ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” article. It is an editorial by the editor.
EDITOR’S NOTE: I wrote this editorial a year ago and now I officially urge the Wayland City Council to take action on this matter.
I had to do a little research at the Then & Now Historical Library to confirm that Wayland has a quirky rule that those who choose to run for mayor must resign their office first.
Current mayor-elect Jennifer Antel, who resigned last year in order to appear on the ballot alone Nov. 8 (2022), indicated that this puzzling regulation only applies to those who announce their candidacy more than a year before their current term expires.
Sure enough, in 1974, as I suspected, Councilman Robert Swartout resigned his seat in order to run against incumbent Mayor Marshall Towne in April 1974. He lost and then tried to regain his council seat the following year. He lost again.
I have yet to read or hear about the reason for this rule, only that it was included in the city charter that was approved in 1967. In other words, “we’ve always done it this way.”
I hereby resolutely urge the City Council to find away to revise the charter and strike this rule, which only causes some confusion and doesn’t seem to promote good government.
I don’t see why a council member should have to resign in order to run for mayor. The incumbent doesn’t have to do it. And those whose two-year terms expire that same year are permitted to run without resigning. Furthermore, Joe or Jane Citizen do not have to sacrifice anything in or order to run.
Some may consider me naïve because there must have been some reason why this was stipulated in that document known as the city charter more than a half century ago. But I just don’t see it.
There was nothing wrong with Antel staying on as a council member until the mayoral election was decided. What possible mischief and mayhem could result? She won in the Nov. 8 election last year because she had no opposition, so she should have been allowed to continue to serve on the council until current Mayor Tim Bala vacated the post.
I’m a huge believer in rules and regulations in the interests of preserving an orderly and common sense society. But this one is just wrong-headed and confusing and it should be consigned to the dust heap of history.
