Is it backroom politics?

The editorial this weekend focused on the City Council's pending decision to appoint the fifth member and gave the opinion that looking at the top candidates -- specifically Marc Steinorth, Chuck Buquet, Jim Moffatt and David Gonzalez -- as opposed to opening it up for a wide application process, is best.

It's a topic addressed in this blog before. The council can't discuss this until Bill Alexander gets sworn in on Dec. 1 so there's nothing to do but talk, speculate and talk some more.

I guess there are those, like on the editorial board, who sees the candidates as runners up. It's as if the council position was a job, the voters are the boss and the top candidate got a different offer so it's time to look deeper in the resume pool as opposed to seeking brand new resumes.

But there are those who see the candidates as losers and rejected by voters so it's time to open up the field. Opening it up, according to the editorial, is "smack of backroom politics."

"Sitting council members might find someone they like better or would find easier to work with if they open the appointment up to everyone in town, but those should not be the criteria. The council's makeup should represent voters' wishes, not other council members' druthers."

Read the rest of the editorial here.