Serba for treasurer

Anticipating retirement after a career fixing broken retail stores, Jim Serba quietly eased into and out of the race for Waynesboro city treasurer, then, as election day neared and long after sample ballots had been printed, he plunged back in. Terry Kent followed at the behest of friends and onlookers. He and Serba seek the improbable: to win as write-in candidates. Sandra “Sandee” Dixon gives contenders and their supporters cause to think it can happen.
Ordinarily, confidence of this sort is false. Finding reliable data on the subject is difficult, but the consensus is that the chances of winning a write-in bid are microscopic. Even the Redskins could beat a write-in. There have been remarkable successes: Strom Thurmond won as a write-in for U.S. representative in South Carolina and served until he was 100. Far more common are the failings of Ralph Nader and the ficus tree – interchangeable? – write-in losers for president and Congress.
Dixon inspired the late rush for her seat by recently completing a run of ineptitude so perfect it made the Treasurer’s Office feel like Nationals Park in September, or Scott Stadium in October. In four straight annual state audits – or each one since the 2005 election – Dixon’s office was cited for sloppy recordkeeping, tardy accounting and inadequate controls (translation: She neglected little things such as depositing money and immediately locking up payments). Dixon says she’s righted her ship, but ask her whether taxpayers could expect a passing grade in the next audit, and the water gushes in. She hopes so. Terrific. One vote for the ficus tree.
The other option on the ballot is better, slightly. Stephanie Beverage, daughter of former Treasurer Nancy Beverage, is a 911 dispatcher and cashier at a car dealership. She lost in 2005 to Dixon after being pilloried in the pages of this newspaper and elsewhere over a post-divorce bankruptcy. That’s not enough to disqualify her from consideration this time. More troubling are her assurances that she’ll succeed where Dixon erred: She’ll take classes (a good thing), she was around the office when her mother worked there (so was Dixon) and she’ll consult her mother. Mama, unfortunately, isn’t running.
Support has been cresting behind Kent, a former video store manager and tax preparer. Recently unemployed after the closing earlier this month of a Movie Gallery store where he worked, Kent vows his skills as a manager and former business owner will enable him to guide the Treasurer’s Office back to good health within six months. Kent’s backers include a local couple who long have pressed the issue of Dixon’s shortcomings. He makes a stronger pitch for himself than either of the two candidates on the ballot.
But Serba’s combination of education and practical experience interests us. He has a business degree and spent 34 years as a troubleshooter at Roses, Auto Zone and Marshall’s stores. Earlier this year, he’d considered a bid for treasurer but backed off when he heard city Budget Director Pat Nicosia planned to run. When Nicosia pulled out and Serba read about Dixon’s travails, he decided to jump back in. “I fix broken stores,” he says. “And that’s what we have here.” It’s hard to argue that one.
Among difficult choices, Serba is the best for treasurer. Pulling for him or Kent carries the risk that they’ll peel votes from Beverage and send Dixon back. That’s the worst scenario. We rate Beverage the third best candidate. Kent, like Serba, appears to know how he’d go about straightening the mess Dixon will leave. What is most plain is that the incumbent has not earned the right to keep her job. The city needs someone else.