Wednesday, September 1, 2010
WESTSIDE — With campaign signs popping up everywhere, it's no secret that the November election is fast approaching. But instead of being a shoo-in election with few contested seats, this year's municipal election will have some hotly contended races.
In the Westside Eagle Observer's coverage area, only in Sulphur Springs is the mayor's race uncontested, with incumbent mayor Bobby Simon running for another term. In Decatur,incumbent mayor Bill Montgomery faces a challenge from Charles Linam. In Springtown, appointed mayor Paul Lemke is being challenged by Clinton “Don” Glenn. In Highfill, Mayor Chris Holland will have two opponents on the ballot: current recorder/treasuere Stacy Digby and Jack Minyard. Gentry mayor Wes Hogue is being challenged by two current aldermen, Jason Barrett and Kevin Johnston, and by a former opponent in a previous election, Roy Beeler. With Gravette Mayor Bill Howard not seeking re-election to the mayor's post but running unopposed for the Ward 3 Position 1 Alderman's position, four have stepped up to the plate seeking the mayor's job: Deana Demming, Ken Foxx, Mike von Ree and Byron Warren.
Gentry city clerk Jo Ellen Martin faced few challengers when the city clerk's position was separate from her post as the city's financial officer, but now that the post is combined, four are running against her: Johnetta Bilby, Cindy Edwards, Kristin Ferguson, Karen Land and Tamela Weeks.
Tina Digby and Stacie Williamson are running for the recorder/treasurer position currently held by Stacy Digby in the town of Highfill.
A good number of the alderman posts also have multiple candidates. In Gentry, the race for the Ward 1 Position 2 post is likely to be a close one between incombent James Furgason and Jim Kooistra, who narrowly defeated Furgason for the post back in 2006. Furgason won back the seat in 2008 when Kooistra decided not to run, but now both are in the running again, with a four-year term at stake this time around. In Highfill, Sandy Evans also faces opposition from former councilwoman Misty Insco.
All in all, voters will have lots of options on the November ballot and some tough choices to make. And with so many candidates in the running for some offices, the likelihood of a few runoff elections appears high as well.
The following is a list of candidates who filed for municipal offices by the Aug. 24 deadline. The listing was taken from the Benton County Clerk's Web page.
Dodie Evans and Janelle Jessen contributed to this article.
Municipal filings
Decatur
Mayor - Charles Linam and Bill Montgomery (I)
Aldermen
Ward 1 Position 1 - Sandra Duncan (I)
Ward 1 Position 2 - Gina Holt
Ward 2 Position 1 - James Jessen (I)
Ward 2 Position 2 - Edward Lapham III (I)
Ward 3 Position 1 - Dona Jennings and David Sutton (I)
Ward 3 Position 2 - Raegena Davis (I) and Nan McClain
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Gentry
Mayor - Jason Barrett, Roy Beeler, Kevin Johnston and Wes Hogue (I)
City Clerk - Johnetta Bilby, Cindy Edwards, Kristin Ferguson, Karen Land, Jo Ellen Martin (I) and Tamela Weeks.
Alderman
Ward 1 Position 2 - James Furgason (I) and Jim Kooistra
Ward 2 Position 2 - Rob Holland, Christi Trammell and Warren “Bud” Norman
Ward 3 Position 2 - Todd Wagner
Ward 4 Position 2 - Katrina Cryer and Janie Parks (I)
City Attorney - Jay Williams (I)
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Gravette
Mayor - Deana Demming, Ken Foxx, Mike von Ree and Byron Warren
Aldermen
Ward 1 Position 1 - Joseph Carter and Jimmy Denver
Ward 1 Position 2 - Chia Greer, David Shields and Melissa Smith
Ward 2 Position 1 - John Rambadt and Forrest White (I)
Ward 2 Position 2 - Larry Stidham
Ward 3 Position 1 - Bill Howard
Ward 3 Position 2 - Tina Crose
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Highfill
Mayor - Chris Holland (I), Jack Minyard and Stacy Digby
Alderman
Position 1 - Toby Lester (I)
Position 2 - Richard Boles (I) and Ryan Evans
Position 3 - Paula Pautsky and Keven Varner (I)
Position 4 - Adam Folger and Michelle Rieff
Position 5 - Sandy Evans (I) and Misty Insco
Recorder/Treasurer - Tina Digby and Stacie Williamson
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Springtown
Mayor - Clinton “Don” Glenn and Paul Lemke (I)
Aldermen
Position 1 - Don Earley (I)
Position 2 - Marvin Riley (I)
Position 3 - Amanda Richardson (I)
Position 4 - Kay Taylor (I)
Position 5 - Lisa Lawrence (I)
Recorder/Treasurer - Janet P. Cox (I)
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Sulphur Springs
Mayor - Bobby Simon (I)
Alderman
Ward 1 Position 1 - Earlynda Hartley
Ward 1 Position 2 - Martha Kreder (I)
Ward 2 Position 1 - Deb Murphy
Ward 2 Position 2 - Bill Medley and William Hopkens (I)
Ward 3 Position 1 - Lynnette Struble (I)
Ward 3 Position 2 - Sherman Buchley (I)
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Correction: In last week's issue of the Eagle Observer, the name of Johnetta Bilby was accidentally omitted from the listing of candidates who filed for the city clerk's position in Gentry. She filed for the office on Aug. 13, according to the county clerk's Web site.
Others also filed for offices after our press deadline on Monday and were not included in the listing last week but are included in the listing above.
News, Pages 1 on 09/01/2010