Mayoral Musings
This November our little city will hold elections for Mayor.
So far there are three candidates and the primary is just under two weeks away.
I did not make it to the candidate forum sponsored by neighborhood associations tonight but I did attend the first one and I doubt the rhetoric has much changed since then.
One candidate has been our Mayor for several terms. He is competent, calm and in full command of the facts.
Next is a former sheriff who has convinced himself and is trying very hard (for about three years now) to convince the rest of us that the city is going straight to hell - crime is out of control, housing is falling apart all around us and the immigrants are going to steal our jobs in our sleep. Vote for him or else we're doomed, we're all going to die.
Candidate three has been on city council for some time. He represents a particularly troubled part of town and is the only minority on the ballot. Unfortunately he also struggles with putting a coherent sentence together, has grandiose ideas that often fall flat and can't seem to understand the process of government. If we all hold hands and vote for him (singing kumbaya) the jobs will spring forth from the ground and there will be programs (from the government) to save us all.
Problem is all three are likeable men. All three have valid points about at least one thing. To whit: Current Mayor = we are making progress and need to continue to do so; Former Sheriff = abandoned housing (absentee landlords who don't give a flying fig) is a problem and the police force is understaffed (due to lack of money though, not stupidity as he contends). City Councilman = we do need to all work together if we are going to improve our city.
But the race is going to get ugly.
Already we have political ads and signs that are in violation of campaign laws by not listing the "paid for by" disclaimer. One candidate is already charging into negative double-speak. And one candidate while trying to take the high road is letting things lie that probably shouldn't.
It will be a long summer. I imagine we will all get even more tired of this campaign than we did of the 18+ months of the presidential election.
Funny thing? The city finance director asked me the other day when I was going to run for council.
Council? What the heck... go for Mayor... after all, I can't do worse than two out of three of these guys.
So far there are three candidates and the primary is just under two weeks away.
I did not make it to the candidate forum sponsored by neighborhood associations tonight but I did attend the first one and I doubt the rhetoric has much changed since then.
One candidate has been our Mayor for several terms. He is competent, calm and in full command of the facts.
Next is a former sheriff who has convinced himself and is trying very hard (for about three years now) to convince the rest of us that the city is going straight to hell - crime is out of control, housing is falling apart all around us and the immigrants are going to steal our jobs in our sleep. Vote for him or else we're doomed, we're all going to die.
Candidate three has been on city council for some time. He represents a particularly troubled part of town and is the only minority on the ballot. Unfortunately he also struggles with putting a coherent sentence together, has grandiose ideas that often fall flat and can't seem to understand the process of government. If we all hold hands and vote for him (singing kumbaya) the jobs will spring forth from the ground and there will be programs (from the government) to save us all.
Problem is all three are likeable men. All three have valid points about at least one thing. To whit: Current Mayor = we are making progress and need to continue to do so; Former Sheriff = abandoned housing (absentee landlords who don't give a flying fig) is a problem and the police force is understaffed (due to lack of money though, not stupidity as he contends). City Councilman = we do need to all work together if we are going to improve our city.
But the race is going to get ugly.
Already we have political ads and signs that are in violation of campaign laws by not listing the "paid for by" disclaimer. One candidate is already charging into negative double-speak. And one candidate while trying to take the high road is letting things lie that probably shouldn't.
It will be a long summer. I imagine we will all get even more tired of this campaign than we did of the 18+ months of the presidential election.
Funny thing? The city finance director asked me the other day when I was going to run for council.
Council? What the heck... go for Mayor... after all, I can't do worse than two out of three of these guys.
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