City Council elections may spur shake-up

If Statesville’s Oct. 9 city election goes a certain way, the racial and gender make-up of the city council could change considerably.

Currently, the eight-person council - not including Mayor Costi Kutteh - is made up of five white men, a white woman and an African American man.

One seat is vacant.

Depending on the outcome of the fall election, there could be as many as three women and three blacks on the council.

Until about two weeks ago, Statesville Mayor Pro Tem Paula Steele was sitting on the fence about whether or not she wanted to file to remain a member of the city council after her term expires in December.

It’s a good thing she did, or city leaders may have been forced to fill the Ward 1 seat some other way.

Steele was the only person interested enough in the seat to the pay the $5 filing fee.

Filing for municipal elections ended at noon on Friday.

Steele, who is in her second term, will be the only person running unopposed in the four Statesville City Council races.

Ward 4 incumbent, Councilman Michael Johnson, 55, has been perhaps the most outspoken member of the council during his three and a half years there.

Johnson, a land developer, will be facing the Rev. J.C. Harris, pastor of First Baptist Church.

In some ways, this race could represent a classical showdown.
Johnson is a white businessman who has held positions in the Iredell County Republican Party.

Harris is a black clergyman who said he is “proud to be a Democrat.”

But Harris said he is not in a race against Johnson, per se.

“I don’t know the man and don’t really have any comment on the job he is doing,” Harris said. “I am running against the man, I am running for the office.”

At 74, Harris is the oldest of the slate of nine candidates running for a Statesville City Council seat. He said, however, that his age should not be a factor.

“I’m healthy and don’t feel old at all,” he said.

In an earlier interview, Johnson said he invited competition.

“I think it’s important for as many people as possible to get involved in the process,” he said.

Two of the seats up for grabs in this fall’s election - those in Ward 3 and Ward 6 - each attracted three candidates.

The winner of the Ward 3 seat will serve only two years, as the election is for the final two years of former Councilman A.E. “Pete” Peterson’s term.

Peterson resigned from the council last month for personal reasons, and his seat on the council has sat empty for the past several meetings.

Mayor Costi Kutteh and the rest of the city council re-iterated at the pre-agenda meeting earlier this month that they would wait to see who filed for the seat before they took action in appointing a person, who would fill it until the election winner is sworn-in in December.

Peterson, 82, said he essentially resigned because his age was catching up with him.

The person elected to replace Peterson will be younger than him, and there is a two-in-three chance that person will help Steele in bringing more gender balance to the council.

Two women - Doris A. Allison, 48, and Bonita Eisele, 56, threw their hats in the ring early in the filing period, and 38-year-old Dave Jackson joined them later.

In Ward 6, incumbent Councilman Flake Huggins will have to stave off the campaigns of Donnetta Lavette Watkins and Jaun (J.D.) Williams to keep his seat for a second term.

A win by Watkins, 43, or Allison would be a first by a black woman in Statesville City Council race.

If Williams, 33, is the ward’s top vote-getter, he would be the city council’s youngest member.

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Posted on 07/23/07 at 01:43 PM
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