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Squeaker! Wood scores narrow victory in Roswell mayoral runoff
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| | | A relieved Jere Wood stands with his wife, Judie Raiford, as the final results are announced election night. At right supporters Roger Wise and Bob Hagan are all smiles. Hatcher Hurd. (click for larger version) | |
December 02, 2009
Roswell – After weeks of campaigning and a Dec. 1 runoff election, the Roswell mayoral election came down to a margin of just 77 votes, with three-term incumbent Jere Wood nosing out 10-year Councilman David Tolleson.
Wood squeaked by with 50.42 percent of the vote in an election that drew almost as many voters for the runoff as voters who cast votes in the Nov. 3 General Election. Although only 21.8 percent of voters turned out in November, of the 10,634 voters who did cast ballots, 85.6 percent of them returned in December.
Surveying the group of supporters at the Doubletree Hotel on Holcomb Bridge Road election night, Wood said he wanted to thank everyone in the room.
"When I say I owe my election to you all, I really mean it. There are more of you here than the margin of my victory," he said.
The next day, he received a telephone call from Tolleson in which he conceded the election.
"He congratulated me, and I told David I would like to talk with him about his ideas," Wood said. "We agreed on most of the issues, so I think we will be consistent there. Tolleson differed with me on my style of leadership. But on the major issues, we were always pretty close."
Wood said their talk was cordial, as the campaign had been, and that they agreed they would each pick up the other's signs now that the election was over.
Tolleson in a phone interview Dec. 2 said he would not actively seek a recount, despite the narrowness of the margin.
"Truthfully, with the electronic balloting, I don't anticipate any change. I am planning to move on. I think we have an answer," Tolleson said.
First on Wood's agenda is to meet with the new City Council members and come up with the council assignments for next year.
"Then the first of the year, when all of the new council is seated, I want us to review the budget to see where we stand in these days of falling revenues," Wood said. "I also want us to get serious about being a business-friendly town."
He said he had been told it takes on average 100 days to obtain a land disturbance permit from the city. "That is too long just so somebody can clear an acre of land and build. We have to get better at making this a town people want to do business in, a town they want to build in," he said.
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Tags: Roswell
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