BLOG THE VOTE By: Lesa Best November 7, 2013 That election day was disappointing for me is true. Going to the polls midmorning Tuesday, at 56 I was the youngest person at the Y field house. Alex Rolletta was talking to a couple women outside but I really didn’t see the point in stopping. Instead of a table for each ward or precinct or however it was split before in the gymnasium, there was one table. The last time we voted the gym was lined with voting terminals, now there were maybe 7 or 8. I had thought that there had been a condensing of polling stations around town but maybe it was because the turnout was expected to be low. At the table I gave my ID and they scanned it. Does anyone else think it’s weird that the same people who think their rights are being infringed upon when asked to register a weapon are so crazed about more requirements to vote? The poll workers still have the book with my name and address in it that was checked, what’s the purpose of scanning my driver’s license? I have no problem with the terminal itself, pretty simple. I don’t like my limited options. There’s no write in opportunity and no “none of the above”. Personally I think these two additions should be fundamental. We should always have at least two choices, even if one is a blank line in order to write someone in or simply show your dissatisfaction with the candidate with none of the above. It would limit the lazy candidate mentality because those that run unopposed have nothing to prove. It’s a blatant problem with our two party system. And if you think having a non partisan ballot would change that I highly doubt it. Marc Guthrie has been pushing this for a while because he’s in the minority party and here, as in many areas it’s name recognition and party affiliation that win elections. In a small town like Newark however, while most don’t know what ward they’re in, they know who is in what party because the parties make sure they do. Results would start coming in about 7, and the Advocate was putting on a live chat to post numbers. I thought that the 2nd ward (mine) was in the bag for Jeremy Blake, Marmie of course was unopposed for the 6th ward. Never believed Rader stood a chance and that Johnson would win the 5th ward, but the 3rd, 4th and 7th I felt could be up for grabs. As for the 1st ward, anything was better than nothing and both candidates were ambiguous at best. When results first started coming Barrett was ahead in the 3rd which was good news as far as I was concerned. I was kinda rooting for Diebold, it would shake things up in council which is always fun. Frankly a bag of rocks would be preferable to Rath who is fast morphing into Shirley Stare’s love child. I’ve got no opinion of him personally, he might be a great guy outside of politics, but when the only letter endorsing him was one he wrote himself, well, that speaks volumes to me. He has a tendency to exaggerate his role in things; the “spear heading“ Property Maintenance ad hoc committee made me laugh out loud when I read it. He’s also a total party whore which is verified by his campaign contributions. As for Barrett, better than Rath, not as entertaining as Diebold, but she was all the Democrats could come up with. She’d be a Carol Floyd clone. Rath won and retains the title of the most reactionary and least imaginative member of council. The 4th ward was called pretty quick for Rolletta. Most know how I feel about Loomis as a council member, hardest worker and best representative of her ward, but the voters didn’t see it that way. It really is too bad, proving once again that being a nice kid trumps effectiveness and that paying attention isn’t necessary. Further proven by a statement I read from a voter who actually endorsed Carol Floyd “guiding” him along, don‘t forget Marc Guthrie. I look forward to seeing if Rolletta has any real thoughts of his own. The Floyd/Bromberg battle for the 7th ward was close and if the turnout had been higher from Bromberg’s peeps who rent his tv’s and bedroom sets, he would have won. Floyd might not be as brain dead as Shirley Stare, but her appeasement attitude is tiresome. As for the Clerk of Courts, Phelps squeaked by despite huge money in Thorpe’s coffers. Let’s face it, the Republicans put her up because she’s the wife of the popular county sheriff. The scariest part of Thorpe’s candidacy were her supporters; the fearful, the one dimensional, the loud. Also interesting were the companies contributing to her campaign. Unscientifically, I came to a few conclusions and questions. Democrats voted early this year, the lowest turnouts per ward were the poorest; 1st, 2nd and 7th wards, half the voter totals of the other wards. I was surprised that the Buckeye Lake fire levy passed after all the incompetence and that Mike Blowers was running for school board. The Advocate made a big deal out of the Democrats gaining a majority in council. Will this really matter since the D’s usually go along with the administration anyway? Will the single inconsequential just for show no vote protest end? Who will champion the huge apartment complexes squeaking by on millions a year with Shirley Stare gone? Will the 1st ward realize they have a representative on council? Stay tuned. Or just not pay attention for another 4 years.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 15:56:41 +0000
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