It’s election day in our small town, and here are a few remarks on local races.
District 3. Jim Winship’s running as a registered write-in candidate. He’ll win the seat, and thereafter have to decide how much, and how intensely, to pursue Dr. Nosek’s agenda. Those interested in a less restrictive, market-oriented approach should have found a candidate for this seat. Whitewater will find out how much it matters.
District 1. David Stone against Jim Olsen. One would predict Olsen, but in the end, I’m not sure how different one will be from the other. I wouldn’t expect serious, independent thinking from either — quite the opposite, actually.
District 5. Gregory Torres against incumbent Patrick Singer. Funny, this is the race that should have made a difference to those who wanted a less restrictive, less government-guided approach to city life. The race never caught on, though, because Whitewater’s not ideological that way. The town creed’s not left or right. Our politics is just a mishmash of competing, insiders’ preferences. Opportunistic campaigning and presentation matter far more than principled ideology.
At-Large Seat. Dr. Roy Nosek vs. incumbent Marilyn Kienbaum. Here’s a choice between two candidates so renowned in the city. Everyone knows of these two, probably more than anyone else in town.
Kienbaum’s candidacy is easy to consider — she should not have run for re-election. She contributes little of value to the position; a vote on her behalf just wastes the seat. She touts her role as the ‘People’s Voice,’ but nothing is more laughable, and sad, too.
She’s the Mother Superior of Unique Whitewater, where she knows — really knows — what’s best for everyone. I have met many serious, intelligent, knowledgeable people who see the limitations in Kienbaum’s views, but say nothing, because no one is meant – even in a principled way — to question this community treasure.
She’s one of a couple in office who are meant to be off-limits to criticism. There are only two politicians public servants like this, and Kienbaum is one of them.
The desire to fit into a small social circle is so intense here, to be a connected insider in this small town so important, that principle’s the first thing overboard. We have Kienbaum because no one’s willing to bell the cat.
I’m curious to see if, of the generation of women immediately younger than Marilyn Kienbaum’s generation, we’ll see the same influence of this smug, unthinking entitlement. There are quite a few women in Whitewater, now in their fifties, who would love to be candidates for this role. It carries a lot of power — doing what one wants, insisting only on one’s way, expecting and watching others defer, &c.
Of Nosek, I have said as much as anyone in town, satirical, critical, &c. If one has visited here even sporadically, then one has read as much. I expect that Kienbaum will win re-election, however little she deserves the seat, and Dr. Nosek will be out of office. Quite a few will be pleased with that result.
I’m opposed to Nosek’s views on regulation as much as anyone in town, but I cannot avoid feeling that Nosek will be missed in Whitewater politics, should he lose.
Missed, not as a foil, but as someone who — however much I disagree with him — was willing to stand up for something. I am sure he’s made more than a few city officials cringe, but it says as much about them as about Nosek. All those titles, all that self-promotion, those offices and enumerated responsibilities, and so few officials are able to stand up to Dr. Nosek.
Ironically, Nosek has lately latched to the notion that City Manager Brunner sees his, Nosek’s, causes as the most important in the city. It’s ironic because through Nosek’s assertiveness, and otherwise through the passage of time, fewer than ever have reason to believe in decisive leadership from our city manager.
Still, I am quite sure that, one way or another, Dr. Nosek will yet make his voice heard.