I used the numbers to point out that on June 2 there were plenty enough Henderson supporters out there to have swung the election her way. With the Wiseman vote as it was on that day, it would have taken less than 1/5 of her no-show supporters to upset the favorite by getting off their duffs and voting. I wrote that post to demonstrate with reasonable numbers the potential for an underdog to win a race.

Also, I don’t think it’s odd to want to know the ages of our Mayor and Aldermen. I’d still like to have someone fill in the blanks.

I think that the Sunday sales issue has been covered. Comparing Starkville to Tuscaloosa is ridiculous. I will be honest, I really do not care that much about the Sunday sales debate…I think that is has been blown waaay out of proportion. However, I really do not understand why people think that it will be absolute chaos if Starkville sells alcohol on Sunday. Maybe if we were the first town to do so, but most cities in the state sell any day of the week. I am originally from Olive Branch, Mississippi. It is a small town (granted it is rapidly growing and part of a larger metro area) that sells every day of the week. It is also a very religious city in the Bible Belt just like Starkville. It is not total chaos and people there think nothing of it. If you want to drink on Sunday your can, but if you don’t, then you don’t have to. It just isn’t a big deal.

Eric,
I agree with Jim’s response to your earlier comment about the voting numbers. I do not think that your “reasonable assumption” is reasonable. I think that it is reasonable to assume that the results still would have produced roughly a 60/40 split even if 100% of the registered voters would have participated. I think a large number of Parker supporters stayed home because they felt that he had it “in the bag,” a large number of Marnita supporters stayed home because they felt that she didn’t have a chance, and a large number of voters stayed home because they just didn’t care or they didn’t like either of the candidates. You argument that Marnita would have won if 733 more people would have voted for her is correct, but that is true in every race. If Lincoln would have had 10 more votes he would have won, if 13 more people would have voted for Gaskin he would have won, and if Mississippi State would have scored 46 points they would have won the Egg Bowl and Croom would probably still be our coach. The fact is that who wanted to vote, voted and 60% of those people felt that Parker was the man for the job. Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

I also don’t understand why age matters at this point. If I am right, we have 3 on the board over 50 and the rest are in their 20s or 30s. Really the BoA is half and half.

Mayor Parker Wiseman (28)

Aldermen
Ward 1 Ben Carver
Ward 2 Sandra Sistrunk
Ward 3 Richard Corey
Ward 4 Eric Parker
Ward 5 Jeremiah Dumas
Ward 6 Roy Perkins
Ward 7 Henry Vaughn

The real point is most candidates ran on a platform of change. I’m not sure who Mr. Harris was hoping to see elected but this board and mayor give us a much better chance for positive productive government than most of the alternative choices could have provided. That is change we need.

Not that it really matters, but I’m pretty sure Carver is 28 as well.

I would have sworn that young Parker is 28. Has politics already started aging him??

Do you mind if I call you Doogie? Doogie, who are the four you refer to as Children? Dumas, Sistrunk, Carver, and Parker? All are over the age of 30. Several of them have very impressive credentials and real world experience. Two are actively involved in our Community and continue to work on providing us with wonderful amenities and critical needs, such as The Community Market, a sound accessible transportation infrastructure, community responsive churches, etc. Furthermore, I would rather have a mayor with a great education an no experience than a mayor with no education and no experience (that was the difference between our two choices on tuesday). I think you might be the one who needs to grow up.

Disclaimer: I will freely admit to being immature and I don’t want or intend to grow up myself.

I’d like to see more people vote as well but it’s likely just as many (likely more) Wiseman supporters didn’t vote because they thought he had it in the bag already. This could also be used to explain the large turn-out in Ward 3 where you had a very close race with no clear front runner, of course Ward 3 always has high turnout. Then again are are ward lines drawn such that you have equal population distribution between the wards. Looking at the map my gut says no.

If you want to get voters to care our elected leaders need to actually do something positive in this town. That’s largely where the apathy comes from. After decades of inept divisive absentee governance many voters have likely concluded that it doesn’t matter who we elect. I have high hopes for our new mayor and board but only time will tell.

Good point. It is completely ludicrous to think that the sale of alcohol on sunday will in some way be detrimental to this city. When cold beer was finally allowed a few years ago (which was illegal to prohibit to begin with), did drinking related incidents go up? If they did, I didn’t notice it. Government has no business dictating when I can or cannot buy beer, simple as that. Prohibition was tried in the past, and it didn’t work. If someone has a problem with buying beer on Sunday, then don’t buy it; but don’t tell me I can’t if I choose to!