Saturday, April 24, 2010

Why I am Supporting Mike Callahan for Mayor

Election season is again upon us here in Cheverly. As most of you know, my faithful readers, I ran for a seat on the Town Council from Ward 2 last year. I was not successful in my candidacy – but I like to think the incumbent discovered that he should be working to communicate better with his constituents. This year, Mayor Julia Mosley announced her retirement and, as expected, Ward 1 Council Member Michael Callahan and Ward 2 Council Member Micah Watson (the man I ran against last year) announced they would run to succeed her. A third candidate, Tom Foley has also declared for Mayor. The election will be held on Monday May 3.

For what it’s worth, I am publicly endorsing Mike Callahan for Mayor. Now there are those of you out there who would say, well sure, he’s against the guy that he couldn’t beat last year. However, it is important to note that if Watson is successful in getting elected, his seat as Councilman would open up and there would be an appointment process to choose a replacement. I am still interested in sitting on Council and I would be interested in the seat, so one might wonder why I wouldn’t support Micah Watson.

Over the period of time that I have met Mike Callahan and gotten to know him and his family, I have come to know a man who is dedicated to Cheverly. He has long standing ties to the town, having lived here for more than 25 years, raising a family, and volunteering with so many of the organizations and charities that make Cheverly great. Mike’s professionalism and his career experience lends itself to the challenges and issues that he would be presented as Mayor. He is passionate about Cheverly and more than anything, he, like many of our fellow residents, really wants to keep Cheverly great. He knows what he wants, he knows how he is going to get it, and he has a plan to make it happen.

Mike’s main opponent in this race, Micah Watson does not have the rich ties to Cheverly that Mike can call upon. As I said on several occasions when running against Micah for Council last year, I don’t think Micah is a bad guy, I just don’t think he is the right guy for Cheverly.

Cheverly needs a mayor who can fully devote himself to the town and its needs. Cheverly needs a mayor who can communicate with its residents and be completely approachable. Cheverly needs a mayor that has firm roots in the community, long established and able to build consensus and accomplish the goals for Cheverly to succeed. Cheverly needs a mayor that is fiscally responsible, with a proven record of being the watchdog that Cheverly needs in these uncertain economic times.

I think that Cheverly will be best served by Michael Callahan. I urge all of you across the Town to get out on May 3 and vote for Mike as the next Mayor of Cheverly.

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