Poll Numbers, Old News, Developing Story
The Town Talk:
Name recognition
Shown below are the unofficial results of a recent poll gauging respondents’ choice for Alexandria mayor. The results were relayed over the telephone from someone who had seen a copy.
The rest were undecided.
Good quality of life
The poll also revealed something else. Asked about how things are in Alexandria, such as quality of life: 64 percent had favorable responses; 21 percent unfavorable; 15 percent had no opinion.
Qualifying coming up
Qualifying for all fall elections is Aug. 9-11. The general election is Sept. 30. The runoff, if necessary, is Nov. 7.
ROY probably running
Jacques Roy, who has been approached by Alexandria Democratic heavyweights to run for mayor, said Friday he has “gone from possible to probable” in running.
Is councilman running?
Myron Lawson, at-large councilman always rumored to be running for mayor, said last week, “I have no interest in running,” though he never would come out and say definitely that he wasn’t running.
Banker not running
Martin Johnson has said unequivocally he isn’t running. The banker, who works at Capital One, said he has been approached every day in the past week. “It was definitely worth taking a look, but there are others who are better suited.” Johnson also is a member of two economic development groups: the Greater Alexandria Economic Development Authority and the England Authority.
A Letter To CenLamar:
Dear CenLamar,
I’ve been following the mayor’s race for the City of Alexandria intently, because I believe our community is currently in a major turning point. We need to make sure that the leader we elect understands the full consequences of his or her tenure. I write to you as a 29 year old black male with a stake in the future of this city, and I hope that you will publish my comments on your blog.
There are many reasons to think we are in trouble with the current bunch of candidates.
Roosevelt Johnson is a nice person. I have met him a few times…. nice guy. However, he’s not fit to be mayor. It’s a serious position that demands qualified intelligence, passion, and understanding. As nice as Roosevelt is, we all must face the fact that he does not possess the breadth of intelligence required to become mayor.
Charles Fredrick Smith is a shady businessman, plain and simple. I’m not even sure why anyone is backing him.
Delores Brewer is a liar…. so is Bridgett Brown. What’s the difference? I consider them to be opposite ends of the same problem. They may think this is a black and white, us versus them type of struggle, but really it’s just two different people with two related yet selfish agendas who will manipulate the public for whatever they can earn. I hope Brewer pulls out of the race.
John Sams thinks this is a part time job because he has a tremendous ego and a destructive disdain for everyone in government. He’s being quiet and polite right now….. and perhaps that’s fooling people into thinking that he is something he is not……..but if you’ve ever followed this guy, you know that he is just an opportunist with a big ego. His heart may be in the right place, but we need someone who is motivated to do good as a full-time job.
Will someone else come forward? Or will we be left chosing between the lesser of two evils?
Sincerely,
Ronald J.
CenLamar 
honestly that letter is one of the most insightful things i have ever read about the mayor’s race. who is this guy? he should run for mayor.
I agree with that.
So who gets the 21% of Brewers numbers once she is gone>?
How is Brewer a liar? Did you miss the Council meeting a few weeks ago? Did you miss the exchange between her and Brown? Brewer lied. She said her and the mayor just happened to bump into one of the city’s Cleco lawyers, unannounced, who then invited them to have an impromptu meeting in his office.
Did you also miss the letter that Ned Randolph wrote? Did you miss the line about how the meeting was actually planned all along?
Sure… it’s a stupid lie, but it was still a lie.
Interesting letter Lamar and I am glad your blog is here for people who would like to express their feelings. I have a scheduled interview with Delores Brewer Wendesday for the kalb.com Video Blog and welcome any questions you or your fellow bloggers have. As always I am listening.
mgodard@kalb.com
It was an uneccessary lie and of little consequence except to illustrate her incredible lack of reason and judgment. I consider it more a faiure of judgment that honesty (although she apparently will lie at the drop of a hat to save herself from any unpleasantness). The point is that her few days in a position of real authority were disasterous. Others that know her and have worked with and for her were not surprised at her limitations but were amazed at how long (short) it took for her to shoot herself in the foot. Many of us believed in her and gave her money and support. We were really shafted.
Maybe Ned did not tell her it was a scheduled meeting. He might have wanted to but forgot due to his Altzheimers. Maybe she thought it was just a chance meeting. Maybe in a moment of clarity Ned remembered he had scheduled the meeting and wrote the letter.
And maybe bullfrogs will grow wings to help soften bumping their ass each time they jump
For Michelle…Just a few Brewer Questions.
1) would you agree that there is some chaos right now with city govt? You are in insider in this administration that has been in power all these years. WHY should voters believe that a city run by you would be any different ? Why don’t YOU share in any of the responsibility for the current chaos of City Hall?
2) Will your husband divest himself of any business dealings with the city or with contractors for the city?
3) Explain to us why you did not see your application for a contract with the Alex Housing authority as a conflict of interest.
4) Explain to us your seemingly nontruth re the meeting with the lawyers from Baton Rouge
5) Have you thought about who you would hire as your Division Heads? Who?
6) Is YOUR department under investigation by the Legislative Auditor?
7) IF elected, How can you heal the rift that has developed between you and certain members of the City Counsil?
excellent questions. I would add who is going to be your chief of staff?
What are your plans to deal with the water and sewer system problems?
How many Mayoral assistants will you have and what will be their areas of responsibility?
How will you deal with Council intimidation of classified employees?
The Council intimidates classified employees? Now that would never happen!!!
The Charter virtually prohibits direct contact between the council members and city employees. If this is permitted to go on you have to blame the administration for not insulating city workers. The council can be counted upon to do whatever it can get away with.
With that being said, the administration should establish an efficient conduit for the councilmen to communicate problems, needs, and areas requiring attention to the approriate city agency THROUGH THE ADMINISTRATION. When people have problems, they should be able to call their councilman and get relief.
This is an area where critical changes are needed immediately. A city worker should be able to look up the line for guidance and not have to watch his back.
Dream on. In real life it doesn’t happen like that. The individual councilmen are kings of their little fiefdoms and will do anything to bring pressure anywhere to “bring home the bacon” to their constituints. But doesn’t that sound like politics at all levels? You have to have a strong Mayor – remember all the people elect the Mayor whereas just the voters in the Councilman’s District elect him. The Mayor has to keep the Councilmen in check yet accomplish what is needed in the Districts. Tough act and a person suffering from Altzheimer can’t do it. The Mayor is ineffective so now all the Councilmen are flexing their muscles trying to grab a larger piece of the pie. All except Roosevelt. I don’t think he suspects much less is aware of what is happening.
delores brewer video blogged! kalb permalink or kalb.com and click the video blog banner.
She wont admit she lies and then lies to explain her lie as ” a “misstatement” . Very shifty and very plastic. This aint a pep rally but a serious office. Surprised she dumped on Ned like she did. Actually said that he had not run his adminstration in accordance with the Charter. UH Delores, that would be called MALFEASANCE. I truly am sad that she has not turned out to be the ONE that we had hoped. Now Im sorry she is not dropping out. This is disappointing .
Sorry to disapoint you. The candidates we have are what we have. Make your selection, go vote, and deal with the outcome.
The city council is not letting the mayor run his office according to city charter. They vote for and discuss things regularly that they should stay out of according to the charter.
Hoping that during the debate she’ll further be able to explain how she “misspoke” about the meeting.
It’s a shame we can’t give an IQ test to the candidates since we can’t give them any longer to the voters. We have at least two idiots running for mayor.
brewer looked very shifty with her eyes floating all over the place and some planned pat answers. she is controversial.
Ronald J., you have called like I see it. I would like to earn your vote for mayor. lynton56@yahoo.com