The Suspense Grows re: Annapolis Mayoral Race

Folks keep asking me for the inside scoop on who I think will win the election, now that Zina Pierre pulled out of the race and the Democratic nominee is literally being selected by committee.
Talking to the business community, there seems to be a lot of support and interest in the candidacy of Chris Fox. Others seem to speculate that with all the criticism of the current administration, city residents are ready to elect a more fiscally conservative Republican–enter David Cordle.
What’s in store for Annapolis? We’ll know more this weekend.

Democratic Candidate for Annapolis Mayor?

Former Candidate Zina Pierre has wishdrawn from the Race.

Will Josh Cohen be selected by the Democratic Committee as their candidate in the general election?

For the second time, Zina Pierre is withdrawing her candidacy for Mayor of Annapolis. This time she personally announced the news in a Wednesday afternoon press conference. The stress of the campaign on herself, her business, and her family as questions continue to be raised as to her residency and her past debts, all were cited as contributing factors. So who will the Democratic committee select to run in her place? According to one source on the committee, the number of votes for each of the remaining candidates in the recent primary will be just one of several factors in the selection process taking place this Friday evening. After all, if Pierre had not been on the ballot, the distribution of votes may have come out quite differently. On the other hand, party regulars seem to think that if he still wants the nomination– the annointed candidate will ultimately be first runner-up and current county councilperson for the Greater Annapolis district, Josh Cohen. Whatever happens, this will be an interesting election. As Charles Green commented in a previous blog entry, "Even in small- town Annapolis, it seems, politics is not for the faint hearted!".

Annapolis Politics at the Murray Hill Picnic

Chris Fox, independent candidate for Annapolis Mayor with Murray Hill residents, Peter and Judy Larson and Ward One Alderperson Dick Israel.

Even though only one of the three candidates for city mayor chose to attend, politics peppered the subject matter of many of the conversations at last night’s Murray Hill Picnic.
Clad in his bright yellow tee shirt, independent candidate Chris Fox was busy chatting up prospective supporters while other attendees talked about the prospects of Democratic candidate Zina Pierre who grabbed the front page newspaper headlines twice in one weekend by first withdrawing and then announcing her intent to stay in the race.
Miscommunication between staff and candidate was not as much as concern to voters as the lack of research that was done by the democratic party or the press prior to the election on the court records of the various candidates. Neither Pierre or Republican candidate David Cordle attended the picnic (at least not while I was there between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.).

“I’ve always been in favor of a city manager form of government and my platform has not changed,” Chris Fox told me, “I refuse to get involved in any type of personal attacks on the other candidates. I’m interested in running a clean straightforward campaign.” While the hundred plus attendees from the neighborhood filled their plates with food, Fox made the most of the opportunity to talk one on one with voters residing in the Ward one neighborhood of Murray Hill. Residents posed questions on taxes, economic growth, and accountability , while others questioned how no one has bothered to thoroughly investigate the financial past of all the candidates until after the primary had taken place.

The usual array of delicious food overwhelmed the table and sideboard inside the home of Lynne and Brad Davidson, who generously opened their home once again for the annual picnic event. Fresh salads, barbecue pork sandwiches, stuffed shells, chicken, meatballs, spaghetti plus homemade pies and brownies were enjoyed by all, accompanied by wine, beer, soft drinks, and chilled water.
For more information about the Murray Hill Resident’s Association, visit their website at: http://murrayhill.annapolis.com/

And the Winner is….

The news was not readily available in the newspaper this morning. The race was too close. Who would have thought that despite all the money invested in colorful glossy flyers, multiple mailings, and email blasts coupled with the rallies and visits by multitudes of campaign supporters standing on street corners waving signs that one of the candidates who seemed to have less money and seasoned organizers would come out the winner. It just goes to show that in a small town like Annapolis, every vote counts and personal contact and personal perception is very important. Now we are on to the big race. If you have the time to attend a forum and can hear the three speak on the issues, it should prove helpful in deciding for whom to cast your vote in November.

The Race for Annapolis Mayor Narrows

I picked up the newspaper this morning and learned that fellow Ward One resident, Gilbert Renault has dropped out of the race and has now endorsed Trudy McFall.
Last night I was chatting with another Annapolis resident, and like myself, she is also in a quandary as to who she will ultimately vote for on Tuesday–Primary Voting Day.
We’ll learn who wins the democratic nomincation in less than five days.

Annapolis Mayor Choice a Challenge

Eight of Nine Candidates debated on 09/09/09

It was a packed house last night at the Mayoral debate sponsored by The League of Women’s Voters held at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis. Despite the scheduled address by President Obama to the joint members of Congress and the nation, most seats were filled. (Perhaps many of the political junkies like myself had made prior arrangements to tape the President’s speech). Unlike President Obama’s comments, which were received by some in his audience with heckles and boos, the group on stage and in the audience were polite and respectful. In many instances the candidates seem to nod and agree with one another, like old friends, and I couldn’t help but think that perhaps whoever becomes the victor might be inviting their opponents to serve in their new administration.
One candidate, Republican David Cordle who is running unopposed, declined to be present. This was too bad, in that he will be one of three choices- and it would have been helpful to compare and contrast him to the one lone independent– Chris Fox and the seven Democrats.
As a registered Democrat, I have a difficult task to initially choose between seven candidates, several of which I have worked with personally, and all of whom have some fine qualities and qualifications that attracted them to this race. They all say they can do a better job than the present administration; but four years is a long time. The basic question remains; who would be the best mayor?
Oh if only I could magically fuse together the “do gooder spirit” of Laurie Sears Deppa with the executive management experience of Trudy P. McFall, and the political saavy of Josh Cohen. Then I’d add a dash of unifying spirit courtesy of Wayne M. Taylor, seasoned mediator ability contributed by Gilbert T. Renaut, long term alderperson experience of Samuel Shropshire, and the dynamic presence and multi-level governmental expertise of Zina C. Pierre. What a great democratic candidate that person would be.
Taylor, Cohen, and Pierre are not in favor of a City Manager although if the voters approved the measure in a referendum they would of course honor the voter’s choice. Otherwise, the differences on specific issues were not clearly defined in this particular debate. There is another debate tonight in Eastport. Another opportunity to judge and observe the candidates. But… there is nothing like seeing someone in action to really gain a sense of their suitability for the job. Too bad we can’t see into the future. Read more about the candidates at www.WhatsUpMag.com

Less Coffee in Naptown

The tough economic times are certainly turning the screws on the coffee baristas around Annapolis. The other morning pressed for time we decide to walk Grace our dog to Loews Annapolis Hotel to purchase coffee at Pronto, (rather than walk all the way to City Dock) and discovered they were closed ie. evidently no longer there. Meanwhile, without the Starbucks in front of Park Place and the long ago closing of Cafe Matisse, there are no longer any coffee shops between my house in Murray Hill and the offices of What’s Up? publishing.
Deeper into the heart of downtown I took note that Artini’s Boutique, a major champion of promoting downtown independent merchants is going out of business. No, they never sold coffee although they did sell elegant mixers and accessory items to go with beverages, but it does reinforce the fact that we just are not yet out of the economic gloom. Times are still tough for many retailers and small businesses. Which means we just have to work harder and walk further.
So the other morning, husband Peter and I, plus Grace the dog ended up walking down to City Dock anyway regardless of the time. And the good news is we got more exercise.
Happy Labor Day everyone.

Journalistic Standards?

It’s a regular morning ritual with me; morning coffee, breakfast, and the newspaper. This morning on the front page of the Washington Post I saw and read two articles, both of which were described by my husband as “juicy”.
The first one I read was about the shananagins of an enterprising radio host on radio channel 99.5 who arranged for an intern to stand on the side of a busy highway carrying a sign identifying himself as an adulterer who was forced to hold up the sign for all to see as his punishment.
As printed in The Post,
“Kane (who refuses to disclose his own real name) now says he hoaxed the media as an experiment in fluff tolerance and fact-checking standards. He then proceeded on his show, and via Twitter, to criticize reporters who’d tried to fact-check the story he’d concocted to check up on fact-checking.
Coverage of the ersatz adulterer made news worldwide and became a Web sensation. For many onlookers, “Taylor’s” sign-bearing served as a catalyst for musings on contrition and the messier corners of love.”
Kane berated journalists for not bothering to fact check the veracity of the story to confirm that the so-called adulterer actually cheated on his wife….
Yes that is interesting , but more horrifying to me in evaluating the present state of the media was the lead story in Reliable source about the current article running in Vanity Fair theoretically authored by ex-boyfriend of Sarah Palin’s eldest daughter, Levi Johnston. Did Johnston actually write the article? A junior editor spent three days interviewing Johnston and subsequently worked with him to “craft” the piece. Paying a source for a story that consists of telling juicy stories on his observations of the shortcomings, vices, and weaknesses of the former Vice Presidential candidate and Alaskan governor seems pretty tacky to me. Particularly when these “seamy tales” don’t really offer up any new insightful information. Yes, I already knew that Palin leaves much to be desired as a political leader–doesn’t read the newspaper, is selfish, and vain. Please tell me something I don’t know. Is this what our media needs to stoop to in order to attract readers. It’s a sad commentary on our society and much more disturbing than how the media reacts to an odd fellow holding up a sign.
I guess The Washington Post did okay because they got me thinking and blogging about their style section.
Journalistic communication can be used in many ways. Inform and teach are at the top of my list.