A Knight in Dragonland

Jonathan Ahl asked me an excellent question during our election coverage on WCBU, and I didn’t have a good answer for him at the time.  Jonathan asked if more competition in the race for mayor might not be better for Pekin.  Now I have an answer that’s a little better than “I like Dave Tebben so that’s OK.”

It’s certainly true that having a perpetually governing representative or party in a given district or state is often not a good thing for the best interests of the people.  It breeds complacency and often corruption.

However, I don’t think that’s true in this case.  Dave Tebben had a wake-up call four years ago when he lost to Lyn Howard.  He knew that this race had to be taken seriously, even after his wide margin of victory in the primary.

Tebben achieved victory on election night by giving a consistently positive message about his hopes for Pekin’s future and by projecting an almost palpable enthusiasm for service during his campaign. He knows that the people of Pekin will be watching closely and expecting results, and I don’t think he’ll disappoint.