LAWRENCEVILLE—In a wide-open field every four years, some of the most questionable enter in Lawrenceville, but this year, there was an exception—all three candidates had solid records and/or sound reputations, and the race was clean.
From this emerged city clerk Don Wagner, who will now take the helm of mayor from Brian Straub, whom he soundly defeated tonight (we’ll have numbers in the morning).
Don Wagner talking to folks at the courthouse tonight, 04.09.13
Wagner defeated Straub, as well as Ed Brumley. Any one of them would have served Lawrenceville well; Straub showed a bit of promise in his second term these past four years, but apparently the voters had more trust in the man who, about a year ago, threatened to stomp a mudhole in Straub’s ass over some contentions raised with Straub during a meeting involving Straub’s credit card use, and actually went to physically take action following the meeting…prompting Straub to run screaming, jump in his truck, and take off in the face of Wagner chasing him down. Nevertheless, the candidates are all good-natured (if not, like Wagner, a little brusque), and Lawrenceville will hopefully advance with Wagner at the wheel.
Part of what might’ve sunk Straub this election was the water debacle in late 2010, and this was the direct and proximate cause of the defeat of one Janice Laslie, who lost in her bid for city clerk. Laslie lost tonight to contender Rodney Nolen for Wagner’s now-vacated position. Of course, under the circumstances of the water debacle, Laslie could have lost to Rod Blagojevich. Nolen, an affable enough guy, will certainly do a better job than Laslie because it’s expected that he will actually pay his water bills, unlike Laslie and her husband Bruce in late 2010.
We’re still working on the other offices county-wide, and if we don’t have them in the morning, we’ll certainly get them to you in the print version, on stands in a week! Get an online membership and read the whole paper right here from the comfort of your computer, too…check back often for updates.