I suppose it’s a bit premature to expect the new City Council to make any serious changes, they’ve only had a few meetings since election day. But I have a fair memory and I recall Curtis Milteer hinting he would dedicate his life to making it possible for the citizens to elect the mayor. Apparently he agreed there could be some hanky panky if the task were left in the hands of council members. And I think he also intended to move election day to November, taking advantage of the fact that more citizens actually think about voting then. His main opposition to the latter could be the new mayor, unless the last election finally proved to Mr. Dickens it would be a sensible idea. Maybe both moves are going on behind those closed doors, back there where many touchy decisions are made.

It was published that the last vote for mayor was unanimous but by poking around a little I learned otherwise. Better to say it was finally unanimous. Remember when my Tarot cards said there was a plot afoot? There was, and more than one, and easy to understand.

First there was a small group of influential citizens who just plain don’t like Myles Standish for personal reasons. They figured one way to get at Standish was to deny him Dana Dickens as mayor. There is no doubt that Dickens voted in accordance with the City Manager’s wishes many times, too many in their estimation. So they promoted Bobby Ralph for mayor, he definitely is a downtown boy, and expected to swing it with Mr. Brown as vice mayor. They banked on support from Johnson and Milteer.

Then there are those citizens who favored Bobby Ralph just because he is very much a downtown figure. They figured that even without experience as even a member of council, his familiarity with downtown needs made him the ideal selection. They, too, figured Dickens was a good man but hardly a downtowner because he lives as far north in Suffolk as you can get.

And there were those who felt Calvin Jones’s experience as a School Board member made him a prime candidate but he dealt himself out of the mayoral game. Bobby Ralph didn’t, and on at least one ballet must have voted for himself. Dickens wanted to be put &uot;back in the saddle again,&uot; and would naturally vote for himself. The game came down to the one man who could decide the issue, Mr. Bennett, and he did.

So you see, folks, as wise as the choice for mayor may have been, it was decided by one man. One, and he may have a political ax to grind. It’s time for Mr. Milteer to make good his statement, move to citizen elections. One man should not pick the winner when there are 63,000 of out here. If one person is to decide, then let it be because the majority vote was one more than the minority vote. Mayor Dickens worries that a November election would be tainted by political parties but I suggest that only a handful of us know the political persuasion of any candidate. We’re waiting, Mr. Milteer.

The mayor of Totnes, South Devon, England, where I trained with thousands of others for the invasion of France, sends me newspaper clippings and I kept this one nearly a year. I write about it now because September is fast approaching. It pictures a group of young Totnes citizens holding both the American and the British flags. They are also holding a sign which reads,&uot; Please give donations for the victims and their families to help after the brutal attacks in America on 11th September, 2001.&uot; Under the picture it reads, &uot;October – a group of energetic walkers set out from Totnes to Plymouth to raise funds for the victims of September 11 atrocities, and their families. Pictured are Chrisie Paine, Stacey Caunter, Verity Hitchcock, Jayne Harris, and Danny Painer.&uot; What strikes me is that these kids’ mothers and dads were just kids when I was over there 58 years ago to help out with their problems. And the mayor, now my friend who sends me clippings, was but 12 years old and we used to toss the kids candy bars as we went through town. Of course I didn’t know him way back then, but it gives me pleasure to think I might have seen him running alongside our truck hoping we’d spare a treat.

Robert Pocklington is a regular columnist for the Suffolk News-Herald.