If you take the time to read your local newspaper you're probably an informed voter who already knows for whom you will cast your vote on Nov. 19. However, there are people who vote even though they know almost nothing about the candidates. While I feel some duty to use this space to try to inform, I worry my endorsement could harm candidates more than help them. As well, I'm reluctant to publicly criticize those I don't support.
So, instead, a little trip down memory lane with a moral.
If you lived in Delta in the late 1980s and early '90s, and were politically aware, you probably remember Benny Wolfe. Benny frequently ran for mayor, but never garnered more than a few hundred votes. He was an odd fellow; always dressed in a thick-stitched brown polyester suit with the wispy crown of hair surrounding his dome combed straight up as though subjected to high levels of static electricity. His campaigns were... bizarre, I guess, would be the most apt and kind way to put it.
However, he did make the debates interesting. He'd show up with props, or a flip-sheet presentation board. Given his tendency to ramble, he'd invariably run out of time and start rifling through the presentation sheets like a cartoon flip book.
I still remember then-mayor Beth Johnson watching him in action during one debate with an appropriately polite smile, but a distinct "what the...?" look in her eyes, as Benny frantically whipped a bizarre assortment of props from a gym bag. It was like being at a Gallagher show, but funny.
Then, suddenly, Benny dropped from sight. No more election campaigns, or idiosyncratic letters to the newspaper. I often wondered what happened to him, but never took the time to investigate... until last week.
Turns out, Benny (now 67, which is about how old I thought he was back in 1990) lives in Penticton and, guess what, he's running for mayor. His platform includes a policy of complete openness and honesty. To prove it, he's come forward and identified himself as a client of one of the underaged girls whose fathers have been charged with forcing them into prostitution. Wow. Not even a B.C. Liberal party advisor could conceive such a misguided and repugnant strategy.
I did a little more research on Benny. Apparently, he's well known for frequenting nightclubs in outlandish glittery outfits, which include a giant clock necklace, Ã la Flavor Flav. His Facebook interests include: Sylvia Lola Miss Plump 2011, and Adult BBW (big beautiful woman) Match.com. His friends include: Ms. Power Bosom (who, I assume, is some sort of caped crime fighter) and Henrik Sedin...?
I no longer miss Benny, and his past antics seem a little less amusing. I feel kind of like I did when I found out the truth about Colonel Hogan. It just goes to show (here's the moral) that as important as it is to vote, it's even more important to know the person you're voting for.
