DOVER – The construction site near the town train station isn’t Mayor James Dodd’s campaign headquarters, but it sure could be. As he seeks reelection next Tuesday, the rising Meridia residential and retail complex symbolizes what Dodd wants voters to know – the town is moving forward.

This isn’t your normal municipal election. Dodd calls himself a Democrat, (others disagree) but he seeks reelection as an independent. That’s always a tough task, given the fact you have no guaranteed party base from which to draw voters.

His main opponent is Carolyn Blackman, who sits on the governing body, or in Dover, the board of aldermen. Both Dodd and Blackman, who is the official Democratic candidate, are running aldermen slates of their own.

There is genuine acrimony here.

Blackman supporters are quick to recount how the mayor cursed at their candidate during the run-up to last year’s election.

Town meetings often are punctuated by arguments, insults coming from all directions and even ejections. Dodd himself helped ratchet up the political fervor in town last year when he created a special web page to lambaste his opponents, Blackman included.

That website hasn’t been updated as of late, but the mayor’s Facebook page conveys quite a different message.

Here is the kindly mayor offering Trick or Treat safety tips such as “do not eat any candy until an adult checks it,” and “walk, don’t run.”  Elsewhere, the mayor is pictured cutting ribbons for a Habitat for Humanity home and visiting in this Latino community with the governor of Quindio, Colombia.

Of more substance. Dodd also touts his redevelopment accomplishments. That includes the aforementioned Meridia project plus the redevelopment of an old mill, two new hotels and a new FedEx facility. On the road ahead, the mayor talks about more public transportation for seniors, a team to lure businesses to town, more veterans’ housing and expanded recreation. His slogan is Dover For All, or Dover Para Todos.

The Blackman team, which is running under the banner, Dover First, boasts of numerous endorsements, all of which speak to the fact the slate is the one officially endorsed by the Democratic party.

And that in itself has become an issue. Dodd’s Facebook page refers to him as Dover’s Democratic mayor. That is correct, given the fact the mayor says he remains a registered Democrat.

But that designation has ruffled, among others, John Currie, the chair of the state Democratic Party.

In a recent release, Currie said Blackman and her team are the only real Democrats in the race and that Dodd calling himself a Democrat is a “farce meant to deceive the people of Dover.”

And then there’s Sen. Dick Codey. His district doesn’t include Dover, but Codey, simply stated, seems out to get Dodd.

The onetime governor called Dodd an “embarrassment” and a man whose use of “slurs, profanity and sexist language … is beyond the pale.”

The bad blood here runs deep and may have begun when Codey said he was visiting a veterans’ home in Dover and Dodd called the police. Asked about that last month, the mayor said there are two sides to that story, but he has not yet provided his.

Walking around town, one sees many businesses – and even vehicles with a car service – sporting Dodd campaign signs. You naturally have to take this with the proverbial grain of salt.. The old cliche tells us that “signs don’t vote.” It’s also common for businesses to display placards backing an incumbent mayor in a belief not doing so could earn the wrath of town hall. Even if false, the perception is real.

Of course, some of these shops may get trick-or-treaters, so the mayor’s Halloween tips may come in handy.