[img]1792|right|Jim Clarke||no_popup[/img]Rivals for the two available City Council seats that will be decided one month from tomorrow, incumbent Jim Clarke and first-year candidate Christopher Patrick King – intriguingly — will be twinned for a few hours on Sunday evening.
A revival of the Odd Couple? Possibly.
Former Mayor Gary Silbiger and his wife Barbara Honig, former president of the School Board, who support both candidates, are hosting a unique Meet ‘n Greet for them at their Jasmine Avenue home, starting at 6 o’clock.
Look closely.
Take a selfie with them.
This may be the only fleeting moment in the campaign you will catch opposite-pole opponents will be bracketed with each other.
Catching up with Mr. Clarke yesterday afternoon while he was doing his daily door-to-door duties, he was asked how far teams-manship goes. Are you a (King supporter)…?
And before the question could be completed, Mr. Clarke leaped to answer:
“No, not at all,” said the congenial Councilman. “I support Jeff Cooper. The Silbigers support Chris and myself, and they have invited both of us to come.
“It’s a little bit different. Two years ago, the Silbigers did this for (Vice Mayor) Meghan (Sahli-Wells) and myself. There were two open seats, and we weren’t running against each other.
“In this case, though,” Mr. Clarke said, “we are running against each other. So it will be interesting.”
The Messrs. King and Clarke “had a little brief discussion,” said the Councilman. “I said ‘It’s fine. If you have issues, and you want to criticize. But if you criticize the Council, I will respond back on things.”
[img]2333|right|Christopher King||no_popup[/img]Mr. Clarke reflected. “I expect it will be done cordially,” he said.
Mr. King expressed similar sentiments.
After the Council candidates met with the city employees union this week in quest of their endorsement, “Jim mentioned Sunday, and he said, ‘I’m sure we can get along.’ I said, ‘Yeah, that’ll be cool. No problem.”
How far does the relationship go?
“I like Jim just fine,” said Mr. King. “I wouldn’t say we are…
“I got to know him during the last campaign.”
Here is how Sunday evening’s event evolved, as Mr. King explains.
“Since the Silbigers are supporting both of us, essentially they asked if it would be okay with both of us, instead of doing two separate events, getting all of their friends out twice, could they do one event? And we agreed.”
