Area voters to head to polls

By Liz McMahan
Phoenix Staff Writer

April 05, 2009 12:02 am

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Voters in five county towns will go to the polls Tuesday to decide a number of municipal races.
Fort Gibson, Haskell, Taft, Warner and Webbers Falls have contests in one or more races.
Voters in the Braggs Public School district will cast ballots in a runoff election.
Municipal races are also set for Checotah and Wagoner.
Tahlequah voters will find a variety of issues on their ballots: a school board runoff, a runoff election for chief of police and a question to extend a one-half cent sales tax.
The longest ballots will be in Webbers Falls and Checotah, where there are more than one candidate for every office open this year.
In Webbers Falls, incumbent city clerk/treasurer Lavon Johnson is not seeking election to a new term. Seeking that office are Mindy M. Whitlow and Susan Dwyer.
There are two town trustee seats open there. The race has been especially contentious because the new trustees and the three already on the board will decide after the election which of them will be mayor.
Jewell Horne, who had served in that position for a number of years, was not re-elected mayor two years ago but was reappointed to that seat in September when a vacancy occurred.
In Ward 2, incumbent Matt Myers is challenged by Roy T. Brown, Danielle Chappell, Arthur Laidley and Eric Stinnett.
Ward 4 incumbent Johnny Pollard is challenged by Dennis Berton and Cheryle Ellis.
Other races in Tuesday’s elections:
• Braggs school board — Elsa Irving and Barbara Baskins.
• Fort Gibson — Trustee Ward 2: Steven D. Hill and Kirk Freeman.
• Haskell — Trustee Ward II, Steve Ford and Brett L. Harper; Trustee Ward 1, Robert C. Smith and Bruce McQuay.
• Taft — Town Clerk: Alicia Craig Sourie, Elsie Ceasar; two at-large trustees, Lelia Davis and Debra Colton; trustee, unexpired term: Elaina M. Lyday.
• Warner — Two trustees: Troy Duncan, Jimmy D. Sallee and Jack Tatum.
Cherokee County
• Hulbert — Trustee: Ed Beckham and Shirley Teague.
• Tahlequah — School board: Bryan Arnall and Elizabeth Colvin; chief of police: incumbent Steve Farmer and Clay Mahaney; sales tax renewal would raise $4.8 million for city capital improvements and $3.2 million for Tahlequah Public Schools.
McIntosh County
• Checotah — Bettie Hays, treasurer; Earnie Myers and Darrel Arnett, Ward I council; Larry Pouncil and Heather Dawn Lester, Ward II council; Willie Wiles and J.C. Camp, Ward III council; Linda Cantwell and Shane Miller, Ward IV council.

Wagoner County
• Okay — Pat “Pako” Frye, Elden McCullough, Tony O’Bannon and Cherle Douvel, trustee.
• Wagoner — Ward 1 trustee: Jerry Merrell and Diana Cantrell.