| Tom | Wednesday, August 22, 2001 - 09:00 pm
I just have to say that Ken Fisher is anti-tenant. He's been trying to pass himself off as this great tenant guy, and it's been getting on my nerves. I know he supported the disgusting rent decontrol law in '94. I also disagree with you about his vote to water down the lead paint law. There were a few who had the guts to stand up to Vallone on that, and Ken Fisher wasn't one of them. Arm-twisting or not, all his vote proves is that he's a coward that won't take Vallone on, even if lives are at stake. I also checked his campaign finance records, and he's got a couple contributions from the Rent Stabilization Association, which is a big landlord group, and he's got lots more from other real estate people.
In terms of the DUMBO stuff he keeps going on about, I have friends in DUMBO who've told me that they're just as sick of hearing it as I am. Some of them feel like he used them to give himself a single good point to harp on in his tenant record.
I think he got off easy in the interview on Rent Wars, and I know that he's done other anti-tenant crap that I'm not thinking of at the moment... If anybody can fill in what I'm missing, please go for it.
Fisher doesn't deserve to be borough president and he doesn't deserve to be mayor. All he deserves is to be somebody who gets the term-limits boot and stays out.
-Tom |
| Tom | Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 06:02 pm
I'm the Tom who's been posting
here for two months. The above
message was not by me.
Is there anyway I could get a
password so no one else can
use my name?
Tom |
| Tom2 | Thursday, August 23, 2001 - 07:05 pm
Sorry, didn't know there was another Tom... I'll use this one instead. |
| Ronin | Friday, August 24, 2001 - 12:08 pm
Hi to both Toms.
To Tom1- we cannot have an open forum that doesnt require registration block other users from using your name- it has no way of knowing that you are you. Right now there is really no need for the passwords except in the debate areas. I would strongly suggest adding something unique to your forum name- like Tom(and a 3 digit number- areacode) or neighboorhood name. Then if there is a problem with someone posting to intentionally mimic you, we can delete the post. But not when it is a reasonable use of a generic name as in this case.
Tom 2- Please don't worry about using your name. It was a reasonable thing to do and using Tom2 clears it up entirely.
Now on to the real point of this subtopic:
As stated before, RWN was very pleased that Fisher agreed to come on the show, and taped the interview with no monkey business or schedule tricks. I cannot say that we are particularly happy that we didn't know about some of these things before hand, but I definitely defend the way that RWN handled the interview and all of our candidate coverage.
Now true to my word I have refused to post emailed responses, but I will say that we have received some mail on both sides of this issue.
Fisher really saved some tenant butt on the DUMBO thing. Nothing he said during his interview was a lie. Therefore Fisher is completely covered under our interview policy.
Now, in case no one noticed, Rent Wars is an artistic project based in Brooklyn. It is logical to assume that DUMBO, being an artists area, has some tenants who were very happy to have the powerful Ken Fisher save them and their families from rapid homelessness. It is also not a stretch to assume that Rent Wars has some friends who feel beholden to Fisher for his good deed. To them, he is like the reformed Clint Eastwood gunfighter in Unforgiven (or for that matter several of his other cowboy movies).
On the other hand, our sources at other tenant groups unanimously verify that Fisher has the mars on his record that you posted. But they don't all reach your interpretation of Fisher as the villian (but some certainly do including Micheal McKee from Tenants & Neighbors who agreed to go on the record and who called Fisher, "the Landlord's candidate for Borough President" when asked for comment by RWN).
Fisher isn't the only BP candidate to have helped friends of RWN. Markowitz's office was directly involved in the Rent Wars, indentifying a slumlord. His office has also helped others of us who don't even live in his district. And let's not forget his 30 year record of being "Mr. Tenant".
Given this extreme situation and stark contrast, RWN has an extra duty. Our silence and neutrality are not to be confused for support for one candidate or another. We don't want anyone to think that we have any problem with Marty Markowitz or his record. Because of this we have publicly announced a conflict of interest in this matter.
Our interview policy keeps our interviews friendly and positive. It is fair to say that few monthly public access shows so new on the map were able to present so many candidates for office, including higher offices like mayor and borough president. Fisher didn't get off easy, everyone got off easy. If it wasn't for the Green campaign's antics we would have had more on our show.
We are not trying to use our interviews as chances to attack people. If we have any tough questions for a guest, we give them advanced notice. RWN is not trying to shoot pictures of guests leaving in the middle of the interview. Our policy is based on a long term view. We want public officials to come on the show, we want them to feel welcome and to play to their strengths. This doesn't mean that we can't address troubling issues, but it does mean that we don't launch surprise attacks on our guests.
It is an ethical principle. If we want officials to act ethically towards our issue, we have to treat them ethically. Yes, Rent Wars has an advocacy role, but we also have a role as journalists. When we are in our journalistic role we report unbiased information, and fair information. Doing this increases our effectiveness as advocates.
Ronin |
| sy | Thursday, September 06, 2001 - 10:44 pm
Ken raised almost 900,000 of which 20,000 was found by the Village Voice to be landlord and RSA related. This is about 2%. While Marty may be Mr. tenant he voted for the last round of rent changes in Albany. Can Anyone name ONE piece of pro-tenant legislation that he sponsored which passed in his 23 years of being Mr. tenant. |