Will Salisbury voters stick with the status quo when Election Day rolls around again?
Now that Labor Day and the 10th anniversary of 9/11 have passed, we can turn our attention to more political matters. Municipal elections are less than two months away
Conservatism comes in many forms. Salisbury voters express their conservatism by staying the course, re-electing the same leaders year after year.
That looks like a form of inertia. But it would be more accurately described as voter satisfaction.
Mayor Susan Kluttz and Councilman Paul Woodson are each serving a seventh consecutive two-year term. Pete Kennedy holds the record on the current board; heís been on the council for nine terms totalling 18 years. You have to go back in Post files to 1993 to find the word ěchallengerî beside Kennedyís name.
Now and then someone gets the boot ó Mark Lewis in 2009, for example, and Bob Martin in 2003. But a personís more likely to retire from City Council than to be retired by the voters.
Some years City Council elections have felt like a formality. In 1999, all five incumbents won re-election. Voter turnout in the city was less than 20 percent that year. It happened again in 2005 and 2007, when turnout was even lower.
In 2009, three of four incumbents prevailed in the most hotly contested race in years, fueled in part by backlash from a thwarted annexation attempt. After several years of facing only one or two challengers, suddenly the incumbents were in a 13-person race that year. Still, only Lewis lost.
How different will 2011 prove to be?
Debate over the cityís new Fibrant broadband utility ó in concept and in cost ó might have been expected to draw even more candidates. But this yearís race attracted fewer candidates ó nine in all, including the five challengers.
They are Maggie Blackwell, Blake Jarman, Kennedy, Rip Kersey, Kluttz, Ben Lynch, Brian Miller, Dale Stephens and Paul Woodson.

Voters in Rowanís nine other municipalities also have elections this year. Early voting starts Oct. 20, and election day is Nov. 8.
City Council tends to get the most attention because it affects more people in Rowan than any other municipal board. The last census counted 33,663 men, women and children in the city; 20,323 are registered voters, according to the Board of Elections.
Salisbury has 22.7 percent of the total 89,402 registered voters in Rowan County.
What happens in Salisbury does not stay in Salisbury; it sets the tone for the entire county and influences peopleís perceptions of Rowan across the state and beyond. When industrial prospects look at Rowan, they visit Salisbury and find a vibrant downtown ó a small city with a real presence and character.
Visitors see the former federal courthouse that contains the Rowan County Administrative Offices ó probably the finest building in town ó the Plaza, City Hall, the courthouse and more. This is the county seat, after all.
City government is responsible for police and fire protection, water and sewer utilities, Fibrant, planning, parks and recreation and other services that come together to create our quality of life here.

So what would you like to ask City Council candidates before you vote on Nov. 8?
The candidates will field questions in a forum 6 p.m. Oct. 20 in Tom Smith Auditorium of Ketner Hall on the Catawba College campus.
The college, the Rowan County Chamber of Commerce and the Salisbury Post partner to hold these forums each election season in the name of public education ó that is, educating the voting public.
Dr. Michael Bitzer, associate professor of political science and chairman of history and politics at Catawba, will moderate.
Weíre asking readers to send in questions for the candidates, and Bitzer will choose the best ones. Send questions any of these ways:
Mail: Editor Elizabeth Cook, Salisbury Post, P.O. Box 4639, Salisbury, NC 28145.
Fax: 704-639-0003
Email: editor@salisburypost.com.
Fibrant, crime, taxes, streets, jobs ó the list of possible topics is endless. Let us know which ones are most important to you.

Elizabeth Cook is editor of the Salisbury Post.