Tuesday, February 28, 2006

At least two interesting filings today...

Betsy Fonvielle will take on Tim Moore for a N.C. House seat and school board member Jo Boggs will be running for county commissioner.

That means primaries on both sides of the commissioners race.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Skip--
I think that we all know what the result of a Moore/Fonvielle matchup will be. Politically speaking, Betsy Wells fulfilled her duty as Party Chairwoman (unlike the Republican's Chair) to have a person to run for every office listed on the ballot. Ms. Wells, however, has done a great disservice to Ms. Fonvielle by setting her up in a situation that is seemingly impossible....unless Mr. Moore does something incredibly stupid.... This is not very likely, as Mr. Moore is quite politically astute. The interesting filing, though, is Jo Boggs. Ms. Boggs' heart is in the education system. At a time that the County Schools Administrative offices are filled with an overabundance of bureaucrats/administrators and the Superintendent and Chairman Litton are already telegraphing their intents to ask the County Commission for more money to assist in the funding of their operating inefficiency...we need someone who will think with their brain and know that the County Commission needs to reduce funding to the school system in order to FORCE the school board and superintendent to do the RIGHT thing and cut out the glut of administrators. While Ms. Boggs is a smart woman, I'm afraid that she will think more with her heart and be unable to do the right thing when it comes to funding requests for the School System.

Skip Foster said...

Wow, thanks for that very well thought-out post.

I tend to agree with you on Betsy Fonvielle not having much of a shot -- but something is gnawing at me that says "she shouldn't be TOTALLY underestimated." Still, even in the most favorable light, she is a longshot to unseat the incumbant.

Regarding Jo Boggs, I think the first question is not "what will she do as commissioner" but "will she win?" The field definitely beefed up near the end -- Eddie Holbrook and Bill Chambless are both forimidable. Ron Schaeffer has plenty of name recognition for his Laurel, Miss., efforts and Kelly Hastings also has name recognition from his real estate work. Don't know too much about Mike Putnam. Ledford and Ellis are perennial candidates who will need to win an election to be considered serious contenders.

So, I think Jo will have her hands full getting into office.

As part of the pre-election process, clearly her views on education funding will be something for voters to consider.

Anonymous said...

I would tend to agree with your belief that Ms. Fonvielle should not be underestimated. HOWEVER, after her quick exit from the last Shelby Mayoral Race, she came across to alot of people as harboring sour grapes and poor 'sportsmanship' with her post-election comments published in The Star. While we all can understand the sting of defeat, the manner in which one responds to that defeat shapes the way one will be received OR perceived in the future.

In regards to your thoughts on Ms. Boggs, I agree. I'm merely of the belief that she should be considered as one of the front runners on the Democratic ticket simply due to the fact that she has tremendous name recognition due to her School Board service. I simply proceeded to hypothesize what would happen if she is one of the Dem's to survive the Primary. I would guess that Ken Ledford and Freddie Ellis will maintain their perennial runner status. A wild card to consider is Mike Putnam. If he can turnout a base that is looking for change (for change's sake) from the status quo, then the November race may be somewhat more interesting.

On the Republican side, I think that Chambless and Hastings certainly will be the two that go on...if for no other reason...they've got the contacts AND the money that is necesary to make them viable.

At this point, though, it is anyone's race. I'm looking forward to seeing what shakes out of this broad field of candidates that we presently have.

Skip Foster said...

That's so funny that you mentioned Besty's quote in The Star after her mayoral defeat. I had a sentence in my post about that and then deleted it -- didn't want to be the first person to bring it up. But now that you have ... we all have said things we regretted and I'm sure she would classify her post-election comments in that way.

Anonymous said...

I agree. We have all made comments that we KNEW shouldn't have been said at ANY time, let alone in public and to members of the media. Even with all people making regrettable comments, there is SOMETHING to be said for being as graceful in defeat as one would be in victory. That is where 'statesman status' comes into play.

Anonymous said...

I suppose we all have said things we've regretted but nevertheless the comments were made and she has to live with those words. There is quite a difference is being a loser and being a sore loser. I think Ms. Fonvielle falls into the latter category. Hopefully after the November election she will just fall into the loser category.

Anonymous said...

I, for one, am very happy with Mrs. Fonvielle's filing. I was also "sour" when she didn't become our mayor. I wish her the very best and will be voting for her.
I think she had an excellent chance of beating either of her opponents in a one-on-one scenario- just look how it flipped from Jim Allen being ahead in the first election to Ted Alexander winning. Betsy had republican and democratic supporters, and I hope she still does.

Anonymous said...

It's important for me to clarify my first post, the response to Skip's topic starter. I would not begin to assail Ms. Fonvielle's qualifications. She is as qualified as anyone to be listed on the ballot. My point was simply that I don't think that it is likely that she will unseat an incumbent member of the State House, particularly when it is generally agreed that he has worked to help his constituency and seemingly 'done no harm'. My posting was not meant to be an assault on Ms. Fonvielle's qualifications, just merely an observation of what is "likely" to happen. I think that Ms. Fovielle is a nice lady and believe that she performed her job well as City Councilwoman and Mayor pro tem....

The political situation in North Carolina has changed rather substantially particularly in the NC House and Senate. There are allegations of corruption within the Democratic hierarchy in the House. None of us know how far reaching these allegations will reach. Speaker Black, whether or not guilty, will hinder the efforts of Democratic Candidates for the House, simply by creating the appearance that there COULD be some malfeasance and/or misconduct.

I would not mind seeing a spirited debate on the issues that matter to Mr. Moore's constituents. Personality and personal, snide attacks do not need to enter the picture. Let's keep the race clean and may the people of this district be best served by whomever is elected.