I remember seeing Paul Goldman in front of Ukrops all by himself getting petition signatures before Wilder was elected. He seemed like a person working in earnest, and didn’t mind doing it all alone if he had to. Getting fired by Wilder (or whatever happened) only improves his image.

And as for that Pantele fellow, he seems like such a slime ball that I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of his 18 votes came from members of his campaign.

He did have the smartest comebacks, but he never hit below the belt.

I also believe that Paul is the only one who can unravel the madness and mess that Wilder has wrought upon City Hall and the schools.

Paul is the only man in this race who did not engage in the back-and-forth-finger-pointing oneupsmanship bicker battle last night.

http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=11903

He is the only one who has any substantive and strategic plans to bring Richmond forward.

http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/search.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-09-02-0135.html

He is the one who came up with the “City of the Future” idea to obtain money for us to fix our city and build and renovate our schools.

He’s also the only man who has pushed to make our schools ADA compliant without raising taxes or taking away any money that needs to be used to educate our children.

http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=14753

IRV allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference (i.e. first, second, third, fourth and so on). Voters have the option to rank as many or as few candidates as they wish, but can vote without fear that ranking less favored candidates will harm the chances of their most preferred candidates. First choices are then tabulated, and if a candidate receives a majority of first choices, he or she is elected. If nobody has a clear majority of votes on the first count, a series of runoffs are simulated, using each voter’s preferences indicated on the ballot. The candidate who received the fewest first place choices is eliminated. All ballots are then retabulated, with each ballot counting as one vote for each voter’s highest ranked candidate who has not been eliminated. Specifically, voters who chose the now-eliminated candidate will now have their ballots counted for their second ranked candidate — just as if they were voting in a traditional two-round runoff election — but all other voters get to continue supporting their top candidate. The weakest candidates are successively eliminated and their voters’ ballots are redistributed to next choices until a candidate crosses a majority of votes.

Instant runoff voting allows for better voter choice and wider voter participation by accommodating multiple candidates in single seat races and assuring that a “spoiler effect” will not result in undemocratic outcomes. IRV allows all voters to vote for their favorite candidate without fear of helping elect their least favorite candidate, and it ensures that the winner enjoys true support from a majority of the voters. Plurality voting, as used in most American elections, does not meet these basic requirements for a fair election system that promotes cost-saving elections with wider participation.

Most likely “dunno”.

Also, I can’t see how it would work for U.S. President unless you tinker with the electoral college – which, BTW, I am all for having done. But I defer to your obvious knowledge, and am curious, so will wait to read your details, thanks.

Slightly off subject – so far, no one here, to my knowledge, has noted that Grey is (I believe) the son of the former principle at Fox Elementary School, Barbara Grey. I don’t have kids, but I remember back when a LOT of folks up here wanted their kids to go to Fox, and it was Barbara Grey who made it have that good reputation back then. That doesn’t have much to do with my wanting him for mayor, just a comment. He’s the son of an exemplary elementary school principle.

Goldman, on the other hand seems to lack cash but not ideas. Goldman is a savvy guy with the strongest work ethic of the entire bunch. [Sorry guys .... but it is true. Who among you can offer a better resume, a resume filled with accomplishment?]

As I have gathered, both Grey and Goldman are running because they truly want to make the city a better place.

Whereas, given this city’s dismal experiences with preacher politicians [Lee Young, Gwen Hedgepeth], I confess that the Rev. Dwight Jones makes me nervous.

Worst of all, both Jones and Pantele appear to be running on the “Revenge Ticket.” Both seem to have a desire to “get even” with Doug Wilder. I can’t take much more of this “get-even” politricks of this city.