Council Meeting Breakdown: 01/10/19

For the first time in 2019 the Town of Lake View’s Town Council met to handle the business of the people. Noticeably absent was Town Clerk, Cheryl Self, who resigned earlier this year and punched the clock for the last time just thirty minutes before the Council Workshop began. This is actually a big loss for the Town as Mrs. Self was one of the few people in the Town government who could be counted on to work for the people without an agenda pushing her one way or another. Citizens can only hope she isn’t replaced by a clerk more like the last one who was borderline incompetent and actively worked to further the agenda of a select few Council members. In the meantime, Court Clerk Carol Buchanan is filling both roles, meaning citizens may get some service at Town Hall, but it certainly won’t be with a smile. Aside from that, the Council and Mayor do seem to have found a way to work together at least well enough to get things moving again.

Lake View 2020: Who Might Run?

While Washington, DC has already begun gearing up for the 2020 election season, for most of the population, it is a ways off in the future. Even further from the mind of the average voter is who may be on the ballot for their local elections. After all, most small municipal elections don’t even allow for formal declarations of candidacy until 30 or 60 days prior to the election itself. If one wants to make serious change in their community, however, it is important to look ahead and see who is maneuvering to take control of the local government. Last time, the powers behind the Save Lake View coalition of candidates had begun moving against their likely opponents years in advance and it paid dividends at the ballot box. In small communities like Lake View, elections are generally a Mayor’s Race. Some citizens pay attention to individual Council candidates, but as a general rule, whichever candidates back the “winning horse” typically find themselves in office alongside the new mayor they ran with. What’s interesting in the current situation in Lake View, though, is that we are at the crucial point in a small town’s history where the outside influencers who engineered the incorporation are being expelled and the people are left to choose from several different groups looking to work on one of many different visions of the future for the area. It may be 18 months before Lake View finds itself in campaign season, but it isn’t too early to look at the people rumored to have their eye on the Mayor’s gavel.