Runoffs — the ugly byproduct of close, multi-candidate elections.

The races for Columbia mayor and District Four councilman will be decided in runoffs, as no candidate in either of those races reached the 50 percent-plus-one threshold for winning the election. Joe Azar (bested by fellow Harden Street businessman Aaron Johnson for fourth place) said in a recent one of his famous newsletters that because no candidate was trumpeting polling numbers, the race was likely to be a toss-up. It was, for the top three.

With 76 of 78 precincts reporting, Steve Benjamin was at 35.5 percent (6,067), Councilman Kirkman Finlay III at 32.1 percent (5,485) and Steve Morrison coming in at 29.5 percent (5,053). That’s pretty tight, considering conventional wisdom last year had it that Benjamin was going to run away with the election. With Morrison out of the way, expected thinking would be that Benjamin would consolidate the city’s Democrats and win in the runoff. But, that’s not necessarily so.

Consider that District Four, Finlay’s old seat, will be going up on the same day. Former city manager Leona Plough (32.3 percent, 1,831) will face off against Tony Mizzell (31.4 percent, 1,782). That would mean a bump in people who would normally vote for Finlay, as opposed to if the mayoral election was alone on the ballot.

Then take both these examples and throw them out. Runoffs come down to organization and getting your people out. Whomever has the tightest, best ground game will win the day. The WR betting line is Benjamin, -7.

In the only other competitive race, Grant Robertson mounted an unexpectedly strong challenge to Councilwoman Tameika Issac-Devine, losing 57-41.9 percent.

Friday, The State‘s lead editorial was a basic defense of Columbia City Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine‘s oblique relation to another loan from the Sumter-Columbia Empowerment Zone. The last mini-scandal came when her mother used a loan to purchase a building that was then rented out to Devine’s law firm. The money had to be paid back to the city, which the city then paid back to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This time, a company that has Devine’s husband as a vice president is getting a loan from the SCEZ to purchase property on Patterson Road. The State does a bit of hemming and hawing, and comes down to saying that there’s no wrongdoing going on, and making light of what it calls “the perception issue.”

Here’s the problem with perception and the actions — and associations — of City Council members: the city has been in the shitter when it comes to policy, finances and general decision-making for some time now. The main governing body for Columbia has to take responsibility for that. While the second loan is a lot less damning than the first, both show lack of ability to appropriately think things through, as it comes to, yes, perception, of city governance.

It’s beyond time for city councillors to think their actions through, before the public and the press have to do it for them.

For the past several weeks, there has been some activity regarding improper loans given by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to the City of Columbia and then to people close to two City Council members. The loans involved Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine and Councilman Daniel Rickenmann. Ironically, they’re the two at-large members of the Council.

Both of the HUD loans were for business development in the Sumter-Columbia Empowerment Zone. Interestingly in regard to Devine, one loan was made to her mother, Veronica Isaac, for $280,000. Isaac used that money to purchase a building at 1419 Richland Street. She then rented out the building to Devine’s law firm. HUD said the problem was that the loan wasn’t used to create any new jobs in the Zone. Subsequently, Isaac had to repay the loan to the city and the city then sent the cash back to HUD.

For Rickenmann, it involves two now-defunct Birds On A Wire restaurants he started, one of which was outside the Zone. The loan was $179,000 to the two businessmen, Bryan Singleton and Cameron Jordan Jr., who bought the restaurants from Rickenmann. While the Councilman says he has documentation that nothing untoward occurred, HUD apparently has documents that report the money was a part of the purchase. When the restaurants went belly-up, the gentlemen defaulted on the loan. According to The State, there is the possibility that the city will have to repay that one, as well.

No matter where the blame is placed or how it is divided, the city government has yet again fallen down on the job of monitoring to whom the checks are cut and what’s being done with the money that is being doled out. How long is it going to be before there’s an overhaul of the Council and the people who run the city finances?

Grant Robertson, proprietor of F-Stop and co-host of “Drinking in the Morning,” started off running with partner-in-crime Aaron Johnson for Columbia mayor. But, after some deliberation, Johnson is remaining in the mayoral race while Robertson is taking another tack.

As we were advised yesterday, Robertson is going to be challenging Tameika Isaac Devine for her at-large city council seat. Don’t be distracted by his formidable whiskers — this is a solid fella. Running on the Cocktail Party ticket, the campaign looks to be an entertaining affair while concentrating on the city’s pressing issues. This is how Robertson introduced himself a few weeks ago:

Born and raised in West Columbia, I’ve been a lab assistant in an Intermediate Energy Nuclear Physics Lab, worked a 10-key at a local bank, a sandwich maker, delivered pizzas, read meters for the gas company, and worked master control at a local television station…and in that order. I finally stepped up to take an active role in the community by opening my own business in 2008 – something that was only possible because I had the support of the great people of this city and its institutions. As a business owner and active member of my community I have seen real room for improvement and change that will make this city not only great, but incredible!

But seriously, we sat down with him for a decent amount of time and — brace yourself — we’re offering our first endorsement, ever. WR puts its full support behind Robertson’s city council campaign. Considering Kirkman Finlay III will be off the council after next year’s elections, the city’s going to need another faithful representation of facial hair in local government.

From the way it seemed weeks ago, Steve Benjamin‘s mayoral campaign is for real. As in, it’s not messing around when it comes to bringing in talented staff, fundraising and, recently, appearing to force Columbia Mayor Bob Coble out of the race. For a while, it was thought that Councilman Kirkman Finlay III would jump into the race, or at least that he was an attractive candidate.

So, ahead of that, the campaign is gearing up.

Benjamin’s campaign this week submitted seven separate Freedom of Information Act requests to various city departments requesting “copies of all written correspondence, e-mail, phone records and facsimile communication with or that refers to Kirkman Finlay III.”

“We are specifically trying to get a full picture of Councilman Finlay’s role in crafting this budget. It’s a disastrous budget that could leave us broke within three months,” said Joseph Oppermann, Benjamin’s campaign manager.

While developing a book on your opponent is relatively routine, putting in a FOIA request is pretty ballsy. Whether or not Finlay will get in the race is up for debate, and Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine has said she won’t. For what it’s worth, Benjamin’s opponent Joe Azar said in his email newsletter today that the FOIA will probably goad Finlay into the race.

Maybe we will get that exciting mayoral race, after all.