A day after one of her leading political rivals was voted off the City Council and another finished fourth in a five-way at-large race, Mayor Carolyn Kirk denied suggestions she used her clout and political operation to influence the outcome.

"My influence was totally overstated," Kirk said yesterday. "There was no active campaigning. I don't have time for that."

The candidate with the least to lose in this year's city election — she ran unopposed — Kirk may have strengthened her political position more than anyone on the ballot Tuesday night.

She pulled in the highest vote total of all candidates, ahead of council at-large top vote-getter Sefatia Romeo Theken. And after the elimination of Councilor Jason Grow, Kirk is looking at a new City Council, one expected to be more receptive to her agenda than the group she has sparred with over nearly two years.

Kirk openly supported the newest member of the council and second-place finisher in the at-large field, retired 17-year veteran City Clerk Bob Whynott, who supported better relations with the mayor's office.

She also supported the third-place finisher, Councilor Joseph Ciolino, who made "bridge-building" between the mayor and council a central platform of his campaign.

With the only standing political operation or campaign finance war chest in the city this year and no election opponent, many saw Kirk's influence in the results, including incumbent Council President Bruce Tobey, another frequent Kirk critic, who finished just ahead of Grow.

"People would ask me who I support and I would say Ciolino and Whynott," Kirk said. "But there was no message from my committee to steer the councilor-at-large race."

She added the caveat that despite her orders not to meddle in council races, Kirk said the possibility always existed that some of her volunteers "took it upon themselves" to get involved anyway.

Kirk's team of volunteers made 2,000 get-out-the-vote calls before the preliminary election in September, but after her opponent dropped out in October, Kirk decided not to activate it before the general election.

Offering further evidence that she was not out to get Grow, Kirk said it was unfortunate the council would lose his work ethic and budget chops and invited him to take a leading role on the city's Capital Investment Advisory Board.

As for why she personally backed Whynott, Kirk said yesterday it was his "excellent experience on the legislative side of local government."

Ciolino's strength: His "strong spirit of cooperation with the administration over the past two years," Kirk said.

On top of being freed from questioning by Grow, Kirk may also see a more inviting councilor wielding the City Council president's gavel next year.

Tobey has said he sees the council presidency as an obligation that should be rotated among councilors, and he expects to pass it along to someone else next year.

Yesterday, both Ciolino and Whynott said they are interested in becoming the next council president, with Ciolino explicit in his desire to move toward a cooperative relationship with the mayor, instead of as a check on the mayor.

"The new president has to be able to build a bridge between the council and mayor's office," Ciolino said. "We have to be civil and professional and that was lacking on the last council."

In the wake of his loss, Grow yesterday was upbeat, noting the amount of time and attention involved in being on the council had taken away from his career as a photographer and his family.

On his relationship with Kirk, Grow said he had "no regrets."

"I did my best to do my best for the city; I don't think I left anything on the table," Grow said. "She has become a better mayor for my being willing to question her suppositions. If I end up losing because of it, maybe it's worth it."

Patrick Anderson can be reached at panderson@gloucestertimes.com

Kirk total sets 20-year low, with 33 percent write-ins, blanks

More than one third of voters in Tuesday's city election cast either write-in or blank votes for mayor instead of choosing unopposed incumbent Carolyn Kirk, according to official election results released yesterday by the city clerk's office.

Kirk was still the largest vote-getter in the election with 3,402 votes, or 66.3 percent, against 537 write-in votes and 1,192 blanks, a combined 33.7 percent. Of the write-in votes, 249 were cast for Daniel Ruberti, the third-place finisher in the September preliminary election who had continued to campaign, while primary survivor Sharon George withdrew Oct, 5 and did not.

As expected, turnout in the election, with few candidates and contested races, was low with just 5,131 voters — 25.8 percent of the city's registered voters — casting ballots,

Kirk's votes against the number of blank and write-in votes was consistent with previous uncontested local elections, but her total still set a 20-year low. In 1997, incumbent Mayor Bruce Tobey ran unopposed and garnered 3,688 votes.

— Patrick Anderson