Sweet Time

Hello fellow Vantuckians! Ive been amiss in my politically charged enthusiasms due to constructing a door fence here at my Hough lair.

However, I did manage to catch a few Sunday headlines. In particular, the article telling us M+M will be laying out a "timetable" for appointing a new Dem commish to replace Stuart. A few KEY points:

-M+M are under NO obligation to appoint a new Commish in a hurry. It seems clear, unless the Blue Donkeys, Ed Barnes, or whoever takes them to court, that the two can hold off making an appointment til at least June 14-60 days from Stuarts last day. Mark my words, theyll do it at the last possible minute, avoiding Inslee's Oly intervention.

-M+M will appoint the WEAKEST of the 3 candidates. However, this doesnt necessarily mean Ed Barnes will get the nod. Its my sense Kelly Love Parker will-given her pro-biz stance appeals to M+M's stance. In fact, its likely whichever person gets their nod will ALSO be encouraged by them to run independent in November-thus splitting Dem ticket. Keep in mind Madore has the $ to do this-he donated, thru his PAC, $325k to Benton in 2012. Plus it appeals to Madore given his own squeak into office (when Dems didnt fully back Boldt).

-Its still not clear vis a vis state constitution whether M+M have to appoint one of the 3 Blue Donkey nominees. Yes, its usual. Yes, theres certain election statutes around it. But mark my words, theyll ask for legal opinions and rulings, as well as vet nominees before a "public" crafted in their own making during Commish hearings. They'll also do whatever they damn well please on the appt process-as they stated.

-M+M are holding off 60 days in order to confuse Dems-remember primary deadline is May 12. And its working-Ed and Pridemore are both announced. A bruising primary fight only works in M+M's favor, esp with them backing an indie candidate for November to SPLIT mostly left-leaning District 3-and remember NO GOP folks have announced. I doubt they will, or have full backing of our savvy Commishes when they do.

-Finally...the scariest part: M+M are free to do anything they like during this interregnum, w/o even a whimper of dissent on Council. No checks, no balances, folks. I shudder to think as to what crap will emerge from 13th + Franklin over this spring. And keep in mind that Freeholder charter intervention is FAR from a done deal: we dont even know what the new charter looks like, and we wont vote on an expanded Council where M+M power can be diluted til Nov 2015 at least.

In the meantime, Im ignoring Council and their ongoing Iran-Contra like hoo-ha. I got a fence to build.