Before election day, Mark Kleinschmidt arrogantly proclaimed that he was the only mayoral candidate representing the "values" of Chapel Hill. Nice bit of delusional self-aggrandizement, except on election day the majority of Chapel Hillians voted for "someone else" for mayor.

So much for his vision for the town's future or that diverse Chapel Hill embraces only his narrow set of values.

No, Kleinschmidt owes his election, not to his exclusionary vision, but to Kevin Wolfe and Augustus Cho. Engaged in a futile race for mayor, their meager 311 votes (Cho, 217; Wolfe, 94) gave this election to Klienschmidt.

Kleinschmidt, aided by the complicity of his friend's (Cam "Sour Grapes" Hill) distribution of an illegal election attack piece on Kleinschmidt's major opponent, will be our next mayor. It's doubtful that Hill's misconduct and worse judgment were beneficial to Kleinschmidt, but it affirms the earlier good wisdom of voters who turned Hill out of office - good riddance.

Kleinschmidt, with no mandate, has his work cut out for him in convincing Chapel Hill that, as mayor, he can represent all citizens in this community, and not just the few who embrace his intolerant views of the world. Hopefully, his actions as mayor will speak louder than his words as candidate.

I hope that other council members are paying more attention to Chapel Hill's diversity. If not, expect more spirited election contests.

David R. Lee

Chapel Hill