As you must have heard by now, Camelot city council elected a new mayor this morning, Deana Stranz. I was lucky enough to have been granted an interview with her directly after the election. I arrived early to our meeting place, The Round Table Cafe on the corner of Church and Union, and soon saw Deana run over from the government building across the street, still dressed from that morning's meeting. After a rushed greeting we order coffee and get to business.
Camelot Daily News: "So how do you feel? Are you excited?"
Deana Stranz: "Oh I'm so excited! Growing up my father served two terms as mayor of Godric's Hallow so this has just always been a dream of mine. Today's session was a little rough but I do believe that that I can rise to the challenge and I hope to meet the expectations that are upon me. "
Deana has an absolutely sterling resume, so it's hard to believe that she would be unable to rise to the challenge. After receiving her bachelor's degree in political science from Columbia University she moved on to Harvard to earn her masters. She lives in one of the more prestigious neighborhoods of Camelot, Forest Acres. Many of us remember her home from the pictorial featured in the May 2006 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. This will be her 10th year on City Council.
CDN: "So tell me a little bit about your family?"
DS: "Well James and I met each other in our first year at Harvard in 1987. We've now been married 18 years."
CDN: "And what does he do?"
DS: "He's a lawyer in Camelot."
She's just being modest. He's actually one of the most respected lawyers in Camelot and works at the very prestigious law firm of Marshall & Dershowitz.
CDN: "What about your children, David and Kathleen?"
DS: "Well they're both at Camelot Elementary. David just turned 12 and is in 6th grade. He is very active in swimming and soccer at our local YMCA. Kathleen is 9 and in 3rd grade. She is currently taking riding lessons and seems to be really enjoying them! She's also working on learning to playing the violin."
CDN: "Well good! So now down to business. Tell me a little bit about your policies and what you're hoping to accomplish as mayor."
DS: "Well, I know as a homeowner I am very much against property taxes. I don't like the idea of the government telling you what to do with your property, as a homeowner you have the right to do with it what you please."
She takes a wistful look out the window of the cafe at the crumbling buildings and empty store windows across the street before taking a sip of her latte and proceeding.
DS: "I also believe that the dilapidation of downtown Camelot is a huge problem and that is why I plan on really fighting for the hotel plaza situation. I believe the hotel coming to town will revive our downtown. It will help business owners and bring in a lot of people. I hope it will help with some of the problems we've been having with business closing or moving out. Also I'm very concerned about taxes. I want to keep town spending down so taxes will stay down. Less government spending, definitely. Our budget is coming up soon on the agenda and it is definitely going to take a lot of work to hammer out the details."
Who knows what the future will bring, but as of now I would say the city of Camelot can rest easy. Deana is incredibly qualified and seems to have a good idea of her goals for her term as mayor.
