"Dead Men Walking" - one defiant jail break and one undeserved pardon

Well, Tuesday night in Cornelius and Davidson came and went with both Mayors still standing.

In Cornelius, as expected the Board unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in Mayor Chuck Travis - a vote he summarily ignored and one where he defiantly stated he would not resign.

The meeting was over in minutes.

Where the Board goes from here is hard to know.  What do you do with a sitting mayor who could not possibly have a working relationship with his Board, and it's over 16 months until election day?

In Davidson as was said earlier, the situation was "fluid".  That fluid turned out to be something like really watered down coffee that does absolutely nothing but leave a bad taste in your mouth.

For going to Raleigh and advocating a position contrary to the Board's position, Davidson Commissioners did nothing to Mayor Woods.  Not a reprimand, not an official censure, not a no confidence vote.  Nothing!

Instead, they just passed a resolution reaffirming their position against the project and contract.

Oh, wait...no, they did do something to Mayor Woods.

They took the harsh action of not letting Woods sign the resolution they passed.  The Board will sign it instead.

Commissioners Cashion, Fuller and Jenest plan to deliver that new resolution in a Raleigh press conference organized by Senator Jeff Tarte on Wednesday.

During the comments on the subject of the Mayor's visit commissioners danced around the subject and repeatedly said they were "disappointed".  Only Commissioner Graham gave a detailed reason for the Board taking no official action against Woods.

Graham spoke about 5 Commissioners not overriding the vote of the people that elected Woods.  That's a position that could actually be respected if a vote of no confidence and seeking a resignation was the only option.  It wasn't.  The Board could have issued a censure of Woods.  They didn't.

Not being willing to go even that far considering what Woods did to undermine the Board simply invites more of the same.

Also during the commissioner comments, Commissioner Brian Jenest spoke about "trust" and how officials have to be careful not to damage it.  Ironically, the lack of action by the Board greatly damaged public trust.  That is a certainty.

In fact, it may have done as much damage to that trust as Woods's initial actions did.  And that may be the saddest part of all.