Senoia council seats retained, Palmetto sees regime change

The Nov. 8 elections in Senoia and Palmetto represented opposite ends of the political spectrum when it came to the fate of incumbents and challengers. In the two Senoia at-large City Council races incumbents Maurice Grover and Bobby Graham were re-elected. And in Palmetto Mayor John Miller was defeated by former Mayor Clark Boddie, while in the at-large races for three council seats the outcome saw incumbent Leon Sumlin retaining his seat and challengers Patty O’Hara Willey and Larry Parrott picking up the other two.

The council races in both Senoia and Palmetto are based on at-large voting.

The Senoia election included incumbents Maurice Grover and Bobby Graham and challengers that included retired Col. Don Rehman and IBM technical support staff Harry Ramos.

At the end of the night it was the incumbents who won the day. Grover was the top vote-getter with 327 votes followed by Graham with 269. Ramos received 214 votes with Rehman garnering 100 votes.

Also on the Senoia ballot was a referendum of the package sale of beer and wine on Sundays between 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. Voters agreed with the idea, approving package sales by a two-thirds majority. There were 336 votes in favor and 161 opposed.

The Palmetto election featured Mayor John Miller up against former long-time Mayor Clark Boddie. And when the votes were tallied Boddie won with 436 votes compared 191 votes for Miller.

And Palmetto’s election for the three council seats had incumbents Lorraine Allen and Leon Sumlin squaring off against Palmetto Senior Center Director Patty O’Hara Willey, Chattahoochee Hills public works director and former Palmetto Councilman Larry Parrott and business owner Robert C. Petty, Jr.

When the smoke cleared the top three vote-getters were Willey, Sumlin and Parrott.

Willey received 427 votes, Sumlin took 362 votes and Parrott received 350 votes. Trailing in the voting were Allen at 302 and Petty at 122.

Palmetto voters also had their say on two referendum issues pertaining to alcohol sales.

The vote for package sales on all types of alcohol between 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. was defeated by a narrow margin, with 297 votes for and 314 against.

But when it came to serving alcoholic beverages by the drink on Sundays the voters by a thin margin decided to let that one pass, with 309 voting in favor of the proposal and 298 against.

The Palmetto election resulted in a 25.6 percent voter turnout, with 633 out of 2,465 registered voters casting ballots on Nov. 8.