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Chagrin election gets interesting
(by Barbara Christian - September 22, 2011)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
Chagrin election gets interesting
We are still more than a month from Election Day, but it's shaping up to be an interesting race, at least in Chagrin Falls, where there is rarely competition for the seven two-year-term Village Council seats.
This year, there are 10 folks running for those spots, so it's going to be an agonizing election night for the candidates but an interesting one for the rest of us.
As they campaign, we wager all the candidates are going to get an earful about the same thing, the oversized townhome development on West Orange Street and the damage, real or imagined, it has done to that neighborhood.
People are as angry about what is happening on this patch of ground as anything we have seen in the four-plus decades we have covered Chagrin Falls. But are Chagrin Falls voters angry enough to "throw the bums out," as the saying goes, and cast their fate with the newbies?
There is the mathematical possibility that voters could un-elect four incumbents, putting the newcomers in the majority come Jan. 1, 2012. If our addition and subtraction skills are up to snuff, the minority on that new council would consist of three incumbents who were there when the West Orange Street development was planned and the kerfuffle began. What does that mean? We have no idea other than it's interesting to think about.
But don't look for down-and-dirty politics in our town during the coming election season. Contested Chagrin Falls elections, as rare as they are here, are nothing if not polite. At least outwardly. Whispering campaigns generally take the place of out-and-out public mud slinging and name calling.
And don't look for any official predictions, the kind we are used to seeing in state and national races. No one does polling in Chagrin Falls. Conjecture doubles for polling data in our town. It goes like this: Everyone asks everyone else, "So what are you hearing?" and, "Who do you think will win?" Not exactly scientific, but that's what is so refreshing, so interesting.
So who will go and who will stay on council? Which newcomer or newcomers will get a chance to help steer the ship this time around?
Which candidate will win the popularity contest and get the most votes. Depending on who that person turns out to be and what his or her philosophy is, what message will his or her election or re-election send to the rest of council and the village administration?
The only person not sweating out this election season is Mayor Thomas Brick. But even though he is running unchallenged, the number of votes he gets will indicate a certain level of support, a vote of confidence, if you will.
So, dear candidates, you didn't ask for it, but here's some advice.
First, refrain from counting your votes before election returns are in and don't get too confident of your support even when people tell you how they are definitely going to vote for you. They are being diplomatic. Like we said, Chagrin Falls folks are polite.
Second, if you do not win, take solace in what the Rolling Stones once sang about how "you don't always get what you want."
Third, the West Orange Street controversy is not over, so, even as you hope and pray for your election or re-election, consider that old warning to the wise about being "careful what you wish for."
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