Williamsburg voters pick new mayor, two new school board members

Thanks to voters Tuesday night, Williamsburg now has a new mayor, a new city council member, a not so new city council member, and two new school board members.
By more than 1,000 vote margin, voters in the six city precincts elected longtime city council member Roger “Roddy” Harrison over challenger Bobby Bryant by a 1,300 to 249 vote.
Harrison admits that he never thought he would win by that big of a margin.
“I felt good about the outcome, but I was surprised by the overwhelming support I got, and I am really appreciative of it too,” Harrison said in an interview late Tuesday evening.
Harrison said the first thing he plans to do is meet with his staff, and throughout some ideas on things he hopes to accomplish, such as his beautification plan.
“There’s a good staff in place. I don’t feel like there needs to be any major changes,” he noted.
Harrison said his biggest challenge will be learning the day to day duties of the office, and dealing with money issues that will be facing the city.
Besides a new mayor, the city council will also be getting a new member.
Williamsburg voters decided to keep incumbent city council members Laurel Jeffries West, Chet Riley, Richard W. Foley, and Joe Early in office for two more years.
West was the leading votegetter with 1,099 votes to Riley’s 948 votes, Foley’s 932 votes, and Early’s 897 votes.
Donnie Witt Sr. was the fifth highest votegetter with 866 votes.
Voters also gave the nod to interim mayor Paul Estes for a seat on the council. Estes resigned as a council member in February in order to take over as mayor.
He grabbed the sixth seat on the council with 808 votes, which put him ahead of seventh place finisher Keith Brashear, who netted 805 votes.
The Williamsburg Independent Board of Education will have two new members starting next year.
Incumbent Dwight Jones garnered only 531 votes in his bid for re-election, and incumbent Carroll “Cissy” Lunce chose not to run for re-election.
Kim Broome White was the leading votegetter in the race with 979 votes, followed by Allan W. Steely with 824 votes. Joshua “Spanky” Bunch finished in fourth place with 293 votes.