WEST POINT — One new face entered the city’s elections in the week leading up to Friday’s qualifying deadline, while two more dropped out of the race. These round out nine qualifiers total running in city races, and only two races are contested.
Gregory Posley, 59, a Democrat and West Point native, filed paperwork Tuesday to run for the Ward 2 selectman seat. Posley graduated from West Point High School before serving in the U.S. Army for 10 years. His last job was working at a cement plant until a disability prevented him from working anymore, he said.
Posley said he decided to run as a way to serve the community, and he hopes to be available to the public 24 hours a day if he is elected to the seat, as the kind of official who can “drive through your neighborhood” and know the people living in his ward.
“Right now, it’s sort of a trend. We have, to put it politely, ‘part-time politicians,’” Posley told The Dispatch. “We see them at election time. They come out right before elections. They come around, knock on your door, and they ask you what you need. And you get nothing back from them. I’m getting a lot of complaints from people in my area. We call our selectmen, they don’t call us back. So, I figure we need better service and we need to be more focused on what the town and the community wants and would benefit from the most.”
If elected, Posley said he hopes to encourage a crack down on crime, along with youth programs in the city. Posley said he also hopes to encourage more conservative spending in city government, along with prioritizing street repairs and utility services distributed equally to all areas of the city, including those more recently annexed than others.
“I want the race to be competitive,” Posley said. “I want the sitting selectmen to know the community is concerned, and that we want to enter the race because… we want to see you all. We want you to be more vocal.”
Posley faces incumbent Ward 2 Selectman William Binder.
Party primaries are April 1 and the general election is June 3.
Other races finalized
While Doris Petty Cooperwood, a Democrat, submitted her qualifying paperwork to join the race for mayor on Tuesday, she withdrew from the race Friday morning. That leaves incumbent Mayor Rod Bobo, a Democrat, unopposed.
In Ward 1, incumbent Leta Turner is running against former selectwoman Linda Hannah and newcomer Terell Harris. All three are Democrats.
In Wards 3 and 4, incumbents Ken Poole and Keith McBrayer, respectively, will be returning to their seats unopposed. Both are Democrats.
Incumbent Ward 5 Selectman Cole Bryan, a Democrat, is also unopposed, after contestant Myron Crawford, also a Democrat, dropped out of the race on Thursday.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
