Staff / Samantha M. Shal
Staff / Samantha M. Shal.Sandy Murray
Tuesday night’s election results from Brookhaven’s 12 precincts show that candidates J. Max Davis and Sandy Murray were the top runners for mayor but neither earned more than the necessary 50 percent plus one vote.
With slightly more than 2,000 votes than Murray, Davis received 48.6 percent of votes while Murray took in 35.9 percent. Tuesday night’s voter tally did not include the results of the city’s provisional ballots.
Davis, a lifelong resident of Brookhaven, led the race for much of the night. He said if chosen mayor, he looks forward to working to make the city “the jewel of the South in the next five years.”
As president of Brookhaven Yes, Davis helped lead the charge to charter Brookhaven as a city. Among his priorities if chosen as mayor, he said he would focus on building a police department, improving parks, creating more sidewalks and selecting city service providers through a competitive bidding process.
Murray, a Brookhaven resident of about 10 years, said she has similar goals for the new city. If chosen as mayor, Murray said she would work to build a police department, create an open and transparent government and look into making the city more pedestrian friendly and safer for bicyclists.
“We’ll develop a plan, which the governor’s commission has started very nicely, and we’ll just start working towards accomplishing our goals one by one,” she said.
A total of 15,866 Brookhaven residents cast their ballots for mayor.
The YES won, i accepted that result. Being for the NO doesn't mean that we harbor an ill will or we want to see this new city fail. No, not at all. This is a democracy and we need to accept the results. What is important to me is the future of the city and the temperament of the future major. Having talked to both candidates extensively and listened to them, it has become clear to me that one has the temperament and the demeanor, and the other thinks he is running for the governor mansion.
The supporters of a new city won on that question by a narrow margin. However, that doesn't mean that the half of the area residents who were against the city should stop participating in their community. Creation of an effective city government is now the most important issue facing our area, and every citizen is valuable.
Those who were against the city had their views because of the risks of a poorly executed city government. Now that a city will definitely exist, I would imagine their goal is to set up the city so that those risks are mitigated. I believe that a good argument could be made that those who were most sensitive to the risks would be the best to address them.
Opposition to the previous city-hood vote provides insight into Murray's motivations, but it certainly doesn't cost her credibility.
The fact that our community was so divided should tell us something. Creation of the City of Brookhaven was and is happening too fast - makes you wonder, why?
Sandy is the best candidate who is all for openness and honesty. J Max is in this for himself. People know that. And he takes money from vendors. And he wants to gamble with our safety with a plan for an inadequate police force.
Understand, I am a scientist and a genius. Notice my enormous cranium.