Election season is over, the signs touting the candidates have all but disappeared and it is time for journalists and political pundits to do a final recoup of the results and prognosticate about the future for the next two years.
Selected for the next Colonial Beach Town Council are one new member, one continuing member and one former Council member.  Looking at the vote tallies, it becomes obvious that voters wanted change.  The new member, Shane Buzby, received almost a hundred votes more than his closest competitor.  

It is also evident that the voters were sending a message to the current council:  they are not happy with business as usual.  One of the incumbents, David Coombes, did not retain his seat, and the other one, Stephen Kennedy, squeaked by with 50 votes less than the number two spot, Gary Seeber, and five votes more than Coombes.
However, it seems, the voters were not totally dissatisfied with the status quo as there were three write-in candidates who did not even come close to placing in the top three of the seven people competing for the council spots.
Now the waiting game starts.  These new members will be seated on July 1.  That’s when the fun will begin. One of the reasons voters were so dissatisfied with the incumbents was the divisiveness among the members of the Town Council that has been evident since the election of 2008.  
Whether the appointment of David Coombes to finish out the term of Linda Crandell or the election of Fred Rummage as mayor, or even just the combination of personalities that made up the council, served as the catalyst for all the power struggles, is a detail that will never be determined.  
What is evident is that in the last two years the bickering and infighting seemed to be at an all time high — even for Colonial Beach.
One thing is for certain: it is time for the Colonial Beach Council to let Rummage take on his title of mayor (as he was elected by the voters of Colonial Beach) and all that implies.  As mayor he is responsible for setting the agendas of the Town Council, presiding over the council at meetings, and taking on a leadership role for the members of the Town Council. The new council should let him do all that. After all, he was elected by the voters.
Does he need an office in the Town Hall?  Maybe, maybe not — historically, the mayor did not have an office.  Mayor Bone was the first mayor to be so honored. The council as a body, in the sunlight, should decide the office issue together without the squabbling that followed last time. Do it, get it over with, and move on.
Regardless, it is time for council to confront the real issues facing the town. Hopefully all the newly elected members will take the next couple of months to reflect and change gears so as to work as a cohesive group for the next two years.
For now, the residents of Colonial Beach must be patient a little while longer to see if the desire for change that was voted in at this latest election will mend the problems that have plagued the current council and put Colonial Beach on the road to prosperity.