My Thoughts October 22, 2009

Less than a dozen days are all that remain until this year’s election Nov. 3.

Thankfully, this year is a far cry from the turbulent elections of the past when no stone was left unturned digging for dirt on candidates. Mud slinging puts the media in an uncomfortable spot, because once a fact is brought into the light of day, the duty to the reader is to investigate and report it.

Wilmington held its two candidate forums in the preceding weeks and the worst to come out of that was a question about multiple marriages.

Wrightsville’s candidates’ forum brought to life by the members of the town’s merchants association took place Tuesday night. The merchants association is filling a vacuum created by a chamber of commerce that may have lost its way.

Moderated by UNCW Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo, the forum was a snappy affair until right at the end when it disintegrated into pontificating on the part of not only the questioners from the audience, but several of the candidates responding to questions, unrestrained as they were by the time keeper. Elected officials need never forget that no one likes the sound of your voice as much as you do!

Lumina News does not endorse candidates, feeling every voter has a duty to make an informed choice as to which candidate would best represent them as an elected official. Too often endorsements reek of cronyism, hidden agendas and the inappropriate wielding of power.

Several of the candidates hold differing views, as was evidenced by their answers to forum questions. Anyone attending or watching the video, filmed in its entirety by volunteers from One Tree Hill, should be able to make a choice between those running.

This is the first time in a number of years in which candidates appear to be aligning with others to form some sort of slate. True or not, the old guard will certainly be pleased with how well their candidates preformed. As will be the younger edgier voter, however we will take the liberty of warning against the pitfalls of lumping candidates together.

Rather, each should be analyzed based on his or her own performance. His or her own words. Points can be deducted for the reading of answers prepared in advance. If a candidate can’t be prepared enough for a forum to speak from the heart, how will they handle voting on issues, where thinking clearly and sorting through facts as they are revealed, is mandatory?

Word comes this week of a separate mayoral forum which never really got off the ground. Given just 11 days notice, incumbent Steve Whalen cited schedule conflict as his reason for declining to participate, which killed it. Too bad for David Cignotti, and while this had potential to be explosive, fur most certainly would have flown, based on their track record of communicating — or lack of it this past two years, not having to attend another event here at the end of the month is a blessing.

The forum didn’t hold a lot of surprises except perhaps the number who are in favor of a smoke free beach strand. Just one candidate, Susan Collins went on the record as being against it. She also voted against a litter ordinance. Collins joined Whalen and Ed Miastkowski in voting no to televising town meetings.

It was no surprise water quality, the budget and public safety topped the ticket for discussion. As did recycling.

Crime was a hot topic, along with the downtown business district which can dissolve into near chaos between 12 and 2 am on any given weekends. When a question was posed from the floor by downtown resident Tim Taylor, two incumbents, Whalen and Miastkowski actually seemed to be clueless of how desperate this situation is.

For those in denial that a crisis exists, Miastkowski’s off hand remark that police officers are reluctant to patrol more on foot because they don’t want to leave their cars due to the damage that could occur at the hands of those in the street, was all telling.

It left me thinking if deplorable behavior, not to mention a good portion of the crime goes down between 12 and 2 am, why not, as Collins said, close the bars at midnight like the old days, and get these people off the streets? But that’s a choice made in Raleigh, not here.

One of the good things to come out of the night may be a stepped up effort to get a magistrate assigned to this area. Not having one available when an arrest is made is a large negative.

The candidates were split on who would support rezoning commercial property to more valuable residential, a harbinger of doom for many. Voting yes were, Jim Smith, Ed Miastkowski, Walt DeVires, and Susan Collins. Both mayoral candidates and Bill Sisson voted no.

De Vries is raising the issue of potential voter fraud. He, Cignotti and sent campaign mailings to more than 1,600 households in Wrightsville Beach. Three hundred of those mailings from each did not reach their intended addresses, either because the person moved, had no forwarding address, the address was insufficient or the residence was vacant. Some have out-of-state forwarding addresses in places like Pennsylvania, Virginia, Vermont and Wisconsin, but a majority of them were in Wilmington.

There’s no question we need stronger proof of residency when voting. In a town where each votes counts, that has the very real potential to make a difference.

Find a sample ballot on our Web site, or come by the office, we’ll print you one.

Pat Bradford