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I
IS ONCE ENOUGH?
We may very well be into a season of one-term mayors. Gwen
O'Looney won a second term by the skin of her teeth, and then
Doc Eldridge got beat by Heidi Davison in his re-election bid. Now
Doc is trying to return the favor with a surrogate candidate, and
his prospects look good.
Our governmental setup makes the mayor a sitting duck. The
mayor presides over 10 commissioners who are elected in their
own districts in independent campaigns. There is no party ticket or
slate of candidates. The commissioners are beholden only to their
constituents in their districts. The mayor has no power to adminis
ter the government or to hire and fire the people who run it.
In the old days when we had a strong mayor, a commissioner
who hoped to be effective dared not cross the mayor, because
the mayor controlled the government. Today, a commissioner can
ignore the mayor with impunity, knowing that the mayor cannot
retaliate by blocking public works projects or refusing to hire the
commissioner's nephew in the fire department.
i hat is the source of our dysfunctional commission: a leader
less legislature by law. To get anything done, commissioners must
build fragile coalitions on each vote, and it's easy to block action.
The mayor, too, in order to get
Our governmental setup an y thin 9 done ' must also tf y to
engage in coalition building,
makes the mayor a while always remaining vulner
able to the resistance of com-
Sltting QUCK. missioners who don't want to be
told what to do.
Nothing can be done without the concurrence of six commis
sioners (except in the rare tie-breaking vote of the mayor, the only
time the mayor can vote).
But here comes the hah-hah: whenever anything is done or not
done, those who don't like it blame the mayor. The commission
makes the laws; the mayor gets the blame. It's a wonder anybody
would want the job for more than one term, for more than one
year, really. Mayors are elected on their promises of what they can
do for the community, and then they encounter the Athens-Clarke
County Commission. Soon it dawns on them that they have run
into a trap, and what they're reaily going to do for their commu
nity is preside over a confederacy of dunces—on TV.
How the mayor copes, once that realization sets in, is the
measure of the man or woman. Doc got increasingly frustrated by
his role as circus-master and came to dread the endless wrangling
of the commission in the meetings and outside them. His pride
wouldn't let him quit, but his heart wasn't in his re-election.
Heidi has taken a different tack. She occasionally tries to round
up a majority for some commission action—winning some, losing
some—but she seems to have accepted the fact that being mayor
is a lonely job without many allies. To compensate, she goes out
into the community. If you belong to a group that is trying to
get something done, you may have noticed: Heidi is there. She is
there, and she is listening and talking. She is an active presence.
That doesn't mean she can go back to the commission and accom
plish what your group is trying to do, but it does mean we have a
mayor who is in touch with the whole community.
So, for four years Heidi Davison has been doing what she can
do without having to herd the cats on the Commission: she simply
shows up. Without a doubt she knows more about what's going on
in Athens than even the barbers.
So, what we've got is a mayor with four years experience in be
ing there where the community is grappling with its problems and
its dreams; she knows the problems and the possibilities; she has
the beginnings of wisdom, and she has made herself into a com
munity asset that we should not throw away, right?
Oh, come on: this is Athens. Of course we'll chuck her.
Look at the numbers. Just because this election will be non
partisan doesn't mean Republicans can't vote. Tour years ago in
the Democratic Primary, Heidi got 4929 votes, and Doc got 4515.
They went into a runoff, which Heidi won handily. But in that pri
mary election. 2748 people were over on the Republican side vot
ing for Barbara Dooley for Congress. Not only could they not vote
for Doc for mayor in the Democratic Primary, they couldn't come
back and vote for him in the runoff. If those 2748 Republicans had
voted for Doc, he would have won the Democratic Primary without
a runoff. (Doc was a Republican all along; he just had to run as a
Democrat to... oh, never mind.)
But tltere are more numbers: there's the Black vote. Doc and
the Republicans are backing Charlie Maddox. Charlie Maddox is an
African-American native Athenian with a wide circle of friends and
a good track record as head of the state labor office in Athens. He
will get the Black vote, traditonally Democratic. With the Black
vote and the Republican vote plus all those who are mad at Heidi,
how can Charlie Maddox lose?
(To be continued...)
Pete McCor..mons Editor & Publisher editor@flaQOOle com
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE:
NEWS c& FEATURES
Comment 9
Workable Withdrawal
At last, good old American know-how can solve the problem of democracy in Iraq.
Afghanistan Family Values 10
A Veterinary Teaching Mission Uncovers The Ties That Bind
Against a background of almost constant warfare. Afghan veterinarians struggle to keep up.
Talking Terry 12
A Mentor, A Friend, A Brother
A friend remembers Terry Melton.
ARTS <§s
Out There! 14
What’s Happening This Week
Sweet Little Afterthoughts 29
The Sunbeamy Pop Of The Vinyl Strangers Comes From
Good Vibrations Among Friends
With only a handful of gigs under its belt, the local band sends out
delightful sounds on its self-titled debut album.
Afterburner 30
Japanese Avant-Metal Trio Boris Pummels
The United States With Artful Force
Pink is the latest album from the band, and it’ll appeal to fans
of heavy bands like the Melvins or Sunn 0))).
If Thine Enemy Hunger 31
Thunder Deo Jucifer Pounds Out Its First Full-Length Album In Four Years
The 15-track album from the nomadic duo injects more melody
and instrumentation into the monolithic metal.
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TERRY MELTON 12
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