Lithonia Mayor Joyce McKibben Is Voted Out 166 to 47

A special election was held on Tuesday, at issue to recall Lithonia’s Mayor. In a vote nearly 3 to 1, residents sent the embattled Mayor packing. 166 votes ousted Joyce McKibben. The Mayor has been the subject of media reports for months, first after she tried unsuccessfully to fire the city’s police chief. Then there was a period of infighting with the city council. And then there were also those now infamous skirmishes with Lithonia police over computers and access to city hall among other things.

The latest part of this saga was the mayor tried to have a concert promoter prosecuted for making threats against her. That case was dismissed. Ironically that concert promoter was part of an effort to recall the mayor. Lithonia has been in the news for weeks now; I don’t expect this to be over. Mayor McKibben hinted in an interview with local news reporters that she wasn’t going quietly.

Only 20% of registered voters in Lithonia voted in the special election. Now the door opens for new candidates to run for the now vacant office. Mayor McKibben can run again if she chooses to do so. Whoever runs and wins this election, they may still face the same resistance. Although I don’t agree with how Joyce McKibben went about cleaning up city hall, I admit it did need some cleaning. The police chief I think was out of line a number of times, especially with the issues over gas cards and hiring. Also, no matter what powers the city charter gives the mayor, she is still the mayor and deserves respect from city employees.

I also take issue with how members of the city council have acted. Instead of trying to reach a compromise they have resorted to petty bickering. Changing the locks on the building, having employees arrested, and directing police to harass the mayor, and someone altered the city’s website removing the title of mayor from Joyce McKibben’s name, all of this was unnecessary. They should have taken the higher road. On the news tonight a member of the city council, Kathleen deCocq was just overjoyed and very excited about the 166 to 47 vote. She should have just made a simple statement and let it go. It just made this whole process look like a big school yard fight.

I think the Mayor has good intentions, and that she may be right on several things. But personalities, lack of tact and perhaps bad judgment help get us to this point. The real looser in this is the residents of Lithonia. Let’s not forget this is the city that had to ground its city vehicles because it couldn’t afford to pay the auto insurance. The city has had some major problems these past few years. Someone needed to go in and make a change in the way things were done. Perhaps that person isn’t Joyce McKibben, but I do think that someone needs to at least investigate some of her claims, if not only to give residents piece of mind.

Wall Street Bailout Bill Fails and Wall Street Tumbles

The $700 Billion Bailout Bill Fails and Wall Street Has Record Fall.

Today Congress voted on the President’s $700 billion Wall Street bailout bill. It was supposed to help stabilize the economy and calm investor’s anxieties over the banking crisis. The bill failed to pass. Over 60% of Republicans voted no to the bill. No Both Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other for the failure. The republicans blame Nancy Pelosi’s partisan speech for them turning against the plan. Democrats say that Republicans didn’t support a plan created by the leaders of their own party.

One of the biggest obstacles for this bill, Democrats were afraid that if they voted for this bill, and Republicans turned against it, that Republicans would use it against Democrats in the November elections. It may appear that Democrats had reason to worry. But a new problem has popped up just as Congress prepared to vote today. Wall Street took a huge dive.

The Dow dropped down to -777 points, the largest point drop in history. The markets started to drop before the vote and continued afterwards. Only making today’s failure to pass the bailout that much more bitter. Washington politicians are going to have to regroup and agree on something. The situation is getting worst.

Today it was announced that Wachovia would sell its banking services to Citigroup. Wachovia was saved from collapse because if its large interest in real estate by Citigroup. Citigroup will pay more than $2 billion for Wachovia’s banking operations. The deal was made just hours before Congress was to vote on the Wall Street bailout. What’s going to happen next? Will another major financial institution collapse?

With our markets on life support right now, our country is particularly vulnerable right now. If we are not careful and stay on top of what is happening on Wall Street, I fear that if there were any type of terrorist attack even on a small scale, it could mean disaster for the country. The finger pointing on Capital Hill needs to stop, and lawmakers need to get back to the table and find a way to help the country’s financial system before it’s too late to anything.

See how Congress voted on the failed bill