October 09, 2008
Thursday PM

First I would like to thank everyone who voted either for me or the candidate of your choice, I lost by eight votes, that is what I was told when I contacted the city clerk. I had to inquire about the procedure and was given a brief overview of the process after specific inquiries, my specific questions were addressed. Nothing was volunteered so for those of you who wish to run in the future you have to look for information yourselves.

Ketchikan residents have chosen their representatives, and the final tally proves that every vote does count, and the number of people that turned out to vote indicates that not everyone believes this statement. It is a privilege to vote and should be considered by everyone who is eligible. I was cautiously optimistic when interviewed by the daily news but in my statement I said I will not make any plans until the final vote was in, the daily news published that I won,, but in the article at the end stated the final vote was not counted. The Ketchikan Daily News published my picture in the paper so my supporters assumed I had won. I spent the next few days apologizing to my supporters that I had been edged out by councilman Jason Harris by a very slim margin. In the future I can guarantee I will not be talking to the Ketchikan Daily News until the final vote is in. I will be running again and hope the council will address some very important issues this town faces and the library has nothing to do with any of them.

The thing that bothered me the most was the disappointment in my supporters' faces and voices when I had to explain to them that I had lost. And everyone of them said "but I saw it on the front page of the daily news you had won". I felt especially bad when my mother was so proud she had tears in her eyes when she hugged me to say good job, in front of all her friends when I ran into her at McDonald's. If you knew our situation growing up here in Ketchikan you would appreciate her tears.

This was regrettable and was an awkward and embarrassing position the daily news put us all in, who had this encounter. So a heads up to the daily news, BE CAREFUL in what you put on the front page . I knew the race was close and assumed that is what would be printed in my late night interview.

Again thank you to those who supported my run for city council -- and those of you who did not vote, you do not have a right to criticize the current council, and those of you that did vote need to support the ones you voted for. They are all good people and deserve to be congratulated for there dedication and courage to step up to the plate for you the citizens of Ketchikan.

Charles Edwardson
Ketchikan, AK

Received October 09, 2008 - Published October 09, 2008

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