(I think) I'm Voting for Dwight Jones for Mayor

Why isn't anyone talking about the Mayoral election? Sure. There have been articles about candidate forums here and there, but let's not kid ourselves. Richmond is not engaged in this election. Why is that? Few key issues come to mind besides the one that unites them all: Couldn't be worse than Wilder. Months ago, a list of tough questions were compiled on a community blog. I chimed in there. What ever happened to those? These candidates are giving superficial pitches, and we're the ones who are going to pay for it if we can't discern a clear direction for our city among this slate of candidates.

But first, lets rewind for a moment:

• The debacle that was Wilder's "strong" mayor tenure shows us the destructive potential of the position that we created in our haste. That's right, Wilder's behavior was practically predictable considering the white horse that we gave him to ride in on. "At-Large Mayor" was regressive change for change's sake; Richmond at it's most Ukrop/RTD driven and racially divided. How so many could be so wrong (on both sides) is puzzling, to say the least. Refresh your memory: Here's an incendiary assessment I wrote on a sort of community blog back in 2003, before Richmond had community blogs. You probably never saw it, because the RTD feigned interest in running the piece, since they hadn't published a critical word on the At-Large Mayor straight through the referendum. When Ross McKenzie axed it, I posted it on our local Independent Media Center where a citizen journalism was taking root, but not thriving.
  

Okay, enough I told ya so's. My point is that we need someone in the Mayor position who will COLLABORATE and reach out to the most marginalized sectors of our city, instead of parading their alleged mandate all over the other elected officials and citizen groups. We should have learned this under Wilder and Bush, if you ask me. I'm crossing my fingers that Dwight Jone's General Assembly experience will help us find regional solutions to some of Richmond's problems and his pastor position will translate into a social mission to address the widespread poverty that holds Richmond back.

With such a painful mistake in our recent past, it's no wonder that Richmond's head is still in the sand. At Church Hill People's News, 122 votes were collected and Dwight Jones came out ahead of Grey by two. But there were 23 "I dunno" votes and I think there's more where they came from. The debate that followed called for a poll that required a ranking, to avoid spoilers, because a few candidates might split the vote and prevent a clear winner. I would contend that what we've got on this slate is a ranking OF spoilers. But here goes anyhow:

Ranking from least embarrassing to virtual self-flagellation:

1. Dwight Jones (community connections, but is he a social justice big talker?)
2. Paul Goldman (definitely all talk and darned good at it, thanks for giving us Wilder)
3. Lawrence Williams (political nobody)
4. Bill Pantele (giddy and greedy, salivating at the prospect of schmoozing developers)
5. Robert Grey (opportunistic corporate power broker and Wilder lackey)

Notice that I've got the unqualified goofus in the middle position. He's the neutral point between probably benevolent and probably sinister. So, thank you Lawrence for providing that clarifying framework. Can you tell that I'm really not thrilled with my options here? Okay, I'm not the only one who's non-plussed at this point. John Sarvay said as much, but much more responsibly and comprehensively. Hat tip to the B&M. But, Sarvay's take is a long read, so I say B&M or get off the pot. Let's light a fire under these wanna be leaders!

Whether you're with the press or simply willing to press an issue, it's now or never. If these people can't define the leadership we can expect from them, then let's help differentiate them ourselves. Somehow, this town's political juices need to get flowing and I think it's up to the people to lead the way with our own opinions, caramelized and otherwise.

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I'll probably chime in with some of my pro/cons on each candidate if a discussion gets going. I know I didn't touch on everybody's pet issues, not even my own. So, stay tuned for that. Or speak up and draw it out.