Showcase Magazine City Council Forum – Final Scoring

Here’s where we left off: Alonzo Jones & John Gilstrap at +11, Dawn Witter at +9, Gary Miller at +7, James Buckner at +3 and Joyce Glaise at -3. Let’s score the second half of the forum, total up the points and finish up with our first Power Rankings.

Third Question: Do you trust Duke Energy and what do we do about the coal ash spill.

• Gary Miller: He springs to life and blasts Duke Energy, suggesting litigation may be the final answer (+2). Total: +9
• Joyce Glaise: She talks about the previous school board question, then says exactly what Gary Miller said (MUTE). Total: -4
• Dawn Witter: Says the same thing as the other two and said the Dan River was getting cleaner after Dan River Mills closed. Huh? (MUTE). Total: +8
• John Gilstrap: John nails the question saying it’s a “hurry up and wait” situation (+3 and a +2 for not suing Duke Energy’s ass immediately). Total: +16
• Alonzo Jones: Says he does trust them (+3 for being bold) then thinks a citizen survey should help in determining possible litigation. I watch Commonwealth’s Attorney Mike Newman’s eyes pop out of his head when he hears that. (MUTE and a second MUTE for that People’s Court worthlessness). Total: +12
• James Buckner: He answers the question, talks about his river experiences (+2) then talks about potential litigation (+2). Total: +7

Follow-up Question: Should the city have a single “point” person for this incident?

I’m not scoring this question because it clearly makes no sense to have one person (based on how many city departments that are affected by this). The City Manager’s office should remain the go-to for this situation. That being said, Joyce Glaise avoids another (MUTE) because I’m feeling generous.

Fourth Question: Pedestrian safety on Mt. Cross Rd. and Piedmont Drive. Huh? That’s a problem? Anyway…

• Joyce Glaise: Answers the question by saying something that didn’t answer the question. No (MUTE) because the scoreboard can’t get much worse. Total: -4
• Dawn Witter: Goes with the flow (+2) then branches off into physical safety in the River District. No (MUTE) for that because she did answer the original question. Total: +10
• John Gilstrap: Is this really a problem? (+3) and a (+2) bonus because that needed to be said. Total: +21
• Alonzo Jones: Answers the question quickly and moves on (+2). Total: +14
• James Buckner: Suggests adding sidewalks (+3). Total: +10
• Gary Miller: Agrees on sidewalks (+2) and adds a story of what he’s seen since his office is in the area. Total: +13

Fifth Question: Do you support increasing taxes?

Everybody gets (+2) for saying the only acceptable answer of “No”. Alonzo Jones gets a bonus (+2) for making fun of the question.

Sixth Question: What do you think of Danville United?

It’s another softball question as everyone supports the initiative. (+2) for that correct answer across the board.

Last Question: Who is your hero? Who is your inspiration?

The softballs continue to be hit over the center field fence as everybody gets a (+2) for a good answer. Joyce Glaise picks up a (MUTE) for mentioning Whitt Clement (anybody seen him around Danville lately?) Dawn Witter picks up a bonus (+2) for again boldly mentioning her stand for gay rights. Gary Miller points out that Sherman Saunders and his mother were arrested in Danville’s dark period of racism and gets a (+3) for calling that out.

All right: Let’s recap the scoreboard as we head to the closing statements. John Gilstrap leads with +27, Alonzo Jones and Gary Miller are tied with +22, Dawn Witter is at +18, James Buckner has +16, and Joyce Glaise has gotten above zero at +1.

Let’s go the closing where the points go wild…

• James Buckner: Regular guy (+2), small businessman (+3), has “common sense that is missing from council now” (MUTE) on that because City Council is working quite well now. Final Score: +20
• Gary Miller: Focuses on coal ash (+2) and his experience (+3), saying it’s the most important issue now (No, it’s not) (MUTE). Final score: +26
• Joyce Glaise: Says her relationship with the Governor can help (Huh? MUTE), will focus on education (+2) and jobs (+3). Sigh. she’s reading from her prepared remarks and sound like a robot (MUTE). Final Score: +4
• Dawn Witter: School board cooperation (+2), crime rate (+2), focusing on coal ash remediation (+2). Final Score: +24
• John Gilstrap: Experience (+3), workforce readiness (+3), good progress last four years (+2). Final Score: +35
• Alonzo Jones: Experience (+3), council & school board experience (+3). Final Score: +28

The Big Recap: Experience leads the way at this first forum. John Gilstrap really has impressed me with his performance tonight. He’s the powerful voice of keeping things real and I greatly appreciate that. the enthusiasm of Alonzo Jones is contagious and Gary Miller knows his stuff too. With strong performances from the incumbents, it’s going to be very tough to unseat them in the general election. We know at least one challenger is going to win, and Dawn Witter has a slight edge so far over James Buckner (but it’s way to early to assign any significance to that). Buckner was blindsided at the beginning and caught his way up, while Witter highly impressed me by her strong stand on what she believes in.

Words fail me as I’m highly disappointed in Joyce Glaise’s performance as she just looked out of touch. I’ve got serious concerns on how productive she’d be on council anyway with her working in Petersburg, and tonight makes me question her viability as a candidate.  I’m also disappointed in Thomas Motley’s no-show. I’ll give Madison Whittle a pass since it was confirmed that he was sick tonight.

Here’s the Power Rankings after the first forum:

1. John Gilstrap
2. Alonzo Jones
3. Gary Miller
4. Dawn Witter
5. James Buckner
6. Madison Whittle
7. Thomas Motley
8. Joyce Glaise

Let’s see how these Power Rankings move in the weeks to come…

Whew. It took me longer to score the arguments than it did to listen to them. I hope you enjoyed this creative way to add some life into a normally boring candidates’ forum. Thanks for reading SouthsideCentral, folks!