Political Gumbo: The People Have Spoken

The people made their voices heard on Tuesday night.

Mayor Victor Gordo, Tyron Hampton, Justin Jones, Gene Masuda and Steve Madison are going back to the dais.

Rick Cole captured the District 2 seat and will join them. 

• In the Mayor’s race, Gordo is performing at the level expected against a single opponent. Phillip Koebel and Aaron Proctor garnered 15% and 11% respectively against Bill Bogaard. Allen Shay spent money on mailers and lawn signs. That’s why he is hovering at about 18% as I write. Simple math. It will be interesting to see how much it cost Shay to get that 18%. 
• In District 1, it’s simple. Hampton wins, Hampton wins!!
• In District 2, Cole knocked on doors for months and walked and walked. It’s all about that front door. Cole is qualified, but I do send the same message to Cole that I give any new Councilmember, and yes he is a new council member again. Listen, listen and listen. Respect to Felicia Williams for congratulating Rick Cole and reaching out to continue to make sure the residents in D2 are served. You don’t have to win to show leadership. I’m sure that meeting will happen. 
• If things hold, Jones beat Lamar for the District 3 seat. No more excuses, no more wild eye conspiracies or Bigfoot sightings. Jones won the election fair and square. He’s been elected by the people. But now the question is how do candidates ignite the voter base in D3. More people voted for Hampton and Madison in unopposed elections than the total number of people that voted in D3. Matter of fact, Masuda received more votes in a contested race than the total number of votes cast in D3. Wait, more people voted for Rick Cole … okay, you get the picture. 

Justin, get to work.  

• My only question regarding District 4, is can Masuda cross the 70% threshold. Damn. 
• Steve Madison got more than 4,000 votes in an unopposed election. 
• Make no mistake about it, the majority of those who voted in D1, D4 and D6 sent an overwhelmingly clear message stating who they want to represent them – yes, two candidates ran unopposed, and hell Masuda may as well have been unopposed also, truth be told. That’s no disrespect to Horton and Doyle, But let’s not forget four years ago Masuda got 60% against three opponents.
  Term limits are beginning to look like a sour grapes way of getting rid of unbeatable, well-liked council members. Still, the people should have their say on the matter if it makes it to the ballot. 

With that said, let me add this to City Council members. Put the crap of this election behind you, the “he said, she said and you didn’t support me” should end today. 

That’s over.

Come together.

Remember Miguel Márquez is the City Manager and he’s doing a great job from where I sit. Yes, Cole held the gig in several places, but as the City Council heads into the heavy lifting of placing items on the ballot for Charter reform, I say be cautious  and make sure we maintain a City Manager/City Council form of governance. We don’t need eight additional City Managers. No that’s not a shot at Cole, just a note of caution as we head into a difficult topic that has been on my mind for some time now. 

Also, treat City staff well. Yeah, I said it. Treat staff well. Remember your field liaisons take a lot of the calls and complaints and work hard. 

Now, it’s time to get to work.