Now that every ballot has been counted and the Board of Elections has certified the results, here are some thoughts on the 2017 Salisbury City Council election:

• Diversity: After new members take the oath of office in early December, City Council will more demographically diverse than ever. Nearly 50 years after Karen Young was the first woman to take the council’s oath of office, Salisbury City Council will include three women — Karen Alexander, Al Heggins and Tamara Sheffield. The majority of the city’s voters are women, after all, and they are more active voters. Heggins was the only one of the five black candidates to win in this election, but she got more votes than anyone else and is on her way to becoming mayor. Sheffield is the first openly LGBTQ council member, and David Post is about to become the city’s first Jewish mayor pro tem.

• One-sided: Geographically, the council is decidedly lopsided. All the winners come from western precincts — the West wards and West Innes. East Ward has not been represented since Pete Kennedy stepped down two years ago. South Ward is large but also unrepresented. The council needs a structure similar to that of the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education, with a council seat for every zone or ward, along with a couple of at-large members, but allowing all voters to cast ballots for all seats.

• No, thanks: City Council chooses its own mayor, nearly always the top vote-getter. An exception came about more than five decades ago when David Clay, then a young businessman, found himself at the top of the ticket with no time to be mayor. He declined the office. A few mayors chose not to seek re-election after just two years of the demanding job.

• To the top: Al Heggins will be the city’s first black female mayor, but not the first mayor to step into the role without council experience. Susan Kluttz likewise  garnered the most votes the first time she ran for council in 1997. Kluttz went on to be Salisbury’s longest serving mayor, not falling from the top spot until 2011, when Paul Woodson was the top vote-getter. Then she served in Gov. Pat McCrory’s administration, even though she’s a Democrat, and now political observers are waiting to see if she might run for office again, perhaps at the legislative level.

• Party talk: Republicans did not fare well in several cities’ high-profile mayoral races in the country, including Charlotte’s. Though Salisbury’s council race is not partisan, it’s worth noting that Salisbury’s Mayor Alexander is another Republican who will not return to the top spot. Even without mention of President Trump in local campaigns, national politics has energized more leftward-leaning citizens at the grassroots. Witness Salisbury Indivisible. Also, the Rowan County Democratic Party issued endorsements in the city election. Party involvement is a troubling development, just as it was when Republicans started endorsing in the nonpartisan school board race. As a nation, we need to get back to voting for the person and that person’s beliefs and integrity — not the party, do or die.