Johnson upset, in part, with Ward

At the end of last week's City Council session, the mayor nominated Sean Dunn to take the vacant Water Board seat that Republican mayoral candidate Ken Johnson had held, and still hoped to regain.
City Councilor Craig Minor, a Democrat, said he understood Johnson wanted another term on the volunteer panel and said he would continue to back the Republican for the position. Another Democratic city councilor, Kevin McCauley, agreed.
But the rest of the council went along with Stortz to install Dunn on the panel on a 5-2 vote.
Johnson said he was most upset to see Ward back the mayor’s choice.
He said that Ward, who had been his strongest supporter for another appointment to the Water Board for almost a year, suddenly “flips and gives Bill what he wants?”
“I’ve come to expect it from Bill,” Johnson said, “but I didn’t expect it from Art.”
“He’s a friend. We’ve had a cordial relationship. What did I do to deserve that?” Johnson asked.
“How is it that after repeated attempts” by Stortz for many months “that he finally got the vote?” asked Johnson.
Ward said that he initially supported Johnson’s reappointment, but with a new water superintendent on board, he thought it was more important now to make sure that “a full complement” of water commissioners would be available to help with a major transition for the department.
“There needs to be some stability” on the board, he said.
Besides, Ward said, there’s only a month left before the municipal election and he assumed that Johnson’s focus would be on trying to win the race, not water issues.
Johnson said Friday that he tried to phone Ward the following morning to get an explanation, but Ward never returned the call. Ward said Monday he's tried once, unsuccessfully, to phone Johnson back.
Bruce Lydem, a Democratic City Council contender, called the whole flap “an unfortunate incident” that can happen in the “pressure cooker” of a campaign.
“We are down to the wire in the election season and many of us our tired and sometimes passions boil over,” Lydem said.
Though Lydem said he can understand the feelings that can lead to outbursts, they shouldn’t happen.
“We must make sure that we treat each other with respect and dignity, know and listen to our own minds and bodies and understand when the pressures of politics and serving require us to take a deep breath and step back,” Lydem said.

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