Oak Ridge Today

Twenty-nine qualify to run for 16 seats on Anderson County Commission

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Twenty-nine candidates have qualified to run for 16 seats on the Anderson County Commission in the county general election in August.

There are also three people running for the Tennessee House of Representatives in District 33, a new appointed Oak Ridge school board member running in a special election in August, and a Democratic challenger to Tennessee Senator Randy McNally, an Oak Ridge resident who is also lieutenant governor.

The deadline to qualify to run in the August 2 election, which will also feature contested elections for Anderson County sheriff and trustee, was noon Thursday.

Anderson County has eight County Commission districts, and there are two commissioners per district. The offices are non-partisan, meaning that, unlike some other county offices, they are not part of the Democratic and Republican primary elections on May 1. [Read more…]

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…]

Forum for Anderson County Charter Commission candidates on Thursday

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A Thursday forum will feature candidates for Charter Commission in five districts in Anderson County.

The forum starts at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, October 20, in the “Big Room” at Clinton Community Center, which is at 101 Hicks Street in Clinton, a press release said. The forum is hosted by AndersonCharter.com.

There are 19 people running for eight seats on the Anderson County Charter Commission. Only one person from each County Commission district will be elected to the Charter Commission.

Organizers of the charter effort hope to give residents the ability to have more input and involvement in their local government, the press release said. [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…]