Changes come for Cloverdale

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Cloverdale will be seeing many changes following Tuesday's election where many of the town council positions were on the ballet. Only two of the current board members will remain, Dennis Padgett, whose term was not yet up for re-election and Donald Sublett, who ran unopposed.

Larry Fidler, Republican, was also re-elected for town council member at-large, leading the race with 171 votes.

A major concern for the town was the race for Town Clerk/Treasurer. Cheryl Galloway won by a landslide against Laurie Monnett. Galloway tallied 147 votes while Monnett tallied just 98. Galloway could not be reach Tuesday evening.

Donald Sublett, Republican, also was re-elected in Ward 2, as he ran unopposed.

One of the biggest changes will be Gary Bennington, Independent, winning the race for Ward 1. Bennington won the race over former council president Cathy Tipton, Independent, by just eight votes, Bennington with 129 and Tipton with 121.

"It was a total surprise," said Bennington. "I'm a fairly newcomer to Cloverdale."

The gracious Bennington already has an idea of what he hopes to accomplish while on the board in hopes of getting the town back on track.

"I want to get the town moving into the 21st century which will be hard because of the economy," explained Bennington. "I want to try and get a place back for us."

When asked about the race Bennington had nothing but good things to say about, not only his opponent, but other members of the council as well.

"It was a good race," Bennington said. "I heard very little negative from anybody. We don't see that much anymore."

Bennington will replace Tipton who has been on the council since July of 2009. Tipton was elected to the fill the vacancy following the death of her father, Glen Vickroy.

Republicans Larry Fidler and Coweta Patton won the two at large seats. Fiddler led the way with 171 votes while Patton tallied 140. William Lyon, Independent, who was not elected tallied only 83.

Patton, who was surprised to hear the news of her win, was excited about her future on the council and ready to get to work.

"I'm very happy about that," Patton said. "I just want to do the very best I can for the town."

It is also Patton's goal to get the town back on track. The downturn of the economy seems to be on everyone's mind and with ever increasing expenses, staying on budget is key.

"I want the town to grow," said Patton. "I want to see everything in this town be everything it can be."