Viewpoint: Ward 1 voter upset with council member for resignation

Bryan Richardson

I didn’t expect to be writing this.

Like many of us in Ward 1, I voted for Jennifer Savage because I believed she was one of us. She knew the northside neighborhood well, and for a while, I truly believed she had our back.

That’s what makes her resignation from city council so painful and so hard to excuse. Savage didn’t step down because of some personal hardship or because the job was done. It appears that her resignation is to help beat out the city council’s progressive councilmember Daniel Carlino. Let’s be honest: this resignation wasn’t about principle. It was about politics.

Ward 1 now sits a representative down, because Savage wanted to make a statement. She walked away from the job we elected her to do. Her resignation wasn’t a sacrifice. It was a calculated move that has left us without representation.

Meanwhile, the issues that matter most to us: housing, transit, livability haven’t taken a day off. Rent is still going up. Property taxes are skyrocketing. And our communities still need leadership.

It’s one thing to lose a fight. It’s another to take your ball and go home. That’s not courage. That’s cowardice. In the end, she turned her back on the people like me who elected her. Ward 1 deserved more than a politician who cares more about council politics than her constituents.

And when the next election comes around, we won’t forget who showed up, and who walked away.