Compared with the monstrously long—somewhere in the neighborhood of two years—presidential campaign that wrapped up last November, the election for the three at-large seats for the Buffalo school board always seems to come like a thief in the night. For one thing, the election is held in May. For another, there’s less than one month between the time when candidates file their petitions and the actual election day.

A resolution to change Buffalo Common Council term lengths from four to two years was knocked down with a 5-4 vote Tuesday after heated debate among councilmembers. North District Councilmember Joe Golombek said he drafted the resolution because he believes shorter terms would promote “fresh ideas and fresh enthusiasm” on the Council. He said shorter terms also would allow voters to be more active in choosing their representation. “Four-year terms have made it easier [for the Council] to be divisive, taking accountability away from the voters,” he said on Tuesday. “More democracy is good.”

■ In other Common Council news, we’re told that belleagured Ellicott District Councilmember Brian Davis was back on the job Tuesday, accompanied by a bodyguard He’d been absent from meetings again last week. Buffalo News reporter Jim Heaney wrote on April 12 that Davis had missed a third of his meetings since the new year; he has been missing meetings at roughly an equal rate since then. Davis has indicated that he has a health issue, though he has not disclosed its nature or provided a doctor’s orders.