May 2006

So What Happened and What did We Learn?

Now that we have had time to reflect during the few weeks after the Town elections it might be time to look at the stats. Of course the most interesting, and maybe the most disappointing one, is that only 15% of the eligible voters did so - shame on the other 85%. There was no apathy on the part of interest Town Council candidates. We had one more Council candidate than we had in 2004. Nine were on the ballot in 2006 vs. 8 in 2004.

In the Mayor’s race there were two candidates in 2004. In 2006 there was one candidate and a pencil. Kristen Umstattd received 20 more votes in 2006 then two years earlier. The pencil amassed 968 votes, a third of all the mayoral votes, never campaigned, never debated, and never ran a single newspaper, radio, or television ad. Umstattd had the backing and endorsement of the Democratic Party. The pencil had the endorsement of Leadership Leesburg.

The leading vote getter in the Council race was incumbent Marty Martinez with 192 fewer votes than the top Council vote getter (Kelly Burk) in 2004. Kevin Wright received 194 fewer votes than the 2004 number two (Susan Horne), and Ken Reid 394 fewer votes than Katie Hammler who was number three in 2004.

So what does all this tell us? We want you, our readers to tell us, or better yet tell our new leaders what this should tell them. We are posting this item here on the front page of our Website, and as a discussion item on our blog. Please go there and comment. Tell us what went right and what went wrong? What do the numbers tell you?

Finally we are making plans for the next chapter of Leadership Leesburg, which will definitely continue to help develop leaders for Leesburg, both on the Town Council and on the County Board of Supervisors. Get ready now - 2007 and 2008 are only a few months away. Make your comments public on our blog or write to us by just Clicking Here. We want to hear from you.