Town and Country Resident Questions Campaign Practices

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So what’s happening in Town and Country?

Today, Tuesday March 19, is the start of election “crunch time”.  Yard signs go up, final literature is sent out, candidates find poll workers…but, in our City, it’s anticlimactic, especially this year.  Until Barbara Hughes threw her hat in the ring, the current mayor and four aldermen were all unopposed.  Mr. Dalton would have us believe that this is because we are all so very happy in our utopian community.  Three or four times a year in the City’s news magazine he gets four to six pages of free propaganda to convince us.  The current spring issue served as a free political announcement for him. “I appreciate your ongoing support and hope you share my enthusiasm for plans for the future.” 

I submit that the lack of participation in Town and Country politics is because few care anymore.  Those who once did, have been silenced by their frustration.  Last April, with multiple contested offices, only 20% of residents could make it to the polls to vote.  I can only imagine what the turnout will be this year 2 days after Easter.

This campaign has been particularly disturbing to me because our incumbent mayor, seeking a third term, seems to have forgotten the “campaign game etiquette”.  Dalton yard signs appeared nearly two weeks before the agreed upon date.  People are listed on his website as supporters who clearly are not, in fact, two of them are dead!  And what’s with all this campaign fund raising?   This is a fourth class city of about 11,000 residents.  Barbara Hughes has Town and Country friends and neighbors supporting her campaign.  Jon Dalton has a posh kick-off party at Mr. Dunn law offices, a reception at the home of John Diehl, contributions from businesses and organizations all over the city, county and state.

Surely all this is not to defeat Barbara Hughes!

Some might feel it is good to have a mayor so “connected” and “above” convention, but I am not one of them.

Dorothy Cooke MD