If ever a politician could come into office claiming a mandate, it’s Commerce mayor-elect Clark Hill, who captured 64 percent of the vote in a three-candidate race. The question is, what exactly is the mandate?
Hill ran an effective issue-oriented campaign. He talked about working to bring new jobs to town and about developing public/private partnerships to meet local needs. He expressed a desire to work with other groups to help Commerce move forward and about meeting the economic and leadership challenges the city faces.
But perhaps the most promising part of Hill’s election is the across-the-board support he got in all city wards where people appeared excited to embrace a new leader. Commerce is at a crossroads with so much of its capable leadership heading into retirement, and Hill came across to voters as someone ready to lead Commerce into a new era.
In Commerce, the mayor has very little power legislatively. He gets to vote in the event of a tie among the council members, but he can’t issue a veto. What the mayor can use to the city’s advantage is the bully pulpit, the ability to set the agenda and lead the discussion. To be sure, a council at odds with the mayor can take control of the agenda and the discussion, but in the eyes of the public, the mayor is the community leader.
Mayor Charles L. Hardy Jr. has presided over the most productive and stable period in Commerce history, probably because his primary agenda was to allow the city manager to do his job — and Clarence Bryant has done just that to the great benefit of Commerce. In fact, the support of the mayor and council for the city manager truly did, as city officials are wont to boast, put Commerce “on the right track.”
“On the right track” has largely meant financially solid and professionally operated. That’s a track upon which the city needs to remain, but Hill and his city council will have other plans to improve the city. Of the six city council members, four are political newcomers whose focus will be on improving government and its services while staying financially sound.
They, like Hill, bring new eyes to the city government, eyes that see new opportunities and eyes that identify new or different problems. They will select a new city manager, who will bring a different background and different perspective to the table, as will the new department heads who will replace key public officials retiring over the next 15 months.
Clearly Hill’s election is a vote of confidence to lead this transition — not to reverse what’s happened over the past 22 years, but to build on it and to guide the city into a future of new services, new ideas and opportunities and continued stability. One generation of capable leadership is retiring. Hill has a mandate to do his part to make sure the next generation of leadership is as effective as those leaders it replaces.
The new leadership faces the worst economy since the Great Depression. Federal and state funding sources are shrinking, businesses and households are struggling, but expectations for public services remain high. Hill, the city council and the new department heads must be creative and resourceful in the upcoming months to meet the high expectations that come with the voters’ mandate.
