Challengers unseat four incumbents

Andy McDonald
Special to the Register

BEREA November 05, 2008 08:15 am

— Four new faces will be seen on the eight-member Berea City Council as challengers unseated four long-time incumbents in Tuesday’s election.
When the votes were officially tallied late Tuesday, Billy Wagers, Troy VanWinkle, Jerry Little and Ronnie Terrill Sr. had displaced Berea City Council members Chester Powell, Howard Baker, Denise Hagan and Truman Fields.
Incumbent Greg Lakes captured the highest number of votes for the second Berea City Council election in row, garnering 2,746 votes. Challenger Billy Wagers followed with 2,553 votes, while Troy VanWinkle and Jerry Little finished in the top four with 2,509 and 2,242 votes, respectively.
Eleven-year incumbent Virgil Burnside was next with 2,130 votes, followed by Ronnie Terrill Sr. with 2,080, Violet Farmer, 2,063 and Glenn Jennings, 1,941.
Four incumbents failed to make the cut for re-election, including 10-year incumbent Chester Powell, who lost his seat despite receiving 1,860 votes, followed by incumbents Howard Baker, who finished with 1,752 votes, and Denise Hagan, who garnered 1,706.
Robert “Peanuts” Johnson was next with 1,669 votes, followed by 10-year incumbent Truman Fields, who had 1,616 votes. In his losing bid for re-election, Fields ran on the promise of opposing the sale of alcohol by the drink in Berea, though an alcohol initiative must be passed by referendum, not by council action.
Glenn David Johnson, who ran an unsuccessful bid for Madison County clerk in 2006, was next with 1,601, while J. Donald Graham had 1,462 votes and Hubert Chasteen Jr. rounded out the voting with 1,121.
Berea City Council incumbents were perhaps facing a stiff re-election challenge because of discontent about an increase in property taxes, a 3 percent restaurant tax and an insurance premium tax.
City officials frequently reminded residents that Berea has one of the lowest tax rates in Kentucky, but discontent among some citizens may have been compounded by the fact the tax adjustments were all introduced in a single city council term.
In addition, the council came under fire just recently for moving forward with a plan to adjust municipal utility rates, though city officials maintained that utility rates needed to be adjusted in order to maintain adequate utilities infrastructure.
In the past two years, the council also has tackled some ambitious capital improvement projects during the most recent city council term, including the purchase of the Moore Farm for the new industrial park, expansion of the recreation park, completion of the first phase of the Berea Bypass, as well as making major purchases, such as a new office building in Old Town.
Challengers, meanwhile, ran on a platform of cutting back on major property purchases, as well as cutting back on general budget spending.
Tuesday night, Violet Farmer said she was disappointed that some of her fellow council members were retired by voters, though she said she expects the new council to work well together.
“I am honored to have been entrusted with a seat on the council again,” Farmer said. “I love this town and I do have a vision for the future. There are things this council has done that I would like to see continue.”