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Smith wins Shannon Hills mayor race |
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Wednesday, 04 November 2009 |
James C. Smith was elected mayor of Shannon Hills late Tuesday with 55 percent of votes.
Smith, 47, edged out Interim Mayor Sandy Vosburg in a run-off election with 41 more ballots cast for him than for her.
Overall, 374 ballots were cast out of 1,593 registered voters in Shannon Hills. Smith had 207 votes, or 55.5 percent, to Vosburg’s 166, or 44.5 percent.
“I would say that was pretty good percent of votes for me, but not good enough,” Vosburg said with a laugh. “I’ll just continue to do what I have done for the past 10 years as the city recorder, which is watching over the city and being aware of what is going on.”
Smith was serving his fourth term on the city council before being elected. He is the owner of J&K Automotive in Shannon Hills and has lived in the city since 1991. Smith said his plan is to bring the city back to financial stability.
“The city is not at its operating potential, and I want to bring it to that level,” he said. “My biggest thing is to get back out and talk to my people. More people need to be informed.”
Vosburg, 63, has lived in Shannon Hills for about 25 years and said she has been attending city council meetings since 1999.
The mayoral election comes on the heels of the resignation of Larance Davis from the position on May 22 after he pleaded guilty to failure to file state income tax returns, a class D felony, as well as a misdemeanor charge of attempted failure to file state income taxes.
Davis, who served as Shannon Hills mayor since 1998, was ordered by Saline County Circuit Court Judge Bobby McCallister to resolve his tax problems with the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration and fully cooperate with an future inquires from the agency. He will also serve six years probation and will pay a $1,000 fines and court costs.
Vosburg was sworn in as the interim mayor after Davis resigned, and a special election was held Oct. 13 for the voters to decide who would replace Davis. Along with Vosburg and Smith, Sue Skipper and Curtis “Curt” Wilson ran for the mayor’s seat. Smith and Skipper serve on the City Council. Wilson is city treasurer, and Vosburg is the former city recorder.
Overall, 331 votes were cast in the first special election with Vosburg receiving 112 and Smith receiving 96.
“You have to have 50 percent plus one vote to win. [Vosburg] had 33.94 percent,” Lucky Torney of Shannon Hills City Hall said.
Though the run-off election results were close, this election is final and Smith will soon be sworn in as the first elected mayor of Shannon Hills since since May 22. Vosburg said she has no plans to run again.
“I just wanted to end this term,” Vosburg said of interim position. “I thought maybe I could stay long enough to straighten out some things here, but I won’t have time now and that saddens me. But I’ll have some more time at home with family at least.”
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Razorbacks
