The special issue of City Limits magazine, the public policy publication that is mostly online these days, treats a very pertinent topic:
The state of the City Council.
It's a nice read, all 31 pages of it, and it takes us inside the days of several Councilmembers who opened themselves up to City Limits reporters.
But of particular interest to us were several lines toward the end of the series of profiles, where a former councilmember recalls advice that he used to give to Council colleagues:
"You can do anything you want and you will be re-elected. You can fuck this up and you will be re-elected. You can do an excellent job and you will be reelected."
The magazine then goes on to state that incumbent Councilmembers "have a 97 percent reelection rate."
Chances are that the half dozen or so men and women going for Al Vann's seat are very much aware of that.
Chances are also that the challengers would rather focus on Vann's perceived weaknesses, one of them being that some constituents view his 35 years in elective office as more than enough.
Also perhaps going against the incumbent will be attendance rates cited by City Limits, showing Vann to be fifth from the bottom of the list of 51 members. (See list at the bottom of this City Limits web page.)
To read the special issue, one has to be a subscriber to City Limits or purchase the issue. (See here.)