Six elected positions in Alexander to be decided by voters in November

A CORRECTION HAS BEEN MADE TO THIS ARTICLE.

In the City of Alexander the position of mayor and five seats on the city council have multiple candidates wanting to be elected in November to those spots. Three council seats have candidates who are unopposed.

Mayor Michelle Hobbs is asking voters to elect her mayor. She was appointed mayor by the former city council in December, 2012 after Mayor Paul Mitchell lost a recall election halfway through his four-year term. She was city recorder prior to her appointment as mayor. The only remaining members of that council still serving are Farren Wadley and Sam Gregory.

Mitchell has also filed in an attempt to regain the mayor's position. Mitchell was an alderman on the city council when he defeated Mayor Shirley Johnson in November, 2010. In 2012, residents circulating a recall petition were able to get it placed on the 2012 ballot. After losing the vote he resigned in November and Hobbs was appointed by the council in December to fill the vacancy.

Also running for mayor is Alderman Farren Wadley and Corliss "Jerry" Ball. Wadley is alderman of Ward-1 Position-2 and a martial arts instructor. Ball is retired and was a member of the Woodland Hills Volunteer Fire Department board.

Three council seats have candidates who are unopposed. Louis E. Hobbs, husband of Mayor Michelle Hobbs, is unopposed for the Ward-1 Position-1 seat. That position is currently held by Ceola Bailey who is not seeking re-election. Ward-3 Position-1 Alderman Andrea Bearden and Ward-4 Position-2 Alderman Lonny Chapman are also running unopposed.

Bearden was appointed in October, 2013 to complete the unexpired term of Dan Church after he resigned. Church was elected in November, 2012. Aldermen serve a two-year term.

Seeking the Ward-1 Position-2 seat are Jean Cummings Fisher and Jeffery S. Watson. Fisher, a minister, is new to Alexander politics but Watson is well-known in the city. Watson, who is currently unemployed, previously served as a part-time Alexander police officer and firefighter. Ward-1 Position-2 is currently held by Farren Wadley who is running for mayor.

Watson's wife, ReGina Watson, was an Alexander alderman but was defeated for re-election in 2012. She was one of the seven council members who voted to appoint Hobbs as mayor to fill the vacancy created when Mitchell lost in a recall election in 2012.

Ward-2 residents Stephanie Beck, a paraprofessional at the Bryant School District, and Kenneth D. Miller, retired, are running for the Position-1 spot on the ballot. In 2012 Beck lost to Alderman Brad Scott for the same position. In June Scott resigned from the council and that position has yet to be filled.

Ward-2 Position-2 incumbent Alderman Juanita Wilson is being opposed by former Ward-2 Alderman Andy Mullins. Both Wilson and Mullins are retired. Wilson defeated Mullins in the 2012 election. Mullins was one of the aldermen who lead the petition drive to recall Mitchell. He also voted to appoint Hobbs as mayor to fill the vacancy.

Two former aldermen, Dan Church and Harvey C. Howard are both vying for the Ward-3 Position-2 spot. That spot is currently held by Sam Gregory who is not seeking re-election. Howard, who is retired, ran for re-election in 2012 and was defeated by Church. Howard was the only alderman to not vote for Hobbs's appointment to replace Mitchell.

In 2013 Church wanted to decline his monthly stipend for serving on the city council when he learned he couldn't accept it due to receiving disability payments. Mayor Hobbs told him he couldn't decline the monthly payment from the city so he resigned. Since then Alderman Bearden proved to the mayor that no one is required to accept the stipend so she and later Wilson submitted letters to decline their monthly payments.

Monroe Cates and Melissa Ratliff are running for the Ward-4 Position-1 spot currently held by Faye McKeon who is not seeking election. McKeon was appointed to that position in 2013 when Alderman Jack Shoemaker resigned because he moved out of the city Henry Tacket died shortly after being elected in 2012.

Cates, a medical transportation driver, has run for alderman in the past without success. Ratliff, a student, has recently become known as the woman with the chickens. Mayor Hobbs and a police officer visited her home and told Ratliff she couldn't keep her four hens in the city. She was told she either had to remove the chickens or be fined. After getting rid of the chickens an ordinance was produced showing not only are chickens allowed in Alexander but the maximum is six.