Recall redux
As I fully expected, T. Dianne Bellamy-Small survived a recall challenge in today's utterly useless special election.
This election had all the earmarks of a nonevent:
No drama.Bellamy-Small led from start to finish.
No atmosphere. The ambiance in the Commissioners meeting chamber at the Old Guilford County Courthouse was funereal.
No point. Whether Bellamy-Small won or lost it meant nothing.
Bellamy-Small may want to worry a bit about the 5.6 percent turnout.
Despite the backing of the Pulpit Forum, and her assertions that she is visible and accessible and constantly working for her constituents, she has yet to muster much passion or energy among voters in District 1.
Her rallies have been sparsely attended. Despite the publicity and the controversy surrounding Tuesday's recall -- and despite Bellamy-Small's "victory" -- most of the District 1 voters choose to stay home.
Not exactly a convincing vote of confidence.
Comments (7)
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Just as I thought, the people don't care. That's why some of our leaders are so big-headed,like Bellamy-Small.
Posted on August 22, 2007 4:37 AM
What a shame.
Her disgusting antics are one reason GSO politics are a joke.
She's disgraced her position, betrayed her constituents, and possibly violated some laws regarding release of personnel records.
Posted on August 22, 2007 9:19 AM
If we are using turnout as a barometer for whether or not people care about an election, then the majority of the people in Greensboro and Guilford County don't care about an election. This was a vote about whether or not the people of District 1 have a right to determine their representative and the answer to that is yes. A vote on Small's representation or lack thereof will come in October and November. The people of District 1 know it when they smell it. Florence Gatten threw out this stink bomb, a few ran behind it. Not only have we decided that we are responsible for electing our own representative, we will be able to determine who among the candidiates is real and who is a puppet. And for the record, I didn't vote for Small in the last election and I have no intention of voting for Small in the upcoming election.
Posted on August 22, 2007 9:36 AM
Robin, I agree with almost everything say, although I do think the turnout tells us something about the amount of voter engagement on this issue.
What it tells us isn't entirely clear. It could mean people weren't dissatisfied enough with Bellamy-Small to turn out.
It could mean the Pulpit Forum and Bellamy-Small failed to energize voters on her behalf.
It could mean voters in the district generally didn't care much about the issue, one way or the other.
You're also right about recent turnouts in city elections. With more competitive elections, from top on down, I'm hoping this year will be different.
Posted on August 22, 2007 10:57 AM
It could also mean that it was an "utterly useless special election" that had "No point. Whether Bellamy-Small won or lost it meant nothing.", so why bother to vote?
Posted on August 22, 2007 11:41 AM
Amen JWG. The voters of District 1 were clear this was a shambles.
Posted on August 22, 2007 11:59 AM
I'd like to see voters rally around one of Bellamy-Small's opponents for the primary election. I'm afraid that the results might be so spread out among the other candidates that Bellamy-Small could end up looking like a "big" winner compared to her opponents. If that happens, I'm afraid some voters will just assume she's going to win anyway and not come out to support the candidate who advances to the general election. (The way things are, with Bellamy-Small as an incumbant and with some people now stirred to regard her as a martyr, I think she'll be one of the two to advance to the primary. If I'm wrong about that, I'll be amazed. And impressed.)
At the moment, I'd encourage all district 1 voters to consider Tonya Clinkscale as a potentially worthy successor.
Posted on August 22, 2007 6:13 PM