Cloverdale Council race sees several upsets

Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Cloverdale Town Council candidate Don Sublett (right) and town resident John Setty stand together at the courthouse Tuesday night, watching results come in.

Cloverdale Town Council President Don Sublett defeated board member and rival John Davis by a three-to-one margin in Tuesday's election as voters rebuked the backers of the now-disbanded town fire department.

Clerk-Treasurer Patti Truax barely held onto her job, defeating her opponent Cathleen Monaco by just seven votes.

Terry Puffer and Stephen Caulkins won the two at-large seats. Puffer had 219 votes and Caulkins 171. The next two highest tallies went to Charlie Schenk, with 134, and Phyllis Gaddis, with 100.

Current member Glen Vickroy defeated Jerry Acrea and Daniel Inlow. He received 241 votes to Acrea's 84 and Inlow's 78.

About 400 voters turned out to the polls Tuesday -- a third of people eligible to vote.

Sublett chalked up his wide margin of victory to his support of the Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Department.

"People wanted the (township) fire department back and it showed in the vote," he said at the courthouse shortly after the last Cloverdale votes were tallied.

In 2005, the board voted to start a town fire department, instead of paying the rising cost of contracting the services of the township fire department. After much controversy, the town re-contracted with the township for fire protection.

Three lawsuits have been filed as a result of the brief switch, two by Davis and council member Judy Whitaker. Whitaker and Davis have both fought the return of the township fire department.

Caulkins, who is a member of the Cloverdale Township fire department, said he believed he won because he is new to the political scene in town.

"I think people in Cloverdale wanted a change and I'm a new person and they saw that," he said.

Caulkins said his first priority when he takes office in January is to settle the lawsuits against the town.

There are currently four pending cases -- two involving issues with the fire department.

Sublett said he's made a list of 17 issues that need to be resolved and he plans to begin working with the new board right away to address them. Puffer said his top concern is to sooth the heightened tensions and work out the personal disagreements that have plagued the board.

Schenk said his unsuccessful run for office will have been worth it if the board is able to come together and settle its disagreements as a result of the election. A call to Davis' home Tuesday night, requesting comment, was not returned.

Comments
View 5 comments
Note: The nature of the Internet makes it impractical for our staff to review every comment. Please note that those who post comments on this website may do so using a screen name, which may or may not reflect a website user's actual name. Readers should be careful not to assign comments to real people who may have names similar to screen names. Refrain from obscenity in your comments, and to keep discussions civil, don't say anything in a way your grandmother would be ashamed to read.
  • If you live in Cloverdale, and were one of the two-thirds that didn't vote today, don't complain later if you don't like the way the new board "runs things".

    -- Posted by cll on Wed, Nov 7, 2007, at 1:55 AM
  • I wanted to write in my son's 3rd grade class for town council. I think they are probably more mature.

    -- Posted by your mom on Wed, Nov 7, 2007, at 9:47 AM
  • I am very pleased to see that Mr. Caulkins got in. I believe that he will have a lot of positive things to bring to Cloverdale!

    He is a very bright young man!

    -- Posted by Lady Bug on Wed, Nov 7, 2007, at 4:32 PM
  • It is now time for Cloverdale to shine. Finally a new board that will be able to get along and make rational decisions. I bet there will be a drop in the lawsuit rate also. Now, "new members"...... Do something with the police coverage in your town.

    -- Posted by concerned3 on Wed, Nov 7, 2007, at 6:55 PM
  • As a former longtime resident of Cloverdale,current property owner, and someone who still has a deep love for the community, and I am so pleased Stephen on the Town Council. He is a young man of integrity and principle.I am confident he will do his absolute best to represent the citzens of Cloverdale. Pam Johnson Roberts

    -- Posted by Pam Roberts on Thu, Nov 8, 2007, at 7:48 PM
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: