...and the Results.

The Town of Princeton has spoken, and it has voted resoundingly for the Status Quo.

The Mayor position has been taken with a 50% margin by a sitting Councilman, and the Councillor position with a 35% margin by a fully "local boy" over a recent returnee.

There are lots of reasons for  the results of the Councillor run. I competed with a man who has spent years in public service in the town, as both a Fireman and a Highway Rescue guy, for which I applaud him. I have had a very low profile in town (busy getting my family situated and looking for work), and would have needed to dramatically raise this to convince the townspeople to go with me rather than a known quantity. And then, some would say, I came into the race with some highfallutin' ideas about the environment, economic collapse, and the world beyond the horizon's impact on our little town. The election result clearly show that the people of the Town of Princeton are much more comfortable with the tried and true than new directions in civic politics.

Whatever the reasons, the townspeople have spoken, and I'm satisfied with the results. I look forward to being a small prick to the conscience of the incoming Council on issues my election run convinced me urgently need attention. I congratulate my opponent on running a clean and honest campaign and wish him well in his new position of responsibility to the Town of Princeton.

I'll thank my supporters through the local media, since few local people have been following this blog. Most of all, I'll move on with other interests in my life proud in the knowledge that I participated in the democratic process and helped the people of Princeton to choose rather than just to accept the directions then town will take for the next 2 1/2 years.

Signing off on "Rubis for Council" (I'll revert the blog name to its original title later this week)
With my Regards to the People of Princeton
Rob Rubis, Candidate for Councillor

Restating the Obvious

The Issues as I see them deserves to be at the top of this blog. If you've just tuned in, click on this link to go to this earlier post. If you've browsed before and want to review a particular post, you can choose from the "Quicklinks" in blue to the right of this column.

If you're reading this post, you are in a minority among voters from Princeton, as the last recorded visit to this site from town was on August 2nd. Princeton people, by and large, appear to depend on face-to-face meetings to pass information and to debate hot issues. And that's not a bad thing. It's part of what drew me back here.

On the other hand, an almost total discounting of the power of the web as a medium of information exchange and discourse may be contributing to the downward spiral (economic, social, population) that seems to be plaguing the town at the moment. The internet, the worldwide web, and social media are all powerful driving forces in the world today,

If Princeton is going to reinvent itself as a dynamic, diverse and thriving small center of culture and economic stability, I believe greater attention needs to be give to using the powerful array of digital tools at our disposal.

If I am elected to Town Council tomorrow, this will become part of my electoral responsibility for the next 28 months. If I am NOT elected to Town Council tomorrow, bringing some of these tools to the attention of the incoming Council will become part of my personal mission for the future.

IN any case, be SURE to VOTE in Saturday's Civic Election, and then, Stay Tuned...

With Regards to the People of Princeton
Rob Rubis, Candidate for Council