Northampton Preliminary Elections

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Pathetic turnout (< 10%). Marjorie Hess made the next round on Forbes Library Trustee. As expected, Mayor Higgins and Rick Feldman will face off in November. Phyllis Rodin, a 91 year old Northampton institution missed the cut. The Republican reports:

Rodin, 91, ran primarily on national and international issues such as global warming and nuclear power. Rodin, who uses a wheelchair, also faulted the city for its lack of handicapped accessibility and said she would have trouble getting into the mayor's office if elected. Rodin, who did not raise or spend any money in her campaign, shrugged off the loss, saying she had accomplished her objective of finding out "the how and the why."

I was at City Hall when the votes came in -- the main buzz was about the low turnout. There were audible gasps when some of the vote totals were announced -- not because of who they voted for, but because of how low the vote was -- one of the downtown precincts reported 89 votes (my guess is that's less than 5%).

So, congratulations to Marjorie, who now faces off against three others in November for two spots on the Forbes Library Board of Trustees.