Dave Davis wins in Ward 3. That's okay. I did not endorse anyone in my own ward because I had concerns about all the candidates.
Davis is a good guy. My concern is that he built his campaign on trying to have everyone get along. Sometimes that means a politician is willing to sacrifice doing what is right for doing what the others on the council do. As a voter and a Ward 3 resident, I'll be watching. I'm not particularly interested in having another Bill Waugh on the council. (And, it should be noted that I really like Bill Waugh and supported his campaign.)
Jordan Mason and John Roberts will face off in a Ward 4 run-off. My prediction is Mason will take it...and that is my endorsement as well. I like Mason's youth and enthusiasm. I doubt that LaCroix is all that surprised that he came in third in a three-man race.
I don't feel that Patti Martinson was a bad councilperson for Ward 1. Gary Brown says he wants better clear communication with the Ward 1 constituents. Let's hope he doesn't get censured for his efforts.
Over in Ward 5 Bonny Petersen and Ron Sasso will face each other in the June 29 run-off. Both candidates are in the health care industry. Sasso gets my nod because he does not appear to believe in compromising his principals. That is not to say that Petersen does. Sasso has been out there in front however, on the Kooiker censure. Petersen has been more quiet.
Only the unopposed Sam Kooiker returns. Gone are Malcom Chapman, Lloyd LaCroix, Patti Martinson, Karen Gunderson-Olson. And, I can't think of anyone who will be torn up about seeing any of them replaced.
2 comments:
I concur that Jordan Mason will win the runoff.
I wanted to write more earlier, but I didn't have time enough.
I enjoy your coverage of city hall very much. I support Sasso, however, to be fair, it seems to me that Bonny has been pretty clear: she also thinks the censure was an excellent example of bad government.
As for Ward 4, both seem like good guys, however, I agree with the Journal when it wrote that Roberts' proposal that all major city expenditures be subjected to the costly referendum process is an unwise and impractical proposal.
Referendums can be useful, especially for issues not too technical in nature. However, having a referendum on every major expenditure, like Roberts proposes, would cost the taxpayers an incredible amount of money and be very inefficient. I don't think any city has ever had a policy which provides that every major expenditure be referred to a vote - it is simply a bad idea. I don't want my taxpayer dollars funding an election every time the city proposes to improve infrastructure. That would be a colossal waste of money and very, very bad for economic development.
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