This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

After Election Day, it's about people, people, people

Last week I wrote, "If HRO wins, Jim Rasor leaves a legacy." 
HRO won. Commissioner Jim Rasor leaves a legacy.

David Poulton was re-elected. Whether or not he remains as mayor pro tem, Dave will be the sole Center-Right elected official at The Table. Joining declared Democrats Jim Ellison, Kyle DuBuc and Mike Fournier (Peggy Goodwin is Center-Left) will be newly elected Democrats Sharlan Douglas and Jeremy Mahrle.

Diane Hargan, a newcomer with no  previous involvement involvement in local politics, made an impressive but losing debut with 5,436 votes, almost 22% of the votes cast for commissioner. If she is thinking of running again in two years, we'll be seeing and hearing from her during Public Comment, and she may attempt to  get appointed to a City committee or two. Warmhearted curmudgeon Bill Shaw, who is in the process of moving to Georgia, tutored Diane for a while. Diane would be wise to stay in touch with Bill, if he's able and willing.

My first impression re Sharlan, who has served on the Planning Commission, is that she needs almost no learning curve, just some familiarization with informal protocol at the higher level of CITCOM. (Upper level managers and executives in the private sector are often surprised to learn how much they didn't know serving just one level lower.) During individual or small group encounters, Sharlan is a pleasant conversationalist. At a public affairs table, she tends to orate -- loudly. I hope she softens a bit.

Jeremy, on the other hand, is apparently hardwired to be soft-spoken both in conversation and in the public arena. And he displays a tendency to read many of his comments, as he did at a candidates forum. He'll need to become a bit more vigorously and visibly engaged if he is to make his mark as a commissioner.

Find out what's happening in Royal Oakwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Then there's re-elected Mayor Jim Ellison.
One result of Election Day is proof that Ellison still has clout, despite souring many since he went openly Democratic in 2011-- which makes more interesting and meaningful a little "then and now" look at his mindset.

In 2005
“A little passion at the table is fine – as long as the passion is focused on issues, not personalities.”

Find out what's happening in Royal Oakwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That was part of Mayor Jim Ellison’s response to my chiding him about the sometimes too-vigorous dialogue during commission meetings. “If it seems to be getting personal, I attempt to refocus the debate on the issue.” Jim pointed out that as chairman of the meeting, his participation in any debate is somewhat restricted.

I recalled that as Traffic Committee chairman he had occasion to become so dissatisfied with the City Commission that he suggested the committee be disbanded if the commission was never to act on the committee’s recommendation. Jim chuckled as he recalled tiring of being repeatedly told to re-study an issue.

About commission meetings in general, I repeated my recommendation to cut off longwinded Public Comment. Jim said he could then be accused of depriving residents of their right to offer advice to their elected officials. I countered that longwinded speakers are being discourteous to their fellow-residents who adhere to the time limit. Further, if too many speakers are permitted to exceed the limit, others will charge discrimination if they are not allowed the same privilege.  

I also repeated my published comment that Ellison is “too nice” in not cutting off longwinded commissioners. See the 2005 Conversation with the mayor.

2011 and Forward
Jim's open conversion to partisan Democrat in 2011 and his use of his title in written and televised support of the Human Rights Ordinance suggest that he may have chosen to make this his last term as mayor. He remains a nice guy in the streets and in civic gatherings, and he still chairs CITCOM meetings well most nights, but it's hard not to detect a little intellectual and emotional distance from it all in his overall behavior both in public gatherings and at The Table.

Jim's having gone-political locally has raised the question of what he has in mind for after he serves this next term. Both his many friends and few detractors will be watching for clues.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?