Will the next mayor be a smart woman?

I was downtown the other day and happened to have a political conversation with a resident of the city, a man who has lived here his whole life, but has also traveled extensively, especially to Lebanon, his ancestral home.

It was an interesting juxtaposition of viewpoints. I’ve lived in Easton just over four years now and lived in a few different places in my life, but have never traveled outside the U.S. and its territories. Having been a reporter that’s covered a variety of municipalities in the Lehigh Valley and having attended numerous meetings in New Hope and Bucks County (where the Sunshine Laws seem to live at the bottom of a deep, dark, abandoned hole) where I made my home for nearly 15 years prior to coming here, I’d like to think I have a pretty good overview of the differences and different styles of governence in the area. I grew up in New Jersey and my family is still there, so I have a decent idea of how things work (or don’t work) over there too.

Despite all the criticism the city government receives on a daily basis, I actually think things are mostly okay here. Perhaps, as some would claim, it is constant critiscism that “keeps everyone in line,” but really, I personally see most city employees and elected officials, from the lowest on the totem pole, all the way to the top, department directors, administrators, council and the mayor, as actually working hard and doing their best for the city. It’s actually a pretty remarkable situation in Easton right now; I know things weren’t always this way.

The problem is, not everyone agrees on what is best for the city, and therefore, some see the situation as disintegrating, as opposed to improving.

This particular resident, a shop owner as well, is of that opinion. He doesn’t like the current administration and council; he misses Goldsmith, he told me. That was a mayor, you came into his office with a problem, and it got fixed, he said.

I don’t share his perspective. I pointed out that it’s my understanding there’s a whole bunch (if not all) of the records from the mayor’s office that went missing when Goldsmith left, to the city’s detriment, if my information is correct. It might be nice to have your problems fixed, but are they really fixed if we never have a clue how that got done?

This was new information, I could see. He paused for a moment.

“What this city needs, what it really needs for mayor this time, is a smart woman, you know? No more of these men, who, they don’t like somebody, they go out of their way to shoot them (down) and go after them—they make enemies. No, you get a smart woman in there, she’ll do things right. Smart women know how to handle money, and they know what they’re elected for—to serve the public. Women know how to work with people, they don’t have to shoot them every time they don’t like somebody,” he said.

WOW! That was definitely not what I was expecting to hear. But he might have a point.

I might have a great overview of various governments in the Lehigh Valley, but any day of the week, I think someone who’s been here their whole life is likely to have a perspective I can never have, borne of experience over decades.

Easton’s had some great stateswomen, well ahead of the rest of the nation. Our current city council is made up of a majority of women, and its president is also female. But, like this nation, Easton’s never had a female mayor. Unlike the presidency, I think a woman is eminently electable as mayor. (Let me clarify this before I get clobbered with hate mail: I absolutely believe a qualified woman could and should be elected President of the United States. I don’t think gender should be an issue; it’s about what the person’s capabilities are and their positions on the issues. Whether enough other people in this country also hold this opinion to make this a reality is what I think is debatable.)

The city mayoral election isn’t until next year. A few folks look like likely candidates, but most carry one form of baggage or another, and not surprisingly, the names being bandied about so far are all men.

So, are there any smart women out there that want to run for mayor? It looks like you might already have a supporter or two out there, and so far, the field’s wide open.

(Originally published in The Easton News, September 21, 2006)