GAINESVILLE — Gainesville businessman Zack Thompson has been elected the newest member of Gainesville City Council, winning a two-man contest for the Ward 2 post being vacated by longtime councilman Bob Hamrick.
Thompson garnered 75.08% of the vote to Emory Turner's 24.64%.
Thompson, the owner of Pro Touch Landscapes and Tap It Growlers in Gainesville, said he is ready to get to work for the city of Gainesville.
"I think I'm ready to move forward and help Gainesville move forward in a positive direction," said Thompson. "It's been a fun race and I'm super excited about the next step."
Thompson will take his oath of office on January 5, 2016.
Brooks, Cheek face Dec. 1 run-off
Meanwhile, there will be a run-off for the Ward 3 city council post between the top two vote-getters in a field of four candidates.
Retired social worker Barbara Brooks took the highest percentage of votes at 43.82%. She'll face Andre Cheek, who works at the Department of Juvenile Justice, in a December 1 run-off; Cheek captured 27.79% of the vote in Tuesday's election.
The other candidates, Lemuel Betancourt and Montine Smith, took 19.77% and 8.02% of the vote, respectively.
Brooks said she was grateful for the support of the Gainesville voters and she feels confident that she'll win the post in the run-off.
"Gainesville has treated me so well...all the years that I've been here that I have to give something back to Gainesville," said Brooks. "What I really would like to see is unification between Ward 3 and the rest of them. I'd like for Ward 3 to become part of Gainesville - it is as far as zip code is concerned, but I mean culturally."
Reached via email, Cheek said she was geared up for the run-off.
"My campaign strategy won't change, we'll continue to do the same things we've been doing," said Cheek. However, I'll reach out to those who didn't vote for me and solicit their support, as well as encourage those who voted for me to go back to the polls and bring others with them."
The winner of the runoff will replace longtime councilwoman Myrtle Figueras, who did not seek re-election.
Bruner returns to Ward 5 post
Ward 5 incumbent Ruth Bruner was unopposed in Tuesday's election, so she will return for another term on Gainesville City Council. Bruner received 98.35% of the vote in the municipal race; there were 26 write-in votes for Ward 5.
(AccessWDUN's Ken Stanford contributed to this story.)
http://accesswdun.com/article/2015/11/347277/thompson-wins-gainesville-council-ward-2-post-brooks-cheek-head-to-run-off-for-ward-3