So what the heck happened to Mautino?

[rwarn17588]

I go out of town for a few hours to see Trout Fishing in America at the Coleman in Miami, come back, and the big surprise in the election is that Councilor Jim Mautino lost.

I'd heard through the grapevine that his opponent had a solid ground game. But I thought Mautino would pull it out.

So what happened? Mautino had a dedicated bunch of supporters.

Something's been sticking in the back of my mind about Mautino for a few weeks now, however. When I attended the Route 66 Business League candidates forum, I noticed that Mautino became easily confused and easily lost focus. I attributed it somewhat to age when I found out he is in his 70s. I thought maybe Mautino was just tired or had a bad day, and decided not to mention it.

But maybe other people got the same impression I did at other events. Maybe the voters in his district thought it was time for younger blood.

Or maybe he was damaged when that housing development fell through and we found out later that he missed a few crucial details at an earlier committee meeting. I'm not sure.

Thoughts?