Who will be mayor.

Now that Ruzzin is out, who will be mayor. The fact that women hold a majority on counsel, for the first time in years, if ever, will play a decisive role. All of these people are Democrats. All are liberals, but Boulder issues are divided on the peculiar lines of Pro verses Slow Growth and various business policies. Ranked from pro business to progressive, you can begin to parse it out who could be mayor. It will be one of these:

Least Progressive:
Suzy Ageton -
Angie Espinoza -
Ken Wilson -
Matt Appelbaum -
Shaun McGrath -
Susan Osborne -
Crystal Gray -
Macon Cowles -
Lisa Morzel -
Most Progressive.

The most obvious candidate for mayor is Ken Wilson, as the top vote getter. But he might tilt too much towards the least progressive side of the line to attract the five votes necessary. And its hard to imagine a veterans like Suzy, McGrath, Morzel and Applebaum voting for Wilson. Is a tradition of giving the highest vote getter the mayorship? Probably not. And he doesn't seem up to speed yet. So don't look for Wilson to be our mayor, despite all those ugly blue yard signs.

Likewise, Macon tilts to far to the Most Progressive side of the scale to be elected mayor. If Macon had won a four year seat, he would have been the top candidate. Angie getting only a two year term shows she is taking political advise from the wrong people, and will not be mayor for now.

Lisa's winning a four year term, after her sound defeat by Ageton in the special election, certainly shows she deserves to be mayor. But as the most progressive member of council, she might have difficulty attracting the fifth vote.

Applebaum would also have been a favorite if he had one a four year term. But the two year term puts him out of the running, unless he can build a coalition with the least progressive members Ageton and Angie. But such a coalition would have to include Ken and/or Shaun, and this seems unlikely. He finished seventh because of his personality, and the council members are all well aware of it.

So it seems that Susan, Shaun or Crystal will be mayor. All three are solidly in the center, and would probably attract all of the most progressive council members to vote for them as mayor. Ken and Matt and Angie could also could probably be persuaded to vote for one of them as part of a deal, i.e. Deputy mayor. Finally, all have won solid four year terms, and thus have shown a large measure of support in the community.

I just can't see Suzy being promoted to either mayor or keeping her Deputy mayor position. She now holds the Richard Polk/Gordon Riggle seat on council, and from this seat, the mayor does not come. If she puts her ego in check, she will probably not seek the mayorship from council; her defeat on such a vote is clear, without turncoat Ruzzin and Liqour Stokes to back her up. If Suzy doesn't run, the next mayor will probably get all nine votes. If she decides to run, at best she will get three. Four seems remotely possible, but this would assume that Matt would vote for her, and this just does not seem possible, absent some type of vote trading deal.