I just got this e-mail from Brad Carter:
I just left the East Bluff candidates forum and Dan Gillette was there because Charles Schierer dropped out. He was notified by PJStar.com.
Gillette, of course, finished 11th in the primary, so apparently with the departure of Schierer, he moves up to the general election. The Journal Star quotes Schierer as saying:
“Being in ninth and in looking at the numbers, I think there are some significant hurdles in getting to the top five,†Schierer said. “That being the case, I don’t want to be mucking it up for the other folks. I think I am a realist. It’s probably best to step aside. This wasn’t my time.â€
In contrast, Dan Irving called me the day after the primary and said he’s definitely not throwing in the towel — despite coming in eighth with only 27 more votes than Schierer. Instead, he’s going to step up his campaigning and work all the harder to get his name and message out. I found his energy and optimism inspiring, and it made me rethink my initial pessimism about some of the election results.
Well, that saves me a call to Brentwood, Missouri, to find out more about Schierer’s term as alderman there.
I didn’t realize that if one of the top finishers dropped out that one of those eliminated in the primary got to move up. I think it would have been better to just run with 9 candidates rather than going back to those that were eliminated. Is there a timeframe for when this occurs? If Schierer had dropped out three weeks from now would this have happened?
I am hopeful that Charles will help citizens to better understand the budget process. Since Charles has served as a city councilman in the St. Louis area, he helped to create/develop a city budget from the ground up and that seemingly is what Peoria needs to do too.
COP’s budget needs to have all the sacred cows looked at and thoroughly discussed to see what can be changed, including the culture change that will be required from some long standing entitlements. Think longevity pay changes from last budget cycle.