In Response to DeKalb Chronicle Article Dated 2/24/11 Regarding My Residency….
To All-
Earlier this week, when the reporter from the DeKalb Chronicle, Caitlin, stopped by, I was under the impression that the tone of the story was to be presented negatively and with bias, as written. Being proactive, I made myself regularly available to Caitlin and hoped that she would have taken more time to gather the facts regarding this issue and present them accordingly. I feel that there were several INTENTIONAL omissions in the article which could lead to some misconceptions.
I would like to take a moment to clear some of these misconceptions up…
As I explained to Caitlin-
My Drivers License, Passport, City Licensing (Rooming House), License Plate Registration, Income Taxes, Voter Registration, and Credit Card Bill all clearly state my residence as the Greenbrier (1st Ward) property and have for several years. I have, since the day I purchased the building, maintained a room within it, exclusively for my use.
When I purchased the property within the 2nd ward, it was more of an accident than anything else. I originally stopped at the auction to buy some of the personal property within the building, and ended up leaving as the owner of the property itself. At the time I purchased the building, it was ALWAYS considered to be an investment. The large garage has ample storage space (and if you know me, you understand why I was to excited to finally have a place to house all of my “stuff”), the building contains a small office, and being in my line of work, I always seem to know SOMEONE looking for a place to stay. I considered, for a short time, moving in to the Sunnymeade property “full time” and giving up my room within the Greenbrier property. Luckily, I had already made the commitment for a room at Greenbrier, as I soon realized, throughout and especially at the end of the first academic year following my purchase of Sunnymeade, that my heart, mind, and vast bulk of my time were all committed to the property in the first ward and the group housed within it. Once I took into account the fact that I was spending 6-7 nights a week at the Greenbrier (1st ward) property every week, I realized it would never make sense to call my 2nd ward property “Home.”
It was at that point, that I seriously contemplated selling the 2nd ward property all together. Unfortunately, however, due to the 1-2 punch of the current economic times, I found, I’d be lucky to just break even on the sale, even though I had purchased the property at a STEEP discount. With the home price plummeting, taxes somehow rising significantly, and the burden of two taxable lots at that property, I couldn’t imagine my property could do any better than the several other properties in the neighborhood (many of which have been for sale for months or even years!). With utilities, insurance, and taxes skyrocketing in our neighborhoods, I have been forced to take a loss on the property, even after taking into account the rental of the bedrooms, in hopes that eventually, it will turn out to be a decent investment. As such, I felt it wise, as a frugal consumer, to get the most use out of the property as possible. Unlike the path our City Government regularly takes- spending unnecessarily and beyond their means. I have been forced, as many of our local residents have, to evaluate the logic in spending each dollar that comes in. In doing so, It made the most sense for me to use the 2nd ward property as my personal office space and now, as my campaign headquarters, rather than renting space elsewhere.
I was open and gladly willing to speak to Caitlin regarding my time spent at the 2nd ward property and, as she mentioned, I informed her that I am at the property “regularly.” With the campaign revving up and seeing that I consider the property my office, this would only make sense. As I further mentioned to Caitlin, (and which was obviously intentionally left out of the article). I am a 3rd shifter. While my days, of recent, have regularly become 20 hour+ days of hard work, (with managing the campaign, doing voter registration drives, planning and strategy, creating a website, blogging, and continuing my roles as landlord and advisor to the fraternity) I am well known amongst friends and colleagues for being a night owl. Generally speaking, being so involved in the Greek (Fraternity) world often tends to lead to the keeping of odd hours. My day often begins when most are just starting theirs. I often remark that I see more Sunrises than Sunsets many times during the year. As such, it would make sense for the neighbors to see my car at the property during these hours, and without realizing that I am up working, that it would lead to some confusion. At these times of night (I often take a “lunch break” around 2 or 3 in the morning) it also remains difficult (and expensive) to have food delivered. For this reason, I recently purchased by first load of “groceries” in several months (as I have Catering available to me each day at my first ward residence). An assorted mix of “Hot Pockets”, Soup, Ramen Bowls, and Soda were purchased to help get me through those long evenings. While obviously not the best tasting or nutritious food, they seem to do the trick at 3 am and are, in terms of comparison to delivery, a much more economical option. I had hoped, in a standard of “fairness and balance” that Caitlin would have included this information into the article. By intentionally omitting it, the article seemed to only lend to further confusion and misconceptions.
The article seems to further hint that I was clearly trying to deceive voters. This was obviously not the case, as if it was, I surely could have transferred the properties from my name to separate corporations. I could have hidden the address from my City licensing paperwork and generally disguised my ownership of one or both properties. I could have even hidden my car within my garage, rather than parking it on the driveway, while I’m present within the 2nd ward property. All would have been wholly unnecessary, as I have nothing to hide… I have not denied at any point that I do, in fact, own and operate both properties, and both properties are clearly listed as owned by me on the public record (tax roles). This fact does not make me less qualified or less responsible to voters in the first ward, it actually makes me MORE SO tied to the City Council and it’s decisions (especially when discussing increasing fess and taxes).
When Caitlin brought the article to my attention, I immediately let her know I was surprised it was “news-worthy.” She assured me that a “neighbor” (who in actuality, lives SEVERAL houses down the block from the property) had made some comments regarding my regular appearances on the block. While I can see where they may have been SOME confusion, I am still surprised at the lack of actual hard “facts” being overlooked before the article went to print. It actually worries me, to a point, that the Chronicle would risk printing such an article when so many important articles with documented factual information (many of which were provided by the “watch dogs” and commentators here and on other local websites) have gone unwritten. It continues to confound me that the DeKalb Chronicle would embarrass itself by allowing its staff journalists to pander to the the sensationalism of a clearly “politically motivated” piece, without regard to getting the full story and based solely on the word of a distant neighbor to the property. SHAME ON YOU DC!
I invite each of you to contact me with any questions, comments or concerns you may have via email at DJacobson@niusam.org. In the coming days I will have my campaign website up and running- I invite each of the DCO readers to visit! Also, on the site, I will be posting my upcoming “Meet the Candidate” Events in which I welcome all residents of the City of DeKalb, in person, to ask any questions they may have!
I’d like to thank each of you, in advance, for reading this here- It will also be posted on the DeKalb Chronicle website (in the comment section under the article) as well as on my web page! I will be submitting this article to the DC for print, but now that I have seem their journalistic integrity first hand, I wont hold my breath…
Cordially,
David M. Jacobson
Aldermanic Candidate- 1st Ward
Residency….
To All-
Earlier this week, when the reporter from the DeKalb Chronicle, Caitlin,
stopped by, I was under the impression that the tone of the story was to
be presented negatively and with bias, as written. Being proactive, I
made myself regularly available to Caitlin and hoped that she would have
taken more time to gather the facts regarding this issue and present them
accordingly. I feel that there were several INTENTIONAL omissions in the
article which could lead to some misconceptions.
I would like to take a moment to clear some of these misconceptions up…
As I explained to Caitlin-
My Drivers License, Passport, City Licensing (Rooming House), License
Plate Registration, Income Taxes, Voter Registration, and Credit Card
Bill all clearly state my residence as the Greenbrier (1st Ward) property
and have for several years. I have, since the day I purchased the
building,
maintained a room within it, exclusively for my use.
When I purchased the property within the 2nd ward, it was more of an
accident than anything else. I originally stopped at the auction to buy
some of the personal property within the building, and ended up leaving
as the owner of the property itself. At the time I purchased the
building, it was ALWAYS considered to be an investment. The large garage
has ample storage space (and if you know me, you understand why I was to
excited to finally have a place to house all of my “stuff”), the building
contains a small office, and being in my line of work, I always seem to
know SOMEONE looking for a place to stay. I considered, for a short time,
moving in to the Sunnymeade property “full time” and giving up my room
within the Greenbrier property. Luckily, I had already made the commitment
for a room at Greenbrier, as I soon realized, throughout and especially at
the end of the first academic year following my purchase of Sunnymeade,
that my heart, mind, and vast bulk of my time were all committed to the
property in the first ward and the group housed within it. Once I took
into account the fact that I was spending 6-7 nights a week at the
Greenbrier (1st ward) property every week, I realized it would never make
sense to call my 2nd ward property “Home.”
It was at that point, that I seriously contemplated selling the 2nd ward
property all together. Unfortunately, however, due to the 1-2 punch of
the current economic times, I found, I’d be lucky to just break even on
the sale, even though I had purchased the property at a STEEP discount.
With the home price plummeting, taxes somehow rising significantly, and
the burden of two taxable lots at that property, I couldn’t imagine my
property could do any better than the several other properties in the
neighborhood (many of which have been for sale for months or even years!).
With utilities, insurance, and taxes skyrocketing in our neighborhoods, I
have been forced to take a loss on the property, even after taking into
account the rental of the bedrooms, in hopes that eventually, it will turn
out to be a decent investment. As such, I felt it wise, as a frugal
consumer, to get the most use out of the property as possible. Unlike the
path our City Government regularly takes- spending unnecessarily and
beyond their means. I have been forced, as many of our local residents
have, to evaluate the logic in spending each dollar that comes in. In
doing so, It made the most sense for me to use the 2nd ward property as my
personal office space and now, as my campaign headquarters, rather than
renting space elsewhere.
I was open and gladly willing to speak to Caitlin regarding my time spent
at the 2nd ward property and, as she mentioned, I informed her that I am
at the property “regularly.” With the campaign revving up and seeing that
I consider the property my office, this would only make sense. As I
further mentioned to Caitlin, (and which was obviously intentionally left
out of the article). I am a 3rd shifter. While my days, of recent, have
regularly become 20 hour+ days of hard work, (with managing the campaign,
doing voter registration drives, planning and strategy, creating a
website, blogging, and continuing my roles as landlord and advisor to the
fraternity) I am well known amongst friends and colleagues for being a
night owl. Generally speaking, being so involved in the Greek
(Fraternity) world often tends to lead to the keeping of odd hours. My
day often begins when most are just starting theirs. I often remark that
I see more Sunrises than Sunsets many times during the year. As such, it
would make sense for the neighbors to see my car at the property during
these hours, and without realizing that I am up working, that it would
lead to some confusion. At these times of night (I often take a “lunch
break” around 2 or 3 in the morning) it also remains difficult (and
expensive) to have food delivered. For this reason, I recently purchased
by first load of “groceries” in several months (as I have Catering
available to me each day at my first ward residence). An assorted mix of
“Hot Pockets”, Soup, Ramen Bowls, and Soda were purchased to help get me
through those long evenings. While obviously not the best tasting or
nutritious food, they seem to do the trick at 3 am and are, in terms of
comparison to delivery, a much more economical option. I had hoped, in a
standard of “fairness and balance” that Caitlin would have included this
information into the article. By intentionally omitting it, the article
seemed to only lend to further confusion and misconceptions.
The article seems to further hint that I was clearly trying to deceive
voters. This was obviously not the case, as if it was, I surely could
have transferred the properties from my name to separate corporations. I
could have hidden the address from my City licensing paperwork and
generally disguised my ownership of one or both properties. I could have
even hidden my car within my garage, rather than parking it on the
driveway, while I’m present within the 2nd ward property. All would have
been wholly unnecessary, as I have nothing to hide… I have not denied
at any point that I do, in fact, own and operate both properties, and
both properties are clearly listed as owned by me on the public record
(tax roles). This fact does not make me less qualified or less
responsible to voters in the first ward, it actually makes me MORE SO
tied to the City Council and it’s decisions (especially when discussing
increasing fess and taxes).
When Caitlin brought the article to my attention, I immediately let her
know I was surprised it was “news-worthy.” She assured me that a
“neighbor” (who in actuality, lives SEVERAL houses down the block from
the property) had made some comments regarding my regular appearances on
the block. While I can see where they may have been SOME confusion, I am
still surprised at the lack of actual hard “facts” being overlooked
before the article went to print. It actually worries me, to a point,
that the
Chronicle would risk printing such an article when so many important
articles with documented factual information (many of which were provided
by the “watch dogs” and commentators here and on other local websites)
have gone unwritten. It continues to confound me that the DeKalb Chronicle
would embarrass itself by allowing its staff journalists to pander to the
the sensationalism of a clearly “politically motivated” piece, without
regard to getting the full story and based solely on the word of a distant
neighbor to the property. SHAME ON YOU DC!
I invite each of you to contact me with any questions, comments or
concerns you may have via email at DJacobson@niusam.org. In the coming
days I will have my campaign website up and running- I invite each of the
DCO readers to visit! Also, on the site, I will be posting my upcoming
“Meet the Candidate” Events in which I welcome all residents of the City
of DeKalb, in person, to ask any questions they may have!
I’d like to thank each of you, in advance, for reading this here- It will
also be posted on the DeKalb Chronicle website (in the comment section
under the article) as well as on my web page! I will be submitting this
article to the DC for print, but now that I have seem their journalistic
integrity first hand, I wont hold my breath…
Cordially,
David M. Jacobson
Aldermanic Candidate- 1st Ward
Click Here To Submit A News Tip Or Story
8 Comments
Hi Kerry,
There was an ‘underground’ local newspaper here a few years back called “The Vigilante.” I have never seen a copy but I heard it was certainly an alternate to the local news of the time. This forum is an alternative but I heard the folks who did “The Vigilante” were not completely open with their identities, so they had more free rein with what they wrote.
Kay, the Vigilante was published sporadically when the publisher felt like it. His name was David Smith, a fur buyer from Kirkland. Smith felt shafted by the local court system so he announced his displeasure by unloading a dump truck worth of horse or cow manure on the court house lawn, for which he got arrested. He then began publishing The Vigilante where under a variety of psuedonyms (Manure Man was my favorite) he wrote cryptic accounts in story form about things he knew or was told about. He did not always name names. He assigned psuedonyms such as Big Hand, Hot Lips, Dough Boy, etc. to various individuals that were often his targets.
to all: I think the Chronicle is a much better paper today than it has been going back even before a young Fazekas took the circulation department by storm.
Ha! That I did, back in ’85, but of course there were big shoes to fill… ;D
Hi Kay-
I’m just as interested in the editor’s choice of which articles to run as how many words should be allowed and a reporter’s choice of which words to hear and write.
For instance, I’m frequently amazed at the Chronicle’s choice and timing when it reports on School District 428 meetings. Having sat through most of the meetings along with reporters, my choices as to publishing 428 news likely to have the greatest impact on the students and citizens of the district would often be different. But I don’t have a newspaper to run…
So when I read the Chronicle’s article questioning first ward alderman candidate David Jacobson’s residency, my first thoughts were: “Why now?” And then: “Who brings this challenge?” If this article were straight reporting about a challenge to the candidate’s legitimacy, it would also include the name of the challenger. We don’t have that name, so we are left to wonder (wrongly, I hope) if the newspaper itself brought the challenge. In my view, the Chronicle needs to clarify this article and either run it as opinion, provide the source of the challenge, or run a much more in-depth investigative article.
Now having said all the above, in my view, the Chronicle is a better newspaper today than it was a year or two ago and generally does a good job in providing news and views to the community. I’m still hoping this Jacobson article oversight was a simple mistake and will be rectified soon.
And Kay, you know I enjoy your column always! Happy writing!
The article in question has 695 words. So, try another experiment and try to re-write it including more information but keeping it under 700 words. Newspapers publish using column inch, but Microsoft Word has a word count feature that is really easy to us.
Good luck! 🙂
Folks here know that I currently write a column for the “Chronicle.” What most folks do not know is that I also have years of experience submitting abstracts on research to journals and conference organizers. Abstracts are for other people to decide if my research is worthy of having me send the whole paper for someone to judge or allowing me to give a presentation at a conference. Writing abstracts forces me to condense the ideas of a fifteen-page paper down to 500 or sometimes 250 words. For that kind of writing, I spend the majority of my time not writing but editing what I wrote, cutting, cutting, and cutting until I can fit those ideas into the length limit. It is not unusual for me to spend about 30 minutes writing an abstract and then four or five hours getting everything into the word limit.
There is only so much information that can be crammed into a small space. The same is true of a newspaper article, and the deadlines to send something to print are very tight.
I seriously doubt there was anything intentional, just a limitation of how much information can be fit into a small space.
****
Try your own writing experiment: The above paragraphs have 200 words. If there was a word limit of 150 words, which words have to go? 😉
The Chronicle article referred to can be read here. Jason Schaumburg also blogged about it.
Welcome to “newsworthy” Mr. Jacobson! My unsolicited advice, for what its worth… Don’t pick a fight with an editor unless you edit one of equal or greater circulation. 🙂
The documents you say you have and your explanation prove your residency. It appears Clerk Kapitan has cleared the matter with the state board, according to reports. The issue seems non then.
Candidates are newsworthy during campaign season and your name was spelled correctly. Its all good. 🙂
Note to all local candidates: You’re welcome to publish information relative to your candidacy and your campaign race here on DeKalb County Online, IF you’ve filled out a Candidate Profile.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Agreed with Mac: Residency is now a non-issue.
It would be a mistake to blame the DC for this (and I agree with Kerry that the DC is a better paper than it was a year ago). I would instead consider the sources and whether one or more of them may have something to gain in keeping an alderman who always votes for the recommended contracts and allocations.
Meanwhile, wordiness aside I find David’s openness refreshing — and as a former candidate myself, I do know how it feels when one has discovered that people are spreading an untrue story about oneself (and has few resources for countering it publicly).