By Staff
The voters have spoken. Some candidates are happy with what those voters had to say. Other candidates aren’t pleased with what voters said by way of marking their ballots.
With municipal elections over, the next question becomes: Will voters be happy with the choices they made?
That question will be answered in the next round of municipal elections.
The majority of Washington voters sent a clear message when it comes to what they want to happen in their city. They picked a City Council-elect that undoubtedly will take a different course than the existing council took.
Councilman Archie Jennings, who was re-elected Tuesday night, may have said it best.
For Jennings, what the voters want is clear.
He’s probably right.
Voters also threw their support behind the remainder of what’s been termed the “green team.” That team is Jennings, Richard Brooks, Doug Mercer and Gil Davis.
From the way Washington voters marked their ballot, it appears they wanted change. That’s how Mercer interprets the results of Tuesday’s election.
That’s the beauty of the American electoral process. If voters are not happy with their government, they can change that government by going to the polls and supporting candidates who will help bring about that change.
On the other side of Beaufort County, Belhaven voters made it extremely clear they want to give Mayor Adam O’Neal another term to try to make changes in that town. Belhaven voters gave O’Neal support by voting for three candidates — Mac Pigott, J. Nelson Guy and Robert L. Stanley — who aligned themselves with O’Neal. Steve Carawan, a Belhaven alderman, has been O’Neal’s lone supporter on the Town Council in the past two years.
The tenure of the existing council in the past two years has been a stormy one, with seemingly more accusations and allegations being made than decisions to benefit the town. It looks like Belhaven voters are giving O’Neal and his allies two years to move the town in the direction voters want it to go.
If O’Neal doesn’t deliver during the next two years, voters may decide in the next mayoral election to make a change. At least one of O’Neal’s challengers in this year’s election will be observing him and where he takes the town.
That’s something all elected officials should keep in mind. The voters will be back. If those officials do what voters expect them to do, they’ll be back in office. Fail to do what voters expect them to do, they’ll be sent packing.
Yes, the voters have spoken. Now, their hope is that the people they put in office will continue to listen to them. If not, voters will find someone who will listen to them and carry out their wishes.
To those re-elected officials and newcomers to elected office: Are you ready to listen?