Lafayette County Board race ends in tie, decided by drawing names after recount
DARLINGTON — While long-decided in most places, the April primary election has proven especially tight in one Lafayette County Board race.
A recount of the 316 votes that led to a tie April 5 between the incumbent Nancy Fisker and Gary Benson for the District 10 seat came out tied once again. And so according to local election rules, the winner of the seat was Benson, whose name was drawn out of a tumbler.
“The last few days have been an unexpected roller coaster ride,” said Fisker, reacting to the final outcome.
She noted the back-and-forth nature of the race during the count and recount process, before finally being summoned for the drawing last Tuesday.
“Thank you to all the election inspectors, municipal clerks, and county clerks for seeing this through to the end,” she said.
The last time there was a tie was in 2008 between Bill Moody and Owen Demo in Lafayette County’s District 2. Moody’s name was drawn in a similar process to decide that race.
—Kayla Barnes
MONROE — Transparency and intergovernmental cooperation are two watchwords for Monroe’s new Mayor, Donna Douglas, who took office this week as the city’s first female to hold the post.
“We are going to hit the ground running,” she said. “I have a good council.”
New city council members sworn-in at a special meeting on Tuesday include Mary Jane Grenzow, Heidi Treuthardt and Lynne Hardy. Douglas, who served on the council, also will appoint another council member to fill her old post and those interested in serving can seek papers to gain the required signatures from the city clerk, she said.
Douglas replaces outgoing Mayor Louis Armstrong, who decided not to seek reelection. For her part, Douglas says her priorities include working to improve cooperation with the county and other government entities in the region to ensure taxpayers are getting good service and that there’s no costly duplication of government services, if possible. Douglas has plenty of experience — having previously served for nine years on the county board and for a decade as elected supervisor of the Town of Decatur.
She also spent 19 years as a commissioner on the Southwest Regional Planning Commission. Strategic planning is one area she’d like to focus on, noting that while Monroe can’t grow much in the traditional sense — due to its physical boundaries — there are some ways to expand and get more people involved in the lifeblood of a community.
“There’s some avenues (for cooperation) we really need to look at,” she said, adding that she’s still getting used to the top job and getting to know people as their new mayor. “There’s all kinds of things coming down for Monroe in the future.”
Among other things, she said, she’d like to “dust off” the area’s comprehensive plan, and get the council engaged in a longer-range vision for Monroe related to both residential and commercial planning. Housing availability also is another issue that needs the attention of local officials working together, she says.
“The council will have to do their homework,” she said, noting that while there isn’t a lot of physical space for Monroe to grow, “I look at it as a community without any fences.”
Transparency with the public is another goal of Douglas’. Providing information and seeking input from the community is the only way to lead and to make people feel as if they have a long-term interest in their government, she said.
And as part of that, she plans to speak frequently with local media and keep an “open door” policy, she said, including regular hours early in the week and perhaps time prior to the regular council meetings to meet with residents and other constituents. But those hours will be set in the coming weeks and announced to the public, she said.
In addition to her city council work, Douglas is currently executive director of the National Historic Cheesemaking Center/Green County Welcome Center, a post she has held for a decade. She plans to continue in that role.