Published: May 11, 2009 07:29 am      

Rusk voters approve alcohol sales; Travis new JISD board member

By Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

The city of Rusk now has the voters’ permission to allow the sale of beer and wine in stores and to allow the sale of beer and mixed drinks in restaurants.

Rusk voters passed both wet-dry propositions on the May 9 election ballots.

“The voters have spoken, and we respect their wishes,” Rusk City Manager Mike Murray said.

Proposition 1, concerning the sales of alcohol for off-premises consumption, passed 356 for, 326 against. Proposition 2, pertaining to the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants, passed 379 for, 301 against.

“I’m very pleased that the voters of Rusk saw the economic advantages of passing these propositions,” said Martha Neely, treasurer of Rusk Citizens for Economic Growth, a grass-roots political group that supported calling the wet/dry election.

Also on Saturday’s ballot was the Rusk mayor’s race.

Incumbent Angela Raiborn kept her seat with 480 votes. Challengers Jefferson Jackson and Gary Epperson received 139 votes and 56 votes, respectively.

“I am truly grateful to have the opportunity to continue to serve as mayor for a second term,” Raiborn said in an e-mailed statement. “I have a tremendous amount of respect for our city manager and City Council and it’s been a pleasure working with such a great group of people. We have accomplished many great things over the last two years and I believe many more exciting things are on the horizon.

“I am thankful that I have an opportunity to continue with these endeavors. I appreciate the tremendous amount of support that I have received over the last two years and will continue to work hard to serve the citizens of Rusk.”

The Rusk Independent School District board of trustees won’t see any new faces this election.

Both incumbents, Rodney Hugghins and Britt Patterson, kept their seats for another term — beating out challenger Tracy Session. Patterson got 286 votes; Hugghins received 219 votes; and Session tallied 150.



JISD results

Todd Travis is Jacksonville Independent School District’s newest school board trustee, having garnered 174 votes to defeat Belinda Sims (20 votes).

Travis will take over the seat of longtime board member Dr. Larry Folden, who is retiring from the board.

“I heard about Larry not planning to run and just wanted to get involved,” Travis said Saturday night. “I really don’t have an agenda. There are some positive thigns going on with the schools. I’ll just see how I can contribute.

Travis is president of Hubert Glass Oil and has two children in Jacksonville schools.

Bullard results

In Bullard’s municipal race, City Councilwoman Teresa Adams-Wilks defeated Mayor Pro-tem Rodger Johnson, 241 to 190 votes. Wilks was unavailable for comment as of presstime Saturday.

In the Bullard City Council race Jay Abercrombie received the most votes, 241, while incumbent Pam Frederick tallied the second most with 217. Both will serve on council on the at-large council. Candidates Shirley Coe and David Stewart received 149 and 180 votes, respectively.

Bullard Independent School District adds Karen Padrucco to its Place 4 seat and Gary Roberts to its Place 5 seat.

Padrucco earned 305 votes. Her opponents Diana Folmar and Andy Lauby received 158 votes and 86 votes, respectively. Robert’s challenger, Kevin Robertson, got 264 votes.



New Summerfield

In the New Summerfield City Council race, candidates Donna Cameron, Mildred Garrow and Graham Tennison all won spots on the at-large council. Vote totals were unavailable as of presstime Saturday.

“It was very close, but I don’t know actual numbers,” New Summerfield Mayor Jane Barrow said.