Monday, November 12, 2007
One Nation, Under Guard...
What are the chances that President George W. Bush is coming to bring democracy to the 1st District of New Albany?
Friday, November 9, 2007
It Ain't That Tough
Remember. Dan Coffey only costs $500 a year. Anybody got $501 to buy his vote? Are there 100 of you willing to buy him for $5.01 per year?
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Doctor, to the Spreadsheet, STAT!
BONUS: Eric Scott Campbell provides this useful analysis in Thursday's editions of The Tribune. I'm still not sure why Campbell believes that newly drawn council districts for the next election have any impact on voting or representation. It is possible that someone like Mr. Price would be less inclined to listen to people who can't vote for him in the next election, but I doubt it. He represents those precincts that elected him. His successor will represent those who elect him or her. What's the problem? Yes, tampering by the city council during an election year may have depressed turnout, but maybe that's what the council wanted all along. As I understand it, the plaintiffs were unable to get a court date prior to this election and unless the court overturns this one on Constitutional or statutory grounds, any new districts, whether drawn this month or imposed by a judge, will only affect the 2011 races.
Enormous props to the 202 wise souls in council District 1 who elected to follow the advice of Tribune publisher John Tucker and leave the ballot blank when faced with the choice of Dan Coffey or no representation at all. As much as Mr. Coffey may believe he acts in the best interests of his constituents, the evidence shows otherwise.
Ironically, the Republicans had a quite respectable candidate on Tuesday's ballot who met all the requirements to take on the incumbent: He lives in the First District, has the ability to reason, and had demonstrated a certain amount of discernment. As for life experience, he was well-traveled, educated, and familiar with the concept of learning. He was neither afraid to confront the future nor unwilling to consider ideas generated later than the administration of U.S. Grant. Alas, he chose to run for council at-large and went down to defeat.
Now, it's difficult to know how many of the "undervotes" recorded in Coffey's re-election were actually write-in votes for the beloved Skittles. But we do know that the undervotes in the District 1 council race (incumbent unopposed) dwarf the total of undervotes in all five of the other districts.
The First District, suffering under its last election day in its present configuration, is not irredeemable. It clearly is NOT "similar" to the Third District, as goes the theory put forward by Democrat Steve Price when challenged about his 98% plus voting lockstep with Mr. Coffey during the past four years. But it is demonstrably not without a certain number of informed voters.
It also, unfortunately, recorded the lowest turnout by percentage - 20.91%.
John Gonder, newly elected as one of three at-large council members, topped all his competitors in capturing the highest vote totals in 14 of the 34 city districts. Kevin Zurschmeide, incumbent but being elected also for the first time, was tops in 11 other districts and failed to demonstrate quite so much geographic strength. And Jack Messer returns to the council with the highest council vote, edging Gonder by one vote overall. Messer inherits a much-deserved position of leadership as a consequence of his first term excellence, outreach, and willingness to obtain consensus.
Speaking of consensus, the next four years will call for plenty of that if New Albany is to progress. And that goes for the whole citizenry, not just the elected representatives.
Randy Hubbard, the losing Republican offering for mayor, showed strength in about 1/3 of the city, but didn't have coattails at all. Jeff Gahan (D-6, Incumbent) lost two precincts of six. Rookie Diane McCartin Benedetti (D-5, Rookie) lost one precinct of five. No other Democrat lost a single precinct.
We'll be parsing the numbers again later. For those of you looking to 2011, we encourage you to stay logged in for more numbers.
The serious numbers aren't who got how many votes, but rather which precincts contain the richest veins of disillusioned voters - those registered but finding no compelling reason to cast a vote. Some say its the only way to send a message. The other way is to organize, advocate, and serve those who don't believe city government is relevant to their lives.
Imagine a 2011 election where twice as many people vote. Not because they are mad or sad, but because they believe that government can be effective. No vote total measured in 2007 will be at all relevant if 16,000 New Albanians turn out that November.
Coming soon: What to expect from the England administration and what to expect from the new council.
Enormous props to the 202 wise souls in council District 1 who elected to follow the advice of Tribune publisher John Tucker and leave the ballot blank when faced with the choice of Dan Coffey or no representation at all. As much as Mr. Coffey may believe he acts in the best interests of his constituents, the evidence shows otherwise.
Ironically, the Republicans had a quite respectable candidate on Tuesday's ballot who met all the requirements to take on the incumbent: He lives in the First District, has the ability to reason, and had demonstrated a certain amount of discernment. As for life experience, he was well-traveled, educated, and familiar with the concept of learning. He was neither afraid to confront the future nor unwilling to consider ideas generated later than the administration of U.S. Grant. Alas, he chose to run for council at-large and went down to defeat.
Now, it's difficult to know how many of the "undervotes" recorded in Coffey's re-election were actually write-in votes for the beloved Skittles. But we do know that the undervotes in the District 1 council race (incumbent unopposed) dwarf the total of undervotes in all five of the other districts.
The First District, suffering under its last election day in its present configuration, is not irredeemable. It clearly is NOT "similar" to the Third District, as goes the theory put forward by Democrat Steve Price when challenged about his 98% plus voting lockstep with Mr. Coffey during the past four years. But it is demonstrably not without a certain number of informed voters.
It also, unfortunately, recorded the lowest turnout by percentage - 20.91%.
John Gonder, newly elected as one of three at-large council members, topped all his competitors in capturing the highest vote totals in 14 of the 34 city districts. Kevin Zurschmeide, incumbent but being elected also for the first time, was tops in 11 other districts and failed to demonstrate quite so much geographic strength. And Jack Messer returns to the council with the highest council vote, edging Gonder by one vote overall. Messer inherits a much-deserved position of leadership as a consequence of his first term excellence, outreach, and willingness to obtain consensus.
Speaking of consensus, the next four years will call for plenty of that if New Albany is to progress. And that goes for the whole citizenry, not just the elected representatives.
Randy Hubbard, the losing Republican offering for mayor, showed strength in about 1/3 of the city, but didn't have coattails at all. Jeff Gahan (D-6, Incumbent) lost two precincts of six. Rookie Diane McCartin Benedetti (D-5, Rookie) lost one precinct of five. No other Democrat lost a single precinct.
We'll be parsing the numbers again later. For those of you looking to 2011, we encourage you to stay logged in for more numbers.
The serious numbers aren't who got how many votes, but rather which precincts contain the richest veins of disillusioned voters - those registered but finding no compelling reason to cast a vote. Some say its the only way to send a message. The other way is to organize, advocate, and serve those who don't believe city government is relevant to their lives.
Imagine a 2011 election where twice as many people vote. Not because they are mad or sad, but because they believe that government can be effective. No vote total measured in 2007 will be at all relevant if 16,000 New Albanians turn out that November.
Coming soon: What to expect from the England administration and what to expect from the new council.
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Democrats Earn First At-Bat
Hi, Randy Smith here. All4word for those of you who are long-time blog readers, contributors, and commenters.
Thank you to shadowna5 for allowing me to contribute tonight. Let me thank Linda Moeller, Bill Lohmeyer, Terry Ginkins, and Jimmy Hancock for granting me press access to the election board. I hope that we lived up to the practical standards of good journalism.
Journalism is, at root, journaling, and I believe that so long as you reveal your biases it is perfectly acceptable to editorialize while reporting. I hope, for my sake and for shadow5's, that the point of view wasn't too annoying to blog readers.
As it turned out, and as best as we can determine, NA Shadow Council provided the first and most accurate online results of the New Albany municipal elections.
An unexpected technical glitch almost prevented us from providing this service to the public. An unexpected technical glitch delayed the County Clerk's official site from providing preliminary numbers, too. Fortunately, everything came together and for those who simply had to know the results as they came in, NA Shadow Council was able to provide them.
As I told a number of people, I haven't enjoyed myself as much in 30 years. I hope our reporting was useful to you. I look forward to working with NA Shadow Council over the next four years to provide you with timely news and opinion on city council issues.
Thank you again to Linda Moeller and the Floyd County Election Board. You could not have been more gracious to us and to the other members of the press who relied on your outstanding accommodation of the media on election night.
Congratulations to Doug England, our next mayor. Congratulations to Jack Messer, John Gonder, and Kevin Zurschmeide, our returning and new at-large council members. Kevin and John are elected for the first time and Jack's leadership over the past four years was amply rewarded. Maybe someday I'll relate a neat story about the 4,106-4,105 margin for top vote-getter. In a third class city, that would make Jack the mayor.
We extend our personal congratulations to Bob Caesar, who will represent the 2nd District beginning in January. A massive improvement, to our way of thinking. Pat McLaughlin's victory is even sweeter. Pat lost by a narrow margin to incumbent Larry Kochert in 2003 and despite Kochert's attempts to screw Pat this year, McLaughlin won handily. We're equally pleased and happy to extend congratulations to Jeff Gahan, who, despite an inexplicable single-issue stance, has proved to be a true representative of all that is best for New Albany.
We're less enthused, but not totally dismayed by the victory of Diane McCartin Benedetti, or Diane McCartin-Benedetti, depending on who you consult for naming conventions. Undisclosed but adequately confirmed expressions by that council member-elect raise serious questions, but we look forward to seeing whether the new actual5 can live up to the standard set by shadow5's set of issues.
We've been made aware of a serious effort to help the returning 3rd District council member become a true champion of his constituents' interests. Let's hope Mr. Price can mature into an admirable representative for the true interests of those he represents. His victory met expectations.
Mr. Coffey, unopposed this election, remains an embarrassment to his district, his party, and to humanity. Should he evade indictment and conviction for despicable crimes, he will serve for the next four years and can be expected to vote consistently against the interest of his constituents.
Marcey, you did everything and more that anyone could expect in serving this community and navigating the dangerous waters of city government. Congratulations, Ms. Wisman, for your victory and reelection to the important office of City Clerk. Let us know how we can help you.
This will be the first of many requests this blog will make of the new council: Increase the budget, including the salaries, for the office of the City Clerk.
The Democratic victory, the second in two elections, lays the groundwork for a singular opportunity. Fail to achieve progress, and you won't have a shot at a third near-sweep. Republicans have lots of lessons to learn from this election and they will assuredly be trying to discern them.
Take full advantage of the opportunity, Dems, and start to work now. Don't wait until January. Now is the time to seize the reins and develop the program for the future. This time, there won't be any lectures from Uncle Dan, at least none that anyone will listen to. Gahan and Messer, in particular, won't waste a minute on taking advice from the increasingly isolated and irrelevant Mr. Coffey. I doubt that Mr. Gonder and Mrs. Benedetti will waste any time mining the "Bazooka Joe(r)" insights of the last-term council member from the former 1st District.
That leaves you, Mr. McLaughlin. With whom will you align yourself? The Coffey Clatch or the future? If even Mr. Price is prepared to abandon the failed policies of "Councilman Cappucino," mightn't you see the advantage of aligning yourself with the 21st Century instead of the 19th?
Thank you to shadowna5 for allowing me to contribute tonight. Let me thank Linda Moeller, Bill Lohmeyer, Terry Ginkins, and Jimmy Hancock for granting me press access to the election board. I hope that we lived up to the practical standards of good journalism.
Journalism is, at root, journaling, and I believe that so long as you reveal your biases it is perfectly acceptable to editorialize while reporting. I hope, for my sake and for shadow5's, that the point of view wasn't too annoying to blog readers.
As it turned out, and as best as we can determine, NA Shadow Council provided the first and most accurate online results of the New Albany municipal elections.
An unexpected technical glitch almost prevented us from providing this service to the public. An unexpected technical glitch delayed the County Clerk's official site from providing preliminary numbers, too. Fortunately, everything came together and for those who simply had to know the results as they came in, NA Shadow Council was able to provide them.
As I told a number of people, I haven't enjoyed myself as much in 30 years. I hope our reporting was useful to you. I look forward to working with NA Shadow Council over the next four years to provide you with timely news and opinion on city council issues.
Thank you again to Linda Moeller and the Floyd County Election Board. You could not have been more gracious to us and to the other members of the press who relied on your outstanding accommodation of the media on election night.
Congratulations to Doug England, our next mayor. Congratulations to Jack Messer, John Gonder, and Kevin Zurschmeide, our returning and new at-large council members. Kevin and John are elected for the first time and Jack's leadership over the past four years was amply rewarded. Maybe someday I'll relate a neat story about the 4,106-4,105 margin for top vote-getter. In a third class city, that would make Jack the mayor.
We extend our personal congratulations to Bob Caesar, who will represent the 2nd District beginning in January. A massive improvement, to our way of thinking. Pat McLaughlin's victory is even sweeter. Pat lost by a narrow margin to incumbent Larry Kochert in 2003 and despite Kochert's attempts to screw Pat this year, McLaughlin won handily. We're equally pleased and happy to extend congratulations to Jeff Gahan, who, despite an inexplicable single-issue stance, has proved to be a true representative of all that is best for New Albany.
We're less enthused, but not totally dismayed by the victory of Diane McCartin Benedetti, or Diane McCartin-Benedetti, depending on who you consult for naming conventions. Undisclosed but adequately confirmed expressions by that council member-elect raise serious questions, but we look forward to seeing whether the new actual5 can live up to the standard set by shadow5's set of issues.
We've been made aware of a serious effort to help the returning 3rd District council member become a true champion of his constituents' interests. Let's hope Mr. Price can mature into an admirable representative for the true interests of those he represents. His victory met expectations.
Mr. Coffey, unopposed this election, remains an embarrassment to his district, his party, and to humanity. Should he evade indictment and conviction for despicable crimes, he will serve for the next four years and can be expected to vote consistently against the interest of his constituents.
Marcey, you did everything and more that anyone could expect in serving this community and navigating the dangerous waters of city government. Congratulations, Ms. Wisman, for your victory and reelection to the important office of City Clerk. Let us know how we can help you.
This will be the first of many requests this blog will make of the new council: Increase the budget, including the salaries, for the office of the City Clerk.
The Democratic victory, the second in two elections, lays the groundwork for a singular opportunity. Fail to achieve progress, and you won't have a shot at a third near-sweep. Republicans have lots of lessons to learn from this election and they will assuredly be trying to discern them.
Take full advantage of the opportunity, Dems, and start to work now. Don't wait until January. Now is the time to seize the reins and develop the program for the future. This time, there won't be any lectures from Uncle Dan, at least none that anyone will listen to. Gahan and Messer, in particular, won't waste a minute on taking advice from the increasingly isolated and irrelevant Mr. Coffey. I doubt that Mr. Gonder and Mrs. Benedetti will waste any time mining the "Bazooka Joe(r)" insights of the last-term council member from the former 1st District.
That leaves you, Mr. McLaughlin. With whom will you align yourself? The Coffey Clatch or the future? If even Mr. Price is prepared to abandon the failed policies of "Councilman Cappucino," mightn't you see the advantage of aligning yourself with the 21st Century instead of the 19th?
Live From the Election Board
Incumbent Jack Messer earned the highest total of votes in Tuesday's election for council member at-large with 4,106 votes tallied. Fellow Democrat John Gonder recorded one fewer nods, with 4,105. Republican Kevin Zurschmeide will join the pair on the nine-member council.
Three Democratic Party incumbents were returned to office along with newcomers Pat McLaughlin, Bob Caesar, and Diane Benedetti. Jeff Gahan, Steve Price, and Dan Coffey, all Democrats, return to office.
Doug England made easy work of his opponent and will be sworn in this January to a third term as Mayor of New Albany.
Eight Democrats will join incumbent Republican Kevin Zurschmeide on New Albany's City Council after edging Democrat James Hollis for the final at-large seat. Zurschmeide took 3,772 votes to Hollis's 3,632.
BULLETIN: The City Council lineup is set with incumbents Dan Coffey (D-1), Steve Price (D-3), Jeff Gahan (D-6), and Jack Messer (D-At-large) returned to office. Joining them will be John Gonder, the leading vote-getter in the at-large race, Diane McCartin Benedetti (D-5), and Bob Caesar (D-2). We await the cliffhanger between Zurschmeide (R-At-large) and Hollis (D-At-large). WNAS reports Zurschmeide edged Hollis.
The judge at Ekin Avenue is having problems closing the voting, so District 5 is still up in the air with precincts 9 and 10 still to report. Bliss is hanging in there.
Doug England (D) is the mayor-elect. Marcey Wisman (D) is returned as city clerk.
7:02 Italics means the counting is over in that race. As of the moment, Steve Price, Dan Coffey, and Bob Caesar are elected. The smell of a Democratic sweep is in the air...Mr. Gahan is in a fight, but safer than incumbent Republican Kevin Zurschmeide, who trail the third Democrat in the at-large race with only four precincts to go.
With 34 of 34 precincts reporting 100% of precincts
County Clerk Linda Moeller provides the preliminary but not quite "official" numbers, by precinct, for your analysis, at http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/2007electionprecinct.htm.
Our apologies for leaving "bad" numbers up for more than four hours. The "facts" were provided, but the margins were incomplete.
6:36 p.m. First "official" results are in, with 7 precincts reporting. WNAS reports that Doug England will return to the mayor's office by a 200-vote margin. But here are the early official numbers.
England with 56.86% of the vote out of 1,261 votes.
Gonder leads in the at-large race, followed by Messer and Hollis, all Democrats.
Coffey has 372 votes in D1
No votes yet for D2
Price 48.92%, Scharlow 47.84% with a margin of 4 votes.
Benedetti leads Bliss in D5 by 54.64% of the vote.
No reports in D4 or D6
Wisman leads with 63.86% of the vote.
This is with 18% of the precincts reporting.
6:28 p.m. We are waiting for the very first reports. Bob Snook says he expected to have all the results by now. Mr. Snook is here reporting to the Calumet Club for the Republicans...we had met before and he reminds me that John Gonder and Ruthanne Wolfe credit (blame?) him for their having met.
Great story being told as we wait. Chairman Lohmeyer is telling war stories from four decades ago.
In the context of close elections (the recent sheriff race, and perhaps tonight's races), Bill told us how he has personal experience with it all. Seems that 40 years ago this week Bill went on the radio to declare victory in the race for city judge, having defeated the late Basil (Bud) Lorch by 397 votes. Yet, on the way home in the car he hears that Mr. Lorch has been declared the winner.
We won't go into the details tonight, but the case of Lorch v. Lohmeyer went all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court where, by a 3-2 party line vote, Al Gore...oops, Bill Lohmeyer was denied a victory and Mr. Lorch assumed the office.
Linda Moeller, County Court Clerk, is the big cheese over this operation, along with the Election Board. That board consists of 2 Democrats and 1 Republican who, with the clerk run the election. Bill Lohmeyer is chairman, Terry Ginkins is the other Democrat, and Jimmy Hancock serves to keep things kosher for the GOP.
That board's composition is determined by how Floyd County voted in the latest election for Secretary of State. Last time out, Floyd voted for the Democrat and even though the Democrat did not win statewide, that sets the makeup of the local board. The last few elections were "run" by a majority-Republican board of election.
Linda, as could be expected, has been very good about welcoming the media into the fray. Although none of the accredited media nor this blogger are permitted into the inner sanctum, we have been made welcome.
Mrs. Moeller, of necessity, is not on the second floor, but rather in the lobby of the building to assist in the "recovery" of the ballots, etc.
We're counting down with the Election Board at the City-County Building. We'll again post from newest to oldest. One longtime observer of the election scene says the numbers are small enough to be different from the regular municipal race with an incumbent. Those are usually high numbers, by tradition to vote out the "bums" (his word, not mine).
Another expert who ought to know has indicated that our earlier prediction of 8,800 total voters may not be very far off.
In any case, it's no longer time for predictions. It's time for the counting.
Here's how it's going to work. First, the election board will direct its technical people to post partial results as they come in. Only later will we have precinct-by-precinct totals.
To join the party live, log on to http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/ for real-time results.
Three Democratic Party incumbents were returned to office along with newcomers Pat McLaughlin, Bob Caesar, and Diane Benedetti. Jeff Gahan, Steve Price, and Dan Coffey, all Democrats, return to office.
Doug England made easy work of his opponent and will be sworn in this January to a third term as Mayor of New Albany.
Eight Democrats will join incumbent Republican Kevin Zurschmeide on New Albany's City Council after edging Democrat James Hollis for the final at-large seat. Zurschmeide took 3,772 votes to Hollis's 3,632.
BULLETIN: The City Council lineup is set with incumbents Dan Coffey (D-1), Steve Price (D-3), Jeff Gahan (D-6), and Jack Messer (D-At-large) returned to office. Joining them will be John Gonder, the leading vote-getter in the at-large race, Diane McCartin Benedetti (D-5), and Bob Caesar (D-2). We await the cliffhanger between Zurschmeide (R-At-large) and Hollis (D-At-large). WNAS reports Zurschmeide edged Hollis.
The judge at Ekin Avenue is having problems closing the voting, so District 5 is still up in the air with precincts 9 and 10 still to report. Bliss is hanging in there.
Doug England (D) is the mayor-elect. Marcey Wisman (D) is returned as city clerk.
7:02 Italics means the counting is over in that race. As of the moment, Steve Price, Dan Coffey, and Bob Caesar are elected. The smell of a Democratic sweep is in the air...Mr. Gahan is in a fight, but safer than incumbent Republican Kevin Zurschmeide, who trail the third Democrat in the at-large race with only four precincts to go.
With 34 of 34 precincts reporting 100% of precincts
County Clerk Linda Moeller provides the preliminary but not quite "official" numbers, by precinct, for your analysis, at http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/2007electionprecinct.htm.
Our apologies for leaving "bad" numbers up for more than four hours. The "facts" were provided, but the margins were incomplete.
6:36 p.m. First "official" results are in, with 7 precincts reporting. WNAS reports that Doug England will return to the mayor's office by a 200-vote margin. But here are the early official numbers.
England with 56.86% of the vote out of 1,261 votes.
Gonder leads in the at-large race, followed by Messer and Hollis, all Democrats.
Coffey has 372 votes in D1
No votes yet for D2
Price 48.92%, Scharlow 47.84% with a margin of 4 votes.
Benedetti leads Bliss in D5 by 54.64% of the vote.
No reports in D4 or D6
Wisman leads with 63.86% of the vote.
This is with 18% of the precincts reporting.
6:28 p.m. We are waiting for the very first reports. Bob Snook says he expected to have all the results by now. Mr. Snook is here reporting to the Calumet Club for the Republicans...we had met before and he reminds me that John Gonder and Ruthanne Wolfe credit (blame?) him for their having met.
Great story being told as we wait. Chairman Lohmeyer is telling war stories from four decades ago.
In the context of close elections (the recent sheriff race, and perhaps tonight's races), Bill told us how he has personal experience with it all. Seems that 40 years ago this week Bill went on the radio to declare victory in the race for city judge, having defeated the late Basil (Bud) Lorch by 397 votes. Yet, on the way home in the car he hears that Mr. Lorch has been declared the winner.
We won't go into the details tonight, but the case of Lorch v. Lohmeyer went all the way to the Indiana Supreme Court where, by a 3-2 party line vote, Al Gore...oops, Bill Lohmeyer was denied a victory and Mr. Lorch assumed the office.
Linda Moeller, County Court Clerk, is the big cheese over this operation, along with the Election Board. That board consists of 2 Democrats and 1 Republican who, with the clerk run the election. Bill Lohmeyer is chairman, Terry Ginkins is the other Democrat, and Jimmy Hancock serves to keep things kosher for the GOP.
That board's composition is determined by how Floyd County voted in the latest election for Secretary of State. Last time out, Floyd voted for the Democrat and even though the Democrat did not win statewide, that sets the makeup of the local board. The last few elections were "run" by a majority-Republican board of election.
Linda, as could be expected, has been very good about welcoming the media into the fray. Although none of the accredited media nor this blogger are permitted into the inner sanctum, we have been made welcome.
Mrs. Moeller, of necessity, is not on the second floor, but rather in the lobby of the building to assist in the "recovery" of the ballots, etc.
We're counting down with the Election Board at the City-County Building. We'll again post from newest to oldest. One longtime observer of the election scene says the numbers are small enough to be different from the regular municipal race with an incumbent. Those are usually high numbers, by tradition to vote out the "bums" (his word, not mine).
Another expert who ought to know has indicated that our earlier prediction of 8,800 total voters may not be very far off.
In any case, it's no longer time for predictions. It's time for the counting.
Here's how it's going to work. First, the election board will direct its technical people to post partial results as they come in. Only later will we have precinct-by-precinct totals.
To join the party live, log on to http://www.floydcounty.in.gov/ for real-time results.
Live All Day Election Reporting
Late report: Precincts 5 and 6 (council District 3) vote at S. Ellen Jones School and are reporting a combined total of about 270 voters. Precincts 9 and 10 (council District 5) vote at Ekin Avenue Recreation Center and are reporting 335 voters combined. Each of these precincts contains about 1,000 residents.
We'll be shutting down at about 5:15 to prepare for rapid election returns. Not that it's a race, but The Tribune is promising a 6:30 report that will probably only give you the winners. I guess that's what counts, but we want the precinct numbers, too, for analysis.
4:13 p.m. These hour-old reports seem to confirm our expectations on raw vote totals and on trends vis-a-vis who is voting and who is not. A combined vote total, including absentee and early voting for 19A and 19B, which vote at the 4-H center, is 775 voters. That corresponds pretty well with our projections. Precinct 2 (Scribner Middle School) reports 104 voters, again in line with our overall vote total projection.
For the record, here are shadow5's endorsements, issued earlier this week.
For Mayor and City Council
For City Clerk
3:10 p.m. We'll be happy to eat our words later, but here's your T-3 hours prediction. It's based on statistical modeling and a surely faulty data set, but what should have been a blowout is turning into an extremely tight race for mayor. That won't help vulnerable incumbents like Jeff Gahan in District 6, either. The incumbent city clerk and the Democrats running at-large will be affected, too. As of this hour, we're predicting a victory by Republican Randy Hubbard by fewer than 100 votes. Unless the weekend anti-Hubbard literature dump demoralized natural Hubbard voters (or anti-England voters), GOP turnout should be "normal" and Democratic turnout severely depressed. We're eager for more information to refine this prediction, but we see it as 4,425 for Hubbard, 4,375 for England. That's 50.28% Red, 49.72% Blue. Getting out the vote in the next two hours is now a Democratic Party imperative.
3:05 p.m. Although it's just a stab in the dark, we're projecting a total vote in the neighborhood of 7,950 [Ed. that's live voting. Add 850 for early voting and absentees for a total of 8,800]. Not as bad as indicated a few moments ago, but still remarkably low. The voters are really turned off is the consensus opinion. Many people sitting this one out.
3 p.m. It's purely anecdotal, but it's starting to look like a record low turnout. That's a recipe for the bad guys to win. That's not to cast aspersions on anyone who wins, but the city is not served well by low turnouts. As we parse the numbers here at election central, it's starting to seem that the raw number of general election voters will be pretty close to the number of voters in the primaries. If that's true, the final tally is going to be embarrassingly low. In District 3, that bodes ill for the incumbent, who would ordinarily rely on straight-party voters to put him over the top. With a competitive race at the top of the ticket, a the barest beginnings of a Scharlow upset are in the making. That same low turnout works against Doug England and the other Democrats running citywide. The core Democratic precincts are staying home while the suburb-style parts of New Albany are voting at about twice the level. Could we be seeing a major restructuring of the party landscape?
2:36 p.m. Less than four hours of voting left and this just in: Precinct 6 (in the District 3 race between Scharlow and Price (and Keister)), a 1:30 report says 118 had voted. That precinct contains just under a thousand people, pegging the voting in the mid teens, by our guess. Again, you would think that a low turnout would favor the incumbent Democrat.
In related news from Jeffersonville, council members in that third class city (that's a legal designation) voted to raise the pay of elected officials just before election day. Here's an excerpt from Larry Thomas's report from the Evening News. "If ultimately enacted, the ordinance would up the mayor’s annual salary from $62,481 to $84,000, an increase of $21,519, or 34.4 percent. The clerk-treasurer’s salary would increase $8,956, or 15.4 percent, from $58,244 to $67,200. The City Court judge’s salary would increase 10.4 percent, or $5,674, from $54,326 to $60,000. Council salaries would increase from $9,762 to $13,350, an increase of $3,588, or 26.9 percent." Hmmmm.
1:05 p.m. With much more reliable reporting by this time of day, one of today's contributors was able to predict the total Democratic vote for mayor in the spring primary within just a couple of votes. It doesn't look like we'll have that kind of reliability today without a formal canvass of the voting places. Keep sending those reports in.
1 p.m. The Tribune reported online at http://www.newsandtribune.com/ that 42 votes had been recorded at precint 28A in District 6 (Jeff Gahan defends his seat against late entry Sam Anderson). And that was at 7:30 a.m. On that sketchy evidence, let's assume a heavy turnout at the margins of the city; I believe that is Gahan's home precinct, but also home to a slightly more affluent crowd that by conventional wisdom would be expected to vote for Republicans.
12:30 p.m. The Ekin Avenue Recreation Center is the polling place for precincts 9 and 10. Both were in District 5, where Dick Bliss contends with Diane McCartin-Benedetti for the open seat. P10 has been moved into District 3, however, if the recent city council ordinance is valid. Canvassing and campaigning is prohibited within 50 feet of the polling place, but the interpretation of the county clerk of that prohibition is that the measurement starts from the actual polling booth, permitting campaigners to work the steps and doorway. At least one reporter says that this exercise of free speech was harassing and intimidating and that the McCartin-Benedetti poll workers were aggressively hawking their candidate.
Noon
Report of light voting in precinct 5. At 11:30, 50 voters had passed through the polling place at S. Ellen Jones Elementary School. P5 is loaded with Scharlow voters, but the interesting thing is that we can probably personally name 50 people who will definitely vote and will definitely vote for Scharlow. It's counterintuitive, of course, but the low turnout might just mean that Price voters are staying home this time around. P5 contains 1,049 residents, so let's call it a 10% turnout so far.
11:42 a.m.
P16 - heavy turnout in District 2 (Caesar v. Harbison)
P3 - light turnout in District 3 (Price v. Scharlow v. Keister)
11:41 a.m. Call 'em in when you vote. or e-mail us your reports.
11:40 a.m. Since we don't have the registered voter numbers, we'll be going with residential population numbers from the 2000 census.
11:30 a.m. Harvesting from various sources, precinct 3 had recorded at least 56 voters by 10 a.m. P3 contains 1,500 residents. That's a light turnout in one of the Price v. Scharlow key precincts, the largest in District 3 and heavily Democratic. Light turnout would presumably favor Price.
9:45 a.m. Early indications are that turnout will be heavy in the New Albany Municipal elections today. We'll be passing on the tidbits of news we receive here at election central throughout the day and are planning to report election returns and commentary throughout the evening.
Send us your precinct voting totals during the day as you vote. Also, please feel free to report election irregularities to the precinct judge, the county clerk, and to us.
Precinct 16 reports more than 100 voters through the polling place as of 9:30. That indicates a surprisingly heavy turnout. According to the 2000 census, there are 1,184 residents in 16. We don't have the registered voter count, but let's assume it's 600 voters. That would mean that with more than 8 hours of voting time remaining, 16% of registered voters have turned out. That would not count early and absentee votes. Pretty impressive. Congratulations to the residents of precinct 16.
We'll be shutting down at about 5:15 to prepare for rapid election returns. Not that it's a race, but The Tribune is promising a 6:30 report that will probably only give you the winners. I guess that's what counts, but we want the precinct numbers, too, for analysis.
4:13 p.m. These hour-old reports seem to confirm our expectations on raw vote totals and on trends vis-a-vis who is voting and who is not. A combined vote total, including absentee and early voting for 19A and 19B, which vote at the 4-H center, is 775 voters. That corresponds pretty well with our projections. Precinct 2 (Scribner Middle School) reports 104 voters, again in line with our overall vote total projection.
For the record, here are shadow5's endorsements, issued earlier this week.
For Mayor and City Council
For City Clerk
3:10 p.m. We'll be happy to eat our words later, but here's your T-3 hours prediction. It's based on statistical modeling and a surely faulty data set, but what should have been a blowout is turning into an extremely tight race for mayor. That won't help vulnerable incumbents like Jeff Gahan in District 6, either. The incumbent city clerk and the Democrats running at-large will be affected, too. As of this hour, we're predicting a victory by Republican Randy Hubbard by fewer than 100 votes. Unless the weekend anti-Hubbard literature dump demoralized natural Hubbard voters (or anti-England voters), GOP turnout should be "normal" and Democratic turnout severely depressed. We're eager for more information to refine this prediction, but we see it as 4,425 for Hubbard, 4,375 for England. That's 50.28% Red, 49.72% Blue. Getting out the vote in the next two hours is now a Democratic Party imperative.
3:05 p.m. Although it's just a stab in the dark, we're projecting a total vote in the neighborhood of 7,950 [Ed. that's live voting. Add 850 for early voting and absentees for a total of 8,800]. Not as bad as indicated a few moments ago, but still remarkably low. The voters are really turned off is the consensus opinion. Many people sitting this one out.
3 p.m. It's purely anecdotal, but it's starting to look like a record low turnout. That's a recipe for the bad guys to win. That's not to cast aspersions on anyone who wins, but the city is not served well by low turnouts. As we parse the numbers here at election central, it's starting to seem that the raw number of general election voters will be pretty close to the number of voters in the primaries. If that's true, the final tally is going to be embarrassingly low. In District 3, that bodes ill for the incumbent, who would ordinarily rely on straight-party voters to put him over the top. With a competitive race at the top of the ticket, a the barest beginnings of a Scharlow upset are in the making. That same low turnout works against Doug England and the other Democrats running citywide. The core Democratic precincts are staying home while the suburb-style parts of New Albany are voting at about twice the level. Could we be seeing a major restructuring of the party landscape?
2:36 p.m. Less than four hours of voting left and this just in: Precinct 6 (in the District 3 race between Scharlow and Price (and Keister)), a 1:30 report says 118 had voted. That precinct contains just under a thousand people, pegging the voting in the mid teens, by our guess. Again, you would think that a low turnout would favor the incumbent Democrat.
In related news from Jeffersonville, council members in that third class city (that's a legal designation) voted to raise the pay of elected officials just before election day. Here's an excerpt from Larry Thomas's report from the Evening News. "If ultimately enacted, the ordinance would up the mayor’s annual salary from $62,481 to $84,000, an increase of $21,519, or 34.4 percent. The clerk-treasurer’s salary would increase $8,956, or 15.4 percent, from $58,244 to $67,200. The City Court judge’s salary would increase 10.4 percent, or $5,674, from $54,326 to $60,000. Council salaries would increase from $9,762 to $13,350, an increase of $3,588, or 26.9 percent." Hmmmm.
1:05 p.m. With much more reliable reporting by this time of day, one of today's contributors was able to predict the total Democratic vote for mayor in the spring primary within just a couple of votes. It doesn't look like we'll have that kind of reliability today without a formal canvass of the voting places. Keep sending those reports in.
1 p.m. The Tribune reported online at http://www.newsandtribune.com/ that 42 votes had been recorded at precint 28A in District 6 (Jeff Gahan defends his seat against late entry Sam Anderson). And that was at 7:30 a.m. On that sketchy evidence, let's assume a heavy turnout at the margins of the city; I believe that is Gahan's home precinct, but also home to a slightly more affluent crowd that by conventional wisdom would be expected to vote for Republicans.
12:30 p.m. The Ekin Avenue Recreation Center is the polling place for precincts 9 and 10. Both were in District 5, where Dick Bliss contends with Diane McCartin-Benedetti for the open seat. P10 has been moved into District 3, however, if the recent city council ordinance is valid. Canvassing and campaigning is prohibited within 50 feet of the polling place, but the interpretation of the county clerk of that prohibition is that the measurement starts from the actual polling booth, permitting campaigners to work the steps and doorway. At least one reporter says that this exercise of free speech was harassing and intimidating and that the McCartin-Benedetti poll workers were aggressively hawking their candidate.
Noon
Report of light voting in precinct 5. At 11:30, 50 voters had passed through the polling place at S. Ellen Jones Elementary School. P5 is loaded with Scharlow voters, but the interesting thing is that we can probably personally name 50 people who will definitely vote and will definitely vote for Scharlow. It's counterintuitive, of course, but the low turnout might just mean that Price voters are staying home this time around. P5 contains 1,049 residents, so let's call it a 10% turnout so far.
11:42 a.m.
P16 - heavy turnout in District 2 (Caesar v. Harbison)
P3 - light turnout in District 3 (Price v. Scharlow v. Keister)
11:41 a.m. Call 'em in when you vote. or e-mail us your reports.
11:40 a.m. Since we don't have the registered voter numbers, we'll be going with residential population numbers from the 2000 census.
11:30 a.m. Harvesting from various sources, precinct 3 had recorded at least 56 voters by 10 a.m. P3 contains 1,500 residents. That's a light turnout in one of the Price v. Scharlow key precincts, the largest in District 3 and heavily Democratic. Light turnout would presumably favor Price.
9:45 a.m. Early indications are that turnout will be heavy in the New Albany Municipal elections today. We'll be passing on the tidbits of news we receive here at election central throughout the day and are planning to report election returns and commentary throughout the evening.
Send us your precinct voting totals during the day as you vote. Also, please feel free to report election irregularities to the precinct judge, the county clerk, and to us.
Precinct 16 reports more than 100 voters through the polling place as of 9:30. That indicates a surprisingly heavy turnout. According to the 2000 census, there are 1,184 residents in 16. We don't have the registered voter count, but let's assume it's 600 voters. That would mean that with more than 8 hours of voting time remaining, 16% of registered voters have turned out. That would not count early and absentee votes. Pretty impressive. Congratulations to the residents of precinct 16.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Wisman a Shining Light
While shadow5 has struggled with a few of the council races and required months to reach a conclusion regarding the mayoral race, the decision for city clerk was easy.
We're proud to issue an unequivocal endorsement of Marcey Wisman and we encourage you in the strongest terms to return her to office for another four years.
Wisman understands the role of her office and has been able to negotiate the piranha-infested waters that swirl the tiles of the third floor. The incredible demands on her time are hardly compensated by the salary this council will commit to the office. And faced with a woefully small budget, Wisman has upgraded the delivery of services, edged the office nearer to technological parity, and maintained dignity and admirable neutrality in her personal conduct.
Marcey's a mature but still relatively youthful public servant and we look forward to seeing what she can do if the new council comes to recognize the importance of her office. If readers have gained any confidence in this blogger's reliability over the past weeks, take this endorsement under advisement as you go to the polls.
Our strongest support in the 2007 elections goes to at-large council candidate John Gonder, a man who will be an essential part-time component in the public-private mix that will be required to move this city toward civic health. Wisman's full-time work will be equally essential. In those two races, we have no doubt whatsoever about our vote.
We're proud to issue an unequivocal endorsement of Marcey Wisman and we encourage you in the strongest terms to return her to office for another four years.
Wisman understands the role of her office and has been able to negotiate the piranha-infested waters that swirl the tiles of the third floor. The incredible demands on her time are hardly compensated by the salary this council will commit to the office. And faced with a woefully small budget, Wisman has upgraded the delivery of services, edged the office nearer to technological parity, and maintained dignity and admirable neutrality in her personal conduct.
Marcey's a mature but still relatively youthful public servant and we look forward to seeing what she can do if the new council comes to recognize the importance of her office. If readers have gained any confidence in this blogger's reliability over the past weeks, take this endorsement under advisement as you go to the polls.
Our strongest support in the 2007 elections goes to at-large council candidate John Gonder, a man who will be an essential part-time component in the public-private mix that will be required to move this city toward civic health. Wisman's full-time work will be equally essential. In those two races, we have no doubt whatsoever about our vote.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Endorsements 2007 - Like Anybody Cares
District 1 - vote, but leave the district race blank, firing for effect
District 2 - Bob Caesar (D)
District 3 - Brenda Scharlow (R)
District 4 - Pat McLaughlin (D)
District 5 - Dick Bliss (R)
District 6 - Sam Anderson (R)
At-Large - John Gonder (D), Jack Messer (D), Kevin Zurschmeide (R), in that order.
Mayor...
Mayor... ... ...
Mayor - Doug England (D)
President - Al Gore (D, Nobel Peace Prize winner, elected commander-in-chief in 2000)
But then, I hear the district race winners' seats will be declared vacant on constitutional grounds and new elections will be held in 2008...so only mayor and at-large endorsements have any meaning.
As a lifelong Democrat and a democrat, I would never have imagined endorsing 4 Republicans (and it would have been 5 if the GOP had the cojones to put someone up in D1), I can hardly fathom this slate. But that's the way it is when Democrats aren't democrats.
Pending further developments...see ya Wednesday with a post-mortem. Aaaghh. Isn't a post-mortem what you do to a corpse?
District 2 - Bob Caesar (D)
District 3 - Brenda Scharlow (R)
District 4 - Pat McLaughlin (D)
District 5 - Dick Bliss (R)
District 6 - Sam Anderson (R)
At-Large - John Gonder (D), Jack Messer (D), Kevin Zurschmeide (R), in that order.
Mayor...
Mayor... ... ...
Mayor - Doug England (D)
President - Al Gore (D, Nobel Peace Prize winner, elected commander-in-chief in 2000)
But then, I hear the district race winners' seats will be declared vacant on constitutional grounds and new elections will be held in 2008...so only mayor and at-large endorsements have any meaning.
As a lifelong Democrat and a democrat, I would never have imagined endorsing 4 Republicans (and it would have been 5 if the GOP had the cojones to put someone up in D1), I can hardly fathom this slate. But that's the way it is when Democrats aren't democrats.
Pending further developments...see ya Wednesday with a post-mortem. Aaaghh. Isn't a post-mortem what you do to a corpse?
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Break Me Off a Piece of That. bup,bup,bup
As promised, I'll be providing a brief recap of Thursday's council meeting. The dominant topic for the evening was the animal control ordinance, which passed on first reading. Mr. Coffey, the designated "sponsor" for the ordinance, sought unanimous approval to proceed through three readings but failed to persuade all of his fellow council members that the ordinance was so cut-and-dried that it needed no study or deliberation.
One suspects that a final approval AFTER the elections fit the desires of the council in any event. After much muddled discussion of drugs, pit bulls, rottweilers, feral and other uncorraled cats, and carp (expensive and delicately beautiful carp, mind you, but carp nonetheless), plus a tutorial in dog-fighting "conventions," spillover from Metro Jefferson County's dramatic animal control ordinance, and "corner fights," the ordinance passed 9-0 on first reading.
In many respects it was a night of education, admittedly a rarity in the third floor assembly room, a room whose city occupants show regular disdain for the "E" word. Ominous, secret, expert knowledge was conveyed by Professor Coffey about where you can lay bets on dog fights and how failing to pass an animal control ordinance will invite slumlords, meth labs, and blissed out minorities bent on ruining our neighborhoods. Funny, Coffey has never seemed concerned about other initiatives that might stop the ruin of our neighborhoods, but he did have to demonstrate his superior knowledge of all things "thug." But we already knew that.
Anyway, the ordinance will pass, but two weeks from now instead of immediately. Those seeking protection from angry "pet" owners can claim, prior to the election, that no final ordinance has been passed, while those seeking protection from animal-rights folk and other good government types can say they voted "for" the ordinance. My own cat animus has no champion...except for the koi kommandos.
Seriously, that last was just for entertainment. I (shadow5), like Beverly Crump (real5), favor the ordinance. I just don't care for the theatrics. Really, I love koi. I just never realized that a koi pond might cause my property tax assessment to rise by five figures.
Oh, the council voted 7-2 to pass the Schmidt plan for newly drawn districts. Crump voted in favor of the flawed DOA plan. She also voted (along with Messer and Zurschmeide) to settle the lawsuit with the plaintiffs. I have to admit that were I in her seat, I would have done the same thing.
Please remember the names of Coffey, Price, Schmidt, Crump, Gahan, Blevins, and Kochert when the city has to come up with as much as $200,000 to take care of the mess they created. Only Coffey will be an elected official for sure, and only Price and Gahan might be in office, but all 7 are responsible for this irresponsible act and breach of their fiduciary duty.
Bev, who exclaimed "just don't call ME after December 31st," has a better excuse than 6th District council member Jeff Gahan, who inexplicably rejected a settlement of the case.
I spent the post-meeting hours at a venue that included among its attendees two of the plaintiffs in the district boundaries lawsuit. Some speculated that Gahan, genuinely concerned that the Republican nominee in Tuesday's election might have real horsepower, cast his vote to ensure that there would be no additional anti-Gahan party treason generated by his Democratic colleagues.
It's a bad bargain, Jeff. They will betray you, anyway. And you've lost any respect I might have held for your integrity. Count this as an endorsement of Sam Anderson, whoever he might be. Anything beats the hypocrisy shown by Mr. Gahan over the last 18 months in the equal protection lawsuit. Mr. Gahan's platform is clearly "Constitution, Schmonstitution." I believe Gahan is a smart man. I had believed he was an honorable man. But I cannot support his reelection.
Mr. Gahan, you might remember, was the council president who said "We have more important things to deal with" than the clearly unconstitutional inequity and inequality of voting districts. I guess that's still his stance.
But, you will ask, what does the header on this entry have to do with any of that? Well, beyond the fact that the council "broke it off" in the dorsal canal of the taxpayers Thursday night, the title refers to a piece of campaign literature that found its way into the old mailbox today.
A killer, nay, devastating flyer, destined to be the final nail in the Hubbard coffin, compares Randy Hubbard to a "cheese-eating surrender monkey." Mr. England's supporters fired a mortal blow with this piece of mail that positively kills the Hubbard campaign. Game, set, match. "Don't mess with our troops and hope to get elected" is the clear message, and the Hubbard cohort is helpless to defend at this late date.
Ironically, today was the day that new evidence of Mr. England's naked lust for votes was revealed, making it even harder to rationalize casting a vote for the English Restoration. Still, it seems inevitable that Doug England will be our next mayor. May as well get used to it.
One suspects that a final approval AFTER the elections fit the desires of the council in any event. After much muddled discussion of drugs, pit bulls, rottweilers, feral and other uncorraled cats, and carp (expensive and delicately beautiful carp, mind you, but carp nonetheless), plus a tutorial in dog-fighting "conventions," spillover from Metro Jefferson County's dramatic animal control ordinance, and "corner fights," the ordinance passed 9-0 on first reading.
In many respects it was a night of education, admittedly a rarity in the third floor assembly room, a room whose city occupants show regular disdain for the "E" word. Ominous, secret, expert knowledge was conveyed by Professor Coffey about where you can lay bets on dog fights and how failing to pass an animal control ordinance will invite slumlords, meth labs, and blissed out minorities bent on ruining our neighborhoods. Funny, Coffey has never seemed concerned about other initiatives that might stop the ruin of our neighborhoods, but he did have to demonstrate his superior knowledge of all things "thug." But we already knew that.
Anyway, the ordinance will pass, but two weeks from now instead of immediately. Those seeking protection from angry "pet" owners can claim, prior to the election, that no final ordinance has been passed, while those seeking protection from animal-rights folk and other good government types can say they voted "for" the ordinance. My own cat animus has no champion...except for the koi kommandos.
Seriously, that last was just for entertainment. I (shadow5), like Beverly Crump (real5), favor the ordinance. I just don't care for the theatrics. Really, I love koi. I just never realized that a koi pond might cause my property tax assessment to rise by five figures.
Oh, the council voted 7-2 to pass the Schmidt plan for newly drawn districts. Crump voted in favor of the flawed DOA plan. She also voted (along with Messer and Zurschmeide) to settle the lawsuit with the plaintiffs. I have to admit that were I in her seat, I would have done the same thing.
Please remember the names of Coffey, Price, Schmidt, Crump, Gahan, Blevins, and Kochert when the city has to come up with as much as $200,000 to take care of the mess they created. Only Coffey will be an elected official for sure, and only Price and Gahan might be in office, but all 7 are responsible for this irresponsible act and breach of their fiduciary duty.
Bev, who exclaimed "just don't call ME after December 31st," has a better excuse than 6th District council member Jeff Gahan, who inexplicably rejected a settlement of the case.
I spent the post-meeting hours at a venue that included among its attendees two of the plaintiffs in the district boundaries lawsuit. Some speculated that Gahan, genuinely concerned that the Republican nominee in Tuesday's election might have real horsepower, cast his vote to ensure that there would be no additional anti-Gahan party treason generated by his Democratic colleagues.
It's a bad bargain, Jeff. They will betray you, anyway. And you've lost any respect I might have held for your integrity. Count this as an endorsement of Sam Anderson, whoever he might be. Anything beats the hypocrisy shown by Mr. Gahan over the last 18 months in the equal protection lawsuit. Mr. Gahan's platform is clearly "Constitution, Schmonstitution." I believe Gahan is a smart man. I had believed he was an honorable man. But I cannot support his reelection.
Mr. Gahan, you might remember, was the council president who said "We have more important things to deal with" than the clearly unconstitutional inequity and inequality of voting districts. I guess that's still his stance.
But, you will ask, what does the header on this entry have to do with any of that? Well, beyond the fact that the council "broke it off" in the dorsal canal of the taxpayers Thursday night, the title refers to a piece of campaign literature that found its way into the old mailbox today.
A killer, nay, devastating flyer, destined to be the final nail in the Hubbard coffin, compares Randy Hubbard to a "cheese-eating surrender monkey." Mr. England's supporters fired a mortal blow with this piece of mail that positively kills the Hubbard campaign. Game, set, match. "Don't mess with our troops and hope to get elected" is the clear message, and the Hubbard cohort is helpless to defend at this late date.
Ironically, today was the day that new evidence of Mr. England's naked lust for votes was revealed, making it even harder to rationalize casting a vote for the English Restoration. Still, it seems inevitable that Doug England will be our next mayor. May as well get used to it.
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