Suburbs

Certainly, the biggest news across the suburbs this week was the elections. And even though there was not the drama in the outlying cities that accompanied the national races, it’s hard to ignore the results.

The winners basically are set up to oversee their individual municipalities for the next four years.

To most, the local races seem less important than the U.S. House and Senate races, or even the state legislators. But, in many ways, a voter’s influence on things probably has a little more weight at the local level. And the suburbs can offer that impact more than other government entities.

Call a city hall and ask to speak to a department head or the mayor, and you are probably going to get closer to the person you called than reaching out to a national politician.

Anyway, that local impact was at stake this week in elections – representation.

Three of the cities chose new terms for mayor, and while there was some opposition, truly there were no surprises. David Parsons won his race in Bartlett as soon as no one else filed a qualifying petition for mayor, allowing Parsons to coast into his second term.

In Lakeland, Josh Roman turned aside what was probably the strongest challenge when he defeated Commissioner Connie McCarter, who has provided an alternative voice to issues while she has been on the Board of Commissioners. She is often the dissenting vote on the board.

Roman captured about 60% of the vote, preventing McCarter from becoming a second-generation Lakeland mayor.

Her father, Jim Bomprezzi, served as the city’s mayor previously.

Tony Salvaggio did follow in his father’s footsteps, winning the Germantown mayor’s race on Tuesday over former city firefighter Edgar Babian.

Charles Salvaggio, Tony’s father, was Germantown mayor from 1989 to 1994.

Babian ran primarily on one issue; he was bothered about a development adjacent to his neighborhood in the southeast part of Germantown. That single plank in his platform wasn’t enough for him to overcome the Salnvaggio name and the issues in Germantown that the mayor-elect made part of his campiaign.

Salvaggio carried about 79% of the vote.

In some Collierville cases, we won’t know if the incumbents held their positions until a Dec. 8 runoff. Alderman Charles Hall in Position 1 and Jewel Jordan, the alderman in Position 2, finished second in their respective races. Hall will face Tim Goddard in one runoff, while Jordan will try to overcome Steve Christensen, the top finisher for that office, on Tuesday.

One other matter that remains in question from suburban races. We still don’t know if Lindsey Reap is going to challenge the photo finish that allowed Heather Long to win a commissioner’s seat in Lakeland.

In the race for commissioner, Lakeland voters were allowed to pick two of the three candidates. Jeremy Burnett comfortably finished first, so he is assured one of the spots. However, according to the unofficial results, Long finished second with 2,380 votes, only five votes better that Reap’s 2,375.

That scant margin sure seems worthy of having a recount for a seat on the Lakeland Board of Commissioners.

And also, to make doubly sure the numbers are correct.

Who knows? Maybe the figures will look slightly different when the Shelby County Election Commission certifies the results. - Suburbs editor Clay Bailey

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