Congratulations Mr.Winters

Congratulations to Mike Winters for his resounding win.

A few weeks ago I was the speaker at a meeting Mike was chairing. He was very efficient and no nonsense. He told me later that if elected, that is how the city's meetings will be conducted. He will also thank everyone for coming to the meeting and shake their hands.

He also told me that one of the first things he would do if elected, would be to ask for the resignation of Coleen Balzarini as the executive director of ECP. As he stated, and rightly so, having her in that position is a conflict of interest.

I look forward to Mike's presence on the commission.

Sour Grapes

How else can one describe Bronson's remarks that "candidates sometimes find it difficult to carry out their promises when they take office". He also added that people who voted for change "may or may not get it".

You thought you were going to win. You didn't. Get over it.

And The Winners Are....

According to unofficial results:

Winters - 8,430

Bronson - 5,759

Fred Burow - 7,629

Bob Jones - 7,256

Donna Zook - 6,805

John Rosenbaum - 5,442

I think it safe to say that those who voted in the primary for myself, John Hubbard and Mike Witsoe, 3,652 total votes, voted for Winters. He then picked up an additional 450+ votes.

Great job to Fred Burow and Donna Zook, even though Donna just missed getting in.

After the primary, when both candidates picked up only 23.64% of the total vote, they came out swinging for the general and knocked out Rosenbaum, who at this time, picked up only 142 additional votes then he had in the primary. Of all the candidates, he had the worse showing.

Thanks Great Falls for voting and listening!

More Tribune Problems

So much for printing the backlog of city election letters to the editor. Today, there are seven letters to the editor and not a one of them has anything to do with the election.

On the opposite side of the editorial page, is a sample ballot along with the names of those running for Neighborhood Councils.

According to the NC list, these folks running for Neighborhood Councils are "write-in" candidates. No, they are not. These people went down and filed and their names actually appear on the ballot. There is only one "declared write-in" for any Neighborhood Council; me, Sandra Guynn, NC4. (Since I filed for mayor, I could not also file for NC). Declared write-in names do not appear on the ballot.

And what's with the November 6, 2007 date?

Letter To The Editor

In today's paper is a letter to the editor by Greg Jergeson, the chair of the Public Service Commission, concerning his opinion on SME/ECP. Mr. Jergeson has endorsed Fred Burow and Donna Zook for City Commission:

The Good News - Bronson Not A Shoo-In

I agree wholeheartedly with Travis, although I knew from the get-go that my chances were diminished when Mike Winters entered the race. Name recognition is not something one achieves overnight.

Winters did not campaign. Bronson went over the top; 500 signs (sometimes 4 in one location), radio, TV. Interesting, considering he was never in jeopardy of losing his seat. With all of the $$s he spent and his "experience", he only beat Winters by about 350 votes. Not a good sign (no pun intended) for "Mr. Positive". (His signs touted that he is the "positive choice").

Perhaps this quote in today's paper from Bronson is a warning as to what the next several weeks might bring:

"Bronson said he is not sure what kind of mayor's race will develop in the fall, but added he and Winters have been cordial in the past. We'll just have to kind of wait and see, Bronson added". (emphasis added).

Yes we will.