Council to Get Two New Faces

Two incumbents, one who was on the council for 21 years, were ousted tonight, according to unofficial returns from the .

Of the 1,518 votes cast in that race for Ward III council member, 55.73 percent (846) went to River Green resident . That was enough to top , who has been on the council since 1990.

"The voters have decided that they want issues resolved and decisions made on issues that confront the city," Cummins said from The Fork & Tavern in Historic Downtown Canton. "They don't want the incumbents. By and large, I think they wanted change."

Neither Rose nor Ward I Council member , who lost her race to Great Sky homeowner and retired 3M executive , were sure of that.

"I think a lot of the decisions tonight had to do with the because I have had many, many complaints about the issues," Rose said from the IHOP, where she monitored election returns with Tanner and Ward II Council member .

Years of flaws in the city's water bills were exposed this past summer after the city converted to a new software system. One resident received a bill for $69,000 for one month, while commercial entities got bills for 1,000 times less than they should have been charged.

"I've had quite a number of people say the incumbents should be out because of the continuous errors in the water billing," Rose said.

Tanner, who garnered 46.16 percent (704) of the 1525 votes cast in the race for Ward I, said she didn't think tonight's results were a mandate for change.

"I think this municipal election got dirtier than I have ever seen it get before," she said. "I think a lot of untruths were put out there against the incumbents. A lot of things were said and done that totally disappointed me—by people that I once respected. Because of the nature of this campaign and some of the behavior of the people, that respect is no longer there."

The only person to survive a challenge was , who fended off two opponents: accountant David Stoker and former Cherokee Arts Council president . He received 51.18 percent (778) of the 1,520 votes cast in the race for Ward II. Grant came in second with 38.88 percent of the vote, or 591 votes. Stoker was a distant third with 9.80 percent of the vote, or 149 votes.

"I'm glad I won obviously," Goodwin said, "but I'm saddened by the loss of my two colleagues. I plan to work with the ones coming up."

He said he'd like to see Canton move ahead on the reservoir park by engaging  businesses already in the city.

He also said he will continue to try to bring businesses to Canton to stimulate the city's economy; continue to finish parks on Univeter; and deal with the city's water problems.

Resolving the city's water billing problems is first on Council member-elect Huffman's agenda, he said. Huffman won the Ward I race against Tanner with 53.7 percent of the votes, or 819 votes.

As for Cummins, he said he will be "a one-term" council member.

"There's a certain amount of time I think you should serve," he said. "If I can't accomplish in the four years that I'm there what should be accomplished, I shouldn't be re-elected. And if I do accomplish it in the four years of being there, I don't need to be re-elected."