If there’s one thing we’ve learned in 20 years of covering Charlottesville, it’s this: Folks here are political animals, but they’re not always electoral animals. Consider that seven years ago winning a measly 11 percent—11 bleedin’ percent!—of city voters was enough to land a new guy on City Council. We’re hoping that the pollsters are wrong when they assume that last year’s robust turnout was merely an Obama blip. Instead, can we rally for healthy participation, so that, whoever leads Charlottesville and Albemarle next, we can all believe in the results? And, while we’re at it, here’s a reminder that sometimes the political process is ruled by fate, such as the sad turn of events eight years ago that ultimately landed Creigh Deeds at the top of this year’s state Democratic ticket. If you miss Emily Couric, honor her devotion to civic duty and get to the polls.
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Paging through the archives
“On May 9, 2002, Rob Schilling sat at his home computer and created a pair of posters lettered with the words
‘Thank You.’ With his wife—and constant companion—Joan, he then spent the sunny Thursday afternoon standing on the corner of McIntire and Preston, waving the signs and smiling at rush hour traffic.
“Two days earlier, Schilling had defeated Democrat Alexandria Searls for one of two contested seats on Charlottesville’s five-member City Council. He won 2,169 votes, 359 fewer than the overall winner, incumbent Blake Caravati. Only 11 percent of the City’s registered voters had cast their ballots for Schilling, so out of the hundreds of motorists who saw his posters, probably only a handful understood the message. The rest had to wonder, who are those people?”
John Borgmeyer
July 22, 2003
Getting covered
October 23, 2001
