Sunday, June 10, 2012

Four years after One Vote...

Four years ago, we elected a Mayor in Florence by one vote. In running for office, that individual told voters we needed to hire more cops, build a new fire station and deal with abandoned properties. In outlining his goals, Stephen Wukela did something rare: he candidly told voters millage would have to be raised if we were going to address these long neglected issues.

Four years later, the City has tackled those issues and then some, doing so in a way where the City's financial situation is strong and any change to your city tax bill is miniscule. Along the way, he's won over many of those who opposed him last time around.  That's a helluva better record than most politicians can ever claim.

Notwithstanding what happens this Tuesday, Wukela heads in to Tuesday's Democratic Primary in a unique situation: having delivered on his campaign issues and having done so in the way he told voters the issues would have to be handled. That is impressive, if for no other reason than because in this day and age, it's rare to see someone run for office, tell voters what they are going to do, how they are going to do it, then go out and actually deliver.

That is as successful as any politician can hope to be.

Vote Tuesday. Vote Wukela.


Wukela for Mayor from WukelaForMayor on Vimeo.