Dear Editor;
I attended the candidate’s forum at Carrillon Lakes on Tuesday night and I thought I would share my opinions your readers.
State representative candidate Natalie Manley, a Democrat who's running in the 98th District, does not impress me and is part of everything that is wrong with our formerly great state. She has taken over $300,000 from (Speaker of the House) Mike Madigan; this she doesn’t deny. What she does do is try to hide the truth. She makes the claim that she is receiving money from her state party, what she doesn’t say is that Mike Madigan runs the state party and sends his money to her.
Miss Manley was also very deceiving on her arrest from earlier this year. She was arrested for beating her daughter. It doesn’t matter if she and the mayor of Joliet want to pretend it didn’t happen, the truth is it did. It was never a private family matter as it ended up on in the media within hours of it occurring. If she thought she could hide the truth, she needs to reconsider running for elected office. (Editor's note: The charges against Manley were dropped in August.)
Her opponent Bob Kalnicky seems like he had the most firm grasp on the issues facing the state and I am convinced he would be an independent voice that would not follow the dead-end path of Mike Madigan and Natalie Manley.
Senate candidate Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, the Democrat running for 49th District seat, is a very impressive candidate who is quite blunt with her answers, and I like that. She will give Springfield the kick in the right direction it needs. I just hope she keeps her pledge to not be a rubber stamp for the Senate president. I was also impressed with her ability to cut the budget for her school office.
Garrett Peck, the other candidate for the District 49 seat, did not show up for some reason. I thought it was a very good forum that should have warranted his attendance.
I wish there were additional candidate forums since I think they are a good way to cut through the endless mail pieces and commercials so you can actually get to know a candidate.
Marie Henderson
Crest Hill