Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Judge Rules "No" on Special Election for Dowe's Seat

I just got word that a judge has ruled against a special election to fill the seat on Roanoke City Council vacated by Alfred Dowe. Outrageous. There are over 2 years left on the term and we are having a Council election this May. What sense does it make to take away the voice of the people and give it to sitting Council members to fill the vacancy? It doesn't make any sense to me.

So now the question turns to who will Council appoint? I actually think it would be a great political move for Nelson Harris to lead an effort to appoint a Republican. Yes, this City is majority Democrat, but there are a lot of Republicans too. The "at large" system of voting does a good job of keeping Republicans off Council. But does anyone really think 7 Democrats (the Independents call themselves "Independent Democrats" so I think it's fair to lump them together) and 0 Republicans makes for the best Council? It's difficult to make a case for such dominance by one party on any level of government. Harris and Company could put the good of the City above politics, and start to rehabilitate his image. I have my doubts, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

1 comment:

Museice said...

A Republican on City Council would be a novel idea. I wrote this about the situation a few days ago.
http://museice.blogspot.com/2008/02/what-will-roanoke-city-council-do-whats.html