Office of Mayor Up for Grabs
By Noah Webster
| Staff Writer
With incumbent Tom Riley's
surprise announcement that he will not seek another term, the office of
mayor appears to be up for grabs.
It is a unique situation in
Odyssey. For the first time in recent memory--perhaps since the town was
founded--there is no clear front-runner in the race. Sources close to local
businesswoman Margaret Faye privately say that she has expressed interest in
the office, as has previous candidate and now ex-convict Bart Rathbone. But
according to local political analyst Simon Garfunkle, no candidate has
captured the voters' fancy.
"In Tom Riley, you had a
candidate who was home-grown," says Garfunkle. "That's a tremendous
advantage in a small town like Odyssey. People here love to vote for a
person they know, and who they believe reflects their values. But neither
Bart Rathbone nor Margaret Faye has that kind of local background of
following."
That's significant, says
Garfunkle, because it could lead to voter apathy. "When the people can't get
behind a candidate, what they're really saying is that the election is
irrelevant--and by extension, that government itself is irrelevant. The
leads to a very poor turnout at the polls.
But potential candidate
Margaret Faye believes it may be discrimination, not apathy, that could keep
voters away in November. "If I decide to run," she says, "I would be the
first female candidate in this town's history. That's a pretty big pill for
folks to swallow--maybe too big. It's hard to teach old dogs new tricks."
If she feels that way, why
run? "I haven't said I'm going to, yet," she says with a smile. "But if I
do, I'll run for the same reasons anyone else runs: because I believe I have
the best ideas for Odyssey's future, and that I'm the best person to
implement those ideas."
For his part, Bart Rathbone
doesn't have much to say about voter apathy. "I don't care about it," he
says. "In fact, if anything, I might be for it. Apathy may actually work in
my favor. I've been accused of being completely uncaring. If the voters are
that way, too, then maybe they'll see that we do connect on at least one
issue."
The deadline for filing
registration papers to become a candidate is next week.
This
article originally appeared in "The Odyssey Times," a
special fictional newspaper produced by Focus on the Family to promote
Adventures in Odyssey.
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