Politics, Election Info - and Rumors
By Dionne Searcey
STAFF WRITER
October 16, 2003
For the past two years, LIpolitics.com has offered area residents the ins and outs, and quite often the down and dirty, of local politics.
Now, the Web site's administrator is gearing up for the Nov. 4 election with candidate interviews, voter enrollment statistics and plans to post live election results.
"My main goal is to increase voter awareness and education," said Anthony Manetta, 23, who started the site after graduating from Dowling College in 2001.
Manetta's site currently offers everything from an in-depth interview with Massapequa Park Mayor James Altadonna on cell towers, to the phone number for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
But Manetta, a Republican, acknowledged that most people visit the site for the juicy, shockingly frank "rumor board." A sampling of recent postings include rants from overtaxed residents and discussions about the sexual preferences of certain Nassau Democrats. A recent rumor speculated that Democratic Suffolk county executive candidate Steve Levy lives with his mom. (For the record, he lives near her, not with her.)
Manetta of Lindenhurst said he tries to weed out the fabrications, but the task has proved too unwieldy. He recently hired Marty Schwartz of Massapequa Park, a Democrat, to monitor the board.
"We cannot get into the game of censoring or trying to determine for ourselves what's true or not true," Manetta said. "We're in the business to provide a forum so people can express their views in an unbiased fashion."
This free forum comes with a downside, he added. Sometimes he sees vicious rumors about people he knows and respects.
"When I see my friends on there getting attacked, I think, 'Why would I want to continue doing this?'" he said. "But if I close it down tomorrow, someone would be right there doing the same thing."
Now, the Web site's administrator is gearing up for the Nov. 4 election with candidate interviews, voter enrollment statistics and plans to post live election results.
"My main goal is to increase voter awareness and education," said Anthony Manetta, 23, who started the site after graduating from Dowling College in 2001.
Manetta's site currently offers everything from an in-depth interview with Massapequa Park Mayor James Altadonna on cell towers, to the phone number for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
But Manetta, a Republican, acknowledged that most people visit the site for the juicy, shockingly frank "rumor board." A sampling of recent postings include rants from overtaxed residents and discussions about the sexual preferences of certain Nassau Democrats. A recent rumor speculated that Democratic Suffolk county executive candidate Steve Levy lives with his mom. (For the record, he lives near her, not with her.)
Manetta of Lindenhurst said he tries to weed out the fabrications, but the task has proved too unwieldy. He recently hired Marty Schwartz of Massapequa Park, a Democrat, to monitor the board.
"We cannot get into the game of censoring or trying to determine for ourselves what's true or not true," Manetta said. "We're in the business to provide a forum so people can express their views in an unbiased fashion."
This free forum comes with a downside, he added. Sometimes he sees vicious rumors about people he knows and respects.
"When I see my friends on there getting attacked, I think, 'Why would I want to continue doing this?'" he said. "But if I close it down tomorrow, someone would be right there doing the same thing."
