Friday, October 21, 2011

Promises, Promises

“I just don’t see any reason to go on.” 
Carmen Wilkerson, Mayor of St. George, Missouri 

Photo by KSDK.com 

In this age of supercharged politics, here’s a campaign promise I bet you haven’t heard: Elect me and I’ll shut down the town. That’s what Carmen Wilkerson pledged while running for mayor of St. George, Missouri (population 1,212), and it worked. Ms. Wilkerson was elected earlier this year, and she’s made it her mission to get the town disincorporated. She says the county can do a better, less expensive job taking care of business. Pretty much all the town has left is one snow plow and a nasty reputation as a speed trap—until two years ago and an infamous YouTube video, the police force employed 12 officers to snag speeders; today the police force is gone. Ms. Wilkerson has taken her message to the voters, and in November it will be up to them to decide whether to carry on or carry out a death penalty for their town.



1 comment:

Carmen said...

Wow. I thought I had found every blog and story about our St. George adventure years ago. I'm pleasantly surprised to find this tonight. The way the story ended, we persuaded 60% of the registered voters to show up on a typically low turnout, cold and rainy election day and won the initiative by a three to one margin. The City of St. George is no more. :)

Carmen Wilkerson