By Bill Short
Four aldermen and one school board member won new terms, while two others were defeated in the Nov. 8 Millington city elections.
Aldermen Bethany Huffman and Larry Dagen were each unopposed for re-election to a fourth term and Al Bell to a third term in Positions 1, 4 and 2, respectively.
Alderman Chris Ford defeated his challenger Tom Stephens for Position 3.
School Board member Cody Childress was unopposed for re-election to a fourth term in Position 4.
Brian McGovern and Mandy Compton defeated School Board members Greg Ritter and Larry Jackson for Positions 3 and 6, respectively.
Debby Clifton was the unopposed candidate for the Position 2 School Board seat occupied by C. J. Haley, who did not seek re-election to a fourth term.
Huffman received 1,857 votes, and 39 voters cast write-in ballots.
Dagen got 1,885 votes, and 25 write-in ballots were cast.
Bell received 1,787 votes, and there were 33 write-in ballots cast.
Ford got 1,503 votes, and Stephens got 571, while 14 voters cast write-in ballots.
Childress received 1,804 votes, and 18 write-in ballots were cast.
McGovern got 1,208 votes, and Ritter got 916. Eight voters cast write-in ballots.
Compton received 1,114 votes, and Jackson got 1,013, while five voters cast write-in ballots.
Clifton got 1,799 votes, and 21 write-in ballots were cast.
Ford thanked the city’s residents for “entrusting” him to be their alderman in Position 3 for the next four years.
“Millington has been my home for the past 23 years,” he noted, “and it has been a great place for me and my family. I will do everything I can to ensure that our community continues to thrive in a financially and responsible way.”
While declaring that he is “humbled and excited” to serve the Millington community, McGovern said it has “a lot of work to do,” and he is ready to get started.
Compton said that, after serving Millington Municipal Schools as a teacher and administrator, she is “excited,” as well as “truly honored and humbled” to be able to represent the students in her “new role” as a school board member.
She acknowledged that she has “some huge shoes to fill” from Jackson, who she called a “true legend” in Millington.
“Mr. Jackson has represented our students well as a school board member since 2014,” Compton noted, “and I am pleased that I was able to work with him.”
In 2007, after the death of Position 6 Alderman Jim Phillips, the Millington Board of Mayor and Aldermen appointed Ford to serve the remainder of his unexpired term. The city’s voters elected him to a four-year term in 2008 and re-elected him in 2012.
When Millington changed from a mayor-council to a manager-council form of government with the ratification of a new City Charter in 2012, Ford’s fellow aldermen elected him vice mayor.
In 2016, he unsuccessfully challenged Mayor Terry Jones, who was re-elected to a third term.
At its June 13 meeting, the board appointed Ford to fill the vacancy created in Position 3 when Jon Crisp resigned on May 1 to accept his new job as executive director of the Millington Industrial Development Board.
In the November 2013 election of Millington’s first municipal school board, Ritter was an uncontested candidate for an initial three-year term in Position 1.
He was defeated by Roger Christopher in 2016, when he sought re-election to a four-year term.
With Christopher not seeking a second term in the 2020 election, Ritter was defeated by Marlon Evans for the open Position 1 seat.
At its March 2021 meeting, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen unanimously appointed Ritter to fill the vacancy created in School Board Position 3 by Mark Coulter’s resignation.
Coulter was initially elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2020. He resigned in February 2021, citing a need to focus more attention on Par-Cou, the local business he co-owns.
McGovern will serve during the remainder of Coulter’s unexpired term, which ends on Dec. 1, 2024.
In July 2014, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen appointed Jackson to fill the vacancy created in School Board Position 6 after Jennifer Carroll resigned to become a teacher at E. A. Harrold Elementary School.
Four months later, he was elected unopposed to a four-year term and was re-elected in 2018 when he defeated his challenger, Austin Brewer.
