No endorsement, just a picture of my front yard on a lovely fall day. (Mayor Ross, if you want to swing by I still have a spot open.)
While the 21 bar issue is important, it doesn't have to be decisive in your city council vote. There's some history in Iowa City on this.
Back in 1997, we faced the first of the two infamous First Avenue extension votes. That's also known as the "no means yes" referendum. Because people were voting, technically, to remove the road from the city plan, you had to counter-intuitively vote no to build the road and yes to stop the road. It passed in `97, but the council put it on the plan again a couple years later. Then the road opponents put it on the ballot again, and it failed -- meaning build the road -- in the 2000 presidential. I voted no both times,but hypocritically drive it on occasion.
There are a couple big points in that tangent.
1) Since the 21 bar question is before the voters, the new city council cannot deal with the issue for the next two years. That means a candidate's stand on this issue is irrelevant for the next two years.
With this issue off the table, and Matt Hayek all but elected, who's a better fit for the city, and a better match for progressives Regenia Bailey and Amy Correia, on all the other issues: neighborhood advocate Mike Wright, or Mid-American manager Terry Smith? (Dee Vanderhoef: Worst. Incumbent Campaign. Ever.)
2) There's history of people voting one way on a referendum and the other way on candidates. In 1997 voters passed the yes means no stop the road referendum, but on the same day elected road supporters Ernie Lehman, Mike O'Donnell and Connie Champion. Mike Wright needs to hope for a similar vote from anti-21 progressives like myself, and likewise Terry Smith needs votes from student-hating conservatives.
Based on the off-campus satellite turnout since Friday, there's no evidence of a townie backlash to the unprecedented student vote. This one may come down to the 1,200 or so mostly student absentee ballots still in voters' hands. (Don't put them in the mail, kids! If they're postmarked today they're no good! They need to come to the auditor's office or get turned in unvoted at the polls.) Don't forget 2001 -- Leah Cohen lost by 58 votes with 400 mostly student ballots never returned, victory literally thrown in the trash.
The forgotten races in this election: I think Regenia Bailey and Ross Wilburn are safe bets. The only contest there is which unopposed candidate gets the most votes. Bailey had been continuing an active campaign despite the lack of opposition.
And the blast from the past police citizen review board measure has gotten little attention despite dogged efforts by a handful of yes advocates. The numbers could be a useful leading indicator of attitudes on the jail vote Johnson County will likely see in the next couple years.
In Coralville, Mitch Gross has run the strongest challenger campaign ever. I don't think an incumbent has ever been knocked off in Coralville -- I may have come the closest back in 1993, and I wasn't all that close, 150 votes shy. If the storm aligns and it's a two incumbent vs. one challenger race, the question becomes which incumbent is slightly weaker, or has slightly more bullet-voting personal friends. That could make for a very close second place race. A brief tour of old town Coralville yesterday showed a few John Weihe signs and no Jean Schnake signs, but loads of Gross yards. But Jean's base has always been in north Coralville and I didn't get there.
Other interesting stuff:
Watch for analysis late late late tonight and light posting today, though I hope to make it to Chris Dodd this afternoon.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder