Election Day is upon us and it is time to head to the polls. Here are some suggestions for Davidson based on the methodology outlined in my upcoming column from this week's Herald Weekly. Be sure to check that out on Thursday.
Davidson has seen a lot of positive change at town hall since the last election, and much of the credit goes to the newest faces on the Board - Commissioner Stacey Anderson and Mayor Pro Tem Beth Cashion.
On their watch the town has seen significant change in senior town staff with the retirement of Leamon Brice and the recently announced resignation of Town Attorney Rick Kline. Getting new thinking and perspective in these important staff positions will be a plus for the town.
Since these two Commissioners have joined the Board, the town has become more open in communication in various ways and my personal experience is that they are willing to get their hands dirty with thorny neighborhood issues if needed.
They are the only two Commissioners from Davidson who signed a 2014 letter to Governor McCrory asking for a delay in the initial HOT lanes contract signing. They are also committed to resolving the Mi-Connection situation and realize it was never a business the towns should have entered.
Both Anderson and Cashion deserve reelection.
Newcomer Michael Angell also deserves a look. On the two biggest issues facing the town - I77 and the Catalyst project - Angell has had the right answers. He has stated the HOT contract with Cintra is a very bad deal for all the right reasons. He is the only candidate on record fully stating the Catalyst Project is a bad idea for Davidson.
Having a voice like Angell's on the Board may have brought the issues uncovered at last week's public hearing on the Catalyst Project much sooner.
Now, for the Mayor's race in Davidson.
Mayor John Woods is once again running unopposed, an unfortunate situation to be sure.
Over his long tenure as an elected official, Mayor Woods has certainly done some good things. His love of Davidson should not be questioned. However, when it comes to the biggest decisions facing the town, Woods's track record is lacking.
He supported creating Mi-Connection which is the single worst decision in the town's history. He became the face of the Red Line effort and the blind pursuit of rail transit without first securing solid permission from Norfolk Southern. He has also been anything but an opponent of the Catalyst Project which has the potential to alter the very fabric of the town.
While it is a shame that he has no opponent this time around, voters do have a choice. They can leave the race blank.
Doing that can send the message that even if the officeholder does not change, the thinking needs to.
Just my 2 cents...
Showing posts with label Beth Cashion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beth Cashion. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Catalyst Project up for discussion Monday night
About twenty residents gathered at the the Allen Tate office on Davidson's Main Street Monday evening to discuss their concerns with the proposed Catalyst Project to remake the town owned property on and around Town Hall with a potential mixed use development.
Also in attendance were Davidson Commissioners Rodney Graham and Beth Cashion.
After host Rusty Knox kicked off the meeting with his recollections of what it was like growing up in Davidson when it was much smaller place, he quickly outlined what are the major concerns with the project held by many in attendance - the project's size, location, and perceived rapid schedule.
The last item, concern with the schedule for the project, definitely rang true with many in the room. It also brought out some of the evening's more interesting comments. With one participant citing a media report saying the project was anticipated to be completed in the "next for years", Commissioner Cashion responded with "we're not sure where that came from".
Where that "four years" came from was a WSOC TV report that hit the airwaves last week. The report featuring Mayor Woods can be seen here. The accompanying article concludes with the following line:
"While there are no set deadlines yet, the town spokesperson says the goal is to try and get the project finished in the next four years."
Interestingly, that line is not actually in the video report. It is only in the accompanying article. Also, the "spokesperson" is not specifically named.
In a follow up conversation with Commissioner Cashion to find out what she meant when she said "we're not sure where that came from", Cashion indicated that both town public information officer, Christina Shaul, and economic development manager, Kim Flemming, denied telling WSOC that schedule.
The good news for opponents of the project is that regardless if anyone actually said that or if the WSOC report simply got it wrong, it does not appear to be the case.
Graham and Cashion also attempted to clarify what Commissioners really endorsed in their last meeting with consultants.
Much has been made of the introduction of the possibility of adding a 128 room "boutique" hotel to the plan - an idea that first appeared during the last discussion with the UNC SOG consultants. What the commissioners "endorsed" during that meeting was not a plan that would definitely include a hotel, but rather the idea that plans for further investigation would include tearing down the current town hall rather than simply trying to modify/expand town hall and adding some parking.
The difference may sound subtle, but considering that much of the recent angst surrounding the project involves be inclusion of the hotel, it could be significant. While the consultants indicated there was a lot of developer interest in a hotel project, if that concept generates a lot of community discontent, it seams that it could end up being a deal breaker.
There was also a good bit of discussion about other potential developments along South Main, the increase in traffic any development in that area will cause, and concern of the town getting into the development business.
The Commissioners indicated the town will have another public meeting on the project. The tentative schedule for that is October 20th. They also indicated the possibility of other community meetings to ensure all concerns are sufficiently aired.
As the first hour of the meeting wrapped up, this blogger had to head home, but one thing was clear - there will be a LOT more discussion before anything happens with the Catalyst Project.
Also in attendance were Davidson Commissioners Rodney Graham and Beth Cashion.
After host Rusty Knox kicked off the meeting with his recollections of what it was like growing up in Davidson when it was much smaller place, he quickly outlined what are the major concerns with the project held by many in attendance - the project's size, location, and perceived rapid schedule.
The last item, concern with the schedule for the project, definitely rang true with many in the room. It also brought out some of the evening's more interesting comments. With one participant citing a media report saying the project was anticipated to be completed in the "next for years", Commissioner Cashion responded with "we're not sure where that came from".
Where that "four years" came from was a WSOC TV report that hit the airwaves last week. The report featuring Mayor Woods can be seen here. The accompanying article concludes with the following line:
"While there are no set deadlines yet, the town spokesperson says the goal is to try and get the project finished in the next four years."
Interestingly, that line is not actually in the video report. It is only in the accompanying article. Also, the "spokesperson" is not specifically named.
In a follow up conversation with Commissioner Cashion to find out what she meant when she said "we're not sure where that came from", Cashion indicated that both town public information officer, Christina Shaul, and economic development manager, Kim Flemming, denied telling WSOC that schedule.
The good news for opponents of the project is that regardless if anyone actually said that or if the WSOC report simply got it wrong, it does not appear to be the case.
Graham and Cashion also attempted to clarify what Commissioners really endorsed in their last meeting with consultants.
Much has been made of the introduction of the possibility of adding a 128 room "boutique" hotel to the plan - an idea that first appeared during the last discussion with the UNC SOG consultants. What the commissioners "endorsed" during that meeting was not a plan that would definitely include a hotel, but rather the idea that plans for further investigation would include tearing down the current town hall rather than simply trying to modify/expand town hall and adding some parking.
The difference may sound subtle, but considering that much of the recent angst surrounding the project involves be inclusion of the hotel, it could be significant. While the consultants indicated there was a lot of developer interest in a hotel project, if that concept generates a lot of community discontent, it seams that it could end up being a deal breaker.
There was also a good bit of discussion about other potential developments along South Main, the increase in traffic any development in that area will cause, and concern of the town getting into the development business.
The Commissioners indicated the town will have another public meeting on the project. The tentative schedule for that is October 20th. They also indicated the possibility of other community meetings to ensure all concerns are sufficiently aired.
As the first hour of the meeting wrapped up, this blogger had to head home, but one thing was clear - there will be a LOT more discussion before anything happens with the Catalyst Project.
Thursday, June 26, 2014
How Davidson Failed to Have a Special Meeting on HOT Lanes
There's been a lot of activity and swirl around the I77 HOT lanes project the past week - activity generated by the release of additional information from NCDOT - prior to Thursday's signing of the Commercial Close of the deal.
Here in Davidson much of that activity was around the request for a Special Meeting of Davidson's Town Board to discuss seeking a possible delay in signing the Commercial Close on the project until this new information could be clarified. The need for the special meeting (if one was going to be had) stemmed at least in part from a post on this site last week. Since we reported that this special meeting was not going to be held, aShortChronicle has obtained emails from the Town of Davidson detailing how that decision was reached.
There is much more in the documents received than the below set of emails, and it does appear there will be a sincere effort to hold a joint meeting with NCDOT and other area elected officials - possibly in early July 7th in Cornelius. Also, as part of the documents received, a list of detailed questions was compiled primarily by Commissioner Anderson and submitted for response to NCDOT. Both of these are very good things towards getting clarification and updated information.
As for how Davidson's Board decided to not have a special meeting on the subject, that's a different matter. There is definitely some room for improvement there. Below are the relevant email selections on that.
Emails in time sequence starting with Comm Cashion's original request.
Comm Jenest's response to Comm Graham...
Comm Anderson's response to Mayor Woods (There was no direct response to Comm Cashion's initial request in the documents received)...
Without commenting too much on the individual responses, it appears that Mayor Woods had the strongest objection to having a special meeting to discuss this issue of a delay. The extensive use of bold and underlining in his response being the clear indication of that. Readers are strongly encouraged to go back and read that one a second time paying attention to the tone of it. His frustration at even being asked for a meeting and having this conversation is palpable.
As for the Commissioner emails, readers can decide for themselves who gave this issue the most thought.
We'll leave our comments at that on the responses to the special meeting request. We here at aShortChronicle would not want to be accused (again) of spreading misinformation or engaging in hyperbole.
Bonus Observation: Davidson's adopted Rules of Procedure require the Mayor or any three commissioners to call a special meeting. This appears to be in conflict with the North Carolina general statute GS 161A-71 governing these meetings. That statute says the Mayor, the Mayor Pro-Tem, or any two commissioners can call a special meeting. If Davidson was following the General Statute on this issue, both alternatives for who can call a special meeting were met. Commissioner Beth Cashion is Mayor Pro-Tem and Commissioner Stacey Anderson provided the second needed request.
To eliminate the kind of heavy-handed response exhibited here by the Mayor against reasonable requests from Commissioners to call these meetings if needed, the Board should update their rules of procedure to be in line with State requirements.
Here in Davidson much of that activity was around the request for a Special Meeting of Davidson's Town Board to discuss seeking a possible delay in signing the Commercial Close on the project until this new information could be clarified. The need for the special meeting (if one was going to be had) stemmed at least in part from a post on this site last week. Since we reported that this special meeting was not going to be held, aShortChronicle has obtained emails from the Town of Davidson detailing how that decision was reached.
There is much more in the documents received than the below set of emails, and it does appear there will be a sincere effort to hold a joint meeting with NCDOT and other area elected officials - possibly in early July 7th in Cornelius. Also, as part of the documents received, a list of detailed questions was compiled primarily by Commissioner Anderson and submitted for response to NCDOT. Both of these are very good things towards getting clarification and updated information.
As for how Davidson's Board decided to not have a special meeting on the subject, that's a different matter. There is definitely some room for improvement there. Below are the relevant email selections on that.
Emails in time sequence starting with Comm Cashion's original request.
Comm Jenest's response to Comm Cashion's original request...
Comm Fuller's response to Comm Cashion's original request...
Mayor Woods's response to Comm Cashion's original request...
Comm Graham's response to Comm Cashion's original request...
Comm Jenest's response to Comm Graham...
Comm Anderson's response to Mayor Woods (There was no direct response to Comm Cashion's initial request in the documents received)...
Without commenting too much on the individual responses, it appears that Mayor Woods had the strongest objection to having a special meeting to discuss this issue of a delay. The extensive use of bold and underlining in his response being the clear indication of that. Readers are strongly encouraged to go back and read that one a second time paying attention to the tone of it. His frustration at even being asked for a meeting and having this conversation is palpable.
As for the Commissioner emails, readers can decide for themselves who gave this issue the most thought.
We'll leave our comments at that on the responses to the special meeting request. We here at aShortChronicle would not want to be accused (again) of spreading misinformation or engaging in hyperbole.
Bonus Observation: Davidson's adopted Rules of Procedure require the Mayor or any three commissioners to call a special meeting. This appears to be in conflict with the North Carolina general statute GS 161A-71 governing these meetings. That statute says the Mayor, the Mayor Pro-Tem, or any two commissioners can call a special meeting. If Davidson was following the General Statute on this issue, both alternatives for who can call a special meeting were met. Commissioner Beth Cashion is Mayor Pro-Tem and Commissioner Stacey Anderson provided the second needed request.
To eliminate the kind of heavy-handed response exhibited here by the Mayor against reasonable requests from Commissioners to call these meetings if needed, the Board should update their rules of procedure to be in line with State requirements.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
With Filing Still a Month Off, North Meck NCGA Candidates Make Announcements
This past week saw announcements from local candidates regarding this year's NCGA elections. With just a few weeks left before filing begins, things are sure to get interesting as the State and Federal election cycles ramp up.
On Tuesday, State Senator Jeff Tarte (Rep) sent out an email blast announcing a long list of endorsements - including endorsements from three Davidson Commissioners - Brian Jenest, Beth Cashion, and Stacey Anderson. See here for the announcement and complete list.
Not all that surprising is the absence from the list of Mayor Woods, Commissioners Graham, and Commissioner Fuller. If they were to endorse anyone in the upcoming general election cycle for the NCGA, I'd put my money on Democrat and Davidson local, Natasha Marcus, in the NC House 98 race to replace Thom Tillis. All three were pictured here at the campaign kick-off event in Davidson for Ms. Marcus with Mayor Woods doing the candidate introduction. Interestingly, Mayor Woods was listed as a "supporter" of Republican John Bradford in this announcement regarding his recent Cornelius campaign, but he's missing from the list of elected officials endorsing Bradford for the NC-98 race.
Speaking of the NC-98 race and John Bradford, Bradford's campaign announced an important appointment this week. Joshua Dobi will chair Bradford's election campaign committee. That name may sound familiar to readers of this blog. When Bradford announced his intention to run for this seat, we pointed out that local businessman Joshua Dobi had strongly urged voters to support Bradford in his recent run for Cornelius Town Board.
On Bradford's campaign site, ElectBradford.com, the campaign says of Dobi's selection to chair the campaign committee...
"Choosing a CEO in a successful Lake Norman area business is a calculated decision"
Seems like there are a lot of "calculated decisions" going on. Then again, this is politics.
On Tuesday, State Senator Jeff Tarte (Rep) sent out an email blast announcing a long list of endorsements - including endorsements from three Davidson Commissioners - Brian Jenest, Beth Cashion, and Stacey Anderson. See here for the announcement and complete list.
Not all that surprising is the absence from the list of Mayor Woods, Commissioners Graham, and Commissioner Fuller. If they were to endorse anyone in the upcoming general election cycle for the NCGA, I'd put my money on Democrat and Davidson local, Natasha Marcus, in the NC House 98 race to replace Thom Tillis. All three were pictured here at the campaign kick-off event in Davidson for Ms. Marcus with Mayor Woods doing the candidate introduction. Interestingly, Mayor Woods was listed as a "supporter" of Republican John Bradford in this announcement regarding his recent Cornelius campaign, but he's missing from the list of elected officials endorsing Bradford for the NC-98 race.
Speaking of the NC-98 race and John Bradford, Bradford's campaign announced an important appointment this week. Joshua Dobi will chair Bradford's election campaign committee. That name may sound familiar to readers of this blog. When Bradford announced his intention to run for this seat, we pointed out that local businessman Joshua Dobi had strongly urged voters to support Bradford in his recent run for Cornelius Town Board.
On Bradford's campaign site, ElectBradford.com, the campaign says of Dobi's selection to chair the campaign committee...
"Choosing a CEO in a successful Lake Norman area business is a calculated decision"
Seems like there are a lot of "calculated decisions" going on. Then again, this is politics.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Davidson swears-in new elected officials. - VIDEO
There are a lot of great things about living in a small town like Davidson and being able to participate in your local government in an up close and personal way is one of them. As the first of what will be a regular feature here at aShortChronicle, here is video of tonight's swearing-in ceremony for Davidson's newest batch of elected officials. Call it our little contribution, free of charge, to openness and transparency in local government. We won't be able to get every public meeting on tape, but we'll try to get the important ones!
Link to Video of Swearing In Ceremony
NOTE: You may need to turn the sound all the way up.
This video contains:
Link to Video of Swearing In Ceremony
NOTE: You may need to turn the sound all the way up.
This video contains:
- The farewell to Commissioner Connie Wessner who was not re-elected this term.
- The swearing-in ceremonies for Mayor and Commissioners. With a nice small-town touch, these were all done by the family members of each official.
- The election of Beth Cashion as Mayor Pro Tem and the assignment of commissioners to various nominating committees..
Monday, December 9, 2013
Will transparencey improve in Davidson with new Board members? - UPDATED
We'll see starting tomorrow...
Two seemingly small things are on the agenda for Tuesday's Town of Davidson Board meeting, but of course small things can have big impact. What makes these interesting is that the first of these occurs with the current/outgoing Board and the second after the new/incoming Board is seated.
An agenda item for new appointments to the Town Advisory Boards has be buried in the "consent agenda". The consent agenda is where you send things that are unimportant, things that don't warrant any public discussion, things that the Board "just needs to get through" so to speak. That hardly seems the place for important town appointments including replacement for new Commissioner Beth Cashion who serves on the Planning. There are also several spots open on the Livability Board and the Design Review Board. These are the three most important advisory groups for the Town, and yet, the names of the nominees are not even posted in the agenda a day before the meeting where they will be appointed. (These were added the agenda sometime Monday after this post. See here for the list.)
Commissioners Jim Fuller and Rodney Graham serve as the Board members on the current nominating committee made up of Mayor Woods, senior Town staff, and chairs of the current committees. It would serve the public interest and the ideal of government transparency if they did the right thing and asked to have this pulled from the consent agenda and voted on separately at tomorrow's meeting.
I'm sure the folks nominated are qualified. I'm sure they will do a good job and know the town well. Most will likely have completed the Town's Civics 101 class where they will have been indoctrinated in the "Davidson Way". The only question is will they have been selected to truly represent a cross section of town residents. Having their nominations buried in the consent agenda does not let the public know that.
The second and not-so-small small item to be voted on comes after the new Board is seated tomorrow night. That's the new Board meeting schedule. As discussed in the previous post, the new Board will vote on the Mayor Pro Tem. However, after that they will vote on their meeting schedule. One item that will improve town transparency actually appears to not be on this proposed meeting schedule. That's the in-home meetings Commissioners have been having on the 3rd Tuesday to ostensibly discuss "team building".
However, the "special meeting" in March of last year seemed to be discussing actual Town business. It was no longer just a wine and cheese fest but an actual meeting that really should be held in Town Hall. While these in-home meetings do follow the letter of the open meetings law and citizens are invited. They do not seem to fit into the spirit of being "open". How many people are going to actually feel at ease going into someone's house? Not too many, would appear to be the answer from reviewing the meeting minutes.
Let's hope removing this meeting is a sign of good things on the horizon from the new Board when it comes to being open and transparent.
UPDATE: The Advisory Board appointments were added to the agenda Monday after this post. See here for the list.
UPDATE #2: At Tuesday's Board meeting in an updated agenda, these were pulled from the consent agenda prior to the meeting and voted on separately. They passed unanimously.
Two seemingly small things are on the agenda for Tuesday's Town of Davidson Board meeting, but of course small things can have big impact. What makes these interesting is that the first of these occurs with the current/outgoing Board and the second after the new/incoming Board is seated.
An agenda item for new appointments to the Town Advisory Boards has be buried in the "consent agenda". The consent agenda is where you send things that are unimportant, things that don't warrant any public discussion, things that the Board "just needs to get through" so to speak. That hardly seems the place for important town appointments including replacement for new Commissioner Beth Cashion who serves on the Planning. There are also several spots open on the Livability Board and the Design Review Board. These are the three most important advisory groups for the Town, and yet, the names of the nominees are not even posted in the agenda a day before the meeting where they will be appointed. (These were added the agenda sometime Monday after this post. See here for the list.)
Commissioners Jim Fuller and Rodney Graham serve as the Board members on the current nominating committee made up of Mayor Woods, senior Town staff, and chairs of the current committees. It would serve the public interest and the ideal of government transparency if they did the right thing and asked to have this pulled from the consent agenda and voted on separately at tomorrow's meeting.
I'm sure the folks nominated are qualified. I'm sure they will do a good job and know the town well. Most will likely have completed the Town's Civics 101 class where they will have been indoctrinated in the "Davidson Way". The only question is will they have been selected to truly represent a cross section of town residents. Having their nominations buried in the consent agenda does not let the public know that.
The second and not-so-small small item to be voted on comes after the new Board is seated tomorrow night. That's the new Board meeting schedule. As discussed in the previous post, the new Board will vote on the Mayor Pro Tem. However, after that they will vote on their meeting schedule. One item that will improve town transparency actually appears to not be on this proposed meeting schedule. That's the in-home meetings Commissioners have been having on the 3rd Tuesday to ostensibly discuss "team building".
However, the "special meeting" in March of last year seemed to be discussing actual Town business. It was no longer just a wine and cheese fest but an actual meeting that really should be held in Town Hall. While these in-home meetings do follow the letter of the open meetings law and citizens are invited. They do not seem to fit into the spirit of being "open". How many people are going to actually feel at ease going into someone's house? Not too many, would appear to be the answer from reviewing the meeting minutes.
Let's hope removing this meeting is a sign of good things on the horizon from the new Board when it comes to being open and transparent.
UPDATE: The Advisory Board appointments were added to the agenda Monday after this post. See here for the list.
UPDATE #2: At Tuesday's Board meeting in an updated agenda, these were pulled from the consent agenda prior to the meeting and voted on separately. They passed unanimously.
Thursday, December 5, 2013
Will Davidson's Town Board Respect Tradition with Mayor Pro Tempore Selection? - UPDATED
A rumor is swirling that an effort may be afoot to prevent Commissioner-elect Beth Cashion from claiming the Mayor Pro Tempore spot when the new Town Board is seated next week. Tradition has it that the highest vote getter from the Board is selected for this position. If such a move is made it will be a sign of discord to come and a lack of acceptance on the part of the remaining incumbent Board members and Mayor Woods regarding what actually happened this past election cycle.
Let's all hope for the sake of our community that it does not come to that. I certainly hope that they would not put us on the same discordant path that Huntersville took this week with its new Board - starting off on the wrong foot and diminishing the role of certain commissioners.
So, you may be asking what is the Mayor Pro Tem and why does it matter?
Well, in the words of Commissioner Brian Jenest, the current holder of the position, Mayor Pro Tem is just a "fancy name for the guy who got the most votes in the last election." Those were his actual comments at the Summers Walk forum during the campaign. (See the 13:45 mark of the DavidsonNews.net recording at the link.)
As you can probably imagine, there is a little more to it than that.
The Mayor Pro Tem serves as the "backup" when the Mayor is not available. Ostensibly, the Pro Tem's main responsibility is to run the Board meetings if the Mayor is unavailable. However, this person would also go to events and meet with people as the Town representative if the Mayor could not - making the Pro Tem position a little more important than just a seat filler. The Pro Tem at times can become the "face" of the Town.
For a Town leadership that absolutely craves solidarity and abhors any type of disagreement, having the number two spot filled with a newcomer to the Board, someone who will have ideas independent from the Mayor's, is not desirable.
During the recent campaign, candidate Beth Cashion repeatedly faced a question designed to embarrass her. Every forum except for Summers Walk asked whether candidates used Mi-Connection. This question even came up at the last minute to be included in the DavidsonNews.net candidate profiles. The question implied that not subscribing to the town-owned cable company somehow should disqualify someone from public office. The question implied that if a new candidate was not a subscriber they somehow did not support the town.
Beth Cashion was the only candidate who had to answer that question with a "no". She answered it well. She answered it repeatedly. And apparently, the voters appreciated it - giving her by far the most votes on election day. My guess is voters cared more about electing someone who won't get us into obviously bad decisions like Mi-Connection rather than if that person spends their household money to bail out the politicians who do.
Beth Cashion absolutely deserves the Mayor Pro Tempore spot, and her fellow Board members should unanimously elect her to that position on Tuesday.
UPDATE 12/9/2013: Word has come in from Mayor Woods and Commissioner Graham that they will support Beth Cashion as Mayor Pro Tem. Very glad to hear that! They said they had not discussed otherwise and what I printed was incorrect. In hindsight, I probably should have asked them directly to verify before printing this piece. My concern was that the town follow tradition, and so I posted what I had heard. I am glad I was wrong. I'm more than glad to hear that there won't be a controversy around the subject tomorrow night - a night that should be a celebration for all involved.
Let's all hope for the sake of our community that it does not come to that. I certainly hope that they would not put us on the same discordant path that Huntersville took this week with its new Board - starting off on the wrong foot and diminishing the role of certain commissioners.
So, you may be asking what is the Mayor Pro Tem and why does it matter?
Well, in the words of Commissioner Brian Jenest, the current holder of the position, Mayor Pro Tem is just a "fancy name for the guy who got the most votes in the last election." Those were his actual comments at the Summers Walk forum during the campaign. (See the 13:45 mark of the DavidsonNews.net recording at the link.)
As you can probably imagine, there is a little more to it than that.
The Mayor Pro Tem serves as the "backup" when the Mayor is not available. Ostensibly, the Pro Tem's main responsibility is to run the Board meetings if the Mayor is unavailable. However, this person would also go to events and meet with people as the Town representative if the Mayor could not - making the Pro Tem position a little more important than just a seat filler. The Pro Tem at times can become the "face" of the Town.
For a Town leadership that absolutely craves solidarity and abhors any type of disagreement, having the number two spot filled with a newcomer to the Board, someone who will have ideas independent from the Mayor's, is not desirable.
During the recent campaign, candidate Beth Cashion repeatedly faced a question designed to embarrass her. Every forum except for Summers Walk asked whether candidates used Mi-Connection. This question even came up at the last minute to be included in the DavidsonNews.net candidate profiles. The question implied that not subscribing to the town-owned cable company somehow should disqualify someone from public office. The question implied that if a new candidate was not a subscriber they somehow did not support the town.
Beth Cashion was the only candidate who had to answer that question with a "no". She answered it well. She answered it repeatedly. And apparently, the voters appreciated it - giving her by far the most votes on election day. My guess is voters cared more about electing someone who won't get us into obviously bad decisions like Mi-Connection rather than if that person spends their household money to bail out the politicians who do.
Beth Cashion absolutely deserves the Mayor Pro Tempore spot, and her fellow Board members should unanimously elect her to that position on Tuesday.
UPDATE 12/9/2013: Word has come in from Mayor Woods and Commissioner Graham that they will support Beth Cashion as Mayor Pro Tem. Very glad to hear that! They said they had not discussed otherwise and what I printed was incorrect. In hindsight, I probably should have asked them directly to verify before printing this piece. My concern was that the town follow tradition, and so I posted what I had heard. I am glad I was wrong. I'm more than glad to hear that there won't be a controversy around the subject tomorrow night - a night that should be a celebration for all involved.
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