Elections are what America does better than any other culture or country on Earth.
I’m not saying we are perfect, but I am saying we have a big lead over the way the rest of the world picks their leaders.
Clarksdale has gone through two elections in less than 30 days and has seen a field of 27 candidates whittled down to seven.
Elections are always emotionally trying times for newspapers.
I work very hard to be fair to all involved every day, but especially at election time. We don’t throw rocks for any candidate, we stick to issues and not personalities and we charge every candidate the exact same price to run an advertisement.
But we are not so naïve as to believe all our candidates are sensible statesmen, astute businessmen, smart people managers and have impeccable backgrounds and pure motives for running for office.
When I first got in this business 30 years ago, people lost elections and stayed mad for about a week. My world – our world – has change dramatically since then.
But as I have said before elections give us a vivid but fleeting snapshot of what is going on in a community.
And hold on to your hat. It ain’t over.
Here are a few of my observations of what happened this month.
The Money
• I do believe the first primary culled out those candidates who were in it strictly for the money. You could see the dollar signs in the eyes of some of those guys. This would have been the best paying job they ever had.
• I repeatedly heard people say a commissioner’s pay of $40,000 and the mayor’s salary of $122,000 was too small for those who run a $33 million business. Our police officers make better money than our commissioners, but commissioners typically don’t get shot and spit on. Our City Clerk, City Board Attorney, Fire Chief, Police Chief all make much more and I will be the first to say they earn it.
• I will counter that thought with the fact Commissioners are supposed to be part-time. Most of them do have other jobs or are drawing hefty retirement checks. The Mayor is more of a manager and someone called on to put out fires and manages those higher paid department heads who actually do the city’s daily business.
• There was a day and age when men of means were public servants and weren’t doing it for the money.
• There are rumors our city board may reverse those salaries as they head out of office. That might not be a bad idea. As city revenues decline and city expenses go up, somebody is going to have to bite the bullet. We’ll see where our newly elected officials make their cuts.
• People also seem concerned with who donated, how much to what candidates. Again, while I will never be so naïve to think a citizen gives money to a politician with no strings attached, I do know there are people in this town who can give away thousands of dollars to candidates and good causes the way I pay for a meal at a local restaurant.
The Vote
• I saw a city beer referendum allegedly settled by one vote about 10 years ago. I saw a Republican primary where a candidate for state office lost by six votes. I’ve never seen a candidate lose by three votes. Elections are not that perfect.
• The races in Ward 3 and Ward 4 were hard fought. We got several calls about alleged violations after the first primary and on Election Day this week. I direct those calls to their party executive committee, the Secretary of State and the State Attorney General. I urge them to call back if charges are filed.
• The large turnout in Ward 3 and Ward 4 carried the mayor’s race.
• If a person walks into a precinct and demands to vote, they cannot be denied the right to cast a ballot. If their name is not on the voting roll, that voter, but not their ballot, has to be scrutinized carefully. Then we let them vote. I say if you move and don’t change your address that’s your problem and you shouldn’t be allowed to vote. We are big on getting people to register to vote, but not on making them responsible voters. It is so simple to call the Circuit Clerk and give them your new address.
• If you don’t carefully mark the oval beside the candidate’s name and fill it in completely, it can be cast out.
• “It’s not who votes, it’s who counts the votes that makes the difference.”
Do you know who counted the votes at your precinct, city hall and what party ran this election?
• Ingrams always vote late in the day and when I stepped up to deposit my ballot at the Lee Drive Fire Station at about 6:30 p.m., Tuesday the machine told me 687 ballots had been cast. While that is a large turnout for a runoff election, Tuesday’s election only saw about 3,000 ballots out of a potential 9,035 registered voters in Clarksdale cast a ballot. I do feel when the people speak loudly at the polls, the politicians listen.
The Future
• A lot of people were disappointed in Tuesday’s results, but a least 50-percent-plus-one-vote woke up happy Wednesday morning. In some of those races the percentage of happy folk was much higher!
• I think we had some bad candidates at the start of primary elections this spring. Except for the one that exposed himself in a city park, I think we now have a good slate of candidates headed to the General Election.
• Should State Representative Orlando Paden be elected Mayor we will probably start looking for someone to represent us from House District 26 in the Mississippi Legislature. While neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Mississippi Constitution prohibits it, there is case law, or precedent, that makes holding two offices questionable. I’m not a lawyer, but it’s something about separation of the three branches of government. Most who take a new office step down from the other so he or she can focus on that group of voters who elected them. It’s more a matter of ethics and who you truly represent.
• While we still have one more election to go, let me leave you with this idea. We’ve narrowed the field incredibly. The question now is not so much who will hold office, but what they will do when they are sworn in. What will your candidate – the one you voted for – do to make Clarksdale a better place for you and yours? Please hold them accountable.
Floyd Ingram is the Editor of your Clarksdale Press Register. He realizes his job is to watch local politicians closely and tell you what they are doing. Call him at 662-627-2201 if you have news he can use.
