A Change Election

Source: BBC.

Habēmus Maiōrem Urbis! We Have a Mayor! Richardson elected a new mayor on May 3. Mayor Bob Dubey will be succeeded by Mayor Amir Omar. It might not make headlines the world over like the selection of Pope Leo XIV did in Rome, but it's significant news here in Richardson, Texas.

Richardson hasn't had a mayor lose re-election since 1987. That was undeniably a change election. Three council members lost, two more retired. We didn't have that kind of turnover on the council May 3. But any election that results in an incumbent mayor being sent packing is a change election. It's up to the rest of us to understand just what change the voters are looking for.

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"I think you are a very bad man," said Dorothy.

"Oh, no, my dear; I'm really a very good man, but I'm a very bad Wizard, I must admit."

Source: L. Frank Baum.

Let's first recognize that Bob Dubey wasn't rejected for being a bad man. By most accounts, he is a nice man, the kind who is equally comfortable socializing at Guitars and Growlers as at the Jasmine Cafe. You have to look elsewhere to see where he came up short with the voters.

It wasn't personal. It was business. Bob Dubey's philosophy of government, being first and foremost "business friendly," was seen by too many Richardson voters as being neighborhood unfriendly. I called out examples in The Wheel's Voter's Guide.

• The Dubey Way: Outdoor Lumber Storage
• The Dubey Way: Even More "Heads in Beds"
• The Dubey Way: More Signs. Taller Signs
• The Dubey Way: More Car Repair Shops
• The Dubey Way: Salvage Car Lot
• The Dubey Way: More Drive-Thrus
• The Dubey Way: Breaking the Street Grid

In early March, when I asked, "Should the Coach Get a New Contract?", I didn't give an answer. Now, having seen the election returns, I have to conclude that too many voters decided the answer was "No." The voters were ready for a change.

Will Richardson get the change the voters are asking for? You can expect Mayor Omar will seek change. After all, he ran on a platform of change. But he will be just one vote among seven on the City Council. The change needed is not just in the mayor's seat, it's in the voting tendencies of the rest of the council as well. Look at the votes on the seven proposals above that came before the council during Dubey's term. Dubey voted for the bad proposal in each of the seven votes, with three of the votes being unanimous. Every other council member voted for at least three of them.

• Outdoor Lumber Storage: 5-2 (Barrios, Corcoran dissenting)
• Even More "Heads in Beds": 7-0
• More Signs. Taller Signs: 7-0
• More Car Repair Shops: 4-3 (Barrios, Corcoran, Arefin dissenting)
• Salvage Car Lot: 7-0
• More Drive-Thrus: 2-5 (Dorian, Justice, Barrios, Corcoran, Hutchenrider dissenting)
• Breaking the Street Grid: 5-2 (Barrios, Arefin dissenting)

Dubey voted in favor of all seven of these bad ideas. Barrios voted against four of the seven. Corcoran was against three of the seven. Arefin was against two of the seven. Justice and Hutchenrider were against only one of the seven. On three of the bad ideas, not a single council member voted "No."

One reading of the election is that it was Dubey's record on such votes that cost him re-election. The last lesson the rest of the council should draw from this election is that voters were satisfied with the performance of the rest of the council. Five of the other council members ran unopposed. Voters couldn't vote against them even if they wanted to.

The lone exception to this reading might be Dan Barrios, who opposed four of the seven bad proposals, a better record than any other council member. Making principled "No" votes in a losing effort can galvanize allies and energize grassroots support. I don't think it's a coincidence that Barrios received more votes than any of the other unopposed candidates. The first action the new council will be called on to make in the upcoming term is selection of a Mayor Pro Tem. They could do worse than selecting Dan Barrios.

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"A pleasant presence,
yet ballots weighed something more.
Zoning cuts too deep."
—h/t ChatGPT