Hail to the Chief: Inauguration Day, 2007 (VIDEO)
Martin, Lang, Zavodnyik  take the oath of office, Hammett takes a quick exit
-- John Patten, 11/16/07
-- jpatten@veniceflorida.com

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The King is dead; Long live the King
Bill Willson didn't show up. Neither did Jim Woods. Fred Hammett did, but he only stuck around long enough to fulfill his legal requirement of relinquishing the reins of power, then he beat feet to get out of council chambers as quickly as possible.

An estimated crowd of around 120 did show up on Wednesday, November 14, filling the council chamber with applause and cheers as Ed Martin, Sue Lang, and Ernie Zavodnyik took the oath of office and then their seats on the council dais for the first time.

After City Clerk Lori Stelzer read the final election vote count, Hammett found himself the victim of a cruel twist of fate: he was forced by law to call for a vote to certify the election results, thus asking council to fire him. Council voted unanimously to accept the results.

With that, the three new elected officials took their oaths and then their seats. As Martin approached the mayor's seat, he shook Hammett's hand. Hammett, visibly grimacing, accepted the handshake, then made his exit from the dais and council chambers as quickly as possible.

It was a surreal moment: well-funded incumbents, backed by a land developer's PAC, had seemed impossible to beat. In previous years, the sheer volume of advertising dollars thrown at election campaigns had been a sound investment in the land development business. Now three challengers to the status quo were actually on the council dais, warming up their chairs and being introduced with the titles of Councilwoman, Councilman, and Mayor.

I blinked, I rubbed my eyes, I looked again. They were still there. While a seemingly unreal moment that will be etched in my memory forever played out, I sat in the audience trying to keep a low quality video camera steady.

Looking around the room, shooting the applause of the residents of Venice as each newly elected official finished taking the oath of office, I was overwhelmed by the power of the democratic process.

Holy crap! We stole the government!

The King is dead. Long live the King.

John Patten is the head of Web Operations for Creative Pages, and has worked in broadcasting for over 12 years. He can also be incredibly rude at times.