In our last local election here in Quincy, the people voted for the status quo.  Our incumbent mayor had been showing signs of big-fish-small-pond syndrome, allegedly telling a reporter to watch himself, and making city government a little too cozy for his friends and insiders.  People understand—even expect—a certain amount of payola and nepotism in city government, but they also expect some restraint.  (See also: Blagojevich.)  If you hire your nephew for an ordinary wage to mow the city golf course and he plays 18 holes while on the clock every day, people will shrug that off as the cost of government.  But if you hire ten nephews and pay them each $100K to work as beer inspectors in the local taverns, they’ll throw you out of office.  There are limits, and the mayor was starting to stretch them in many people’s minds.

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