Here recently San Diego, Ca had a problem with their Mayor, the problem was that Mayor Bob Filner was a serial sexual harasser who was accused by 19 different women of sexual harassment. The members of the San Diego City Council, including Filner's supporters announced to the public that the accusations where credible. Soon the citizens of San Diego began a campaign to hold a recall election if the Mayor refused to step down as he continued to deny each charge even as he agreed he needed help and admitted himself for intense inpatient therapy. By he time Mayor Filner returned from treatment all 9 city council members called for his resignation which after 3 days of mediation he agreed to do. His resignation became effective at 5 p.m PDT August 30, 2013.
On October 15, 2013, Filner pleaded guilty in San Diego Superior Court
to three criminal counts filed against him by the California state
attorney general, who took over the case after the San Diego County District Attorney recused himself. The charges were one felony count of false imprisonment and two
misdemeanor battery charges. The victims were identified as three Jane
Does. He could face up to five years in prison,
but under the terms of a reported plea bargain he will be given three
years probation, three months of house arrest, and partial loss of his
mayoral pension. Sentencing was set for December 9.
On top of the sexual harassment charges and the false imprisonment charges, federal, state and local investigators are also looking into possible financial fraud charges dealing with the misuse of city funds, the biggest one a trip to Paris he took on the City of San Diego's expense for city business that turns out to have been for personal reasons.
OK now you are reading this and saying what does this have to with voting, the election for Washington D.C. mayor way back in 1850 and I am about to explain that. Right now I believe the biggest problem with elected officials are that they think they are above the people who voted them into the positions they are currently filling and I am talking from the President of The United States all the way down to members of our local school boards, and I say this because they at some time decided to go beyond the scope of their offices and begin telling us how to live our daily lives, examples being the City Council of San Francisco a few years ago deciding that fast food restaurants could no longer sell "kids meals" with toys in them because it leads the children to making unwise choices in the meals they choose to eat, like there is no parents there helping or making the decision, the next would be the last few decisions in New York City in making the choice of what size soft drink we could consume (Struck down this week), and making the legal age to smoke 21 although a 18 year old can join the military and give his life in Afghanistan.
Then the case of Bob Filner and it continues higher than that, the story about Walter Lenox is he was a popular politician in the Washington D.C. area in the mid 1800's, he had served on the City Council from 1842-1843 then as a Alderman from 1843-1849, serving his last term as President of the Board of Aldermen.
In 1850 the very popular mayor of Washington D.C. William Winston Seaton decided not to seek a sixth term so Walter Lenox who the city council considered to be the heir apparent decided to run and was the popular candidate with the public until previous mayor, Roger Weightman announced he was going to seek the office again after leaving the office in 1827 and then became the popular choice according to public opinion, however when the election was over and the popular vote was counted Walter Lenox won the office by 32 votes.
Now the reason this is important is because during the outcry over San Diego's Mayor Filner's misbehavior as mayor it seemed like the majority of the population of the city was voicing their opinion and the success of the public outcry for a recall election or his resignation I hoped had showed voters how important their voices are when it comes to politics and elections that when the election for the new mayor which took place on Nov 3 would have the greatest voter turn out in recent memory, however it didn't work that way, when it got closer to election time, again I began hearing people say the didn't plan on voting because their votes don't count.
I just want voters out their to see that every single vote does count, and I am using the election of Mayor Lenox by his 32 vote margin as my first example. For my next few entries into this blog I am going to highlight elections in US history that was decided by close margins. I know as one person writing one blog I won't change everyones mind about voting, but if in the process of writing the next few blog posts on close elections I can change the mind of one reluctant voter than my writing will have served it's purpose and I will be happy.
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