A big hill to climb
BY MIKE CETERA
Stephanie Kifowit has a lot of ground to make up in her bid to become Aurora's next mayor.
It remains to be seen if she trails incumbent Mayor Tom Weisner in popularity. But there is no doubt she trails him when it comes to fundraising.
After all, Weisner had more cash on hand at the end of 2007 than he has had at the end of any reporting period since he announced his bid for mayor in 2003. Weisner has some $148,000 at his disposal today. For a mayoral race, that's a lot of cash to get a message out.
Of course, Weisner won't say whether he's running again, despite his fundraising prowess.
By the time Kifowit announced her plans to seek the office this week, she had already let her intentions be known to the State Board of Elections. Even so, she reported less than $700 on hand at the end of the last reporting period.
To be sure, fundraising isn't the only indicator of how competitive a race is going to be. But it's terribly difficult to combat an incumbent, particularly a well-financed one, without money. Unlike the last mayoral race, where at no time was there a lopsided fundraising edge among the major candidates, Kifowit has to play catchup.
And Kifowit is coming at this race with an interesting perspective. She's taking the admirable position of seeking office to essentially change the office. Kifowit wants Aurora to adopt a city manager form of government, a notion supported here. Essentially, she wants to remove politics (read: the money) from the office. Hard to remove the politics without engaging in it.
It will be interesting to watch.
Comments
You don't think a lot of city contractors will line up to support Stefanie out of the goodness of the heart just like they supported Weisner?
I'm sure that the Chamber will support city manager like they have in the past. Right, Mr. Mundy?
Money is a factor, but I bet that a lot of the same city employees who volunteered for Weisner last time around will work for Stephanie. Non management, of course.
Weisner is already assembling his campaign team with the two new hires at Economic Development. The big question is will he run or will he pass the torch?
Posted by: Clark Kent | February 20, 2008 12:06 PM
Mike,
American loves the David and Goliath stories. This is one of them. I for one am excited about this revelation.
Thanks.
Posted by: 5th ward resident | February 20, 2008 03:46 PM
I like Stephanie Kifowit, but in my opinion, Rick Lawrence can beat Tom Weisner (or anyone for that matter). He's proved over and over again he understands the issues and what should be the priorities.
Seems there's a movement to encourage Rick Lawrence to run:
SeeRickRun.com
Posted by: Anonymous | February 21, 2008 09:47 AM
Isn't it a bit disingenuous to run for a strong MAYOR seat on a platform that Aurora doesn't need a strong Mayor. Kifowit doesn't need to be Mayor to lead the change to city manager charge; she could have done that at any time. Sure, she picked a press popular position, but what has she done in her years of public service so far to accomplish the change she seeks now?
Posted by: Anonymous | February 21, 2008 10:08 AM
Mike, I am wondering whether you and your colleagues would support taking the power away from the PEOPLE on a state level or federal level. And if not, why not? In City Manager governments, the Mayors simply kiss babies, run meetings and cut ribbons. It is very similar, in fact, to the role of the monarchy in Europe. Should we also strip our Governors and Presidents of any really decision-making authority so that the bureaucrats who are not accountable to the people run our state and country? Think about it...really there is little difference.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 21, 2008 06:05 PM
Interesting comments. I for one thing that Blagoivich should be stripped of his powers. He has been terrible for our state. Also, if we look all around Aurora you find many successful towns and they all have Managers. Something is working with them, and something is definately not working in Aurora. I think it is a good idea and that change from the inside is admirable. To run for a position to essentially remove it from power takes a lot of admiration.
Posted by: B. Matilda | February 23, 2008 05:39 PM
I live in Kifowit's ward. I wouldn't vote for her to become dog catcher! She has been unresponsive to issues in our neighborhood. She does not follow through with what she says she will do.
Posted by: Anonymous | February 27, 2008 09:30 AM