[img]1307|right|Meghan Sahli-Wells||no_popup[/img]Two longtime political watchers sniffed the air this morning, ignored the scattering raindrops, and concluded that philosophical change is coming to City Hall.
With Wednesday night’s Democratic Club meeting freshly imprinted on their memory, they foresee a move to the left on the City Council 2016 and 2018.
Putting aside next April’s election, when incumbents Jim Clarke and Mayor Jeff Cooper, along with newcomer Christopher King are expected to be the contenders, they believe that the present 4 to 1 moderate majority will change into a 4 to 1 leftist majority in the two following elections.
Their reasoning: As more liberal voices gain influence over the oldtimers in the Democratic Club, ambitious ladies and gentlemen seeking a wider forum for their views, will be drawn to the City Council.
Meghan Sahli-Wells, in the middle of her first four-year term, is the single true liberal on the Council.
She manages to get an occasional item through her moderate colleagues, but not much. All of them are Democrats, which would give hope to a liberal at a glance. Their views, however, are solidly traditional.
Mr. Clarke, two years into his first shot at electoral politics, has been associated with liberal causes for 40 years, and he sounded more liberal in the beginning than he turned out to be.
Mayor Cooper moves around the chess board, but rarely embraces left concepts.
Two years after next April’s election, Andy Weissman and Mehaul O’Leary will be term-limited. Traditionalists, both.
Two years later, Mr. Cooper will bow to term limits, and it is not clear what Mr. Clarke’s status will be, having been the only Council member in history to have been elected to six years in office instead of eight.
Whether he retires or is blocked by rules, if our two political watchers are accurate, liberals likely would have at least a 3 to 2 and perhaps 4 to 1 advantage to promote their agendas.
