Editor, The Commercial:
Barbara Blunt apparently has problems with race, facts, that pesky Constitution, and the Queen’s English. Bless her heart. That is because unlike Pine Bluff, East St. Louis had been in serious decline for 20 years before James Williams was elected as the city’s first black mayor in 1971. Faced with the overwhelming economic problems, he was unable to make much of a difference. However, middle-class whites and blacks didn’t leave the city en-masse until 1979 when a 25 year-old became mayor.
Although already heading downhill, Pine Bluff’s serious decline began with the ice storm cleanup a few years before this mayor took office. Moreover, Pine Bluff’s problems are different than what devastated East St. Louis. What should matter is a person’s (verified) qualifications and ability to do the job, not race. There are competent leaders of all races and conversely incompetent but elected nevertheless because folks like Ms. Blunt base decisions on race.
I guess the wily “hidden hand” also has influence in the legislature because Act 1211 of 2010 imposed a lower general election runoff trigger for municipal offices. Now, if there are more than two candidates, the candidate who receives 40 percent of the votes, with at least 20 percent more than the second-place candidate, wins without a runoff. Lastly, Ms. Blunt is “amazed because a Caucasian wants to be mayor of a city that is 80 percent black” (71 percent actually). I hope that outlook means she will walk her talk and vote for the Republican in November because 80 percent of the country is white.
Stuart Soffer
White Hall