Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/J. Russell Sprague

:{{la|J. Russell Sprague}} ([{{fullurl:J. Russell Sprague|wpReason={{urlencode:AfD discussion: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/J. Russell Sprague}}&action=delete}} delete]) – (View AfD)(View log)

local politician, fails WP:BIO#Basic criteria, WP:POLITICIAN

• Delete, cites nothing. Until someone finds multiple, reliable, secondary sources, this man is not notable.--MrFish^{Go Fish} 00:05, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
• Delete as an unreferenced stub. Alexius08 is welcome to talk about his contributions. 00:19, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

• Keep. Merely saying "local politician" doesn't disprove notability. In New York outside of New York City, the County Executive plays a significant role. The notability depends, of course, on the size of the county, but Nassau County, New York is a very populous county (currently more than a million people). Just as being a mayor of a big city makes a person notable, so does being Nassau County Executive. JamesMLane t c 02:31, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

• Delete Notability undemonstrated. Local politicians must meet the usual bar; that is to say significant coverage in reliable sources independent of the subject. No sign of such in the article. RayAYang (talk) 02:41, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

• Note: This debate has been included in the list of Politicians-related deletion discussions. —JamesMLane t c 03:27, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
• Delete No evidence he satisfies WP:POLITICIAN. There is no established inherent notability for being a "county executive of Nassau County" any more than there is for being a "Kentucky Colonel." Edison2 (talk) 04:00, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
• Keep Nassau County executive is the equivalent of mayor of a city. It's an elected position, " the head of the executive branch of government in a county" The importance will obviously depend on the country involved--over 1 million counts as notable--we routinely accept mayor mayors at 1/10 of that. QAnd he held the position for 15 years 1938-53. Kentucky colonel is an honorary position, proverbially ludicrous in its prolific nature.. Look it up,and avoid irrelevant comparisons. DGG (talk) 10:11, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
• Keep Significant elected position. Obviously notable. Edward321 (talk) 13:28, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
• Keep Although the words "county executive" often conjure up pictures of some country bumpkin who operates an office out of the back of his feed store, Nassau County has a population of more than 1 million people. Unlike adjacent New York City, where so many of Nassau County's residents work, none of the suburban cities, hamlets and villages on Long Island are well-known. "Nassau-Suffolk" is one of the largest metropolitan statistical areas in the U.S., even ranked separately from NYC. Mandsford (talk) 14:09, 24 August 2008 (UTC)
• Keep, per article. County executive of Nassau (i.e. comparable to mayor of a sizeable city) and being the first county executive *ever* should be enough to pass WP:POLITICIAN per "Major local political figures who have received significant press coverage"—I can't prove the significant press coverage, and attempting to find that for a politician of the 40s via google is impossible, but there are still mentions in the NYT: [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E1DF143FF934A35750C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=] [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/20/nyregion/20linass.html] [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E6DF1F3DF93BA15751C0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all]. --Amalthea^Talk 17:39, 29 August 2008 (UTC)

:The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. 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.