In no major surprise, Greensboro City Council member defeats incumbent Mayor Robbie Perkins in yesterday’s election —the third straight challenger to knock off an incumbent.

In bigger surprise, District 1 challenger Sharon Hightower defeats incumbent Dianne Bellamy-Small, while District 2 challenger Jamal Fox –who underwent considerable scrutiny amid questions about his employment as an adjunct professor at N.C. A&T —-defeats incumbent Jim Kee.

But –you guessed it –the more things change, the more they stay the same. Former mayor and District 4 challenger Bill Knight’s loss to incumbent Nancy Hoffman still leaves only one true conservative on the council — District 5 incumbent Tony Wilkins, who cruised to an easy victory yesterday.

That said, previous council member Mike Barber’s return via an at-large seat—incumbents Yvonne Johnson and Marikay Abuzuaiter also won — brings much-needed common sense to the council. Still, Barber and Wilkins are only two votes out of nine. Hard to see much change coming, indeed.