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July 16, 2008

Qualifications complete for municipal elections

By Patrick McCreless

PATRICKM@CULLMANTIMES.COM

Municipal candidates in some Cullman County towns may face fierce competition this year while others can expect little to no resistance.

Incumbent Cullman Mayor Don Green decided not to run for another term, however five others qualified for the position by the Tuesday deadline. Among those who will be on the ballot Aug. 26 include Lou Bradford, current city council member Ernest Hauk, Eric Perry, Marshall Rowe and Max A. Townson.

Of the five current council members, only two — Garlan Grudger, Jr. and Wayne Walker — decided to qualify. Other qualified city candidates include Andy “Coach” Page and Kerry Watson for Council Place 1; Johnny Cook, Jewell Hall and O.B. “Red” Parris for Council Place 3; Larry Entrekin, Allen “Bubba” Green and Clint Hollingsworth for Council Place 4; and Jenny Folsom and C. Blake West for Council Place 5.

In the Cullman City School Board race, incumbents Kaye Donnelly, Brenda Howell and Suzanne Harbin qualified for another term. Other qualified school board members include Kim Addison, Richard Collins and Hope Weeks for Place 1; Mark Freeman for Place 2; Jayne Barnett, Johnny “John” Green and Steven Sides for Place 3; Jason Neal for Place 4; and Bobby Noles for Place 5.

Like Cullman, Hanceville’s current mayor, Katie Whitley, decided not to run for another term. Candidates who did qualify for the position include Connie Martin, Kenneth Nail, Doug Batemon and Bobby Brown.

Unlike Cullman however, all of Hanceville’s current council members will make an effort to hold onto their positions. Other qualified city council candidates include Rhonda Jett and John Whitaker for Place 1; Sally Alexander for Place 2; Kim Brown and Rodell Knight for Place 3; Charles Wilson and Oscar Santiago for Place 4; and James Sawyer and Ed Flaig for Place 5.

In Good Hope, incumbents and new candidates are running for almost every position.

“That’s pretty typical,” said Joann Beeler, who has been the Good Hope city clerk for 16 years. “Sometimes we have not had every place but we’ve had most filled most of the time.”

Incumbent Mayor Gordon Dunagan will face Corey Harbison and current council member David Scott in the August election. Virginia Henry was the only current council member who decided not to qualify. New qualified candidates include John Harris and Alisha Jones for Place 1; Maxie Jones for Place 2; Greg Brown for Place 3; Jerry Bartlett, James Calvert and Donna Hudson for Place 4; and Jimmy Caudle for Place 5.

Fairview will be one of the few if not the only town in the county that will not hold an election since the incumbent council members and mayor are unopposed.

“We didn’t have one (election) four years ago,” said Fairview City Clerk Debbie Shedd. “That’s very typical. Everybody just gets along real well here.”

Holly Pond will almost have an uncontested race with only the mayor position up for grabs.

“The council is pretty much set,” said Holly Pond Mayor Paul Barnett, who decided not to qualify this year.

Barnett said the only new council member will be Lou Thomas. She will replace current council member Donnie Clem, who decided not to qualify this year.

Herman Nail and Carla Hart were the only ones to qualify for mayor. Barnett said Holly Pond elections do not usually lack candidates.

“Sometimes you have interest and sometimes you don’t,” Barnett said.

Citizens of Dodge City will only have new choices for mayor and Council Place 1 on election day. Incumbent Mayor Perry Ray will face off against Jeremy Barber. Jason Burney and Murray Lowe will go head to head for Council Place 1. Incumbents for the other four council positions are unopposed.

Candidate qualifications could not be obtained by deadline for Baileyton, Colony, Garden City, South Vinemont and West Point and will be provided at a later date.

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