Sunday, January 11, 2009

Hello Mayor Jones; Goodbye Mayor Wilder

Mayor Dwight C. Jones seems to be off to a good start' He would be well advised to undo as much of former Mayor L Douglas Wilder's nonsense as he can.
Mr. Wilder opposed elected mayor proposals prior to 2003. But that did not stop him from criticizing State Sen. Henry L Marsh for opposing a prior proposal that Wilder lobbies against.
Then in 2003, Mr. Wilder helped sell the Wilder/Bliley Charter Revisions that gave us an elected mayor. Mr. Wilder assured us that the mayor's role was clearly spelled out. Of course he also assured us that he would not run for mayor.
He did run for mayor, and as soon as he was elected he sought and got more power. But that was not enough. Today he criticizes the charter he helped sell and that he revised. He says it is a question of who runs the city. That says it all. He wanted to run the city all by himself.
Intellectually, Mr. Wilder fully understands separation of powers and checks and balances. But emotionally, he is power drunk and power thirsty. So he presumed to exercise the powers of all three branches of government.
Mr. Wilder tried to be an emperor; let us hope that Mr. Jones will be satisfied with being the Mayor.

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