The early betting was that Mayor Art Ward would probably pick Terry Parker, the Democratic candidate in 2009 who fell short on Election Day in the 3rd District.
Parker is a longtime party activist, a moderator at Greene-Hills School elections for years and a genial, decent fellow.
He also doesn't seem to be tied in to any particular faction within the party, which is sort of a rarity these days.
But there are some who want Ward to ask state Rep. Frank Nicastro to fill in the rest of Matthews' term, since he's steeped in the issues and won't have a learning curve.
On the other hand, Ward doesn't like him.
Among the other possibilities are John Lodovico, a downtown commissioner, and Craig Minor, a former councilor. Ward, however, was never too keen on Minor when they served together.
There is also some pressure, of course, to pick another woman since the alternative is to have an all-male council, which is hardly an advertisement for the new with-it Bristol that Renaissance and others are trying to promote.
In any case, Ward has to act soon. The charter only gives him two weeks to pick someone.
The council gets to vote, too.
The only legal requirement is that Ward has to pick a Democrat who lives in the district.
No comments:
Post a Comment