86° F Thursday, May 24, 2012

After Saturday’s election results, Sara Hutson and incumbent Shanthi Jayakumar will claim seats on the Rollingwood City Council on Wednesday.

The women were the top two vote getters in the at-large election, beating out challengers Kelli Carlton and Barry Bone.

Jayakumar came in first with 322 votes (28 percent), Hutson received 298 votes (26 percent), Carlton received 268 votes (23 percent) and Bones received 266 votes (23 percent).

Jayakumar said that she was excited to tackle her second term on the council and continue working on projects she started in her previous term.

“I’m on a roll,” she said. “I’ve done certain things that need to be completed, especially on the streets, and I’m very keen to do that.”

She thanked the community for their support and said she was looking forward to working with the council.

“I just want to work with this council and do everything we can to move this city forward,” Jayakumar said.

Hutson, who has a background in civil engineering, said that her expertise may have contributed to her win, given that the city is faced with several infrastructure-related issues, including streets, water and the wastewater system. She previously served on the council for eight months in an appointed capacity.

“The issues that we have are primarily engineering related, and I would like to put my expertise to use for the city,” Hutson said in an interview outside City Hall on Saturday.

Bone conceded that Jayakumar and Hutson had run good campaigns and said he thought they would do a good job. He said that he would like to be considered for the open council seat left when Hamiltion won the unopposed election for mayor on Saturday. The current mayor, Dale Dingley, did not seek re-election.

The council members and the new mayor will be sworn in at the scheduled meeting Wednesday at Rollingwood City Hall.

“Whether you win by one vote or 100 votes, you still have the test of getting the job done,” Hamilton said in an interview Tuesday.

Issues he hopes to tackle are: the budget, water projects, street maintenance, improving the city’s relationship with the business community and improving safety on Bee Cave Road.

Comments

  1. Consider Kelli Carlton says:

    If the Council chooses to place someone who ran for Council on the Board it should be Kelli Carlton who was the third vote getter in the winner takes all style.

  2. No more division says:

    I disagree. Besides, Kelly and Barry Bone were 2 votes apart. Also, Kelly would divide the council and spend too much of our limited tax dollars. We need someone who will support the council, not divide it. I think there are many citizens on the community that would be preferable to that scenario.
    What is the “winner takes all style”?

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