"On Tuesday, May 29, outgoing City Councilor Kevin Lynch issued the first endorsements of the upcoming election, but already his statements have come under fire from a former councilor.

Incumbent Lynch, who isn't seeking a third four-year term, taps newcomers Jennifer McKeever and Holly Edwards as his picks to join mayor David Brown. "Both want the best for their young children and have translated this into a desire to be advocates for all of our community's children," Lynch wrote in an email earlier this morning.

Conspicuously absent was any mention of former school board chair Linda Seaman or Satyendra Huja, the retired city planner who oversaw construction of the Downtown Mall and myriad other large civic projects during his 31 years in City Hall.

"Well, that's fine," said Huja, when contacted for comment. "That's his choice. It's a democracy we live in."

Besides a democracy, it's a town seemingly controlled by Democrats, and whoever wins the most votes from the party faithful at this Saturday's Democratic convention typically wins the election, which occurs in November this year.

"I'm just a traditionalist on this, but I don't think a sitting councilor has any business endorsing anybody," says former mayor and councilor Blake Caravati, who believes Maurice Cox may have been the last such councilor to make endorsements. Caravati, who left Council last year, says he definitely wouldn't endorse McKeever because she has opposed the Meadowcreek Parkway and questioned the expenditure of public money to create a new rescue operation within the Charlottesville Fire Department.

The Dems have been known to devour their own, and Huja notes that while he hasn't earned any endorsements, he hasn't sought any either. He will, however, be introduced at the June 2 convention by Cox, an urban theorist whose ideas on creating dense developments, bike paths, and even streetcars didn't always meet with applause. Today's City Council consists of five Democrats led by Brown, who has been dubbed a "consensus builder."

"God, it's gotten boring up there," says Caravati. "I miss the days with me, Meredith [Richards], Rob [Schilling], and Maurice [Cox]. Sometimes we fought like cats and dogs, but it engaged the public."" (The Hook, May 31, 2007)