Etc.

The voters have spoken

In the end, it wasn't close: Charlotte Garman was reelected last week as mayor of Montezuma, Ohio. She outpolled challenger Daniel Huffman by almost 2 to 1 and will return for a third four-year term. OK, you say, but tell me more. Well, by all accounts the campaign was clean and fair, and the rivals treated each other with respect. Huffman acknowledged that she has done a good job as chief executive. She, in turn, acknowledged that as an experienced carpenter and electrician, he had some of the necessary qualifications to be mayor. Her main problem with his candidacy was that he'd never been known to attend a town council meeting and thus wasn't up to speed on the issues. Oh, there was one other little matter: His friends had put him up to entering the race, which she thought was "a poor excuse to run." Now, anywhere else that might not be a consideration. There are, after all, lots of different reasons why people seek public office. But in Montezuma everyone pretty much knows everyone else's business, since it is a community of only about 150 people. And the mayorship has long been regarded as a family affair. Before Charlotte won the $50-a-month post, her husband held it for 12 years, and before him, his father. Ironically, it would have stayed in the family even if Huffman had won. You see, he is Charlotte's younger brother.