I am equal parts thrilled and relieved that Matthew Miller won his reelection bid on Nov 17 for Greenwood City Council Ward 5. Of the three council positions that were up for election this year, Ward 5 was the only one that drew challengers – and Matthew received three of them!
What was most concerning was that soon after it was determined that a runoff would be necessary, the McCravy-Garrett machine set their sights directly on Matthew and began to engage in the same nastiness that helped take down Floyd Nicholson.
I don’t know Urban Mitchell. From all accounts, he’s a very nice guy with a career of exemplary service to the nation and to Greenwood. I read his post on his FB page and it was respectful and made his case:
Now contrast that with text message blasts that went out to constituents on Monday & Tuesday of this of Runoff Election week. We see the EXACT same language as was used by McCravy & Garrett, including the head-scratching “MAKE IT GREAT” take-off on the Trumpian battle cry. It attacked Matthew in a hyper-partisan way for a non-partisan position. It’s one thing for Republicans to endorse Urban (we endorsed Matthew after all). But it’s another to use partisan trigger-phrases to paint an incorrect portrait of an opponent.
Fortunately, they underestimated Matthew’s support in his Ward. And it was support that was hard-earned. He knows his Ward like the back of his hand. His Facebook posts draw hundreds of interactions, indicating the broad personal relationships he’s cultivated over the years. He also consistently demonstrated a solid grasp of the issues that directly affect the City of Greenwood and went out of his way to communicate it to the residents of his Ward.
I’m proud of what Matthew accomplished in this challenging election. It also shows that it is possible to overcome an opponent that is much better funded and engages in negative and untruthful attacks. We can’t dismiss the fact that many other circumstances played a role (geography, demographics, runoff turnout), but we must learn lessons where we can and I think we have a great opportunity here.
Once again, congrats Matthew! You’re a great asset to our community and we look forward to continue working with you!
