When Doyle Carter hosted an open house of sorts to discuss his candidacy to become City Council vice president, it didn’t exactly go as he had hoped.
Only a couple people showed up for that late January meeting. None of them were council members.
Given the opportunity, Carter went through with his speech anyway.
“I thought it sounded pretty good,” he said Monday.
He said that session was “early” and scheduled during a committee meeting, which he believes led to some of the no-shows.
On Monday, he had another meeting, this time with council member Aaron Bowman — one of four vying for the council leadership role who already had gained some support.
And then a funny thing happened.
After Carter gave a brief speech about his qualifications and leadership, Bowman said he would sign a letter of support for Carter.
He did, and Sam Newby, who sat in on the meeting, also signed a letter.
Newby had previously signed a letter for Matt Schellenberg, but Schellenberg also was dropping from the race, said Newby.
Both first-term council members praised Carter as a unifier, someone who could bring together both the new and old guard on the council and always showed dignity and respect.
Carter had his first two pledges. The race now has just two candidates, the other being John Crescimbeni who, including himself, has six commitments. It takes 10 to earn the role.
Since a series of meetings from all four candidates in late January and early February, activity on the race has been quiet. Carter said he went through a month and a half of family issues and council matters that dominated his time.
Crescimbeni on Monday said the logjam of people in the race and number of people who were noncommittal made him take a break until this month.
His plan is to resume scheduling meetings this month.
The vote for council leadership is slated for May 24.
The number of candidates and lack of traction was a reason Bowman said he decided to step aside.
The majority of council members are in their first year and not as familiar with the setup, he said, with all meetings having to be publicly noticed. He said he didn’t see support for his candidacy and decided over the weekend to back Carter.
Bowman said his hope is for another term on council, which would afford him plenty of time to make another run at leadership.
Schellenberg likewise on Monday said he had given serious thought to the decision, but hadn’t generated much support for his candidacy.
He didn’t blame Newby for signing on with Carter, but said he wasn’t committing to either of the remaining candidates just yet.
So, it’s down to two to serve alongside expected council President Lori Boyer for the 2016-17 council year.
Both candidates are longtime council veterans.
Crescimbeni was in office from 1991-99, returned by winning a special election in 2008 and has won re-election twice.
Carter served from 1999-03, returned to the private sector then was elected to office in 2011 and re-elected last year.
Both still have work to do to secure those votes.
Carter is giving the open house another attempt. He’s scheduled two today, one from 8-9 a.m. and another from 1-2 p.m.
He’s scheduled them around committees, hoping they draw a bigger crowd than last time.
@writerchapman
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