The West Easton Democrat primary ballot will have a change from the previously published lineup of candidates and respective seats in contention.
Ronald Nixon and I met a few days ago to discuss the upcoming primary and what would be the best ballot for West Easton voters in the both the May primary and the November general election. We agreed it would be best to run for only one of the two seats we had filed for in the upcoming Democrat primary elections.
I am giving up my bid for the 4-year seat and Ronald Nixon will not run for the 2-year seat, ensuring 4 democrat candidates appear on the general election ballot in November.
During gathering of signatures for the primary, Mr. Nixon was filing for both a 2-year and 4-year seat. I assumed all sitting councilpersons were running for both seats and followed that assumption by doing the same.
While he was concerned that a lack of Democrat candidates might allow Mezzacappa to slip into a vacant seat, I figured Mezzacappa would file for both seats and was concerned she might actually defeat the always-absent Vernon Moore in the general election. Since Moore ended up not running that concern is eliminated. Also, because Democrat newcomer Lewis filed only for a 4-year seat, which would fill the vacancy left by James not running, the dynamics of the West Easton Democrat primary changed from what was expected.
What actually resulted, when the dust cleared, was that it gave the appearance Ron Nixon and myself were running against each other, in an attempt to knock the other completely off the ballot in November.
That isn’t the case and I hold Ron Nixon in the highest regard as a councilman. I believe he does what he thinks is right for the borough and is his own man, voting in the best interests of residents.
He also knows I will do right by residents if elected. Since he is a sitting councilperson, I thought it only proper that he run for the 4-year seat and I would run for the shorter 2-year seat, which will require another election run in 2017.
Our main goal is to ensure that Tricia Mezzacappa never sits on the West Easton Council and that might well happen if voters are confused by only one of us appearing twice in the general election. It is possible that voters might assume they can only vote once (either the 2- or 4-year seat), thus reducing the total votes received for each seat, or one seat garnering significantly more votes than the other, allowing Mezzacappa to slip in with her usual low vote total.
Both of us know that Mezzacappa doesn’t have the best interests of our borough in mind by running for West Easton Council. Her political party membership plays no role in our decision, but rather, it is her past history as a resident in our community.
Who would want a council member that wrote a letter to Wilson Borough urging they not consider providing police coverage for her own community and thinks a conspiracy against her was conducted with the help of Easton police? Who would want a council member that wrote a letter to the editor of The Express-Times that supports Rockne Newell, facing trial for ambushing and murdering elected representatives in Ross Township, in addition to writing that the survivors should resign?
We don’t.
Disclaimer: On January 4, 2016, the owner of WestEastonPA.com began serving on the West Easton Council following an election. Postings and all content found on this website are the opinions of Matthew A. Dees and may not necessarily represent the opinion of the governing body for The Borough of West Easton.
