Cloverdale Council race sees several upsets
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.