Jim, the first thing I’d like to address in your story this morning about our weekly mayoral poll is your claim that nobody reads FrontBurner. Really, Jim? If that’s the case, why have I gained literally handfuls of Twitter followers since starting this job, despite my lackluster online presence? Explain that one, Jim.
Next thing: you asked your readers to game the poll and yet your chosen candidate is currently doing a lot worse than last week, so who has the readership now, Jim?
Third thing: it’s actually kind of cool to be named in one of your columns. It was like when Tim finally followed me on Twitter.
Fourth thing: candidate Jason Villalba emailed me this morning after the column ran. The former state representative was not pleased with the knock about his family. For one, it’s a stereotype that Hispanic families are large. Here’s you:
“I have a suspicion that candidate Jason Villalba probably was able to increase his popularity 18-fold in one week because he had 18 family members vote for him the third week, as opposed to the first two weeks when he was voting for himself. But that’s sheer speculation.”
Here’s Villalba:
“Odd that someone who calls himself a progressive would rely on age old Hispanic stereotypes (large families) to take a shot at me.”
Villalba also says that the jump in votes can be explained by the fact that he merely sent out a call for more votes to his supporters, whereas he took the week prior (47 votes) off. Hence, the 18x boost. He says the votes were pretty much the same in the most recent week (859 votes) as week 1 (488), when he also asked for help. I’m not here to compare two numbers that aren’t that similar; I’m just here to tell you some things to keep in mind, Jim.
Fifth thing: before you corrected your column, you griped about how we wouldn’t reveal the total number of votes in the poll. The number of votes is right there next to each candidate’s name in every post! Please scroll down. The posts aren’t just for the poll; they update the candidates’ weekly activities. But thanks for issuing that correction so quickly.
Sixth thing: my name is spelled Shinneman, s-h-i-n-n-e-m-a-n, which you got right but is still worth noting because sometimes people mess it up.
Seventh: Matt Goodman emailed you back around 4 p.m. You emailed around 11:30 a.m. He says he would’ve called you today. So you did hear back, albeit late afternoon. This is admittedly nitpicking.
By the way, to the candidates: being crowned D Magazine’s mayor just means you have to become a contributor. You have to pop in with random takes for us on, say, Sean Lee as a sportscaster or ’70s hairstyles. We expect weekly posts. This is how we earn our living here and yet you’ll have to do it on the side of your day job, for eternity. I just decided this right now. It probably won’t get past my editor. But if it does, then boom, roasted, D style, you cheaters.
