1000 Door hangers and 200 Signs

Update: The signs have arrived! Everyone who has requested one, I will get in touch with and drop them off with you this weekend.

Ready to Go

Door hangers

As of this morning we are just 38 days away from the election, and if you have read my previous posts you know that I will be attending various campaign events in March.  The one that I hope many of you will attend is the Candidate Forum at the Zion-Benton Public Library on March 16th, at 1:30 pm.

If you have been curious about what I have been doing the past week or so, aside from shoveling snow, just look at the image above.  I have been printing, cutting, and bagging 1000 campaign fliers for distribution.  The goal is to deliver these to homes across as broad a section of the city as possible in the next couple of weeks.

I haven't made a point of this before, but this really is a grassroots effort to raise awareness of the campaign, and the importance of the election.  I have not solicited any campaign donations, all the costs have been out of pocket, with the exception of those of you who have printed fliers at home using the DIY documents I posted on the web (and if you have been printing your own, Thank You!).

This distribution is distinct from the Door-to-Door Voter Outreach, as I am not looking to actually knock on doors, but focus on getting these out to homes, and hopefully get more people talking, supporting, and voting.

To really make this work, I am asking that anyone who can take some of these fliers and hang them on doors in their neighborhood to contact me at fischerforzion@gmail.com .  Whether you can take a hundred or a handful, it would be a great help.

 

Signs

The other project that I undertook this past week was to order yard signs, a requirement for any campaign.

Coming Soon!
They're Here!

 

The shipment of 200 signs should arrive in the next couple of days.  Anyone who wants to place a sign in their yard, email me so I can start a list and get them out to you. 

Fliers and signs are just tools, what I believe will really help in the end, is that everyone who reads these fliers, sees the signs, or looks up the website, will care enough about the city and it's future to talk about it with others.  If enough people start talking, then we can get them to act, and get them to vote!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Christopher Fischer

Campaign Events Update

In the next couple of weeks I will be attending the following election related events, and some public events of interest.

On March 6, at 8:00 am, I will be at Carmel House Senior Residences, 2815 Elisha Avenue, for coffee with the residents.

On March 16th, at 1:30pm I will be participating in the Candidate Forum hosted by the Zion Chamber of Commerce, Winthrop Harbor Chamber of Commerce, and the Zion-Benton Public Library. At the Library, 2400 Gabriel Ave.

The forum audience will have the opportunity to ask questions of the candidates, so I encourage as many people to attend as possible. As always, if you have questions that you want to ask me you don't have to wait, just email me at fischerforzion@gmail.com .

Other events of note that I will be attending that are not directly campaign related, but if you want to talk to me afterwards I will be available.

On February 25, I will be attending the meeting of the Zion Nuclear Station Community Advisory Panel (ZCAP) at New Tech High School, 1634 23rd Street. 6:00 - 8:00 pm.

On February 26, I will be attending the Zion-Benton Public Library Board Meeting. At the Library, 2400 Gabriel Ave, 6:30 pm. (Update: The Library closed due to the heavy snow today. Instead, I spent a quality hour with a shovel, digging out.)

Also, I will be at the City Council meetings on March 5th, March 19th, and April 2. Special Note: There will be two Public Hearings on the Electrical Aggregation Referendum. The first will be held prior to the March 19 meeting, starting at 6:00 pm, the second will be on April 2, at 6:30 pm. This is an important issue, and I urge everyone who can to attend at least one of these hearings.

DIY Voter Outreach

When you are working a full-time job, taking care of a family, and a home, you just don't have that much time to spare. Believe me, I empathize, and I know it's a lot to ask people to spend a Saturday afternoon knocking on strangers doors.

So, if you would like to help spread the word about the campaign, but just can't make the time on the weekend, go to www.fischerforzion.com  and look at the latest news update. You will find there are a couple of do-it-yourself campaign flyer's in the form of pdf documents that you can download and print at home. There are two versions, a letter sized one-sheet, and for those who can do two sided printing a dual half-sheet that can be cut apart.

If you don't have a printer, but would still be able to hand out flyer's on your own schedule, contact me at fischerforzion@gmail.com and I will get some to you.

Door-to-Door Voter Outreach, Saturday February 16th

The next stop in our Voter Outreach campaign will be Precinct 411. Roughly bounded by Gilboa on the West, 173 on the North, Sheridan Rd on the East, and Shiloh Blvd on the South.

A little information about the precinct:

District Type: Election Precincts
District Name: 411
District Area, Square Miles: 0.42
District Area, Acres: 271.20

ESTIMATED FROM THE 2010 CENSUS:

Total Population: 1449
Population under 5 years old: 104
Population 5 to 17 years old: 351
Population 18 to 64 years old: 886
Population 65 and over: 108
The start time will still be 1:00 pm.  The weather forecast is that it will be colder than our kick-off event last Saturday, so dress appropriately.   So, if you are up for a little walking on a chilly February afternoon, to knock on some doors and hand out some fliers, email me at fischerforzion@gmail.com and I will send you the details.

Christopher Fischer

Door to Door Canvassing this Saturday February 9th

UPDATE:

I am happy to report that the walk around a good portion of  Precinct 410 went very well. The weather was cooperative this afternoon, so we were able to cover many more homes. The response was overwhelmingly favorable from everyone we spoke with.  A very special thanks to Denise Rolando for giving up her Saturday afternoon to walk with me, especially since she just recently finished her recovery from foot surgery!

Weather permitting, there will be another Precinct Walk next Saturday afternoon. I will be announcing the location on Monday.  If you have some time available to walk a couple of blocks and hand out some flyers, it would be a big help in moving this campaign forward to a win in April.

If you would like to have some flyers to hand out to your friends and neighbors, email me at fischerforzion@gmail.com and we will make sure to get some to you.

As always, I look forward to hearing from you.

Christopher Fischer
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As previously mentioned on this blog I will be going door-to-door to reach out to voters here in Zion this Saturday, February 9th.  With all the snow and slush, it may be a little sloppy, but the forecast is that the Sun will be out, and the temperatures moderate (for this time of year).  The location for this first effort will be Zion Precinct 410.

Precinct 410

The precinct is bounded by Gallilee Ave on the West, Ravine Drive and Kendron Blvd on the North, Sheridan Road on the East, and Route 173 on the South.

Some quick information about the Precinct:

District Area, Square Miles: 0.49
District Area, Acres: 316.41

ESTIMATED FROM THE 2010 CENSUS:
Total Population: 1665
Population under 5 years old: 130
Population 5 to 17 years old: 354
Population 18 to 64 years old: 1007
Population 65 and over: 174

So, if you have some time to spare on Saturday afternoon, starting at 1:00 pm, I hope that you can join me for a little walking and talking with our neighbors about the election, and a little exercise doesn't hurt!

Contact me at fischerforzion@gmail.com for details.   I hope to see you there!

Web Address Update

Just a quick campaign update for everyone.  I have replaced the long google site address for the campaign website with the simpler www.fischerforzion.com .  If you bookmarked the google site already, it should still work fine, but if you want to share the site with others this new link should make it much easier to do so.
As mentioned in the previous post, in the next few weeks I will be canvassing voting precincts in Zion, reaching out to voters and looking for support throughout the community.  Right now, I am planning the first  "Zion Walk n' Talk" to take place on Saturday, February 9th. If you can spare a couple of hours to knock on a few doors, and let your neighbors know about the importance of this election and our campaign, then please join me.  Details coming soon!
As of today, this blog has logged 1,173 page views! So, I know you are out there reading these posts but, I could really use your feedback either through the comments here, or via email at fischerforzion@gmail.com
I look forward to hearing from you.

The Field is Set and Next Steps

On January 3rd, a public lottery was held to determine ballot position for the April 9th election.  Out of a field of six I landed in the number four slot, just about the middle of the pack.  Here is how it broke out:

1. Al Hill
2. Sherry Beall
3. Shantal Taylor (Incumbent)
4. Christopher Fischer
5. Lloyd DeTienne (Incumbent)
6. Shon Sadler

Common wisdom advises not raising the profile of your competitors by mentioning them by name, but as an advocate of an informed electorate I feel otherwise.
 
Too often, we step into the voting booth, look at the ballot, and realise that we don't have a clue who these people are and what they stand for.  Remember, as I have stated in my platform and elsewhere; the people elected to fill these two seats will make decisions that directly affect you, and your quality of life for years to come.

So, I encourage everyone to spend a few minutes of your Internet time researching the candidates for any office you are voting on.  With that knowledge, I am confident that you will make the best choice.

Next Steps.

This week I had an informal meeting with a group of citizens who had expressed an interest in the campaign.  I listened to their concerns about; code enforcement, crime, and the feeling that the city government is not communicating openly with them.  As always I learned something, and I hope I answered their questions to their satisfaction.  

The question arose, what was my next step?  The answer is, knocking on doors.  In the near future I will be announcing dates for Precinct Walks in Zion.  Between now and April, the campaign will be going to each precinct in the city, door-to-door to engage with voters and let them know there is an alternative to the status quo in this election.  Look for those announcements here and on the campaign website: Fischer for Zion and as usual you can email me at fischerforzion@gmail.com .  I look forward to hearing from you.