New mayors selected for Forest and Alger

Voters in Alger and Forest elected new mayors at the polls Tuesday, while Dunkirk’s incumbent leader remains at the helm of the village.
Tom Seem will be the new mayor of Forest in January. Seem defeated incumbent David Hankins and his brother, Dean Hankins on his way to securing a solid victory at the polls. He tallied 218 votes, compared to 136 for Dean Hankins and 90 for David Hankins.
Seem said he is aware of the job facing him and looks forward to serving the community.
“This says the voters have a lot of confidence in me,” said Seem.
The mayor-elect said he campaigned for the job by walking door-to-door in the village, introducing himself to those who didn’t know him and listening to the residents’ concerns.
“I did it the old-fashioned way,” he said this morning.
Seem said he had no idea at the time of his campaigning how the voting would come out, but was surprised at the margin of his victory. He said the results show a combination of voter confidence in his leadership abilities and the need for a change.
“A lot of what I heard was the need for new ideas and a new face with fresh leadership,” said Seem. “I appreciate Dave’s (Hankins) years of service as mayor … This is quite a statement.”
In one of the slimmest victories on the night, David Allen edged past Alger Mayor Joyce Harris by three votes (128-125). Harris replaced Phyllis Coburn in August as mayor when she was forced to resign for health reasons.
The results are unofficial and there are 155 provisional votes yet to be counted countywide. It is unknown if any of the ballots are from Alger. The election will not be certified until Nov. 22.
Teresa Cramer soundly defeated Pam Ruhlen 149-70 to retain the mayor’s seat in Dunkirk. Cramer had replaced Ruhlen in the position following her resignation.
In village council races, Alger will return a familiar face to council meetings and bring on a new member, as well. Don Hensley has served as mayor and council member in Alger for many years. He earned 114 votes to return to council in Tuesday’s election. He will be joined by Jennifer Dye (96 votes) who edged out incumbents Roy Justice (90) and Charles Stevens (35). Also in the race were Lori Hunt (74 votes) and Howard Lee Lawrence (58).
Dorothy Baum and Jaide McBride will be members of the Dunkirk council, as voters approved them over Robert Hayes in a close race. Baum tallied 125 votes, while McBride had 111 and there were 109 votes cast for Hayes.
In Ada, Beth Fenton received 679 votes to gain a full term on council, while Cathy Cole defeated incumbent Ernest Daugherty in a write-in race. Cole collected 82 votes to 44 for Daugherty.

By DAN ROBINSON
Times staff writer

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Posted by Kenton Times on November 9, 2011. Filed under Election,Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry