Should the RIOC Elections Enter the YouTube Age?

Earlier today I sent an e-mail to RIOC Board candidates Jonathan Kalkin and Frank Farance offering them the opportunity to present up to a 3 minutes video statement on my blog. I stated I would offer each candidate the same courtesy. I copied Dick Lutz of the Main Street WIRE and Matthew Katz, the President of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association. Mr. Lutz responded with a lengthy list of email addresses for each of the individuals he knows are interested in running as candidates for the Board positions. Not all have made their final decision to run. Had I bit off more than I could chew? If the list of candidates was 12 or under I had thought to volunteer my video taping services and the ability to upload the statement onto the Internet where I can host the video.

The response I received from Mr. Kalkin, who by the way has started his own candidate website “VoteKalkin.com” (as reported on today’s Roosevelt Islander blog), was “Sounds like an interesting idea. In the name of fairness and equal time, I think the best way to do this is on candidates night when we all make a speech.” Mr. Kalkin is probably right as who knows if my schedule will meet each candidate’s schedule and I’d hate to have issues of not every candidate getting the opportunity.

If individuals are interested and think this a good idea I can still take this project on, perhaps in partnership with the Roosevelt Islander, creating a new stand alone blog for this purpose with the caveat that all candidates get equal treatment and presentation.

Note: The above photos are only of the individuals that announced their candidacies prior to the close of 2007 in the WIRE and the photos are courtesy of the WIRE.