The election of Pat Delair was not an “upset” as some local media outlets would have you believe. The only thing that this type of post-election analysis reflects is our local media’s total lack of understanding of the issues and values that local voters deem important.

The election of Pat Delair was a re-affirmation of the belief that ‘one-vote’ can and does change the world!

By almost a two-to-one count, the voters of the City of Wilmington clearly stated that they and the best interests of their community – not the ‘special interests’ – must be the priority of their government!.

As I have previously stated in numerous commentaries, the Convention Center process and the total disregard by our elected officials for the waste of tax dollars this project represents has been ‘the perfect storm’ of ‘government out-of-control’! Could anyone dream up such a story with so much ‘public corruption’: so void of a sense of public responsibility?

With realities, such as; a crumbling sewer and public works system due to years of neglect which has resulted in continual, damaging environmental spills, and the highest amount of environmental fines in the City’s history; totally inadequate and poorly maintained roadways due to poor financial and development planning that has created “the most dangerous roads in North Carolina”; public school capital needs in excess of $400 million; inadequate management and funding of basic public safety operations; an inability to properly fund even the most basic of public services; and a looming financial crisis for our taxpayers due to the pending property tax re-evaluation, this group of ‘zealous advocates’ for the ‘special interests’, that so lavishly fund their campaigns, was kept from hand-picking yet another ‘political gang member’!

The ‘real people’, as Mr. Quinn calls his gang of politicos, are still trying to answer the question: “how could this happen?” I can! It happened because all ‘excess’, even excess of political power, at some point is checked…and, the excess, corrupt, selfishly motivated political power of the Wilmington City Council is now set squarely on the path back to ‘public accountability’

My suggestion to this ‘political gang’? Understand the message! The citizens of the City of Wilmington no longer will go quietly into the night….and, ‘the real people’, Mr. Quinn, are taking back their government – the message was crystal clear!

This is Curtis Wright and that’s my opinion.

Curtis Wright is a public advocate, Community Commentator, local editor for the John Locke ‘Squall Lines’ Blog, and host of The Morning Beat on The Big Talker FM in Wilmington North Carolina.

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