Mike Taylor
11-14-2007, 06:44 PM
Atlas Games' John Nephew Enters Politics
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_7437135?nclick_check=1
Apparently someone tried linking his games to violence during the campaign. It didn't work very well. I wish him the best. Maybe if more gamers enter into politics the perceptions of video games, RPGs, and the like will improve.
EDIT #2: Screw it, here's the whole damned article, copied and pasted.
Turnout 'shocks' ousted official, shifts the majority
Record number voted in council election
BY DAVE ORRICK
Pioneer Press
Article Launched: 11/12/2007 12:01:00 AM CST
Maplewood City Council Member Rebecca Cave knew before Tuesday's elections she wasn't a lock to win another term.
But she never saw coming the voter locomotive that steamed her out of office by a ratio of more than 3-2.
With her ouster and the victory of newcomer and mayoral critic John Nephew, Mayor Diana Longrie and her council majority were also given their ticket out of power.
"I am kind of shocked at the number of people that voted against me," said Cave, who finished a distant third in a four-way race for two seats.
The numbers in Maplewood shocked a lot of folks because there were a lot of votes, particularly considering the only thing on the ballot was the one council race.
Some 30 percent of the suburb's 22,584 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday, the highest turnout in recent memory for a local election. Turnout was well above the 20 percent showing in 2001, the last time the ballot listed only council seats. And it bested a 24 percent participation rate in 2005, a ballot that included two council seats and a mayoral race, which normally draws more interest.
In addition, 373 absentee ballots were returned, a possible city record, said Karen Guilfoile, Maplewood's manager of citizen services.
Official results released Friday show incumbent Will Rossbach with 3,911 votes, followed by Nephew's 3,760, both well ahead of Cave's 2,496.
Since Cave is an ally of Longrie, and Rossbach and Nephew oppose her - Rossbach unsuccessfully ran against Longrie two years ago - opponents of the mayor crowed last week over what they said was a clear voter mandate for change.
Longrie is downplaying the notion.
"I know a couple of things that Mr. Nephew said in his campaign was that he was a fiscal conservative and wants to spend his money wisely," Longrie told the Pioneer Press. "I'm actually hopeful he will be the fiscal conservative on the council who will vote with me. I'm actually looking forward to him being an ally of mine."
However, when pressed, Longrie acknowledged she stands in direct opposition to a key tenet of Nephew's platform: hire back several administrators whose jobs were eliminated under a controversial 2006 city reorganization. Additionally, Nephew said he wants to explore replacing City Manager Greg Copeland, who has Longrie's support.
"That's always the council's right to do that," Longrie said of the possibility of Copeland getting the ax. "Mr. Copeland was hired on a 3-2 vote. That's always the process here in Maplewood: You only need to count to three. I would anticipate that the next city manager would be hired on a 3-2 vote.
"It is what it is, and that's the way it works."
For his part, Copeland would rather not get whacked.
"I enjoy working for the citizens of Maplewood," he said. "I haven't had the opportunity to talk to him (Nephew) about any of this, but I'm certainly interested in still working for the city."
The campaigns were flecked with accusations splattering all sides. Fliers criticized Nephew, an entrepreneur, for marketing allegedly dark and violent card games, including one titled "Let's Kill." And Cave was fined $1,000 by the state Office of Administrative Hearings for falsely implying in a newspaper's voters guide that the Maplewood Fire Department had endorsed her.
The campaign season also featured almost twice as much campaign spending per candidate - nearly $7,000 - than the average of the 2005 and 2001 races. Nephew led in fundraising, with nearly $12,000 - more than the combined coffers of the three other candidates, according to reports filed by an Oct. 26 deadline. Fellow first-time candidate Delray "Rocky" Rokke raised $50 and finished fourth.
While Rossbach said Maplewood citizens "stepped forward and took back their city," Cave said Nephew's money brought out the vote in favor of him.
"There's too much weird stuff that happened in this campaign - just weird," Cave said. "They wanted the mayor out of power, and it looks like they got that. There are people that are upset, and they're going to have a lot of people watching them.
"I believe in karma: What goes around comes around."
Dave Orrick can be reached at (dorrick at pioneerpress dot com) or 651-228-2171.
MAPLEWOOD VOTER TURNOUT
2001 (congressional elections): 33 percent
2003 (City Council races only): 21 percent
2005 (mayor, two council seats): 24 percent
2007 (2 council seats): 30 percent
I editted the e-mail address so that no spambots would find it.
http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_7437135?nclick_check=1
Apparently someone tried linking his games to violence during the campaign. It didn't work very well. I wish him the best. Maybe if more gamers enter into politics the perceptions of video games, RPGs, and the like will improve.
EDIT #2: Screw it, here's the whole damned article, copied and pasted.
Turnout 'shocks' ousted official, shifts the majority
Record number voted in council election
BY DAVE ORRICK
Pioneer Press
Article Launched: 11/12/2007 12:01:00 AM CST
Maplewood City Council Member Rebecca Cave knew before Tuesday's elections she wasn't a lock to win another term.
But she never saw coming the voter locomotive that steamed her out of office by a ratio of more than 3-2.
With her ouster and the victory of newcomer and mayoral critic John Nephew, Mayor Diana Longrie and her council majority were also given their ticket out of power.
"I am kind of shocked at the number of people that voted against me," said Cave, who finished a distant third in a four-way race for two seats.
The numbers in Maplewood shocked a lot of folks because there were a lot of votes, particularly considering the only thing on the ballot was the one council race.
Some 30 percent of the suburb's 22,584 registered voters cast ballots Tuesday, the highest turnout in recent memory for a local election. Turnout was well above the 20 percent showing in 2001, the last time the ballot listed only council seats. And it bested a 24 percent participation rate in 2005, a ballot that included two council seats and a mayoral race, which normally draws more interest.
In addition, 373 absentee ballots were returned, a possible city record, said Karen Guilfoile, Maplewood's manager of citizen services.
Official results released Friday show incumbent Will Rossbach with 3,911 votes, followed by Nephew's 3,760, both well ahead of Cave's 2,496.
Since Cave is an ally of Longrie, and Rossbach and Nephew oppose her - Rossbach unsuccessfully ran against Longrie two years ago - opponents of the mayor crowed last week over what they said was a clear voter mandate for change.
Longrie is downplaying the notion.
"I know a couple of things that Mr. Nephew said in his campaign was that he was a fiscal conservative and wants to spend his money wisely," Longrie told the Pioneer Press. "I'm actually hopeful he will be the fiscal conservative on the council who will vote with me. I'm actually looking forward to him being an ally of mine."
However, when pressed, Longrie acknowledged she stands in direct opposition to a key tenet of Nephew's platform: hire back several administrators whose jobs were eliminated under a controversial 2006 city reorganization. Additionally, Nephew said he wants to explore replacing City Manager Greg Copeland, who has Longrie's support.
"That's always the council's right to do that," Longrie said of the possibility of Copeland getting the ax. "Mr. Copeland was hired on a 3-2 vote. That's always the process here in Maplewood: You only need to count to three. I would anticipate that the next city manager would be hired on a 3-2 vote.
"It is what it is, and that's the way it works."
For his part, Copeland would rather not get whacked.
"I enjoy working for the citizens of Maplewood," he said. "I haven't had the opportunity to talk to him (Nephew) about any of this, but I'm certainly interested in still working for the city."
The campaigns were flecked with accusations splattering all sides. Fliers criticized Nephew, an entrepreneur, for marketing allegedly dark and violent card games, including one titled "Let's Kill." And Cave was fined $1,000 by the state Office of Administrative Hearings for falsely implying in a newspaper's voters guide that the Maplewood Fire Department had endorsed her.
The campaign season also featured almost twice as much campaign spending per candidate - nearly $7,000 - than the average of the 2005 and 2001 races. Nephew led in fundraising, with nearly $12,000 - more than the combined coffers of the three other candidates, according to reports filed by an Oct. 26 deadline. Fellow first-time candidate Delray "Rocky" Rokke raised $50 and finished fourth.
While Rossbach said Maplewood citizens "stepped forward and took back their city," Cave said Nephew's money brought out the vote in favor of him.
"There's too much weird stuff that happened in this campaign - just weird," Cave said. "They wanted the mayor out of power, and it looks like they got that. There are people that are upset, and they're going to have a lot of people watching them.
"I believe in karma: What goes around comes around."
Dave Orrick can be reached at (dorrick at pioneerpress dot com) or 651-228-2171.
MAPLEWOOD VOTER TURNOUT
2001 (congressional elections): 33 percent
2003 (City Council races only): 21 percent
2005 (mayor, two council seats): 24 percent
2007 (2 council seats): 30 percent
I editted the e-mail address so that no spambots would find it.