Steelhead Elections: The Recount

Jasmine Dawn Shuftan attended the Tuesday night town meeting at Steelhead. Among the subjects at hand was the recount of their recent mayoral elections, "Fuzz and his commitee have personally counted the ballots and have come up with the same answer as Jimmy. Jobias has won by a single vote. However we are investigating the ballots themselves ... just because."

Here is a statement by Jobias about the recount:

"Bah! In time, you will come to accept and respect me. I would be there to tell you this myself, but as A SMALL number of you seem to be against the election results, I felt it best to stay safely away from any objects being thrown from me." -Jobias

Jasmine met up with Willow Leafstorm, a member of the "Browncoats." This organization sprung up in resistance to Jobias, determined to keep him from taking office. There are "No Jo" posters going around, Jobais' picture with the international "not allowed" sign over it.

Jobias himself reportedly will be attending the next Friday Night ball at Steelhead, the theme of the party being "Villains Night." There are also stories of a vixen from out of town going around Steelhead, asking about Jobias.

More to come.

Bixyl and Jasmine Dawn Shuftan

Steelhead Elections: Interview With Jobias Barthelmess

The Steelhead Community recently held an election for mayor. The two challengers against the incumbent TotalLunar Eclipse were Willow Leafstorm and Jobias Barthelmess. Lunar has been a popular mayor and Willow the owner of a well-attended dance club. So Jobias as a self - described "villain" was not expected to do well on election day. To the surprise of practically everyone, Jobias won. Soon after, Second Life Newser met up with the man in the black hat. Jobias told of he had a few plans in store for Steelhead, plans that include cutting down the forest, strip-mining the land, sending the kids to work in the mines, and making the non-humans wear collars.

Read more in People.

Jobias Barthelmess Announced as Winner of Steelhead Elections

It was last week on August 6 in which the Steampunk community of Steelhead held their mayoral elections. Yesterday at the Steelhead town hall, interim mayor Jimmy Branagh announced the results. Three candidates had run for the office, TotalLunar Eclipse the incumbent, and two challengers, Willow Leafstorm and Jobias Barthelmess. Jobias, whom was involved in an attempted shooting of Steelhead's Sheriff Fuzzball Ortega, was a much criticized candidate at public meetings. Even he himself during the debate admitted he wasn't the most popular of those running.

So imagine the surprise when it was announced at the August 13th town hall meeting that Jobias had won the elections! Timmy, who gave the announcement, was described as worried, "he sounded odd." This led to a lengthy debate among the people at the meeting, and whether or not the votes should be screened for accounts less than a couple weeks old.

Lunar reminded the crowd that while Jobias has been accused of many plots, he had never been convicted of them. When talk turned to tarring and feathering him, Lunar tried to calm them down, "Killing or maiming him would earn you jail time, there is still a law here." He asked that if people insisted on plotting that he be left out of it.

Speaking to Lunar after the meeting, he commented of the results, "I am quite frankly shocked. I have served under another mayor before I will try and keep neutral on my feelings." Willow, who was also there, had this to say, "Yes, I have a statement. There is no way that man, Jobless Brothelmess is taking office on my watch. He is a scoundrel and a criminal. My duty is to protect Steelhead."

As of now, there is no official statement from Jobias. Details are still coming in about this upset election in Steelhead.

(Editor's note: the election results are part of a community roleplay, so expect more twists and turns)

Bixyl Shuftan

Steelhead Votes For Mayor

 Following Steelhead's weekly town meeting on Tuesday, Interum Mayor Jimmy Branagh declared the polls open. And getting to the place, voting was simple enough, pick up the paper, read the attatched applications of the three candidates for additional information, write down your name and choice of mayor in the respective areas, and drop the paper in the box.

Earlier that day, Jimmy had given his endorsment: for Lunar.

'ello people of Steelhead.  Oy've enjoyed bein' th' Mayor an' awl but tomorrow th' polls open ta select a new permanent toipe Mayor. So make sure ya get yer butt ta th' polls befoe Friday at 9:00 PM when they close.  An' no funny votin' neither. Think Oy won't foind out? As wot will loikely be me foinal official act Oy officially throw me support behoind an' endorse Mr. Lunar ta get back his Mayor's job an' he can be all cushy an' stuff.

Anyone technically a citizen of Steelhead may vote, not just those living there. But Lunar's concern was about the safety and security of the ballots, "Safe secure voting my arse, its a cardboard box!" Someone else thought even the tape holding the box together looked loose.

I saw a number of people drop in. This included one self-described "timelord" who knew who was going to win, but couldn't say who it was. Jobias Barthelmess (the man in black in the second picture) was there when I showed up, but soon left.

Second Life Newser will not endorse a candidate, but will note that aside from Jobias, the campaign has been a remarkably civil one with a general agreement on most issues and willingess to listen and compromise. And the two leading candidates are remaining friends without an ill word with one another. A remarkable feat for an election that this reporter seldom reads about, let alone encounters. 

The polls will be open until Friday, and the winner announced at the next Steelhead community meeting next Tuesday.

Bixyl Shuftan

Steelhead's Mayoral Elections: The Debate

Last Friday, August 2nd, the Steelhead community held it's debate for this week's election for mayor. The three candidates, incumbent TotalLunar Eclipse, leading challenger Willow Leafstorm, and the long shot runner Jobias Barthelmess, were present. The interim mayor fielded a number of questions to them in front of an audience, and the candidates gave their responses. So, what issues would a Steampunk-themed community noted for it's diverse population of elves, fae, nekos, and more living alongside humans, and it's resident population of mad scientists, have to debate? Second Life Newser was there to get the story.

Read more about the debate in Events.