Wednesday, Nov. 04, 2009

Georgetown gets first new mayor in 24 years

GEORGETOWN -- Attorney Jack Scoville beat out four other candidates to win Georgetown's mayor's seat, according to unofficial results Tuesday night.

Scoville, a Democrat, is the first new mayor the town has had in more than two dozen years.

"We want to get the ball rolling and moving ahead. We want to get business picked up," said Scoville, 58. "We want an excitement about being in Georgetown."

He faced Republican Marty Tennant, petition candidates Bob Sizemore and Kizzie Lawson and write-in candidate Ron Charlton for the city's top elected job.

Scoville will grapple with the implications of the continued idling of the Georgetown steel mill, which has left more than 200 people temporarily laid off and cut revenue to the city's water and sewer department; and the revitalization of the historic downtown.

On the council, incumbents Paige Sawyer, a Republican and Brendon Barber, a Democrat, kept their seats. Floral shop owner Jeanette Ard will also join the council.

"I'm looking forward to working with the incumbents," Ard, 64, said. " I hope I can make the road easier for business. We know what not to do. Maybe now we can do it right."

Ard has faced the city before on several business-related issues, including fighting fines for not installing a handicapped accessible bathroom on her renovated property where she added an ice cream shop. The city approved Ard's plans and later tried to get her to install the bathrooms. Ard sued and the case was settled.

Other candidates for the council were Republicans James Moody, 60, who owns Moodys' Mechanical; and Bruce Yablin, a retiree and Democrat Bonds, 33, who manages property he owns.

Lawson, 32, is a program assistant for the Father-to-Father Project. Sizemore, 65, also ran as a petition candidate. He ran earlier this year in the primaries as a petition candidate for City Council. Sizemore owns Research and Development Inc., a telecommunications consulting company. Charlton is the owner of Southern Cable Communications. James "Marty" Tennant, 54, is a technology consultant and owns the PC Doctor. Charlton garnered 358 votes.

The election's board will meet Thursday at 10 a.m. to certify the results. All the winners will be sworn in at the next council meeting in January.