Filing Deadline Nears in Towns

Susan Edwards, cool.

Who is she? Does she go to meetings now? I know she lives in Greenhill...but what's her deal?

Don't know what her platform is, but she's honest. Won't that be a refreshing change?

Will call tomorrow for final list, but it looks like 11 running for Council and only Stutz for Mayor. She will win without a fight.

As for Council, there are some new names to go with some familiar names:

Incumbents:
John Cole
Ozzie Vasquez
Sue Shuryn
Bob Weir

Former Council:
Bryan Garcia
Jay Tobias

Newbies:
Susan Edwards
David Leake
Charles King
Sean Roberts
Christopher Johnson

Good luck!

There needs to a way for voters to find out who these people are and what they stand for before election day, so we can vote intelligently. I've heard of some of these people, a couple have no business being in a position of power or influence, IMO, but the majority are just names.

I guess no other persons wanted to waste their free time with the duties as a mayor for a corrupt town. I guess I don't blame people because I wouldn't want it either. I just hope we get some new people on the council and get rid of others like Weir.

We have 678 registered voters.

A concerted write-in effort could still unseat Stutz. The question is, who?

Is there any way to find out Jay Tobias's voting record without combing through years worth of Council minutes?

He was only on the council for 2 years so there's not too much to go through. The minutes are on the Town's website and you could search for his name using the Adobe search function.
I'm not sure he could unseat Pam without a huge effort from the residents.

Do you happen to know how the voting broke down last election? I seem to remember 2 candidates for Mayor - how much did Stutz win by?

See this link:

http://www.townofhaymarket.info/node/159

Also I copied this from the Document Section:

Mayors list of Payments (or lack of) when she ran the Red Rooster
(Click above link to open new window to document.)

From what I read on this board, the Mayor still owes the town late payment fees for when she ran the Red Rooster. Once again she has been accepting money from the town and not paying her fees.

According to:
here

there were 645 registered voters in Haymarket in 2006. 600 of them voted. According to:

here

only 141 people actually voted for Stutz. Yes, that's 72% compared to Benjamin's 51 votes, but it's hardly an overwhelming mandate considering that a WHOPPING 2/3 of the voters who made the effort to come out to the polls chose NOT to vote for Mayor at all. Both Weir and Cole got more votes than Stutz did.

Of the 600 people who voted, only 24% actually voted for Stutz on purpose; 66% left it blank because they didn't want to endorse either candidate. If we can give the voters an acceptable candidate to write-in on election day, the voters have proven they will show up.

But we need to be smart about this, if we all write in the same person, we CAN pull this off; if we splinter off into factions, that will dilute the effect and Stutz will win again.

Too many people are going to believe that the 72% statistic is meaningful, and will think it's pointless to try a write-in campaign. We have GOT to get the word out. Does anyone who reads this board know a local reporter who might be willing to check the math and publish it?

You are slightly mistaken. Only 196 people cast votes in that election. Not 600.

The reason why there are over 1000 votes for Council is because every voter can vote for up to 6 people to fill the Council.

Stutz received 71% of those 196 votes cast...winning by a landslide.
Weir recieved 156 votes for council...winning by a good margin.

Typically in Haymarket, less than 150 voters turn out. With nobody challenging David Taylor in 2004, only 106 voters turned out. Back then, of those 106 voters, 97 voted for Tobias for Council.

I understand each voter gets 'up to' 6 votes for council slots. Or not, as they choose. Certainly, NOT casting a vote sends a message too, albeit a subtle one.

Can you tell me where you got the 196 figure?

Mayor
Haymarket
Precincts Reporting: 1 of 1 (100.00%)
Vote Totals Percentage
Pam E. Stutz 141 71.94%
Timothy M. Benjamin Jr 51 26.02%
Write-Ins 4 2.04%
View Details Total: 196

http://sbe.virginiainteractive.org/may2006/153.htm

The SBE page I was looking at was for the number of voters who came out for the primary. It's sad that people won't get as involved in a race closer to home, one with a much more direct and immediate impact on their lives.

I still think we should attempt to get a write-in candidate some publicity. There were 65 votes for various write-in candidates last time; if they'd been focused on 1 candidate, it might've made a difference. It would be a crime if Stutz won unopposed, let's give the voters a choice.

Somebody who knows Tobias needs to find out if he'll do it.