And more...

Only difference being here that I voted for two incumbents... So, apparently, even I am not right about EVERYTHING. ;) (But I did vote for the guy that got the most votes of all the canidates, do that count?)

Out with incumbents, in with new members
Birth, rebirth in Hudson
Newly elected council member has baby hours before Election Day sweep
By Stephen Dyer
Beacon Journal staff writer

HUDSON - Kristina Roegner had quite an Election Day. First she gave birth to her third child, Kristine. Then she was part of a rare, remarkable day in politics: the defeat of every incumbent up for election in Hudson.

"What a day,'' Roegner said Wednesday from her room at Akron General Medical Center. ``I can hardly handle so much good news in one day.''

Indeed, Tuesday marked a re-birth of both Hudson's City Council and school board. Presidents of both the council and the board were turned out, with City Council President George Roth receiving fewer votes than any of the six at-large council candidates.

The day after the remarkable event, victors and losers alike remarked how much voter animosity there was in Hudson toward those in power.

"How else can you explain 2,400 votes against the Charter Review Commission?'' asked J. Daniel Williams, one of three at-large council incumbents defeated Tuesday. The commission had recommended just housekeeping changes to the charter.

"There was a lack of trust.''

John Green, director of the Bliss Center for Applied Politics at the University of Akron, said what happened in Hudson, though rare, affirms democracy's greatness.

"It's that possibility that makes democracy effective,'' he said. ``At any time, the voters can rise up and vote out everyone.''

Two issues during the past year encapsulated Hudson's growing antipathy toward incumbents.
City Council incumbents had to deal with a controversial plan to sell the old library building on Aurora Street to a private trucking company, for substantially less than the price offered to the nonprofit Burton D. Morgan Foundation. Many residents were outraged by the proposed sale, claiming it was a boondoggle for the trucking firm.

School board incumbents had to deal with the decision to oust a popular high school principal. That choice last spring led to a massive demonstration by students, who were eventually pepper-sprayed by Hudson police.

While no candidate said these issues were the only ones that moved votes, few denied their roles in Tuesday's outcome.

"I was one of the original members who didn't want to sell'' the library, Roth said, adding that misinformation on the sale hurt the council's image. Yet after the council decided to proceed, he, as president, took the lead on pushing it, so "everyone thinks I was in favor of that albatross.''

John Logan, one of the at-large council winners, said the library issue was a key one because he said it ``identified that the public's business was not being done in public.''

Douglas Whipple, who won a school board seat, said the flap over the principal was merely ``the tip of the iceberg... and people in the community were disillusioned with many decisions.''

But school board winner Nancy Terry denied the principal issue was a factor in the outcome.
"I think people had moved on,'' she said.

Defeated incumbent James Hackney disagreed, citing "a single-issue group'' and "low voter turnout'' -- Hudson had about 37 percent turnout, about 2 percentage points less than the countywide 39 percent. Less than half as many people voted Tuesday as voted last November.

However, for Hackney, "the principal thing was the primary part of it.''

He said he would have made the same decision again, even though at the time he "had an inkling'' it could cost him.

But perhaps it was just time for new blood -- a rebirth of Hudson's elected bodies.

Hackney even agreed that perhaps the distrust of federal government officials had trickled down locally.

"Perhaps the public was in the mood to turn out everyone,'' he said. ``Perhaps the (Bush) administration's problems permeated down to the citizenry into a distrust of government.''

Whatever the reason, new mom and new Councilwoman Roegner quickly developed a slogan for all that went right for her (and her fellow challengers) Tuesday.

"I went from large to small to at-large all in one day,'' she said with a chuckle, cradling her newborn daughter.

Stephen Dyer can be reached at 330-996-3523 or sdyer@thebeaconjournal.com

God, talk about sour grapes from Hackney, huh? And TOTALLY UNNEEDED AND STUPID Bush slam there- which totally doesn't make any sense, anyways.

Ah, I remember the night Hacknet said he was going to run... Since I was one of the people who started cheering... ;) ;) :P

It was a good time, lol! :)