Municipal Elections in Thomas County 2005

The incumbent at-large Thomasville City Council member won his bid for re-election to the post in the municipal election Tuesday, November 8. Roy Campbell won over challenger Kevin Glass with a 75 vote margin out of 1,710 votes cast, or 20% of the 8,598 registered voters in Thomasville eligible to vote. Campbell won 4 of the 6 precincts in the city and Glass took 2 precincts and the absentee/advance vote.
--The vote for Campbell was 885, or 52%, to Glass’ vote of 810, or 47%. There were 13 ballots, or 1%, that had votes for Jeremiah Horne. There were 2 write in votes. Horne had been disqualified in October, but not before ballots were printed and computers were programmed. Votes for Horne were not part of the official count towards the election.
--Campbell won the Jerger precinct over Glass, 212 to 108 (a 21% voter turnout); won Douglass 96 to 47 (a 11% voter turnout), won Harper 96 to 71 (a 13% voter turnout); won Resource Center 123 to 58 (a 17% voter turnout). Glass won the Remington YMCA precinct over Campbell, 136 votes to 77 (a 15% voter turnout); won Scott 189 to 120 (a 17% voter turnout); won the absentee/advance vote 201 to 161.
--For the Thomasville City Council District Two that was opened when incumbent Rick Singletary said he would not run again, Max Beverly was the only official candidate on the ballot and he got 906 votes. Tyrone Terrell, who was disqualified but who’s name was still on the ballot, got 96 votes that did not officially count.

--There were several other elections in other towns in Thomas County. The total number of votes cast in the entire county was 2.307, or 23% of the 10,192 eligible voters.
--In Boston, incumbent Mayor Danny Groover won over challenger Tim Gay, 165 to 82; there was a turnout of 37%.
--In Coolidge, there was a turnout of 34% to elect the top three vote-getters in a seven person race for the city council, winning was Dale Aldridge with 46 votes; Tommy Baker with 42 votes; Willie Henderson with 38 votes.
--In Meigs, Harold Cook the incumbent mayor, won over Andrew Wurst, 50 to 45. There was a 28% voter turnout.
--In Pavo, a turnout of 38% elected the top two vote-getters out of six running for city council; the winners were La Tonia Bryant with 68 votes and Dianne Jackson with 76 votes.

--At the end of qualifying for Thomasville municipal elections, there seemed to be be two contested elections set for the Thomasville City Council on November 8, 2005, but that was reduced to one contest as disqualification rulings went against two of the candidates. The incumbents on the Thomasville City School Board that were up for reelection drew no opposition and the single candidate that qualified for the vacant at-large seat on the school board drew no opposition. Three seats were up for re-election for the Thomasville City Council along with four seats on the Thomasville City School Board.  The qualifying period started on September 12 and ended September 16. Candidates qualified at the Thomasville City Clerk’s office in the city’s administration building. There are no particular requirements in the city code for candidates for city office, but state law requires a candidate live in the particular district and jurisdiction of the government body the candidate is running for and that they have been in residence for at least a year..

THOMASVILLE CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS
There were a total of three seats to be filled on the Thomasville City Council and four seats on the Thomasville City School Board. On two of the City Council elections, questions were raised about the residency qualifications of candidates for two of the seats. One of the candidates, Jeremiah Horne, a candidate for the at-large seat on the council, has been disqualified by the city's election supervisor. The other candidate, Tyrone Terrell, a candidate for District 2, Post 2, has also been disqualified  The other incumbent that is up for reelection on the city council, Earl Williams drew no opposition after qualifying ended.

--There is one open seat on the Thomasville City Council. Rick Singletary, one of the council members from District Two, said earlier in the year he would not be a candidate for re-election, retiring at the end of his term December 31, 2005. Singletary is currently the Mayor, elected by a vote of his fellow council members.
--Max Beverly qualified early September 12 for Singletary's District Two seat. Beverly, of 101 Plantation Drive, Thomasville, is Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer of Whispering Pines, Inc., which he said had "investments in real estate and hotels in several places, including here in Thomas County." Max Beverly is the son of Archbold Medical Center's chief administrator, Ken Beverly, and Mary Jo Beverly, the Thomas County Commissioner for District Six. Beverly says he wants to contribute sound business and financial policies to the council. Beverly has said he came to Thomasville to help run Whispering Pines and has been here "about three-and-half years." Max Beverly and his wife, Charnie, have three sons, 5, 3 and 1 years old.
--Friday afternoon, September 16, Tyronne Terrell qualified for the District Two, Post Two seat on the council. Terrell listed his address as 517 Remington Avenue and his occupation as a youth care worker. In a short interview Friday, Terrell said he was from Atlanta and had lived in Thomasville for about 4 years. He said his issues were, "Jobs! Fair and equal treatment. Housing." Terrell, 51, is founder and CEO of Uplift Inc. Community Development in Thomasville. He and his wife, Tulisa, have four children.
--The Thomasville Times-Enterprise reported in their editions for September 30, Tyrone Terrell, had called the newspaper Thursday, September 29, to say he had been “disqualified” because he was not a registered voter in Thomasville. Terrell, 51, told a reporter for the newspaper Thursday afternoon that he had a residence in DeKalb County in the metro-Atlanta area and had been registered to vote there for twenty years. He also said he had lived in Thomas County and Grady County for the last five years. Terrell told the paper that he should have been told of the problems with his qualifications sooner. He also said he has had the electricity in his residence cut off and he has been evicted from his place of business by the owner of the building. Terrell says he is the operator of Uplift, Inc., a community development organization. Terrell told the newspaper that racism was the reason he was “unfairly knocked out of the council race.” Terrell is black.
--The City of Thomasville released a statement Friday afternoon, September 30 that said “Mr. Tyrone Terrell has not been ‘disqualified’ nor has he withdrawn his candidacy for City Council seat District 2, Post 2.” The statement also said City Clerk Kathleen Vinson had scheduled a hearing to determine whether Terrell meets the residency requirement for the seat. State law says the residency requirement for a candidate for any municipal office, except offices of a judicial nature, is twelve months within the municipality. The law also requires that the elections superintendent hold a hearing to determine if a candidate is qualified to seek and hold the public office sought “when it is unclear whether the candidate meets the residency requirement.
--A hearing was held Monday, October 10, to determine if Tyrone Terrell would ultimately be a candidate for the Thomasville City Council in November elections. Terrell appeared before Thomasville City Clerk Kathleen Vinson after she had determined there was enough evidence to question his residency qualifications. Terrell told Vinson that thought he meet the requirements to have lived in Thomasville for a year before applying to be a candidate, despite admitting he had voted in DeKalb County, Georgia, in November, 2004. Terrrell said he thought Vinson had checked his residency as he applied for the election and there was no problem. At the end of the almost hour-long hearing, Vinson told Terrell that she would study the transcript of the hearing and notify him “soon” of her determination of his candidacy. At the hearing, Terrell appeared alone. Also in the hearing was James Whelchel, an attorney from Moultrie acting as counsel for the city, City Manager Steve Sykes and a stenographer. There were four members of the media also present.
--Terrell had filed the paperwork on the last day of qualifying, September 16, to be a candidate for the District 2, Post 2, position on the Thomasville City Council. Max Beverly was the only other qualifier for the Post 2, District 2, seat. The incumbent, Rick Singletary, is retiring.
--In a letter to Terrell on September 30, Vinson notified him of her challenge of his qualifications to be a candidate for election to the council, saying “after consideration of relevant information provided to me as Municipal Elections Superintendent for the City of Thomasville, I have determined that I must challenge your qualifications as a candidate . . “ The City Clerk said the challenge was made because, “Your voting history, as provided to me by the Thomas County Voter Registration office, indicates that you have voted up until the election of November 2, 2004, (which occurred less than a year ago) in Dekalb County. State law states that if you move outside the county in which you are registered to vote over 30 days prior to an election, you may not vote in that county and must register to vote in your new county of residence.” Vinson said if Terrell had been a resident of Thomas County for at least 12 months prior to qualifying for the upcoming election and as stipulated in his candidacy affidavit, “you would not have been eligible to vote as you did in Dekalb County on November 2, 2004.”
--Visnon also said that in attempting to verify the address Terrell listed on his candidacy affidavit, 517 Remington Avenue, “I see that your City utility services started at that address on February 2, 2005. I can find no other documentation that you were a resident of the City of Thomasville, in District 2, for the required 12 month period prior to qualifying.” Vinson reminded Terrell in the latter that she had spoken to him about the issue on September 29, 2005, “you stated that you lived at the same address, but in a different apartment, the number of which you said you could not recall. I can find no documentation to that effect.”
--In the letter, Vinson said Terrell could come to a hearing on the matter on October 10, 2005, to determine if he was “qualified to be a candidate for the upcoming municipal election.” Vinson said Terrell could present evidence to “demonstrate that you meet the residency requirements to be a candidate . . .”
--During the hearing on Monday, Terrell told Vinson that he “didn’t know about the details of the law on qualifying” and that he depended on Vinson to tell him if there were any problems at the time he filed his papers. Terrell said, “My intent to qualify was noble. If there was anything wrong, you would have told me – my intent was to be a candidate.” Terrell said while he was at Vinson’s office, he saw her work her computer and he thought she was checking to see if he was qualified. He said when he left her office, he considered himself a candidate. Terrell said had voted in DeKalb County in November, 2004, but said he did not know that he signed a paper swearing under oath that the DeKalb County address he was voting under and was registered for was a determinate of his legal residency, “I consider myself to have two residences, Thomas County and DeKalb County.” He said he had lived in Thomas County for four years, part of that time living with a nephew. He said he did register to vote in Thomas County on September 15, the day before he filed the paperwork to run for Thomasville City Council, but, “I’m still saying I’ve been a resident of the district [in Thomasville] for over a year.”
--Speaking to the media after the hearing, Terrell said, “If I’d just known those were the things I needed, then I would have qualified correctly.” Terrell said, “I’m a resident in DeKalb County and Thomas County, but here is my primary residence. My intent was to be a candidate.”
--On October 12, 2005, Terrell was sent a letter by Kathleen Vinson, Thomasville City Clerk and Elections Supervisor, dated October 12, saying she had found Terrell had not met the residency requirements to be a candidate for the District 2, Post 2, seat on the city council that had been applied for. With Terrell's disqualification, that leaves the other candidate for District 2, Post 2, Max Beverly, as the only candidate to succeed retiring council member Rick Singletary.
--In the letter the City Clerk sent to Terrell, Vinson said she made the determination to disqualify Terrell "for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to" the fact that during the twelve-month period Terrell claimed to have been a resident of Thomasville, "you were registered to vote in DeKalb County, Georgia, and you voted in the November, 2004, elections in that jurisdiction. You did not register to vote in Thomasville until September 15, 2005." Vinson said when Terrell voted in Dekalb County, he presented identification saying he lived in Dekalb County. In a hearing before Vinson on October 10 to determine Terrell's qualifications, Vinson said Terrell said, "I say I am a resident of DeKalb. I also say I'm a resident of Thomas County." Terrell also said during the hearing, "I think you have more than enough to disqualify me based on the state law." Vinson also said Terrell had been unable to document the location where he lived in Thomasville prior to February, 2005. Vinson also said in her letter to him that Terell still was obligated to file financial and campaign disclosure reports on his candidacy due September 30 and October 3. She said the reports still had to be filed despite his being disqualified as a candidate.

--Kevin Glass, Sr., 42, is running for the at-large seat on the city council against the incumbent and another challenger. Glass, 42, lives at 409 Habersham Road in Thomasville and listed his profession on the qualifying papers as “business owner.” He has also been one of the founders of the Business Action Council in the city. He said in a brief interview Friday that the issues he will bring to the campaign closely track the issues raised by the Business Action Council.
--Jeremiah Horne, 23, of 520 Remington Avenue, made his application to run for the at-large seat on the city council September 16. He listed his profession as a self-employed property manager. In a press interview Friday, September 30, Horne said he had been a resident of Thomasville "for about a year." He said he was born in Tallahassee, but moved to Cairo to live with his parents. Horne said while he lived in Cairo, he attended school in Thomasville from the sixth grade to the twelfth grade. Horne said he has "just finished school at the University of Georgia and moved to Thomasville to manage rental homes owned by my brother and myself. He said he and his brother bought their first home in Thomasville in 2001. Asked what were the issues he wanted to run on, Horne said, "I'm not ready to comment specifically on the issues. I am excited by the opportunity to serve the business and citizens of Thomasville."
--Horne had his residency qualifications challenged by the city. A hearing by the city's elections supervisor, City Clerk Kathleen Vinson, took place Friday, September 30, on the issue, and a decision was given on the issue October 5.
--Horne was told by Vinson that he had not met the residency requirements for the candidacy and was not qualified to run for the position.
--Horne was present at the hearing with an attorney and argued that he did meet the residency requirements. In the letter dated October 5 and delivered to Horne later that morning, Vinson informed Horne of her decision to not qualify him for the election. The letter said there were several reasons for the decision, among them, but not limited to, was the fact that "During the 12 month period you claim to have been a resident of Thomasville, you were registered to vote in Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, and you voted in the November, 2004, elections in that jurisdiction. You did not register to vote in Thomasville until September 15, 2005."
--Other reasons Vinson outlined included, "Before attending college, you resided with you parents in Pelham, Georgia, and were registered to vote in Grady County in 2000 prior to your registration to vote in Athens-Clarke County. Prior to attending college, you did not reside in Thomasville." Vinson also said, "On your income tax returns prior to 2005, you listed your mother's address in Pelham, Georgia, as your residence address." The letter to Horne also said, "During the time period in question, your personal checking account statements were sent to your mother's address in Pelham, Georgia." Vinson also said, "You have never declared a homestead exemption in
Thomas County, even though you own property in Thomas County." Vinson said in the letter, "You have been unable to identify a physical location in Thomasville at which you resided during the time period in question. Although you own numerous rental properties in Thomasville, you have been unable to document the specific address or addresses and specific times at which you resided at such address in Thomasville for the entire rime period of September 2004 - September 2005, which constitutes the period of residency required for candidates for this election."
--Vinson said, "Based on this finding, I have determined that you are not qualified to be a candidate in the November, 2005, elections." Vinson said Horne had the right to appeal her decision to Superior Court.
--Mid-morning September 13, Roy Campbell qualified for the at-large seat on the council that he currently holds. That is the only council seats that all citizens can vote on.

--Thomasville Mayor Rick Singletary announced the first of July, 2005, that he would not be seeking reelection this November for the City Council. Singletary represents District Two, generally the eastern half of the city, and his four year term ends December 31, 2005. In an announcement from the Mayor's office, the Mayor said, "It has been a privilege to serve our community. I appreciate having the opportunity to work with a visionary city council, dedicated city staff and the many committed citizen volunteers of Thomasville." The Mayor also said, "It has been gratifying for me to have been a part of many positive changes and improvements in Thomasville. I will always look back on my experiences knowing that I gave one-hundred percent to the job. This has been a wonderful experience for me and I leave the city in good hands with our council and city management."
--Singletary said the increase in his own business commitments in real estate development was the primary reason for his decision, "It is time for me to devote a little more time to both my family and my work." Singletary's primary work in developments has been in Tallahassee, building apartments, condominiums and single-family homes there. He said he has recently committed to building Thomasville's first Traditional Neighborhood District at Reid Street and Remington Avenue that he is calling "Mitchell Place."
--In an interview, Singletary said he had several goals to be met before he could leave the city council, "The first and most important goal was to make sure the city had a good City Manager to replace Tom Berry. I think we have a very good one in Steve Sykes and I'm very glad to see him doing a good job." Singletary also said other goals he wanted to see accomplished before he left have been met: leaving the city in good financial and organizational shape, building a new airport terminal, building a new clubhouse for the golf course at County Oaks, moving the state Labor Department offices into the old Bank of America building downtown and seeing Flowers Foods move into the old Jefferson Place building on Jefferson Street.

--The other city council seat up for election is currently held by Earl Williams who represents a District One; he qualified the morning of September 14, and at the end of the qualifying period had drawn no opposition. District One is a predominately black district, which is geographically in the western half of the city. District Two is a district that is predominately white and is in the eastern half of the city.

--A group of businessmen have been meeting since the first of the summer of 2005 discussing their reaction to the City of Thomasville's efforts to enforce planning and zoning regulations that they feel are detrimental to their businesses. They formally organized as the Business Action Council (BAC). The organization has had discussions about their membership as individuals supporting candidates for the city council, but since the group is a non-profit, it cannot formally support a candidate for political office. Until Friday, when Kevin Glass qualified for city council, there were no members of the BAC that said they would be a candidate or that said they had persuaded someone to run.
--The BAC has been able to come to a consensus on the issues that they say they want to raise in an election. In a statement approved by the group, the group said it seeks to promote better relations between the business community, local governments and other groups. Saying they promote preservation and the appearance of the community, the group also said it wants to see continued sound economic growth. The groups says it strongly supports existing merchants and business owners and wanted to make sure they were respected for their strengths and what they brought to the community. Saying the group wanted to recruit and support candidates that support their views, the statement said there were three short-term ways to improve the community: improve the appearance and functionality of the State Farmer’s Market by its redevelopment which would include providing for the relocation of produce related wholesale businesses to existing or new industrial parks; the establishment of a program to relocate electric and cable utilities underground; and include mature long-leaf pine trees in the city’s tree protection ordinance. The statement also says there are other areas that needed to be included in the city’s marketing and financial assistance program for merchants; among them the Farmer’s Market area of Smith Avenue, the boat shop area of East Jackson Street and the Georgia Crate area of West Jackson Street as well as other areas. The statement said the proposed program expansion would result in “One Thomasville/One Thomas County” and would be “inclusive rather than exclusive.” The statement also said that future issues that were being considered for support by the BAC were term limits for local government offices and the consolidation of city and county governments. The BAC has a web site that has more details about the organization: <www.bacviews.org>.

--The last week before the election on November 8, Roy Campbell and Kevin Glass sat down for separate interviews. See a report of those interviews here.

THOMASVILLE CITY SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS
There are four seats up for election on the Thomasville City School Board at the same time as the city council. The school board has representatives from districts that have the same lines as those for the city council. Two of the seats are for District Two, one for District One. There is a special election at the same time as the other elections to fill the unexpired term of the at-large member of the school board, Jess Booth, who resigned when he moved out of the city. The school board seats up for a regularly scheduled re-election are the two District Two seats currently held by Darrell Allen and Rick Ivey, and a District One seat currently held by Donnell Carley. Ivey and Carley qualified for their seats early September 12. Allen qualified mid-afternoon September 12. Jimmy Woodward, a top executive at Flowers Foods, qualified for the at-large seat early September 12. There were no other qualifiers for those positions and as a result, all are on the new school board.
--The Thomasville City School Board of Education voted to appoint Jimmy Woodward as its seventh member during a meeting Tuesday, October 25. Woodward was sworn in at the meeting of the school board, November 15.              --Woodward, 44, announced his candidacy for the at-large seat currently vacant on the board in April when the Governor signed state legislation allowing for the special election. Woodward said he has had a long-time interest in advocating for public schools, has been an active volunteer in the Thomasville school system and wants "to help make a great system even better." Woodward said, "My wife and I have been involved as volunteers within the system for many years, and we have two children who have been served extremely well. This is another way for me to stay involved." Woodward has two sons, Blake, a 15-year-old freshman at Thomasville High, and Brooks, a 13-year-old seventh grader at MacIntyre Park. is currently Senior Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer for Flowers Foods, Inc. He has been with the Flowers organization in Thomasville for 20 years. Woodward said his background as a Certified Public Accountant would be a benefit to the Board, "I think I could certainly help the system and lend some expertise in financial matters at budget time."

--On the announcement that Governor Sonny Perdue had signed legislation to change the way vacancies are filled on the Thomasville City Board of Education, Woodward, 44, announced his candidacy for the at-large seat currently vacant on the board. Woodward said Tuesday, April 19, that he will seek election to the seat in the special election called for by the Thomasville City Council. Woodward said he has had a long-time interest in advocating for public schools, has been an active volunteer in the Thomasville school system and wants "to help make a great system even better." Woodward said, "My wife and I have been involved as volunteers within the system for many years, and we have two children who have been served extremely well. This is another way for me to stay involved."  The Woodwards are active members at First Baptist Church of Thomasville, and he is a past president of the Thomasville Kiwanis Club.
--Woodward and his wife, Penny, have served as co-presidents of the Jerger Elementary School PTO and as leaders of the MacIntyre Park Middle School PTSO. He is currently an active member of the Thomasville High School Band Boosters. Woodward is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in accounting.

--Another citizen who has expressed in the past an interest in replacing Booth on the board, Ira Flowers, is apparently not considering running, but has not made a formal declaration of his intentions. Flowers, the Executive Director at the Douglass Alumni Association, had run in the election in 2003 to the school board that was eventually won by Jess Booth, coming in second. Several members of the community had urged the school board to appoint Flowers to the seat that Booth had vacated, but there was never a majority of the remaining six members of the board that could agree on a appointment.

--Governor Sonny Perdue signed the local legislation to allow the special election on Friday, April 15. The bill, SB 309, amended the City of Thomasville charter to provide for a special election if a school board vacancy occurs more than 90 days before the term expires, bringing the provision in the city's charter in line with Georgia law. Previously, the charter called for all vacancies to be filled by a majority vote of the Board. State law allows for local variances to supercede state law in this matter.
--The at-large seat on the school board has been vacant since August 2004 when Jessie Booth resigned the post after moving out of Thomasville. Booth had just been re-elected to the board in November, 2003. The school board has been operating with six of seven possible members since Booth left but there has reportedly been no time when more than three members could form a majority and agree on a new member. The charter at that time called for the board to appoint a new member, but did not set a deadline for action. The rest of the school board consists of three seats representing District One, generally the western part of the city, and District 1 and District Two, generally the eastern part of the city.
 

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