Patrick says ‘no’ to other elected offices, Iwanski to chairmanship

After losing by a wide margin in the Aug. 2 election, Anderson County Commissioner Buzz Patrick on Monday said he has no plans to run for any other elected office.

And the man who beat him, Anderson County Interim Mayor Myron Iwanski, said he is not interested in becoming Anderson County Commission chairman, a position he has held before.

Iwanski was seeking to return to his old commission seat in the Aug. 2 special election. He left it when the commission appointed him as interim mayor in January 2011.

Patrick, who is also a member of the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, was later appointed to assume Iwanski’s seat on commission until this month’s election.

“Other than being a little disappointed that I was unable to make it a little more competitive, I am okay with the results,” Patrick said in a Monday e-mail.

His term ends Aug. 31.

Iwanski said he was pleased that he got a “solid vote of support” in the non-partisan election. He beat Patrick, a business executive, by a 72 percent to 28 percent margin, according to unofficial results.

Both men were seeking to serve as one of two commissioners in District 8 on Anderson County Commission. That district includes Woodland, Emory Valley, and Hendrix Creek in Oak Ridge.

“Buzz spent a lot more money on the campaign that I did, so I knew I had to take the campaign seriously,” Iwanski said. “As in previous elections, I spent a lot of time talking to folks.”

He said most voters knew his record as mayor and county commissioner, and he campaigned on that.

The county has made major progress in accomplishing the goals he set out as mayor, Iwanski said, but more needs to be done when he returns to commission on Sept. 1.

Terry Frank will become Anderson County mayor that day. The county’s first female mayor, she will serve for two years, filling the rest of the unexpired term of former Anderson County Mayor Rex Lynch, who resigned in January 2011 after he was indicted for alleged sales tax fraud.

Iwanski said top priorities include “implementing the alternative-to-jail program, moving the convenience center, implementing the retail recruitment and industrial land purchase programs, and continuing to build up the fund balance by not using one-time money for recurring expenses.”

Meanwhile, Chuck Fritts, the current Anderson County Commission chairman, has announced he would like to serve another term as chair. Fritts has served on commission since 2002, and he is one of two commissioners in District 1, which includes Claxton and Bull Run.