Left In Lowell

With the City Council race well under way, a number of candidates have set up their own web site.

Recently, two challengers, David Koch and Mehmed Ali, have launched theirs; David’s is http://www.votedavidkoch.com/ and Mehmed’s is http://lowellma.net/.

And of course, City Councilor Joe Mendoca has had his web page, http://mendonca.org/ for a while now.

I have already written about Kristin Ross-Sitcawich’s site, http://kristinforlowell.com/. I am a bit partial, but Lynne and Kristen did excellent work putting it together.

So here is my quick, amateur review of these sites. First, I gave all of them the Google test. I typed their name and Lowell, Massachusetts. Some of them fared better than others. So webmasters for the respective sites, check that out.

They all have the basics for a good political campaign web site: brief personal history; positions on issues, how to contact them and of course, volunteer, support and contribution information. If you have not had a chance to log into any of these sites, please do so. As far as I know, these are the only functioning web sites of municipal candidates. If there are any additional ones, please let us know.

I predict that for the 2009 municipal election all candidates, incumbents and challengers, will have a web site with podcasts, videocasts and yes, their own blog. It is the best way to stay in touch with the general public. You can reach the voters directly without spending much money or going through the prism of the media. Perhaps these “new” tools will inspire more people to run for public office.

UPDATE: City Councilor Jim Milinazzo informed me that he also has a site, http://jimmilinazzo.com/. Sorry, Councilor Milinazzo. I should have done my homework, especially about a Councilor I supported 2 years ago and I am supporting now.