It's a wrap.
After a seemingly interminable election season, it's finally in the books. Election 2015 is finished, and in a convincing fashion no one anticipated. Hoo boy, are we thankful for that. But what does it all mean?
Here's our crack analysis, Thanksgiving style.
Pass the turkey
First, the turkey. Or in this case, turkeys. The so-called "protest" voters. You know the ones. They clamor for a "none of the above" choice on the ballot. No candidate is ever good enough. They'd find a reason not to vote for Gandhi.
Or they think it's all just a colossal joke. They vote for Mickey Mouse for President. There are hundreds of them out there in T-town. We know because they voted for something about as viable as a cartoon figure to run the City.
Seriously, who are these chuckleheads who wasted their time going to the polls to vote for a mentally challenged prophetess? We assume they didn't really believe that she would be elected. Or that she had any clue about how to run a half-billion dollar corporation. So why throw away your civic responsibility on an irresponsible vote?
Was the rest of the field not good enough? The choices ranged from a lefty idealist to a pragmatic former chief executive, from a razzle-dazzle cheerleader to a competent administrator. And if that wasn't enough, you had a non-politician with vast political experience. Make a choice, huh?
Take our advice, if these choices still didn't pass muster, don't vote for a cartoon. Just don't vote at all.
Now for the gravy
The average Toledo voter finally saw fit to go to the polls in a local election. Most of the electorate was inspired to cast a meaningful ballot. The turnout was unprecedented. What might account for the thousands of voters who usually skip municipal elections finally taking part in the local democratic process?
On to pie for dessert, or more fittingly, the brownies. Pot drove the turnout in September, pot drove it again in November. Whether pro or con, everyone seems to want to weigh in on the wacky terbacky.
Leftovers
Which brings us to the turkey leftovers. The failure of Issue 3 hurt in more ways than one. That's because too many voters tied it to Issue 2. The lead balloon of a pot monopoly dragged down the future ability to get anything on the ballot as a citizens' initiative. Now the ballot board has the power to split anything into multiple ballot questions, all of which would have to pass to make any change. This turkey will continue to plague the electorate for years to come.
Speaking of leftover turkey, Carty's campaign laid a royal egg. Widely thought to be a real contender for a fourth term as mayor, he instead finished a distant third. The electorate decided to stay the course with Paula HH, no matter how she ascended to the 22nd Floor. Carty, on the other hand, couldn't "get the job done."
The gravy in all this is Carty should learn that his time has past. No more annual rumors that he will rise, to run for this, that, or the other. Give it a rest Carleton.
One last turkey that might be gravy in disguise. Sandy Spang's amateurish inability to work on a team has led to her being disastrously ineffective on Toledo City Council. She wanted to get in and shake up the budget. She couldn't. And it was the budget's fault, not hers, or so she says.
How could she improve? Why, move into a position where she could act unilaterally, of course! Except the electorate saw through her and said, no thanks, Sandy, back to council, where she likely will continue to pout and blame others for her shortcomings. Rumors have her running for County Commissioner next year.
Screw up, move up? Not likely. We have advice for dear Sandy— grow big enough for the position you hold before running for something else, or get tossed like another year of unwanted fruit cake.
