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After three weeks of legal wrangling, Democrat Wheeler finally took the oath of office as Ann Arbor's new mayor on Wednesday, April 30.

Wheeler's inauguration ends two years of Republican control of City Hall. But rather than a new majority. City Council is now split 5-5-1, with HRP's Kathy Kozachenko holding the balance between Democrats and Republicans. Effectiveness of the new Council, where bi-partisan support will be required to pass any legislation, remains to be tested.

Wheeler was generally conciliatory in his informal remarks at the close of his first City Council meeting April 30. I'll fight politically outside the Council chambers," he stated, "but (it is now necessary to) submerge that in the interest of the community."

The battle over Wheeler's election and the new preferential voting (PV) system that made it possible is far from over, however, Former GOP Mayor James Stephenson, whose re-election bid failed by a narrow 121 vote margin, has demanded a recount and is seeking to have the election thrown out on the grounds that preferential voting is unconstitutional.

The three week delay in certification of the election resulted from partisan deadlock on both the City and County Boards of Canvassers, which were finally broken by a ruling from Circuit Judge James Fleming April 29. Passing over the question of PV's constitutionality, Fleming ordered certification of Wheeler's victory, and directed Stephenson to seek a recount before proceeding with other legal remedies.

The recount is being handled by the County Canvassers, and will probably begin May 13 or 14, taking about a week to complete.

Robert Henry, Third Ward City Councilman and attorney for Stephenson, told the SUN that he feels chances are "pretty good" for reversing the election results through the recount. Henry suggested some significant issues on the election could be resolved in the recount process, particularly regarding the security of ballots from seven precincts.

City Democrats disagree with Henry's assessment. "I really don't believe there will be any significant change (in the vote totals) coming out of the recount," Mayor Wheeler responded. On the ballot security question, Wheeler said the April 7th election was "one of the most careful elections in the city's history," because of the attention focused on it."

"Their (the Republican's) main emphasis is to recruit a city-wide antagonism to preferential voting," remarked Dr. Theodore Beals, a Democratic member of the City Board of Canvassers. In a recount, the issue of ballot security cannot be used to throw out returns from contested precincts, according to Beals, but can prevent the Canvassers from recounting the ballots in question. In that event, the County Canvassers would have to rely on the original tabulation from those precincts.

Meanwhile, a pre-trial hearing has been set for May 14 before Judge Fleming on the constitutionality of preferential voting. The trial itself will probably begin on May 28, and whichever side loses is almost certain to appeal the outcome.

Both Democrats and Republicans are attempting to raise funds for what is likely to be a long court battle. A benefit for Wheeler is being held May 9 at the Armory. Stephenson supporters have been running a series of quarter-page ads in the Ann Arbor News under a front called "Citizens for Legal Action Against Preferential Voting." The ads include a reprint of a News editorial against PV, playing on citizen confusion over the new election system.

A GOP effort to repeal preferential by placing it on the ballot was brought before City Council Monday, May 5 but was tabled without discussion by Democratic and HRP members. lntroduced by newly-elected Fourth Ward Councilmember Ronald Trowbridge, the resolution slammed preferential as "un democratic" and called for its abolition.

With Council's refusal to place PV on the ballot for reconsideration, speculation is growing that Republicans will mount a petition drive for repeal should court efforts fail to bring results favorable to the GOP. Under PV, it is virtually impossible for a Republican to be elected mayor without receiving a majority of the first choice votes. In this April's election, almost 90% of those who voted for HRP mayoral candidate Carol Ernst gave their second choice votes to Democrat Wheeler, providing him with his narrow margin of victory.

The GOP's repeal petition drive would probably use delays in determining the outcome of the mayor's race as a focus, blaming PV for the problem. But both Democratic and Human Rights Party insiders point to Republican challenges during the vote counting and in the courts is the primary reasons for the slow resolution of the mayoral contest.

Republicans would probably also concentrate on claims that preferential voting is "unfair," in that the candidate who gets the most first choice votes doesn't necessarily win. However, PV supporters state that it is important that Ann Arbor's mayor be relatively acceptable to a majority of Ann Arbor voters and they say that PV achieves this.

The final resolution of Republican challenges to the election and to PV will probably be many months in coming. In the meantime, the new mayor and council have a massive amount of work in front of them and numerous campaign promises to fulfill. With the new council split among three parties, the potential for passing progressive legislation will depend on the ability and willingness of Democrats and HRP's Kathy Kozachenko to work together. Such a coalition should be able to produce compromise programs for dealing with pressing housing, human service, and other city problems.