Who follows whom?

Even my mom was a bit confused about this, so I thought I would try and clear this up. How did this thing work, that interim Mayor Ravenstahl became interim Mayor Ravenstahl? Was he selected by Bob O’Connor? Was he anointed?

Consider an analogy. Suppose at the Federal level, Dick Cheney suddenly takes ill and shuffles off this mortal coil. Then suppose the president, distraught over the death of his vice president, slips away from his secret service guards and takes a long walk in the desert around Crawford. Suppose a rattler gets him, and he suffers heat stroke, and also shuffles off this mortal coil (I know, what dreams may come). Well, who is the last person Bush would ever choose to replace him? I’ll give you a hint, it is also the person who, in my little scenario, constitutionally would succeed the president. It’s Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House. Our country and our city are setup so that if the chief executive dies, the elected (by the legislature) head of the legislature is either next in line or close to the top of the line.

We don’t know how Bob O’Connor felt about Council President Ravenstahl (or at least I don’t). But that doesn’t matter in this case, Council President Ravenstahl becoming interim Mayor was set by the rules.