In the first

"October surprise" of this election season, Senoia City Councilman

Pat Tunnell abruptly withdrew from the race for City Council Wednesday.

Tunnell made

the stunning announcement at a political forum at the Senoia Senior Center.

"This

past year has been difficult for me. I will not allow (Senoia mayor) Dianne

Cleveland to bring my personal life into this," he said.

After his brief

statement, Tunnell left the center and the rest of the candidates looked

at each other with puzzled looks on their faces.

Tunnell's withdrawal

from the race means that no City Council election will be held this year,

since his vacancy leaves only two candidates for the two open positions.

The two winning

candidates are Larry Owens and Anthony "Tony" Miller. Owens

is retired from General Motors and lives in the Willowdell subdivision.

"We were

drawn by the small-town atmosphere and I want to keep it that way,"

he said.

Owens pledged

to do the best for the city and respect the wishes of the people.

Miller, a retired

Atlanta firefighter, said he's very familiar with city governments. During

his tenure in Atlanta, Miller worked with budgets for the department up

to $1.2 million.

Miller has

lived in Senoia for 12 years and plans to stay in the city for the rest

of his life.

With the council

race now eliminated, the only race left on Senoia's ballot in November

will be the mayoral race between Cleveland and City Councilman Robert

Hannah.

Cleveland pledged

to keep the city on the same track its been on since she took office in

2001.

"All I

ask of you is: Is Senoia better off today?" she said.

Cleveland cited

the accomplishments of getting the sewer system underway and hiring a

new city manager to help run the daily operations of the city.

Hannah said

he pledged to continue on the same track that's kept him on the council

for six years, but questioned whether impact fees would really help the

city.

"This

is going to cost the city $20,000. I'm not totally sold on the project,"

he added.

The mayoral

candidates will square off again next Tuesday at the Freeman Sasser Building

in Senoia's park at 7 p.m.