Incumbent Scott Malsin aside for a moment, which of the other three contenders in tomorrow’s two-seat City Council election is most fit to join the august gentlemen on the dais?
Any of them?
During the past three months, what measure of maturity, insightfulness, reflectiveness, discipline, professionalism have you seen in Meghan Sahli-Wells, Jeff Cooper and Robert Zirgulis?
Mr. Malsin has so thoroughly dominated the dialogue and dwarfed the relatively thin responses from the rest of the field lately that sometimes it is difficult to imagine them sitting side by side as equals on the City Council.
That must be balanced against the realization that he has complete access, and insight, to all City Hall activity for the past four years. His rivals, to state the obvious, have been playing catch-up since they just made up their minds to run a few months ago.
When Mr. Malsin comes to each public appearance intending to take a bow for every action by City Hall since ’06, how can the three outsiders look like anything more than observers and wannabees?
The previously cited gaffes at last week’s final Candidates Forum notwithstanding, all three of them have been clear and distinctive about how they would perform as members of the City Council.
Reasons for Support
Ms. Sahli-Wells’s populist political philosophy — urgently seeking a stronger community voice in all decision-making — most closely resembles that of term-limited Gary Silbiger.
A crucial difference, I believe but cannot yet prove, is that she would be willing to compromise to get a portion of what she wants. I do not recall a single instance of Mr. Silbiger compromising in eight years.
Every time I have heard her speak, she has included this line:
In organizing and leading two neighborhood groups, “I have learned to build bridges.”
That is not just happy talk. It should be sufficient reason to vote for Ms. Sahli-Wells.
Her youthfulness, her immense vigor, her bullish commitment and, yes, her feminine viewpoint, only increase her attractiveness.
Having serving more than twice as long on the Parks and Recreation Commission as Mr. Malsin has on the City Council, Mr. Cooper, of the three outsiders, brings the most experienced credentials to the election.
Cooper’s Strengths
While the commission is a far shot from the Council, he understands how group decision-making works, and he has as much seasoning as he needs.
Mr. Cooper’s reputation for being a good-time-Charlie was nice when he was working with private groups, such as the Exchange Club, and being a leader in helping to create the Dog Park and the Car Show.
But voters want a serious, deliberate person to represent them on the Council, and that is what Mr. Cooper has grown into the past three months. From here, he seems to have run a near-flawless campaign. If he is going to be a Councilman, this is his time.
I would like to believe Mr. Zirgulis’s campaign quietly has been catching fire, in part because he has drained himself nearly daily by trying to run an imaginative campaign based on issues he believes are critical.
Among these are revenues for a starved city from “controlled, safe” oil drilling, and “unfairly” low revenues for the city from red light traffic camera tickets and plain, old parking tickets.
His hyper personality, unfairly I would argue, has been seen as voluble showboating by a community that prefers its office seekers to be conventional.
An unorthodox paradigm comes naturally to Mr. Zirgulis, who seems to have often played harder than perhaps necessary to demonstrate that he was as capable as any rival.
As we have noted numerous times, Councilman Malsin’s case has grown stronger the longer the campaign has gone on.
Back in January, none of the four seemed comfortable as candidates, a most disappointing development for the Councilman since he was supposed to be the lone unflappable veteran. But he was flappable.
And that still is an “x” factor in his campaign.
In response to a question, he said in Blair Hills last Thursday that he stood by every vote he has cast on the dais. He would not change anything. Fine. Many would say he has earned high marks, adding, “but his personality makes me uncomfortable.”
Does that matter?
When he disapproves of a comment — and this happens a few times at every meeting — Mr. Malsin will recline in his high-backed chair and roll his eyes. People notice. People remark about it.
We shall see.
