14 qualify for upcoming municipal elections in Decatur County
Published 8:38 pm Friday, September 4, 2015
The only municipal election in Decatur County scheduled for Nov. 3 is the Bainbridge City Council seat in which long time Councilman Luther Conyers is vacating.
At the end of qualifying on Friday, Kregg Close, Frank Grayson Flowers and Olive Wedderburn will be on the ballot to fill the vacancy of Conyers, who has been on the city council for more than 30 years.
“I would wish those people aspiring to be elected officials the very best,” Conyers said. “I have given so many years of my good life to the service of Bainbridge and Decatur County, and I think it is time someone else take the reigns.”
Conyers represented District A, which is a multi-member district that is mainly in the northern portion of Bainbridge. Councilman Joe Sweet is the other member of District A, which is also called Ward A.
Flowers said he was excited for a chance to run.
“I have always been involved in some aspect of local politics, and this is a chance to get involved at the local level,” Flowers said.
Close, 36, is a mortician; Flowers, 52, is an optometrist; and Wedderburn, 53, is an executive director of a non-profit organization.
City Council members Roslyn Palmer and Don Whaley both qualified without opposition. They represent District B, the other multi-member district that covers the southern portion of Bainbridge. Phil Long, who was not up for election this year, is the third member of District B.
In the other municipalities, new faces will be on their councils and none of those cities will have to hold an election this year.
Attapulgus Mayor Johnny Medley qualified without opposition.
The City of Attapulgus City Council will have some new faces on its board as well as the Town of Brinson and City of Climax.
Returning Attapulgus Councilman Lamar Maxwell will be joined by newcomers John David “Jack” Hale II and George Robert Ward, who both qualified without opposition.
Because Attapulgus selects four of its council members at one time, a fourth member of the city council will have to be appointed by the council members in January, Attapulgus City Clerk Renee Boyett said is what the city’s charter states.
Attapulgus City Council members Janice Baty, Doris Gay and Bill Fleming did not seek re-election.
For the Town of Brinson, Mayor James Earp and incumbent Council member Joe. H. Belvin qualified without any opposition. H.L. “Monty” Bullock, a paramedic, qualified for the Brinson Town Council Post 1, which was held by Councilman Jesse Powell, who choice not to seek re-election.
The City of Climax incumbent Councilwoman Vanessa Martin qualified to return, and Bainbridge High School teacher Joseph Melvin Kelly, a newcomer, qualified without opposition. Kelly will replace Councilman Bob Jones, who did not seek re-election.
The election is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Polls for the Bainbridge District A precincts will open from 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Advance voting begins on Monday, Oct. 12. Advance voting may include in-person early voting or by mail, in which a registered voter must request an absentee ballot be mailed.
The deadline to register to vote or to change a registered voter’s address is Oct. 5.