CAPTION: A large crowd of candidates and community members watch the posting of election results at the Livingston County Courthouse Tuesday night. Five contested races were decided in the election including that for 3rd Ward Councilman. In that race, Tom Douglas (seated in foreground at right), who formerly held that position, unseated incumbent Donna Preszler.

C-T Photos/Laura Schuler

Chillicothe voters decided on five contested races in Tuesday’s election, sending four incumbents back to their spots in city government and replacing one with a former city official. The race of the day was found in 1st Ward where just four votes separated Democrat Sid Cornell from Republican Carol Sloan in their bids for council representative. Cornell edged out Sloan with a total vote of 211 to 207. That difference amounted to less than one percent of all votes cast for the 1st Ward council seat.

An upset occurred in the 3rd Ward where former 3rd Ward Democrat City Councilman Tom Douglas unseated one-term Republican incumbent Donna Preszler. Douglas, had served on the council from 1997 until 2007, when he ran unsuccessfully for the councilman-at-large post. Tuesday’s election saw a 22 percent voter turnout in the city of Chillicothe with 1,199 of the 5,398 registered voters casting ballots. Countywide, the voter turnout was 20.30 percent.

The Livingston County courthouse lobby was filled with candidates and interested community members watching as election returns were posted. The 1st Ward results were posted around 7:20 p.m. which declared Cornell the winner.

Cornell and Sloan — who both campaigned aggressively for the open seat of Earle Teegarden Jr., who chose not to seek re-election — said they thought the election would be close. Absentee ballots — which often indicate what the final results will be — were the first returns posted and each candidate had received 11 votes. “I knew it was going to be close,” Sloan said. First Ward had the largest percentage of registered voters going to the polls. There were 400 votes cast in the 1st Ward, accounting for a 29 percent voter turnout. Cornell said he campaigned door-to-door in the 1st Ward and ran some print advertisements. He said he wanted to serve the constituents of the 1st Ward. “I think that I can give a levelheaded, common sense approach to the issues that will face the new council,” Cornell said. “I believe that great things can happen in the city of Chillicothe and would like to be a part of the decision-making that will make this city a great city.”

Cornell, 71, resides at 1024 Polk Street and is the pastor of Mount Olive United Methodist Church. He stated that his priority for the city is to restore credibility to the city council. “There are some major issues coming up that need a council that can work together and govern as the people have mandated,” he said. Cornell said he was pleased with Tuesday’s outcome. “I really appreciate everyone’s support and I will attempt to carry out what the people in the First Ward want,” Cornell said shortly after the returns were posted.

Livingston County Clerk Kelly Christopher, who serves as the local election authority, said that there has been no talk about a recount; however, the 1st Ward could pick for the routine verification procedure. State law requires that one voting precinct is chosen for a manual hand count. The verification team — comprised of one Democrat and one Republican — choose which precinct to verify. That procedure was expected to be done at 1 p.m. In order for a specific recount to occur, someone would have to ask for a recount and the court would have to be petitioned. A recount would be allowed if the vote is less than 1 percent. The 1st Ward would qualify as the vote difference was 0.96.

After a two-year absence from the council, Democrat Tom Douglas was elected to succeed incumbent Republican Donna Preszler. Douglas captured 71 percent of the votes cast, receiving 138 votes, compared to Preszler’s 57 votes. “I want to thank everybody for their support,” Douglas said. “We’ll work to keep the Third Ward in as good of shape as we can.” Douglas said that through the election, the people “told us we wanted a better voice in government. I’m very happy with the way the election turned out.” Douglas said his top priority as a councilman is to see that Chillicothe progresses with more jobs and retail. “We need to keep the services that we provide for people at the highest level,” he said. Douglas was first elected to the 3rd Ward council seat in 1997 and served five terms. In 2007, he chose to seek the councilman-at-large seat but lost to Darrel Rinehart Jr., a former city councilman. The 3rd Ward had the lowest voter turnout Tuesday with just 16 percent (or 182 voters) of the registered voters casting ballots.

In the race for councilman-at-large, Democrat Darrel V. Rinehart Jr., won over his challenger, former Chillicothe mayor and Libertarian Jeff Foli. Rinehart received 967 votes to Foli’s 287 votes. This amounted to Rinehart receiving 77 percent of the votes cast. Rinehart carried all voting precincts with his strongest support coming from the 1st Ward where he received 84 percent of the votes cast. Foli’s strongest showing was in Chillicothe’s 3rd Ward where he received 37 percent of the votes cast. “I appreciate the support of the people and their confidence in me,” Rinehart said shortly after election results were posted Tuesday night. “I look forward to representing the people for the next two years as I have in the past.” Rinehart, 64, is a sales consultant for Woody’s Dodge Jeep Chrysler and resides at 1106 Green Street. His top priority for Chillicothe is to “promote, encourage, retain and expand the existing businesses while continuing to seek every avenue of outreach to bring new industry and businesses to our city,” he said. “Chillicothe must remain the major trade center of our area, the place to shop, live, play, work, raise a family, and worship,” he said.

Two other city offices — those of clerk and treasurer — saw competition in this year’s election as both incumbents were challenged for their spots. Democrat incumbent Roze Frampton won her bid for re-election as city clerk over Republican April Locke, 949 to 302. Frampton captured 76 percent of the votes cast for clerk. “I’m very pleased with the support from the community and I’m excited to be able to have the opportunity to serve another two years,” Frampton said. “I’m overwhelmed with the support I’ve been given and I look forward to serving as city clerk for the next two years.” Frampton carried each of the wards with her strongest support coming from the 1st Ward where she captured 79 percent of the votes cast for clerk. Locke’s strongest showing was in the 3rd Ward where she captured 33 percent of the votes. Frampton, 43, has held office since she was first elected city clerk in 1999.

Democrat incumbent Sherry Parks won her bid for re-election as city treasurer, winning over Republican challenger Laieloni Knouse. Parks pocketed 908 votes, compared to Knouse’s 365 votes. Parks captured 71 percent of the votes cast for treasurer. “I’m excited that it’s over and excited to have won,” Parks said. “I’m grateful for everyone who did get out and vote, those who volunteered their support, words of encouragement and I’m thankful for the people who appreciate the job I do. I’m thankful for the public for giving me the opportunity to continue serving them for the next two years.” Parks carried each of the voting precincts with her strongest support coming from the 1st Ward where she received 74 percent of the votes cast. Her challenger’s strongest support came from the 3rd Ward where she received 34 percent of the votes cast. Parks, 44, has held office since she was first elected city treasurer in 2001.

Other candidates for city offices were uncontested. Democrat incumbent Chuck Haney received 986 votes for mayor; Republican incumbent Adam L. Warren received 1,054 votes for attorney; Democrat incumbent Theresa Gatson Kelly received 1,097 votes for auditor; Democrat incumbent Richard L. Knouse received 1,037 votes for constable; Republican incumbent Maurice Zion received 342 votes for 2nd Ward councilman; and Republican Paul Howard received 214 votes for the 4th Ward council seat which is being vacated by Pam Jarding, who chose not to seek re-election.

There were several names written in on a number of ballots; however, since all the city offices had declared candidates the non-declared write-in names were not counted, Christopher said.

The upcoming term for the city of Chillicothe will be the city’s 101st session.

Wednesday Recount Adds One to Cornell’s Vote Tally
Published: Thursday, April 9, 2009, C-T

A recount Wednesday of votes in 1st Ward increased Sid Cornell’s lead by one over Carol Sloan for the Chillicothe City Council seat. Livingston County Clerk Kelly Christopher, who serves as the local election authority, said that one ballot was not counted during the regular process because it had gotten jammed in the ballot machine when it was inserted on Election Day. Rather than feeding the ballot into the machine again after freeing it from the machine, the election judge put it with the other ballots in the stack that had been counted.

With this ballot counted, the total for Chillicothe’s 1st Ward council seat will be Cornell, 212, and Sloan, 205. In the regular routine verification process at the courthouse Wednesday, the verification team (comprised of one Democrat and one Republican), chose the Green/Mooresville precinct to recount manually. Their recount figures perfectly matched the computer’s count, Christopher said.

At the Polls
Tuesday, April 7, 2009, C-T

CAPTION: Esther Houston (left) was among 57 3rd Ward voters who cast ballots in today’s (Tuesday’s) election by 10:40 a.m. in the Coburn Building. Voters cast ballots to decide winners of contested races for the offices of 3rd and 1st Ward council posts, city clerk, treasurer and councilman-at-large. There was also a four-way race for two available Chillicothe R-2 School Board seats.

C-T Photo/Laura Schuler