Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain

by M. Stewart
It’s a sad day for journalism when a newspaper allows an incumbent mayor to submit a prepared statement in lieu of a standard election interview. Wouldn’t you know that the culprit would be The Review.

Today’s edition carries a press release issued by the Surace campaign—a statement carefully crafted (by someone) to eliminate any possibility of the candidate actually having to speak or answer questions. This is a disgrace and an insult, not only to Wellsville voters but to the democratic process itself. As for The Review, any remnant credibility the publication may have had is gone.

By now it’s painfully obvious that what Surace’s Democratic Party handlers fear most is putting the mayor in a position where he’d have to discuss issues in public. Needless to say, an honest debate with challenger Dave Lloyd is out of the question. Why? Because Surace would look like an idiot beside Lloyd, and his people know it.

I ran into a Surace campaign insider the other day on the streets of Liverpool. Although he readily admitted that his man had made any number of bonehead mistakes in office, the only reason he could give for supporting Surace was that the opposing candidate sat out a couple of elections. That’s all they’ve got: that Dave Lloyd didn’t vote in a couple of elections.

Surprising no one, today’s sham Review story includes a list of other people’s accomplishments passed off as Surace’s own good works. The fact is the mayor and his friends have spent the last four years destroying the credibility of village government. But somehow they always manage to show up at other people’s parties to get their pictures taken, don’t they?

One thing is for sure, Wellsville voters have a clear choice in November. They can reclaim village government by electing an intelligent, articulate, competent, well-respected man in Dave Lloyd, or they can have four more years of a mayor who simply does what he’s told.

I guess those who make up what Surace supporters call his “base” prefer the latter scenario. Of course they do; they can’t stand the thought of having a mayor they can’t control. But they’re also starting to feel this one slipping away, and they are most definitely getting nervous.

If I’m so very wrong about this, then why don’t they just let Joe stand up and speak for himself? There’s a little time left. Why not let the mayor out of his cage? Let him face the voters and answer questions. Let him tell the people what he stands for. But please, take your hand out from under his shirt and let him do it in his own words.
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NOTE: I don’t blame Review reporter Jeremy Lydic for this newspaper fiasco. He’s new on the job and in no position to second guess his bosses. For what it’s worth, I think he’ll be a good journalist once he gets his bearings.