The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's
talk page or in a
deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was delete. There is a clear majority for deletion, and the argument is reasonably well grounded in the guidelines. The highest elected position Rotzler has attained is deputy mayor of New Paltz, New York, which has a population of around 7000. It is hard to argue that this is a "major local figure" per the
WP:NPOL guideline.
Arguments have however been presented that Rotzler is notable anyway due to media coverage under the
WP:GNG. Some of this is behind a paywall, but my review of the material that is there indicates that while these arguments are in good faith, they are not thoroughly convincing. The articles cited in the article are local news stories, some which merely cover Rotzler's participation in a political debate. In this discussion sources were presented showing that she was an early pioneer in officiating same-sex marriages well before this had become widely accepted. But also this is at a very localized scale, and even there the coverage of her is minor.
Keep. Seems notable, I think
WP:GNG is satisfied due to the following:
"Along with Mayor Jason West and his appointed deputy, trustee Rebecca Rotzler, Walsh gained international notoriety this year for promoting same-sex weddings in New Paltz." Wasserman, G. J. (2004, Jul 27). New paltz trustee leaves greens. The Poughkeepsie Journal Retrieved from
https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/new-paltz-trustee-leaves-greens/docview/436614502/se-2
Weak Keep, a deputy mayor is not necessarily notable, but given the Poughkeepsie Journal, which is a newspaper founded in 1785 and now owned by Gannett, and a few other mentions in mostly local papers, with headlines like "deputy mayor presides over gay weddings." The mentions are minor but I think her same-sex marriage thing got her some coverage that wasn't just passing. Andre🚐18:55, 12 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Weak Keep per
WP:BASIC and the national coverage she has received, e.g.
Green tide sweeps into New Paltz, N.Y. (CS Monitor, 2003, more than a passing mention due to context and some biographical information),
Mayor With A Mission (NYT Magazine, Mar. 28, 2004, apparent coverage in the context of a focus on West, but subscription blocked),
Christian Science teacher banned after lesbian marriage (AP/Boston.com, June 25, 2004, more than a passing mention due to context). There is also local coverage, with contributions from the AP:
Judge bars New Paltz officials from presiding at gay weddings (Daily Freeman, June 25, 2004, more than passing mention due to context). There appears to be non-routine political coverage to help support notability from multiple sources over time, including national coverage, which could be used to further develop the article. Per
WP:GNG fn4, a series of publications by the same author or in the same periodical is normally counted as one source, but broader coverage is available.
Beccaynr (
talk)
20:05, 12 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Thank you - based on my research, it looks like a paragraph could be added to this article about her role related to gay marriage (and the litigation) in the era before Obergefell v. Hodges, and the NYT article may help provide context for article development.
Beccaynr (
talk)
01:27, 13 August 2022 (UTC)reply
I am able to view the NYT article today, and I agree that there is not much, (e.g. "Despite encouragement from local Greens, West and Rebecca Rotzler, who works at the county Board of Education, along with Julia Walsh, a New Paltz student activist, were all still reluctant to run for the three board seats. But then President Bush went to war in Iraq.") but there seems to be more than a passing mention, and it seems to fit with other national reporting on her political career development that could help further develop the article.
Beccaynr (
talk)
02:58, 14 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete What we have is an interesting individual, with a smattering of independent coverage, but no significant coverage about her life or her policies while in office. Fails
WP:NPOL. The coverage in all of the sourcing (about the subject) is similar - passing mentions or maybe a line about her work and connection with the mayor,
Jason West, who was the focus of most of the coverage. Even the article "Deputy mayor to OK same-sex nuptials" only contains one line about the subject "Deputy Mayor Rebecca Rotzler is scheduled to certify same-sex marriages Saturday." There is no obvious redirect target. --
Enos733 (
talk)
19:57, 16 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete Small town (population 7,324) municipal employee fails
WP:NPOL. "Deputy mayor" is far from an inherently notable position, especially for a town with a population this small. Local coverage just doesn't cut it.
Novemberjazz23:29, 17 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete - I don't think any of the sources presented have significant coverage on Rotzler; just a sentence or two mentioning her at most.
Hatman31 (
talk)
22:43, 20 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete. Fails per
WP:NPOL. Notable sourcing by itself does not count as significant coverage and is not sufficient to justify existence of article given the nature of the passing mentions in those sources.
Doczilla@SUPERHEROLOGIST05:32, 28 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete The keep argument above is that someone who has regularly gotten one of her friends to write an article about her to fill out copy in a local paper is notable. I rather find that all significant coverage being from a single local paper (and all written by the same person) establishes that she does not fulfill the GNG.
Rockphed (
talk)
17:59, 28 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Redirect to
Jason West, to whom she was the deputy. The article and West mentions the same-sex marriage officiations, and can easily accommodate the words "along with his deputy mayor Rebecca Rotzler".
BD2412T05:19, 29 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Did you mean to cite POL the policy page? If you meant NPOL I am not finding allowances in the guideline for delegates and party chairs.
Bruxton (
talk)
21:36, 29 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Yes I meant NPOL indeed. I thought about it as such: she is a delegate to a body representing the green party at a national level. Therefore she is an official representative for a group pf people, (green party constituents in New York) and represents them within the grouping that is at a nation wide level. She represents New York state-wide, just not everyone in New York but just Green party voters in New York.
PiccklePiclePikel (
talk)
22:12, 29 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Bruxton is correct in saying that they "(are) not finding allowances in the (NPOL) guideline for delegates and party chairs". As I referenced in the nomination statement with the
link to the discussion that established consensus on this matter, NPOL does not confer presumed notability on national/state party chairs, and there is ample precedent for the articles of national state/party chairs (who did not meet WP:GNG) being deleted.
Sal2100 (
talk)
19:20, 30 August 2022 (UTC)reply
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's
talk page or in a
deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was delete. There is a clear majority for deletion, and the argument is reasonably well grounded in the guidelines. The highest elected position Rotzler has attained is deputy mayor of New Paltz, New York, which has a population of around 7000. It is hard to argue that this is a "major local figure" per the
WP:NPOL guideline.
Arguments have however been presented that Rotzler is notable anyway due to media coverage under the
WP:GNG. Some of this is behind a paywall, but my review of the material that is there indicates that while these arguments are in good faith, they are not thoroughly convincing. The articles cited in the article are local news stories, some which merely cover Rotzler's participation in a political debate. In this discussion sources were presented showing that she was an early pioneer in officiating same-sex marriages well before this had become widely accepted. But also this is at a very localized scale, and even there the coverage of her is minor.
Keep. Seems notable, I think
WP:GNG is satisfied due to the following:
"Along with Mayor Jason West and his appointed deputy, trustee Rebecca Rotzler, Walsh gained international notoriety this year for promoting same-sex weddings in New Paltz." Wasserman, G. J. (2004, Jul 27). New paltz trustee leaves greens. The Poughkeepsie Journal Retrieved from
https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/new-paltz-trustee-leaves-greens/docview/436614502/se-2
Weak Keep, a deputy mayor is not necessarily notable, but given the Poughkeepsie Journal, which is a newspaper founded in 1785 and now owned by Gannett, and a few other mentions in mostly local papers, with headlines like "deputy mayor presides over gay weddings." The mentions are minor but I think her same-sex marriage thing got her some coverage that wasn't just passing. Andre🚐18:55, 12 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Weak Keep per
WP:BASIC and the national coverage she has received, e.g.
Green tide sweeps into New Paltz, N.Y. (CS Monitor, 2003, more than a passing mention due to context and some biographical information),
Mayor With A Mission (NYT Magazine, Mar. 28, 2004, apparent coverage in the context of a focus on West, but subscription blocked),
Christian Science teacher banned after lesbian marriage (AP/Boston.com, June 25, 2004, more than a passing mention due to context). There is also local coverage, with contributions from the AP:
Judge bars New Paltz officials from presiding at gay weddings (Daily Freeman, June 25, 2004, more than passing mention due to context). There appears to be non-routine political coverage to help support notability from multiple sources over time, including national coverage, which could be used to further develop the article. Per
WP:GNG fn4, a series of publications by the same author or in the same periodical is normally counted as one source, but broader coverage is available.
Beccaynr (
talk)
20:05, 12 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Thank you - based on my research, it looks like a paragraph could be added to this article about her role related to gay marriage (and the litigation) in the era before Obergefell v. Hodges, and the NYT article may help provide context for article development.
Beccaynr (
talk)
01:27, 13 August 2022 (UTC)reply
I am able to view the NYT article today, and I agree that there is not much, (e.g. "Despite encouragement from local Greens, West and Rebecca Rotzler, who works at the county Board of Education, along with Julia Walsh, a New Paltz student activist, were all still reluctant to run for the three board seats. But then President Bush went to war in Iraq.") but there seems to be more than a passing mention, and it seems to fit with other national reporting on her political career development that could help further develop the article.
Beccaynr (
talk)
02:58, 14 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete What we have is an interesting individual, with a smattering of independent coverage, but no significant coverage about her life or her policies while in office. Fails
WP:NPOL. The coverage in all of the sourcing (about the subject) is similar - passing mentions or maybe a line about her work and connection with the mayor,
Jason West, who was the focus of most of the coverage. Even the article "Deputy mayor to OK same-sex nuptials" only contains one line about the subject "Deputy Mayor Rebecca Rotzler is scheduled to certify same-sex marriages Saturday." There is no obvious redirect target. --
Enos733 (
talk)
19:57, 16 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete Small town (population 7,324) municipal employee fails
WP:NPOL. "Deputy mayor" is far from an inherently notable position, especially for a town with a population this small. Local coverage just doesn't cut it.
Novemberjazz23:29, 17 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete - I don't think any of the sources presented have significant coverage on Rotzler; just a sentence or two mentioning her at most.
Hatman31 (
talk)
22:43, 20 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete. Fails per
WP:NPOL. Notable sourcing by itself does not count as significant coverage and is not sufficient to justify existence of article given the nature of the passing mentions in those sources.
Doczilla@SUPERHEROLOGIST05:32, 28 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Delete The keep argument above is that someone who has regularly gotten one of her friends to write an article about her to fill out copy in a local paper is notable. I rather find that all significant coverage being from a single local paper (and all written by the same person) establishes that she does not fulfill the GNG.
Rockphed (
talk)
17:59, 28 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Redirect to
Jason West, to whom she was the deputy. The article and West mentions the same-sex marriage officiations, and can easily accommodate the words "along with his deputy mayor Rebecca Rotzler".
BD2412T05:19, 29 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Did you mean to cite POL the policy page? If you meant NPOL I am not finding allowances in the guideline for delegates and party chairs.
Bruxton (
talk)
21:36, 29 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Yes I meant NPOL indeed. I thought about it as such: she is a delegate to a body representing the green party at a national level. Therefore she is an official representative for a group pf people, (green party constituents in New York) and represents them within the grouping that is at a nation wide level. She represents New York state-wide, just not everyone in New York but just Green party voters in New York.
PiccklePiclePikel (
talk)
22:12, 29 August 2022 (UTC)reply
Bruxton is correct in saying that they "(are) not finding allowances in the (NPOL) guideline for delegates and party chairs". As I referenced in the nomination statement with the
link to the discussion that established consensus on this matter, NPOL does not confer presumed notability on national/state party chairs, and there is ample precedent for the articles of national state/party chairs (who did not meet WP:GNG) being deleted.
Sal2100 (
talk)
19:20, 30 August 2022 (UTC)reply
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.