Some folks say: "Change is good." I say: "Only if it
is an improvement." A couple of decades ago, singer
Bob Dylan offered: "The times, they are a
changin'." Dylan's observation was so concisely
accurate some people today still consider him to
be an endearing messenger, albeit it a less-enduring
one than Kahlil Gibran, author
of The Prophet.
A scant four years ago, one incumbent member
of the Salisbury City Council, Republican
stalwart H. Norman Holland Jr., decided
not to seek re-election. The two incumbents who
did -- Republican Don Davis and Democrat
Jill Barbon -- were defeated at the polls.
The mayor then, as now, was W. Paul Martin.
The '92 council was 40 percent Republican, 40 percent
female (Barbon and Mary Pinkett) and 20 percent
nonwhite (Pinkett).
In the infamous words of that great American
Yogi Berra, Smallsberry's '96 election
was "deja vu all over again." To wit:
Tim Sakemiller, vice president of the
council and a Democrat, chose not to seek re-election
in order to further his college education. Council
President Bob Caldwell, a Republican who used
to be a Democrat, was eliminated in Salisbury's
first nonpartisan primary election, a change he
helped engineer. Former City Council President
Bob Gladden, a Democrat, was edged out by
Republican Frank Himelright in Tuesday's
general election.
Four years ago, Gladden openly admitted his
aspirations to become mayor in 1998 and led the
'92 council ticket. Initially, he and Caldwell
seemed to have so much in common they were often
referred to as "The Bobs."
It's all "water over the dam" (or is "under the bridge?").
Although hizzoner was talking about this being his
last term when he handily defeated then council
President Robin Cockey in the Democratic
Party primary and Caldwell in the '94 general
election, Martin's reconsidering his options now
that Caldwell, Cockey, Gladden and Sakemiller
have been purged, so to speak.
Will hizzoner become Smallsberry's equivalent
of U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond? The makeup
of the new five-member City Council is 40 percent
Republican (Himelright and top vote-getter
Palmer Gillis) 40 percent female (Democrats
Carolyn Hall and Von Siggers) and
20 percent nonwhite (Siggers).
Many observers consider last Tuesday's election
to be yet another feather in hizzoner's cap. In
other words, a Paul Martin rubber-stamp council.
Between now and the May 20 reorganizational meeting,
there will be a lot of politicking going on to decide
who will be the next president of the City Council.
Regardless of their vote totals, the three newly
elected council members have zero experience as
elected public representatives. The odds-on favorite
to become president of the Salisbury City Council is
Carolyn Hall. That would be a first.
While Gladden, "Johnny Williams" Psota
and Pat Hannon were indeed defeated at
the polls, the real losers in Salisbury's City
Council election were the 80 percent of registered
voters who didn't cast ballots. Some of the ones
who stayed home last Tuesday will squawk the
loudest when the new "harmonious" council gets
down to business.
May 12, 1996 John Bozman All Rights Reserved