The Smoky Room Reacts to Mayor Morrison's Re-Election

“We warned those on the outside not to thwart the will of the good ‘ol boys,” read a letter thrown over the transom of San Angelo LIVE! headquarters. The letter, with a strong odor of burned tobacco, appears to have originated from deep inside the smoke-filled room and was signed by the grand Patriarch of San Angelo.

“All of our work is not accomplished yet, and we’d rather do it with a familiar face, whose past we know,” it read. “We’re not ready to entrust our city with an outsider. Though Nowlin, we must admit, did a remarkable job of draining our bank accounts, if only a day’s worth. We have many oil wells not yet dry that will in about a day make up the $15,000 we spent going on the offensive to save Morrison’s re-election chances. End of Message.”

David Nowlin, who on March 17^th decided to run for mayor, had no support, no name recognition, and no agenda. In less than two months, he was in contention to knock out an incumbent who had support, a well-known name, and a five-point agenda. Up until the early voting results came in, it was anyone’s guess who would win the contest. A 60-40 percent loss is a worthy accomplishment on the part of the quick study, newcomer David Nowlin.

In the end, it was the voters’ lack of familiarity with Nowlin that sank his chances. With no voter familiarity of Nowlin, and two missteps in Nowlin’s presentation, Mayor Dwain Morrison was able to use Nowlin’s words to paint Nowlin as mean-spirited. Nowlin suggested that Morrison ran a one-man fence company and was not as qualified to be mayor. Well, the voters saw that Morrison was the mayor for two years already and the city hadn’t self-destructed. Nowlin said that others thought Morrison was a crook by the way he handled the controversial trash contract. Morrison was able to grab onto that and by vigorously defending himself, paint Nowlin as the mean one. Ladies at the beauty parlor don’t vote for the mean candidate.

The twists and turns of the trash contract controversy were so complicated that not many fully understood it. Morrison successfully defended the city, not just himself. I’d say facing the complexity of the details, the voters punted on the whole trash issue, wondering silently if anyone else could have done better, especially an unknown, unproven candidate.

Morrison deserves great credit for getting out in front of the city staff and defending their questionable negotiation skills exposed during the trash controversy. That is, that city staff pushed ahead with encouraging council to approve the contract when alleged overcharges on the vendor’s part on commercial businesses were unresolved. Also, the city staff left on the table, for the vendor to enjoy, a 20-percent plus annual annuity in exchange for an investment of increased upfront fees. Those were difficult obstacles to overcome. Morrison shielded his men, like a good commander should.

Had Morrison not had the character that he has, he could have blamed the entire fiasco on city staff and possibly escaped all personal blame for the trash deal. He didn’t. For that, I’d call Morrison a good leader of men and women, and not indicative of a man who can only run a one-man fence company.

And that rattlesnake hat? Morrison said that people were asking for him to wear it for pictures at the blues festival Saturday. It's now infamous.