Morrissey announces for re-election. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

September 11th, 2008 at 01:04am Chuck Sweeny

Frankly, I was underwhelmed  by Mayor Larry Morrissey’s lackluster re-election announcement Wednesday at Cliffbreakers.

In fact, I was so underwhelmed that I scrapped my plan to write my Thursday column about Morrissey, and wrote instead about something entirely different.  I want people to read my stuff, and a column about Morrissey’s announcement would have bored people to tears.

I’d already scooped the other media with the first story on his intent to seek re-election, which was up on rrstar.com before 4 pm Tuesday.

The event was devoid of enthusiasm. The crowd was small, just the media, Morrissey’s media consultants, a few staffers, his mom, dad and brother, and the two advisers who are constantly by his side –  Republicans Jim Thacker and Ryan Brauns. If he has Democratic advisers, I’m out of the loop and don’t know who they are.

The wonkish Morrissey, who officially is an independent, talked in a monotone about process. He said he intends to continue in a second term what he’s doing in this term. I was hoping for something bold on downtown.

The people, and the aldermen I’ve talked to, seem OK with his leadership — otherwise there would be a groundswell of potential opposition to him,  and there is not. A prominent Democrat did tell me Wednesday that there will be  a Democratic candidate against Morrissey, but he or she will not announce until after the Nov. 4 general election. We’ll see.

Morrissey’s war chest of $125,000 to start out with is a daunting prospect for potential challengers to confront. And aldermen are hesitant to run for mayor because Rockford lacks staggered terms for city council members — everyone runs the same time as the mayor. Most aldermen and their families are on the city’s health insurance plan. If they risk the generous benefit in an uphill battle for mayor, what happens if they lose? They’re not aldermen anymore, and they lose the family’s health coverage.

Rockford needs to reform its election practices so that half the council  is up for re-election every two years. That way, some aldermen could run for mayor and still be assured of keeping their council seat should they lose.

The  Democratic and Republican primaries are in February, the mayoral and aldermanic elections are in April.

Entry Filed under: Morrissey re-election