Four sign up for vacant West Pelzer council seat

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Special election Dec. 30

By Stan Welch

The slate for West Pelzer’s special election next month has been filled, and filing is closed. Four people have filed to run for the town council seat vacated by Robert Alexander last month. They are Donnie Jeanes, Jim Riddle, Shyanne Webb, and David Odom, whose mother Ann is a former Council member.

Alexander resigned his seat after moving out of town to pursue an employment opportunity. The Town Council has struggled from time to time with having an even number of members.

Alexander, in an earlier telephone interview with The Journal, reflected on his brief tenure on Council, adding that one of the most important achievements of the Council during that time was simply getting along and finding ways to work together. “There was a time a few years ago when all the Council seemed to do was fight and try to cut each other’s throats. It was a circus around here, and it hurt the town.”

“ When I got elected, I decided I would do whatever was best for the town, whether I personally agreed with it or not. I think I did that. I tried to go along with what the majority of people wanted, on most things. But I wasn’t anybody’s yes man, and if I thought something was good for the town, I voted for it, no matter what. That made some folks mad sometimes, but that’s the way it goes.”

The number of candidates make a runoff likely, which will extend the election into the next calendar year. The special election is set for December 30.