By Taelor RyeChester Mayor Charles E. Parker will be retiring after serving the City of Chester for 17 years as a council member and the last 14 years as mayor for a total of 31 years of service.
Mayor Parker’s successor as well as successors for Chester city council member Vanessa Henley and Eastman city council member Bobby Slye—both of whom are also retiring from their positions—were determined at the end of last week through city qualifying.
In elections for Eastman, Chester, Rhine and Chauncey, all candidates for open positions are poised to run unopposed, guaranteeing all candidates’ respective elections.
Qualifying for local elections ended on Thursday, September 3, at 4:00 p.m. for Chauncey and Rhine. Qualifying ended at 12:00 noon on Friday, September 4, in Chester and at 4:30 p.m. on Friday in Eastman.
In Chester, Glynn S. Pittman, Jr., current council member, qualifies for the position of mayor. Additionally, incumbent Susan J. Coley qualifies for Post 1 while Cassandra T. Justice qualifies for Post 2. Andy Goins qualifies for the Post 3 seat, and incumbent Elaine M. Bailey qualifies for Post 4.
For Eastman, District 2’s sole qualifier is incumbent Buddy Pittman. District 3’s only qualifier is incumbent Raymond Mullis. For District 4, Ronnie Woodard is the only citizen who qualifies for the position.
In Rhine, Donald Kennedy qualifies as mayor. Meanwhile, Hardy B. Eady, Jennifer White, Kay Spires and Jeffrey Hulett qualify for the council. Because all are running unopposed, Rhine will have a completely different city council and mayor from last year.
Harrell Burch qualifies as mayor of Chauncey after Carrie Carr’s July 20 resignation, while incumbents Tim Brown and Nellie Battle both qualify for the council.