District 8 Goes Old Skool
In choosing Sharon Bailey for City Council (by a plurality, run-off yet to come), District 8 voters opted for the most-educated, most-experienced-in-the-ways-of-government-bureaucracy, most previously-elected, and perhaps, “safest” candidate. Dr. Bailey’s website is an academic treatise. She has laid it all out. If you want to know what she thinks, read, read, read it here. She scored zero on my “internet responsiveness” measurement, but she told me she was sorry about that. She says “My top priority will be to provide more efficient and effective constituent services for District 8 residents.” and I believe her. Call me naïve, but I actually think she means what she says. Having Bailey as our representative will also give us more clout. With her background, she won’t start out at the bottom of the City Council newbies. Madison came in second, 484 votes behind Bailey and 74 votes ahead of Watson. That 74 votes is 1.19%, so I assume there won’t be an automatic recount. A candidate could request a recount, but they would have to pay for it, so I don’t think there will be one. In relegating Watson to third place, District 8 passed on a chance to snag the brightest and most inspiring candidate (IMHO). When I was editing the hours of candidate tapes, I always came away impressed by Watson. I think he could have provided a “new skool” kind of leadership that we haven’t seen before, actually inspiring the diverse population of our district in exciting, creative ways. I hope he continues to be active in politics. He might be better as a state legislator than on City Council. Greg Rasheed got only 7.7% of the vote. Despite his best intentions, I don’t think voters considered him to be a serious candidate. His “radio” personality sometimes made him seem superficial. His “youth” platform seemed limiting. He had the highest “internet responsiveness” score, but most voters apparently aren’t wired. You gotta love the guy anyway. Will losing candidates throw their support behind run-off candidates? Will the voters follow? Does anyone care? I was talking to my barber on Monday about the election. I asked if he had gotten a ballot. Yes, he said, a little sheepishly, he had gotten one, but he had thrown it away. And so it goes.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI gathered a lot of experience in running for office. I came in the race late but was able to make a dent in the election. More importantly, I hope I reached at least one person with my message of hope. You are the only person to call it superficial. Well, you can't win over everyone. My candidacy was serious. It was grassroots, it was not backed by wheelers and dealers but it was serious. I didn't take 4 months out of my life to do something as a lark. I am very serious in all my activities. Maybe one day, if you haven't done it before, you will decide to run for a political office. If you do, I promise to not call you superficial. Because running for office is hard work.
Peace,
Greg Rasheed
Greg:
ReplyDeleteI don't think your candidacy was superficial. I said I thought it seemed that way to some. I know how hard you worked and I think you gave it your all. Your message of hope was consistent and did come through. The importance of your "youth" platform was demonstrated when other candidates began to use it.
A friend of mine was smashed in the face with a rock from behind last night at 28th and Downing when he got out of his car after having to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting a bicyclist. Let's hope the winner of this run-off takes your message seriously.
Keep the faith.