Mayor Dick Murphy announced his resignation Monday amid a widening federal investigation into the handling of the city's deficit-riddled pension fund.
"It's clear to me that the city needs a fresh start," Murphy said, holding back emotion as he made the announcement at City Hall, surrounded by his staff and family.
Murphy said he will leave office July 15. He said he expects a special election Nov. 8 to select his replacement.
The announcement comes just months after a bruising re-election battle in which Murphy pulled out a 2,108-vote victory over a maverick city councilwoman who waged a surprisingly strong write-in campaign. The councilwoman surf shop owner Donna Frye contended more votes were cast for her, but thousands of the write-in ballots were disqualified under state law...
I haven't followed the scandal but I have been following the election. This was the hanging chad of 2004. Seems that over 5000 voters wrote in Frye's name but didn't make the mark next to the write-in line. While it was clear that the plurality of voters intended for Frye to be elected, state law was clear: no mark by the write in line, no vote. (The law has since been changed.) The honorable thing to do, of course, would have been to resign immediately, but at least he did eventually unlike a certain president (sic)...
Politics
No comments:
Post a Comment