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July 20, 2005

Owen Strickland resigns

In the past two dead-tree editions of the News & Record, I've written about Owen Strickland's decision to resign his Ward 6 seat representing north High Point and how City Council may (or may not) go about replacing him.

Here's a quick summary of what's happened so far:
Strickland, who had already said he wouldn't seek reelection this November, said at Monday's council meeting that he will resign Aug. 1 because he's bought a house in Randolph County.

The remaining council members have said their decision on replacing Strickland will depend on the number of candidates on the ballot for his seat. If there's only one candidate (and only has filed so far), the councilors seem willing to appoint that person to the seat.

But if there's more than one candidate, councilors I spoke with over the past couple of days were unanimous that they wouldn't appoint any of the candidates to the seat for fear of giving someone an unfair advantage. Some council members did say they would consider appointing someone not running for the seat to serve for a few months until the election.

What do you think, residents of north High Point? Would it bother you to potentially go a couple of months without a representative on council?

Posted by Eric Swensen at July 20, 2005 2:23 PM

Comments

Might as well. North High Point has no representation anywhere else, so why should this be any different? Owen could have just snuck out of town and no one would have been the wiser.

But since we are a democratic society and the seat should NOT sit empty, I nominate Mr. Tim Mann.

Someone please call him.

Posted by: liz at July 21, 2005 10:04 AM

I rather see him on the school board, Liz.

Posted by: SC at July 21, 2005 2:54 PM

Is there some NC law that says he can't serve on both boards?

Posted by: quest at July 21, 2005 8:52 PM

He may not have time to serve on both and then hold a full-time job and be there for his family.

Posted by: SC at July 22, 2005 11:49 AM

Bottom line-we need Tim somewhere. North HP has been screwed LONG enough! And to top THAT, Becky Smothers will probably run UNOPPOSED! That makes me puke a LOT in my mouth!

Posted by: pepto at July 22, 2005 1:37 PM

Pepto,
Why does the notion of Smothers running unopposed make you ill?

Posted by: Eric Swensen at July 22, 2005 2:00 PM

Eric,

What brings the acid up to my taste buds is the the notion of ANY official running unopposed. My comments were not an attack on Becky personally. I would say that she's doing a fair job. I'm just saddened that there doesn't seem to be others willing to step up and lead this city to where it could really be.

Running unopposed tells me that there is apathy in High Point and the rest of the county for that matter. Another example is how Mr. Skip Alston runs unopposed each year. Now THAT brings my last meal completely up.

Posted by: pepto at July 22, 2005 3:51 PM

To this point, Smothers isn't alone in running unopposed. Only two of the nine council races in High Point are contested at the moment.

So what do all of you think is the reason behind so few people running for office? Is it apathy? Satisfaction with the job the current council mebers are doing? Do fewer people have the free time to devote to a job like this (several council members are retired or own their own businesses)?

Posted by: Eric Swensen at July 22, 2005 4:00 PM

Several people ran against Owen last time. Maybe they still want to run again. The answer to someone's question is APATHY and who wants to put up with all the b.s.

Posted by: Crissie at July 24, 2005 8:31 AM

Crissie,

Owen Strickland was appointed by the city council because of Laura Wiley's departure to the state legislature. He was not elected.

You were right, in that several people put their "name in the hat".

The only person that has stepped forward to this point is one of those individuals. She actually lives near me. For the first time HP residents that live east of Eastchester may have representation from "this side of the tracks".

To those that threw my name out there, "THANKS but no thanks". My new position and my family use up all of my waking hours. After last year, they deserve all that I can give them!

Posted by: tim mann at July 24, 2005 8:07 PM