Oak Ridge Today

Seven of eight term-limit candidates defeated in Charter Commission race

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Bob Smallridge

Pictured above is Bob Smallridge, a District 8 candidate who received the most votes of any candidate for Anderson County Charter Commission. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Steve Emert

Pictured above is Steve Emert, a District 3 candidate who received the second-highest number of votes in the Anderson County Charter Commission election.

Seven of the eight candidates who said they will support term limits if elected to a new charter commission lost in the Tuesday election, according to unofficial election results posted by the Anderson County Election Commission.

In District 1 (Claxton, Bull Run), V.L. Stonecipher, a former director of Anderson County Schools, defeated Floyd Grisham, the term-limit candidate, by 1,500 votes to 1,292. A third candidate, Tim Risden, had 412 votes.

In District 2 (Clinton), Anderson County Commissioner Mark Alderson beat Jim Cooper, the term-limit candidate, 1,954 to 1,340.

In District 3 (Andersonville, Norris), Steve Emert, the Anderson County Commission chair, earned about 300 votes more than former commissioner Dusty Irwin, the term-limit candidate. Emert had 2,157 votes to Irwin’s 1,846.

In District 4 (Briceville, Rocky Top), Tim Isbel, an Anderson County commissioner, defeated Dennis Hashbarger, the term-limit candidate, 1,567 to 1,024. [Read more…]

Term-limit candidates trail in early voting

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Bob Smallridge

Bob Smallridge

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 a.m.

Seven of the eight candidates who said they will support term limits if elected to a new charter commission are behind in early voting, according to unofficial results posted on the Anderson County Election Commission website on Tuesday evening.

In District 1 (Claxton, Bull Run), Floyd Grisham, the term-limit candidate, trails V.L. Stonecipher by 1,019 early votes to 831. A third candidate, Tim Risden, had 286 early votes.

In District 2 (Clinton), Jim Cooper, the term-limit candidate, is behind Mark Alderson, an Anderson County commission 1,430 to 922.

In District 3 (Andersonville, Norris), Steve Emert, the Anderson County Commission chair, leads former commissioner Dusty Irwin, the term-limit candidate, 1,541 to 1,323.

In District 4 (Rocky Top), Tim Isbel, an Anderson County commissioner, is ahead of Dennis Hashbarger, the term-limit candidate, 773 to 620. [Read more…]

Letter: Anderson Charter endorses candidates based on survey responses

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Organizers of the Anderson County Charter movement have announced their endorsement of candidates who will support term limits, as well as announcing the formation of their Political Action Committee “Anderson Charter.”

To help Anderson County voters make informed decisions in the upcoming November 8 election, AndersonCharter.com sent the 19 Charter Commission candidates a questionnaire soliciting their views on a charter form of local government for Anderson County.

Only nine candidates returned the questionnaire, eight of which agreed or strongly agreed to the formation of a charter and to support term limits for the members of County Commission and the Office of Mayor. Concerning these issues, candidate Marjorie Lloyd responded “Don’t Know.” Verified candidates in support of term limits, as well as candidates supporting citizen speech and transparency in government are: [Read more…]

In first run for office, Farmer seeks seat on Charter Commission

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Howard Farmer

Howard Farmer

Howard Farmer, a longtime educator and farmer, is seeking one of eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission. It’s Farmer’s first run for public office, a press release said.

Farmer wants to represent District 5, which includes the Dutch Valley, Clinton High School, Marlow, and Norwood precincts.

“I’ve voted my entire adult life, but this is the first time I’ve stepped forward to run for an office,” Farmer said. “I’m running because it is so important that we exact term limits. We have a lot of great people in Anderson County, but we’re not tapping into their talent and potential because of career politicians. We need term limits so we can benefit from new and fresh ideas.” [Read more…]

Seventeen pick up petitions for seats on Charter Commission

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Information from WYSH Radio

As of Thursday morning, 17 people had picked up qualifying petitions to run for seats on an Anderson County Charter Commission in November.

The Charter Commission will be comprised of one person from each of the eight Anderson County Commission districts, and it will be responsible for studying possible changes to the county government. Their recommendations would then be placed in front of county voters to decide in a countywide referendum that would most likely appear on a ballot in 2018. Once elected and sworn in, the Commission would have nine months to complete its work.

Some of the possible changes that could be made include slicing the number of county commissioners from 16 to nine members, establishing term limits for commissioners and the county mayor, and making the county law director position an elected office. [Read more…]