Re: “Mayor Dear Turns into City Clerk, Dear”
Every morning when he wakes up these days, colorful Jim Dear makes history.
One week from today, Mayor Dear of Carson, holder of Hizzoner’s chair for a decade, uniquely will morph into the city clerk of Carson. On purpose. By desire
Mr. Dear, who boasts he never has lost an election during 25 years in public life, believed he had reason to fret going into the election two weeks ago. He ousted the capable incumbent Donesia Gause by a fairly comfortable 350-vote margin.
“I was worried,” Mr. Dear said, “because scores and scores of people approached me in the last few months and said ‘You are a great mayor’ and ‘we want you to remain as mayor. We don’t want to lose you as our mayor.’”
How should Mr. Dear’s margin be interpreted?
“It is hard to say how much of that showed up at the polls,” said the mayor, who is giving up the two years left in his term.
“While a lot of my supporters said they wanted me to remain mayor, but when people go into the voting booth, you never know what they are going to do.”
Won’t Mr. Dear need to make a psychological adjustment when he segues from the city of Carson’s best known personality out front to a back-of-the-office role?
“Yes and no,” said the mayor. “It is a different post and it certainly has a different role in city government.
“But I am very comfortable taking on the task and becoming an excellent city clerk for the people of Carson.”
(To be continued)
