Adam Hornung has quit the City Council to pursue a new job. That's a pretty surprising move considering he's the Council chairman. His term would have ended in May 2013.
(A quick side rant: I was going to link you to a 10/11 story so you wouldn't have to worry about the Journal Star paywall. But bizarrely, there is no mention of Hornung on their news page. Ouch.)
I'm curious to see how Lincolnites react to Mr. Hornung's departure. On the one hand, work happens and it appears that Hornung's opportunity isn't the sort that you turn down. He has to take care of himself and his family first. He's doing that, so good for him.
Yet he entered into a contract, of sorts, with his constituents when he ran for and won the Council seat. He told the public that if he were elected he would represent them for four years. With this move he has violated that contract. Voters have a right to be peeved.
Mayor Beutler now finds himself in an interesting spot because he gets to appoint Mr. Hornung's replacement. Hornung wants Mark Whitehead to win that appointment. Beutler, meanwhile, might be more inclined to appoint somebody a bit more ideologically comparable to himself. Expect some fun partisan back-and-forth both before and after the appointment is made. Or Mayor Beutler could save himself the trouble and appoint somebody who is adored city-wide and who is decidedly non-partisan. Yours truly would do an excellent job, don't you think?
Do you have any guesses on who else might be on the shortlist for the seat?
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I think when Hornung voted against Jayne Snyder’s suggestion for someone to replace her he lost all right to name his successor.
I’m pretty sure I’m remembering that right, correct me if I’m wrong.
You appear to be correct. I had forgotten about that.
http://www.1011now.com/news/political/headlines/Hornung-Announces-Re-177903521.html
Why isn’t that available under /news or /news/headlines? I really shouldn’t have to hunt for a big story like that.
I don’t think I will bash a guy who has a tremendous career opportunity who’s served 3.5 years out of 4. It may bother me more if it happened in year 1.
I don’t think his say in a successor will pull much sway, nor should it. Nice that he offers an idea, but who cares. Weren’t we all up in arms about T.O.‘s involvement with picking a new AD, and the consensus seemed to be that you don’t get to choose your successor when you quit? Same deal.
It’s not like Chris Beutler would be all partisan about this. Oh, wait.
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