Meet the new boss. . . . Same (almost) as the old boss.
Those lyrics from The Who's "Won't Be Fooled Again," sans the parenthetical insert, should be enough to introduce people to the person who will guide Provo into the 21st century. But please don't read the song's title as an editorial comment. Voters know they're getting outspoken and outgoing Mayor George Stewart's personal choice for the job.Lewis K. Billings, Provo's former chief administrative officer, easily defeated City Councilman Karl J. Thalman in Tuesday's election. Thalman's term on the council expires Dec. 31.
Billings' victory suggests a majority of Provoans are content with the score maestro Stewart wrote the past four years. The band will play on with his successor, though the new conductor will have a different style.
"We've got some real great momentum. We don't have to stop the train and turn it around," said Billings, 41, adding that administrations prior to Stewart's also deserve credit for Provo's success.
Provo's three City Council races weren't close, either.
Councilman Greg Hudnall beat out former councilman Jim Daley for the Citywide District I seat. Cindy Richards' hard-working grass-roots organization propelled her past Russell Phillips in the Southwest District. In the Northeast District, Paul Warner didn't break a sweat in beating Keith Sperry.
Hudnall and Billings weathered a series of largely anonymous newspaper advertisements attacking their character. Although the ads outraged the two candidates, Billings fought back, while Hudnall let them slide. Both strategies proved successful.
"Negative campaigning doesn't work for anybody," Hudnall said. "I think it backfired."
One observer believes the election was a referendum on negative campaigning and that the outcome sounded its death knell dead in Provo.
Billings doubts it. If the people like those behind the attack ads this year aren't unmasked, Billings said he thinks negative ploys will be used again and again.
Thalman, who had nothing to do with smear tactics, doesn't think the ads did his campaign any good. He believes he was a victim of the Utah County Republican Party machine. Billings is a former county GOP chairman. Provo's representatives in the Utah Legislature, all of whom are Republicans, lent their names to the Billings campaign.
"I think the Republican Party had a lot to do with it. And I'm a Republican, so I felt kind of bad about that," Thalman said.
Thalman campaigned on the premise that Salt Lake radio disc jockeys had a field day poking fun at Provo during the Stewart administration, of which Billings was a part for nearly three years.
He said the city needed to move away from the emotional controversy Stewart stirred.
Although detractors tried to paint Billings as a Stewart clone, the mayor-elect says he's his own man. He won't be nearly as aggressive as the retiring mayor.
Billings, a self-employed real estate investor, said he plans to include more residents in government than any administration has the past 20 years. The authoritarian Stewart was accused of ignoring the advice of others in making decisions.
"This is the people's government and they deserved to be involved," Billings said. He said he hopes those who voted against him will now work with him for the good of Provo.
Thalman, who congratulated Billings on his victory, might be willing to join the team. "We need a little unity in the town now," he said. "I will do anything I can to help."