Two incumbents win, another falls in City Council runoff; newcomers claim open seats
Two Gadsden City Council incumbents survived challenges and another was defeated in Tuesday’s municipal runoff.
Kent Back claimed his second term in District 4 with 53.5% of the vote to 46.5% for Carrie Machen.
Jason Wilson had an easier route to his second term in District 5, collecting 63.25% of the vote to Billy Billingsley Sr.’s 36.75%. (Wilson also defeated Billingsley, an incumbent at the time, in a runoff in 2018.)
CITY COUNCIL RESULTS:All results now in: Top vote getters for Gadsden's Sept. 20 runoff election
The changeover will be in District 7, where Chris Robinson collected 64.6% of the vote to 35.4% for six-term incumbent Ben Reed. (Reed nosed out Robinson in the 2018 municipal election to win his final term.)
Political newcomers took the two open seats, with Larry Avery prevailing in District 3 with 53.7% to Denecia Ann Getaw’s 46.3%; and Dixie Minatra taking District 6 with 56% of the vote to Renay Stokes Reeves’ 44%.
With the victories by Tonya Latham in District 1 and the Rev. Steve Smith in District 2 in the Aug. 23 municipal election, all council members but Back and Wilson will be first-termers, meaning a 70% turnover from the 2018-22 council.
Back said it was a difficult race, since he’s been friends with Machen’s parents for more than three decades.
“I want to congratulate Carrie for conducting a good race; we ran a clean race,” he added.
Back said he was honored to be chosen again to represent his district and the city, at a time when Gadsden faces significant challenges, such as the full impact of the 2020 shutdown of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber plant, and a need to “reimagine” itself.
“We’re going to have to do some things we’ve never done before,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of courage and making thought-out decisions instead of shooting from the hip.”
Wilson said winning “was a big relief,” adding, “I’m super excited that the voters of District 5 saw fit to give me another four years. I’m excited about working with everybody. It’s a good day, and I’m excited about the future.”
Robinson said he’s “happy to be there, and looking forward to meeting with the new mayor and the almost-new city council.”
He said he wants to “hit the ground running” and has “tons of ideas” for what he wants to accomplish, but added, “I’ve got to get up there and meet everyone because this is new territory for me. I’ve been up there enough and seen enough council meetings to where I know what I know, but I’m sure I’ve got stuff to learn.”
Avery said his top priority is bringing the community together “to see what we collectively need.”
He listed housing and equity; children’s education and safety; and promoting healthy lifestyles and programs for seniors and veterans as his areas of focus, “along with working with the new council and mayor.”
Minatra said she’s ready “to get started to work, and we do have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of common issues in all four areas of District 6.”
She listed children’s safety; crime, which she said is tied to homelessness and drug abuse; trash, which she described as “something that shouldn’t be a problem, but is”; and infrastructure, as in roads and streets.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Two incumbents win, another loses in Gadsden council races
