Town Of Alexandria:
At a 2.1.13 Town Board Meeting, Republicans Councilman B. Sweet and Supervisor D. Hunneyman committed the equivalent to a political Faux Pas by ignoring the local Republican Party recommendation of Sampie Sutton as the nominee to fill a position as Councilman that was vacated in January by J. Durand [R]. The term of this position expires this November.
Councilman D. Williams [R] read the Republican Committee's letter of nomination and made the motion to accept Sampie Sutton to fill the vacated councilman's seat. Councilman A, Beaudin [D] seconded the motion. This was a sign of bipartisan support of the importance of the role of "the party" in politics. Watch the Video! A debate followed, that at times became somewhat "heated".
A political party backs a candidate when running for a seat on a town or village board. The "party" should also have some say who replaces that candidate when that seat is vacated before the term is up. It is a very simple concept that keeps political parties "alive" in the community.
Ron Thomson, a registered Republican and an interested person in this vacancy, who also submitted his name to the Republican Party, made this statement during the meeting. I know how it works [the local political process of filling a vacancy] a lot of people don't know how it works...... As a Democrat and the chairman of my party, I found myself nodding in agreement with Mr. Thomson. That in itself should tell you something, as most know, he and I rarely agree....
I am not suggesting that anyone blindly follow any group not even your political party. All I am suggesting is that you entertain their suggestions and try to be just moderately politically correct. If you are looking to get re-elected, it will certainly improve your odds at winning instead of being politically "dead in the water".
The Video below is a clip of the first few minutes of the meeting. It sets the "stage" so to speak
Filling The Councilman Vacancy [Teaser] from Jim Cummings on Vimeo.
The Next, is the audio clip of the entire portion of that meeting
