An uninspiring list of Leppert sucessors and two who aren't

It appears certain that Tom Leppert intends to be a one-term-or-less mayor of Dallas. If Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison decides to resign to run for governor, Leppert plans to run in a special election to succeed her. Personally, I can't see Hutch resigning. She knows she doesn't stand a chance in the GOP gubernatorial primary against Gov. Hair, so why should she give up her Senate seat to pursue a lost cause? But I do expect that she will decide not to seek re-election when her current term expires in 2012 which, coincidentally, is when Leppert's first term expires as well.

So the rumors are rampant on possible candidates to succeed Leppert, even though such talk is probably premature (no one was talking about Tom Leppert two years before he was elected mayor). Gromer Jeffers, one of the best reporters at the Dallas Morning News, weighed in Sunday with the names he's heard -- council members Ron Natinsky and Angela Hunt (Yawn!); state Sen. John Carona (Leppert redux although I can't understand why he would scuttle a promising political future to run for Dallas mayor -- see Steve Bartlett); Dallas lawyer David Laney (noted conspiracy theorist and Dallas Observer writer/reporter Jim Schutze suggests promoting Robert Decherd's cousin is the sole reason for Jeffers' story.); former council member Mitchell Rasansky (a real horror story); and a bunch of other unknowns.

None of the names gets me excited at all, although I will admit the inclusion of homeless czar Mike Rawlings is, at least, somewhat intriguing.

Now I am going to throw out a pair of names no one is mentioning. The first is former council member Veletta Forsythe Lill, a champion of the arts and other causes in Dallas who superbly represented the multi-cultural interests of District 14 for eight years. I really would like to see her return to political office -- either county judge or mayor of Dallas. My second name is really out of the blue:

Mary Suhm. Who knows the city better than the current city manager? And, by 2012, not only will she have served longer than just about anyone else in this position, she could retire with more than 30 years service to her credit and receive a full pension. She would be the best, most qualified candidate, but I wonder if she has mayoral temperament or whether she could resist running the day-to-day operations of the city from the mayor's office. But, you gotta admit, this is a name that's more fun to speculate about than any of the uninspiring ones mentioned by Mr. Jeffers.

Update: The incomparable Sam Merten points out, quite correctly, that Leppert's first term expires a year before Sen. Hutch's. Probably no big deal -- former Houston Mayor Bill White was out of office for a while before announcing he would run for Hutch's seat -- Whoops!, White really meant governor.