Candidates

further strain on already crowded schools.

One of the points listed on Barzizza’s campaign flyer Tuesday was that he will “fight runaway development” in Germantown.

With concerns being raised about how apartments will affect the community, including on crime, there is a moratorium on apartment development in the city that expires July 8.

Palazzolo has been more open to apartments and related developments but has said the study could give numbers that add substance to the apartment debate. Among the priorities listed on Palazzolo’s campaign flyer Tuesday was to “control and manage growth” in Germantown.

Development remained a top issue in the days leading up to the election, both candidates said Tuesday.

Efforts on the ground

The candidates persisted at Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church throughout the morning, with dozens of volunteers pitching in at other precincts throughout the city.

Barzizza said roughly 65 people were helping him on Election Day in some capacity, including his wife, Wanda, “roaming around all the precincts.”

Palazzolo said about 70 people were working on his campaign Tuesday, some for a few hours, some for 12 hours. His father, Dino Palazzolo, has worked on all six of his campaigns, Palazzolo said, swaying voters at Farmington Elementary School.

“I always put him there because he’s better with people than I am,” Palazzolo said.

When running for alderman four years ago, Barzizza said there were only five people helping his campaign on Election Day.

“I learned then that you need people for coverage, so what I ended up doing is communicate with a lot of my friends and they are covering for us on Election Day,” he said. “It takes an army of people, it really does.”

The mayoral candidates said there was a rush of voters early in the morning before work began for most residents. Palazzolo said a line of about 75 voters long began to form at the church around 6:20 a.m.

Around 10:30 a.m. at Farmington Elementary School, volunteers supporting the two mayoral candidates greeted voters filing into the school. Among them was Dino Palazzolo, holding up an “I Like Mike Palazzolo” sign.

Dino Palazzolo said all the elections he has helped his son on have been largely the same, but added that he’s glad Election Day has signaled the end for the negative statements that campaigns everywhere have lobbed at each other.

“I’m prepared for it to be over,” he said.

Slow and steady traffic

Outside of the pre-work rush, polling places in Germantown weren’t dealing with significant traffic through the early afternoon, according to the candidates and their volunteers.

Barzizza said he expected a barrage of voters to file into Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church during the lunch hour, but it didn’t happen. Polling places in Germantown were instead experiencing a steady rhythm, Palazzolo said.

The mayoral candidates attributed that to a surge of participation in early voting. In Shelby County, voters cast 123 percent more early ballots than in the last midterm elections.

A little after noon, Wanda Barzizza stood at the Exeter Road entrance of the Germantown Performing Arts Center — a polling place — with a campaign sign supporting Barzizza and others by her side.

Wanda Barzizza said the early voting turnout was “incredible,” even for someone like her with previous experience as a poll worker. At one point at New Bethel Missionary Baptist Church’s polling place, there were no more “I voted” stickers to give out, she said.

“I’ve been working on elections for years, and I have never seen them run out of the stickers that say, ‘I voted,’” she said. “That’s how big the numbers were at New Bethel.”

Both Palazzolo and Barzizza kept their campaigns churning through their phones when there was a pause in incoming voter traffic.

Around 1 p.m., Palazzolo said his campaign had already sent out two Election Day email blasts encouraging potential holdouts to vote, with another one scheduled for 3 p.m. Barzizza said he was answering questions personally that voters sent out through email.

Barzizza said he expected the polls to fill up quickly and remain busy from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., a last-minute, “Macy’s on Christmas Eve”-type of rush.

Results looming

As anticipated, voters began entering the church at a higher frequency around 4 p.m. Some were still in their work uniforms as they paced by the mayoral candidates, who greeted them with overviews of their platform via flyers handed out or brief elevator pitches.

Palazzolo, his first term nearing an end, said he’s proud of the “cool things” going on in the city during his time as mayor. That will remain so, he added — win or lose.

“This is a great place to live, this is a community of choice, and I’ve had something to do with that,” he said.

Barzizza said his views have remained steadfast throughout his campaign, adding that he would run Germantown “like a business” and with more transparency.

“The way I see it, no matter who wins tonight, it’s what the people wanted,” he said.