Decision 2011: Reluctantly votin' for the lowdown mind-bending at-large blues.

During a week-long survey of alleged options in New Albany's forthcoming municipal elections, we've spent a fair amount of time clutching air sickness bags. It's time for the slate of at-large council candidates, three apiece from the two biggest irrelevant political parties. You can vote for as many as three, but in reality, you should not feel obliged to select that many. Tomorrow: The mayoral contest. Candidate listings are cribbed from the clerk's office, followed by brief comments by the senior editor.

NEW ALBANY COUNCIL MEMBER AT-LARGE
(Precincts New Albany 1,3,5,6,7,9 through 29 and 40 through 44)

R Steve Burks 1111 Lafayette Drive 502-931-8280
R Harry T. Harbison 207 Robin Lynne Drive 812-945-0537
R Kevin W. Zurschmiede (incumbent) 1733 E. Elm Street 812-945-7827
D Shirley Baird 45 High Park 812-949-1449
D Doug England 1738 State Road 111 812-944-1982
D John Gonder (incumbent) 602 Captain Frank Road 812-944-3121

Last spring, the current mayor made a momentous decision. After three years of threatening the city council with impending retribution, and then quickly running away to refuse to fight another day, he decided if you can't (or won't) beat 'em, join 'em. He'd become a council person himself, but only after turning City Hall over to a pliant, genial, caretaking elderly successor. Executive and legislative branches would be united, enabling absolutely nothing to occur, but far more efficiently than ever before.

This clumsily transparent power play was too much even for this city's benumbed Democrats, who promptly spurned Doug England's hand-picked erstwhile Republican replacement, Irv Stumler, in favor of two-term councilman Jeff Gahan.

The other half of Mayor England's plan ended more successfully, as he finished with the highest vote total in May's at-large Democratic primary, followed by incumbent councilman Gonder and newcomer Baird. They are joined by Republicans Zurschmiede (the sole GOP council rep at present), perennial aspirant (since the Eisenhower administration?) Harbison and glowering pastor Steve Burks, who never met a right-of-way he doesn't crave for signage.

And yet maybe Burks' fundamentalist congregation is right, and these six candidates genuinely provide proof that the deity has had just about enough with us. Either that, or the cosmos has a blacker sense of humor than previously thought. Harbison is ancient; Baird well meaning but far too entrenched with the supremely pointless local Democratic futility structure; and England frankly undeserving of further political office after sleep-walking through his third term as mayor -- maybe Guido's absence as enforcer was more important than we thought.

NAC's picks: That leaves Gonder, who thinks globally and acts locally, and should continue to improve as a council representative, and perhaps Zurschmiede. The latter has a bad habit of 1Si envy, but his performance on the council generally has been solid, if unspectacular. When voting at-large, the vote you refrain from casting is as important as the box you tick.