Kennesaw residents: Election results are message to mayor
KENNESAW— Even though his name was not on the ballot Tuesday, residents say the City Council elections were all about Mayor Mark Mathews.
Some love him and voted accordingly, but a larger group of voters seemed more than ready to see new faces in the seats held by Mathews’ allies on the council.
And that was reflected in the final tally Tuesday, sending three council incumbents packing and replacing them with candidates who promised changes in the way City Hall operates.
The voting bloc on the council that previously dominated Kennesaw politics was broken up, and some residents say that should send a message to the mayor, who has two years left to serve on his term. “I believe this is a new day for Kennesaw. I believe the citizens were so angered by the mayor and this election we chose to vote all incumbents out of office, start the year fresh,” said Kennesaw resident Jeanette Lyons.
Lyons said she felt the city was ready for a change.
“All my friends believe this was a referendum on the mayor and the ‘good old boy network,’” that had a strong grip on the city council, Lyons said.
Kennesaw resident Bill Harris agreed, adding he was not surprised by the election results.
“ All my friends believe this was a referendum on the mayor and the ‘good old boy network.’
“This new majority on the council means that Mathews may still be mayor for two years, but the council is not held hostage to the whims of the mayor, (and) they can propose and enact things on their own,” he said. Mathews did not return e-mails Wednesday from the MDJ seeking his perspective on the election.
Will the city heal from its divisions?
At different election parties across the city Tuesday night, residents said they hoped the city would be able to come together and heal after the contentious campaigns that pitted the small town’s seven candidates against each other. “It is a new beginning for the city,” said Debra Williams, the business owner of her own public relations and marketing business who serves on the Kennesaw Planning Board.
Williams crushed incumbent Matt Riedemann at the polls by close to 400 votes, according to the county’s election results website.
“The people made a resounding statement as to what they expect out of their council members,” she said, regarding the ethics and financial decisions council members made.
Williams said residents told her while she was out knocking on doors that they felt the current council “was out of touch with the people of the city.” Riedemann was voted in as a councilman last spring by a tie-breaking vote from the mayor after the death of former councilman Bill Thrash. “This was their way to tell the mayor and the rest of the council, as well as the staff, that we know what has been going on, and Election Day was the only way that we could voice it enough to be heard,” Williams said, in reference to the council’s current credit card and travel expense policies. Riedemann could not be reached on Wednesday.
Former mayor back on council
Former Kennesaw mayor Leonard Church will replace incumbent councilman Bruce Jenkins in the post 3 seat, eking out a win by 48 votes.
Church said Wednesday he was excited to become involved in the city’s leadership again, especially to work “in harmony” with his new council members and with the mayor.
He suspected that his defeat of Jenkins might have been aided by recent reports of Jenkins’ use of the city credit card, an issue he thought drew residents to the polls, not just in his race but in all three races.
Church said he hopes the new council will look at the credit card policy with the mayor. Instead of considering how the council’s new faces would work together, Church was adamant about moving the city forward.
Jenkins could not be reached for comment Wednesday but said on election night that he would support the new council and stay active in the community.
Duckett’s successor promises change
Councilman Jeff Duckett was voted out of office by just 30 votes, ushering in Jim Sebastian, the chairman of the Kennesaw Citizens Advisory Committee and owner of SAFE LLC, a consulting company.
The morning after the election, Sebastian said he was “overwhelmed, to say the least” at the amount of responsibility he felt had just been shifted onto his shoulders.
He vowed to begin to take care of the city’s issues, including establishing credit-card and travel expense policies, and to discuss implementing a policy on texting during council meetings.
“I think it is a turning point to allow us to try to get a better grip on things, and be more transparent,” he said, of the new members voted onto the council, hoping that they would work together to “be more transparent” in his coming term.
He added he had heard similar reactions from residents that Williams had.
“I think citizens were tired of things being the ‘good old boy network,’ they were just up for a change (and) want to see things done right,” he said.
Duckett could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
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Jenkins out, Church in: Kennesaw is only Cobb city that doesn’t do runoffs
The election article that ran on Wednesday incorrectly reported councilman Bruce Jenkins would be in a runoff election Dec. 3 against challenger Leonard Church, a former mayor of the city.
Kennesaw does not hold runoff elections for candidates, said City Clerk Debra Taylor, as elections are determined “by plurality, not by majority.”
Church received 40 percent of the votes in Tuesday’s election, Jenkins received 37 percent, and Briggett Washington received 23 percent.
Church will take office in January, replacing Jenkins on the council.
Kennesaw is the only city in Cobb County that determines its elections on plurality, not by majority, said Janine Eveler, the director of the Cobb County Board of Elections.
There is no state law on how cities call the votes at the city office level, she said, as Kennesaw’s charter dictates the plurality distinction.
— by Hannah Morgan
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Misc Info: Despite the article's claim of a 'runoff' there is no provision in Kennesaw for one if candidates do not get over 50%, so Church is the winner in Post 3.
Voters oust two Kennesaw City Council incumbents, shattering its voting bloc
Bruce Jenkins, Leonard Church in runoff Dec. 3
By Hannah Morgan, MDJ Reporter hmorgan@mdjonline.com Nov 6, 2013
KENNESAW — Two new members will join Kennesaw’s City Council as they knocked off incumbents, and a third race will go to a runoff, shattering a tight voting bloc that has controlled many of the city’s policies for months.
Williams in a landslide
Debra Williams, a local businesswoman who owns her own public relations and marketing business and serves on the Kennesaw Planning and Zoning Board, stunned incumbent Matt Riedemann by garnering 60 percent of the votes in the Post 4 race. She outpolled Riedemann by nearly 400 votes, tallying 1,142 to her opponent’s 757, according to unofficial results posted on the Cobb Board of Elections website.
Duckett goes down, barely
Jim Sebastian, chairman of the Citizens Advisory Committee and owner of SAFE LLC, a consulting company, squeaked out a win over incumbent Jeff Duckett by about 30 votes, according to county election results.
“You did it, Jim, you did it!” Williams shouted across the crowded restaurant, 41 Cork and Tap, off Cobb Parkway in Kennesaw Station Shopping Center, pointing to Sebastian, as the election results came in Tuesday night.
Jenkins in runoff with former mayor
Former Kennesaw mayor Leonard Church and incumbent councilman Bruce Jenkins will be in a runoff election Dec. 3, as neither candidate garnered 50 percent of the vote, plus one vote, according to Cobb County election regulations.
Briggett Washington also ran for Jenkins’s seat but tallied only 23 percent of the vote, not enough to make the runoff election next month.
With Duckett and Riedemann going down in defeat, Mayor Mark Mathews will finish out the rest of his term without the voting bloc he has enjoyed.
Posting in pink
Councilwoman Cris Welsh, who was not up for re-election, posted the numbers as they came in from the county on a neon pink sheet, taped against the glass door at 41 Cork and Tap.
Peg Rhoad was excited about the potential for the new faces on the council, and said she hoped they could help to “Get the mayor out of town … and start getting the city where it needs to be,” both financially and ethically, said the owner of Dog Grooming by Peg on Main Street in downtown Kennesaw.
The Hickory Wine Bluegrass Band, with players from Tennessee and Woodstock, played as more than 60 supporters of Jenkins, Williams and Sebastian waited for the numbers to come in.
When Williams heard of her victory, she began to cry, “I made a promise to the people that I fully intend to keep,” she said.
Her best friend for more than 20 years, Lisa Lott, had driven in from Montgomery, Ala., to surprise Williams earlier that afternoon in the parking lot. She hugged Williams when the numbers began to come in.
Jenkins stood in the parking lot and said while he was disappointed with the results, he vowed to continue to support the city and all of the council members, whether or not he wins the upcoming runoff election.
“We need new blood, not old blood. Leadership is about everyone having a chance to serve. We need fresh faces, fresh ideas,” on the council, said 50-year-Kennesaw resident Mike Serkedakis, when he heard about Church’s slim plurality.
Across town, at Mazzy’s Sports bar and Grill off Cherokee Street, more than 50 people came out to support Riedemann, and to watch election results come in.
Riedemann said he felt “wonderful” and happy that so many people had been involved in voting Tuesday. Recent reports of his personal financial difficulties had both hurt and helped his campaign, he said. While the reports had certainly lost him a few voters, Riedemann said that he received many emails, text messages and calls from residents who felt that he was “a real person” that they could relate to.
Duckett, who was narrowly beaten by Sebastian, could not be reached Tuesday night.
In the current council, Mathews has received strong support from council members Tim Killingsworth and Duckett, while Jenkins and Welsh have previously voted against the mayor on important issues for the city, including the city’s budget.
Riedemann joined the council in July, after the death of former councilman Bill Thrash, and has not been on the council long enough to establish a voting pattern.
Riedemann was appointed to the council, however, by a tie-breaking vote from the mayor last June, after Thrash’s death. A picture of Thrash sat nearby on the bar Tuesday night at 41 Cork and Tap, facing out at the crowd as the final numbers came in. Residents were more involved in this year’s election than ever before, they said, as news reports revealed the city’s struggling financial situation, and complaints about a lax credit card spending policy drew them to the polls. Williams, Sebastian and either Jenkins or Church will take office at the start of January. Council members Welsh and Killingsworth, along with the mayor, were not up for re-election this year.
Staff/Jeff Stanton Above: Kennesaw City Council candidate Jim Sebastian, right, receives a victory smooch from his wife, Karen, at the 41 Cap and Cork. Sebastian narrowly defeated incumbent Jeff Duckett. Below: Incumbent Kennesaw City Council member Bruce Jenkins is embraced by Suzie Thrash, the wife of former council member Bill Thrash, who died from cancer in May. Thrash was supporting Jenkins, who will now face former mayor Leonard Church in a runoff.
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Mayor Mathews is now a 'lame duck'
With an unusually high turnout for a Kennesaw Council election, just over 1,900 voters turned out to cast their votes for the 3 Kennesaw Council positions.
3 incumbents have been swept out of office.
The financial problems with the mis-use of City credit cards was a late developing major facor, also voters expressed their annoyance with the Mayor over his actions in putting a financial burnout on the Council to replace a deceased Councilman.
This was much more than an election, it was a referendum on Mathew's stewardship and almost surely means that in 2 years both Mathews and his remaining Councilman Mr Killingsworth will be gone from Kennesaw politics.
The 3/2 Mathews majority on the Council is history, he now has to deal with 4 Council members who are 'anti' Mathews and in a mood for some major reforms both in financial matters and in any new Council business.
Post 3
L. Church 768 40%
B. Jenkins 720 37%
Washington 434 23%
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Post 4
D. Williams 1,142 60%
Riedemann 757 40%
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Post 5
Sebastian 964 51%
Duckett 934 49%
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What is next for this blog site?
This blog will remain 'open' even though the election is over today.
Information on the 'winners' will be posted, although you will of course have already heard about it from the media.
Additional information will be posted regarding the latest American Express suit against Riedemann. I, and others, were entirely disappointed that this latest matter was not reported by the MDJ.
As mentioned below it seems that the Mathews/Riedemann group managed to brow beat the MDJ by threats of a suit if the paper continued what was in their opinion, 'unfavorable' publicity, for the Mayor and Councilman. Shame on the MDJ for caving in to bullies. Almost makes me reconsider my having not reported on or published photos of that 'swingers group' in Legacy Park.
So the civil suit will continue to be reported here but it is not an item of great importance, just something to follow up on when I have the time.
If you wonder why details have not been posted about what was in the original complaint, it is because that document is not carried 'online' by the County due to their opinion being that it has senstive information.
5 other documents about the case are available and before long I will obtain a copy of the 'original complaint' from the Courthouse and put that online FYI.
You might recall that on Oct 2nd Amexp filed again on Riedemann for $107,000.
