Stalking the Smyrna mayor, or a modern rendition of the fox and the grapes

I normally try and stay out of the local politics within the state, but an article today caught my eye and warrants some comment. Apparently, the Smyrna Mayor, Patricia Stombaugh has been the focus of a private investigator's most recent assignment. Since the News Journal made cryptic nonsense out of this mystery, I turned to the Delaware State News to fill in the gap. Apparently, the mayor was under surveillance shortly after being elected into office earlier this year. Now, for the part that makes this story much more interesting. Why was "DE50," an obviously different anonymous Delawarean than this writer, so interested in the mayor? That's right folks - she wanted to make sure that the mayor was a bona fide Smyrna resident: "The reason for the investigation, according to the document, was to determine whether or not the mayor lived within town limits for the year prior to the election, a requirement to run for and hold the office of mayor as stated by the Smyrna town charter."

Now, I've seen a lot of ... questionable things done by Delawareans, but this one has to rank right up there. Isn't this sort of investigation, brought on by a private citizen no doubt, an incredible waste of time, money, resources, and other people's time (compensated obviously), all for the purpose of essentially "sour grapes?" The article goes on to speculate that the person that hired this PI might have been the former Smyrna mayor, Mark G. Schaeffer, based on the fact that he didn't return any calls to the reporter. I don't know if that's a fair leap to make, and I see it as yet another example of unobjectionable reporting that is plaguing the nation. But even assuming for the sake of argument for the moment that it is, doesn't it go right back to my original point that this sort of thing is a big waste of time for everyone involved? Not to mention the whole creepiness factor.

My more basic point would be this. What if this investigation did yield that she didn't actually live in the city? Is that really enough of a reason to throw what appears to be a rather small potatoes political position into a tailspin and wreak havoc? And even more to my point, who cares enough about this that she would spend that much money on it? I am purposely (and perhaps sarcastically) assuming that it is a female that would do something this ridiculous. If it did turn out to be a man, he should be embarrassed for wasting his time and the investigators. And if it turns out to be the former mayor, wouldn't the efforts to unwind your loss have been better focused on keeping you into that position in the first place? Most of this rant is pure speculation, but I see it a great example of petty local politics that serves no purpose other than vindictive child's play.

And speaking of mayoral elections that waste taxpayer's money, I see that our state capital just completed a special election to elect a new mayor to replace Stephen Speed, who was mayor of Dover prior to being named head of the airway sciences program at Delaware State University. This two-year term ends in May 2008, at which point, I can only assume they will have the real election. Instead of spending the money to find an interim mayor, why wouldn't the city of Dover (or any other city/state for that matter) amend their charter to appoint an interim person. Wouldn't that be a lot less expensive and effective for all those involved? Just some things to think about the next time Dover (or other cities) start asking for state money for something like more police.

Tags: dover delaware mayor election, patricia stombaugh investigated, smyrna mayor investigated