CHADWICK OUT? Reports say Councilwoman to resign First Ward seat

Qutting before getting fired  

COLUMBIA, Mo 1/5/15 (Beat Byte) --Though it's not yet official, unconfirmed reports say Ginny Chadwick is resigning her First Ward Columbia City Council seat after nine months, half-dozen controversies, and an officially-certified recall petition.

Calling her decision "the best result for the City of Columbia as well as my own personal and professional life," Chadwick made the announcement in an email to the Council and senior city administrators.  She had not planned to stay past August in any event, and thought it "unwise" to put the vote for her recall on the April ballot.

Her decision leaves open a possible second run for the First Ward position in less than a year, should Mayor Bob McDavid and fellow Council members decide to place her seat on the April ballot. 

Ms. Chadwick ran afoul of several constituencies almost immediately upon taking office last April.  She supported the Opus student apartments despite two successful petitions to repeal city support for it; she proposed an alcohol ban at historically-black Douglass Park; she broke a campaign promise to vote for decrimiinalizing small marijuana grow operations; and she led a charge to ban tobacco and e-cig sales to anyone under age 21. 

Her actions led critics to coin the derisive phrase "Ninny State," a combination of her first name -- Ginny -- and Nanny State.

The question facing Chadwick's opponents -- who will replace her -- may now take center stage.