We urge our readers to vote for Randy Morris for Athens mayor. We believe Morris is the candidate most committed to taking students into account during the decision-making process.
Morris points out that the city can’t keep treating students as if they have to be taught how to live in Athens. He respects that students are adults too and that we are part of the community. Morris recognizes that students were raised to respect others’ rights and don’t need a reminder to live here, and he has noted the importance of having two-way communication. If elected, he hopes he will proactively work to ensure that communication takes place. He has suggested monthly meetings with student leaders in addition to the current meetings between the mayor and Ohio University President Roderick McDavis. Those meetings would be yet another step in the right direction.
We chose to endorse Morris over current mayor Paul Wiehl because we believe Morris would be more open to students. Wiehl’s relationship with the student body has been adversarial at times, and it often feels as though his attitude (and the attitude of some other city officials) is that students must approach him in order to have their voices heard.
Equally troubling is Wiehl’s pride in his refusal to allow the university to cut the curb at Bobcat Lane, below Baker University Center. He cites it as an example of his ability to “stand up to” the university; however, the spat over cutting a curb fueled unnecessary tension between two entities that should work hand in hand.
Morris shows strong leadership skills and fresh ideas. He argues that the city must find more ways to profit from the annual Halloween block party. Simply trying a beer garden and quitting once it failed is not enough, he says. We couldn’t agree more.
We also believe Athens would benefit greatly from having a Republican serving in city government. Morris would bring a different mindset to Athens’ Democrat-dominated city government and would provide some semblance of bipartisan checks and balances. Morris has vowed to ask the tough questions of other city leaders and foster more dialogue within Council meetings instead of allowing resolutions to pass without questioning.
One of Morris’ flaws is his lack of governing experience; however, we believe he will be able to learn on the job and that he is capable of finding ways to increase revenue.
To his credit, Wiehl has managed the city’s budget crisis well and, overall, has been a good mayor. But is “good,” good enough? We believe Morris will proactively seek better solutions and be aware of students’ needs.
Morris remains unproved, but we believe electing him could be the difference between having a good mayor and having a great one.
Athens needs to hear from a different voice — one Morris could
provide.
