The town of Caledonia has a new mayor. In fact, it has an old one, too.
The unofficial tally indicates Bill Lawrence defeated Susan Bell, 239 to 92.
Lawrence served as Mayor of Caledonia from 2005-2009. Bell, a newcomer to the political arena, served as the co-chairmen of the 2012 Caledonia Day event. Current Mayor George Gerhart decided not to seek reelection.
Supporters of both Lawrence and Bell crowded into Caledonia’s town hall as the votes were hand counted and called out one by one. Results showed 336 people voted in Tuesday’s election, a total that included 28 absentee ballots.
The five open seats for alderman were also determined in Tuesday night’s election. Caledonia alderman seats are all at-large positions, meaning the alderman do not serve specific areas of town. Incumbents Bill Darnell, Steve Honnoll, Quinn Parham, and Brenda Willis all retained their seats while newcomer Mitch Wiggins will be the lone newcomer to the board.
Current alderman Mike Savage decided not to seek reelection.
Darnell, who has served as alderman for 32 years, said he still felt the call to serve the people of Caledonia.
“I promised one thing,” he said. “I’m going to improve the sidewalks.”
The evening was long and drawn out with many spectators complaining of the vote-counting process.
At 9:30, ballot counters took a brief break as they reached vote 181. During the break, Darnell joked that the town would have an electronic ballot box next election.
Election commissioner Ken Myers said the process of hand-counting ballots is a tedious process.
“It just takes a process and we have to go through it. I don’t know how other small towns are doing it but it just takes time,” he said.
As Lawrence’s lead reached a two-to-one margin, Bell stopped marking the votes as they were being called aloud and sat back and listened. She declined to comment.
By 10 p.m., people were beginning to congratulate Lawrence, even though the final votes had not yet been counted.
Lawrence, who will take office July 1, said he is looking forward to serving the town of Caledonia again.
“I’m excited,” he said. “I’m ready to get back to doing what I was doing last term, especially working for the park. I’m also going to explore the possibilities of annexation. I don’t want to scare anyone but we’re going look at the possibilities.
“We’ve got a lot of things to do and I’m looking forward to doing it.”
Lawrence said he also hopes to bring back some civility to town government, which has been noted for in-fighting among the board and mayor’s office.
“It’s going to be a lot different the next four years — a lot different,” he said. “The circus will leave town.”
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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