kirk, but she is getting my vote. Amanda's husband is the Emergency Management Coordinator for the city and through him, I am positive she knows of the importance of public safety. For too many years, the PD and FD were the black sheep of the city's family and we were always waaaaaayyyyyy understaffed. Parks and Rec and all kinds of other pet projects always seemed to get what they wanted. Only in the past few years have we been getting caught up on both the PD and FD sides. Andy Hafen has been no friend of public safety over the years. He is a retired cop but it really seems like he has no comprehension of our issues, especially in these tough economic times. PD has really been beefed up due to the sales tax initiative and FD has finally been getting caught up thanks to some aggressive new FD Chiefs and some city administrators realizing what we truly need. Please don't forget that Andy Hafen's daughter, Tessa, is a disciple of our "pal" Harry Reid (she lost a senate bid, remember) and Andy is extremely proud of her....that's all he really seems to talk about in any of his interviews I have ever read. I have never seen Andy talk about his son who happens to be a firefighter. I don't know about you, but I would be a great bit more proud of my kid who chose to follow me into public safety and actually put his life on the line for his fellow man, than one of my kids who has never done anything but dabble in politics on the Democrats side????????? Andy didn't even wear his old uniform to his sons academy graduation to pin his new badge on....it is a very old tradition to do this and is usually a great source of pride, but not Andy  . Totally lacking class IMHO.
As far as Mayberry goes, I don't ever recall the rank-and-file talking so great about him and he just rode the coattails of the tax hike and had a bunch of new officer funding fall into his lap just before he left (as I recall the timing). I am still looking into the council race as I just don't blindly follow what my union says to do (most of us don't BTW  ) The endorsement is for Boutin but I haven't commited to her just yet.
I obviously have a vested interest in public safety funding and staffing (but do remember, when we have proper staffing and equipment, we are safer which in turn means you are safer), but I am just married and I have a new wife and a bunch of in-laws that I care deeply about. They are all local and I want them to have the safest community to reside in and couldn't give a damn if we got another city-built park or another giant waste of money called the Henderson Pavilion. I do care if we get more cops and firemen and that they have the right amount of resources to handle the citizen's emergencies in a timely manner. I know in these tough economic times tough decisions will have to be made. I am confident in Amanda's ability and experience to take care of business and make the tough desicions. STANDARD DISCLAIMER ***YMMV and my views, opinions and statements don't represent the City of Henderson, HFD or Local 1883*** |
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Quoted:
I have known Andy Hafen for years. He has been a long time resident of Henderson, and I feel he has our Hendersons best interest at heart . I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but other than "knowing him for years" what actually makes you think he is better than the other candidates? I stated his previous track record and why that hasn't impressed me and what I know about the other candidates. That's like voting for Obama because "you think he is going to bring good change and has America's best interests at heart". Again, not trying to be disrespectful or say a particular candidate is a terrible person at heart. I'm just going on past behavior, attitudes and track records. 53% of the voting public didn't do that in the last election and look what it got us 
ETA...Hafen is not very popular throughout our department for a reason....that just doesn't happen overnight, so read into that what you may. |
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So, a lot has happened since this topic was last posted in. It is going to be a run-off between Steve Kirk and Andy Hafen in the main election and it looks like it is going to be close. I can't say enough how much I would like you to give your vote to Steve Kirk. I have done a little looking into things, have seen a few news articles and found out a few interesting details.
First, apparently Hafen is not a retired cop per se. He touts his law enforcement background but it looks like he was really just a civilian employee of Metro working as an investigator (not a sworn Detective). I guess that's why he never really supports cop or firefighter issues. I think that is pretty misleading to tout your law enforcement background without ever being a beat cop who went through a real police academy. Second, Mike Mayberry has come out in support of Hafen now that he is out of the race. Apparently, Steve Kirk voted against giving former police Chief Richard Perkins a lucrative consulting contract for the city when it came before the city council (apparently Hafen voted for the contract). This looks like a little retribution from Mayberry for Kirk voting against giving his old buddy Perkins a nice fat consulting contract. This just reeks of sour grapes to me. Lastly, like I said before, Tessa Hafen ran for office as a disciple of the Prince Harry Reid (she got her start working in his office). Does the apple fall far from the tree? Andy Hafen is a Democrat and I am just getting a little tired of them lately. Prince Harry needs to go and the last thing we need right now is to be electing more of his type. Please give your vote to Steve Kirk (a Republican)...I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he will do what's best for our city. YMMV...Standard disclaimer.....I am off-duty at this time and these are my views and opinions only and do not represent any organization that I belong to or work for. |