Penland, Griffith new additions to city council
Al Hoyle will serve another term as Ellijay’s mayor after a narrow victory in the municipal election held Tuesday, Nov. 7.
In Election Day and early/absentee voting, Hoyle, who’s been Ellijay’s mayor since 1997, received 174 votes, while challenger Sandy Ott, Ellijay’s current mayor pro tem on the city council, received 171 votes.
“I am both humbled and honored that the citizens of Ellijay have once again chosen me to serve as the city’s chief elected official,” said Hoyle following the election.
“I would like to thank my opponent for running a positive campaign and thank everyone who voted, as well as congratulate the winners of the city council seats. I look forward to working with the newly elected council members to improve the quality of life for our citizens and to maintain an environment where businesses can thrive,” he added.
According to election superintendent Sandra Sales, a vote recount could’ve been requested by the candidates (due to how close the results were), but one wasn’t requested by the cutoff time, which was end of business day Thursday.
In Ellijay’s city council race, all three incumbents who ran secured another term, while two new councilmembers will begin serving their first term Jan. 1.
They are: Claudia Penland (255 votes), Kevin Pritchett (I) (244 votes), Al Fuller (I) (219 votes), Tom Crawford (I) (205 votes) and Thomas Griffith (204 votes). Candidate Jeff Dill, also on the ballot, received 200 votes.
As the top vote-getter, Penland, a first-time city council candidate, is Ellijay’s next mayor pro tem.
A total of 347 voted in the Ellijay election between Election Day and early/absentee voting. That represents only 27.6 percent of the city’s 1,254 registered voters.