Decatur's Ward 1 race gets another candidate

By By William F. West / community editor
Feb. 8, 2003
A fourth candidate entered the race on Friday for Decatur's vacant Ward 1 alderman position while a lone candidate automatically will win Decatur's vacant Ward 2 post.
Decatur City Clerk Jinya Lea Clarke said that Max Anderson officially entered the Ward 1 race. Anderson couldn't be reached Friday, the deadline to qualify for the Feb. 18 special election.
Anderson joins Robert Burton, Mikel Denson and Bobby Stevens in the contest. The race is non-partisan.
Burton works at the state Division of Medicaid in Newton; Denson is a telecommunications salesman; Stevens is a contractor and dirt hauler; and Anderson is a dairy farmer.
The four hope to represent an area east of Highway 15. The job became vacant when Alderman Mike Miller resigned last month because he moved out of the city.
Clarke said Friday that only one candidate qualified for the Ward 2 alderman post: Mark Buntyn, a former longtime alderman.
Clarke said Buntyn works in printing in the Philadelphia area.
Buntyn could not be reached for comment.
Ward 2 includes part of Decatur's west side. The Ward 2 position became vacant last month when Alderman Chris Spears resigned; Spears moved out of the city.
Friday also was the deadline to qualify for a Feb. 18 special election in Newton to fill the vacant Ward 3 alderman slot a job that came open after the Jan. 2 death of Alderman Charles Love.
Newton City Clerk Geraldine Seal said no new candidates filed papers on Friday, leaving four people running for the seat that primarily covers Newton's west side.
Campaigning for the position are LaShunda Love, Charles Love's daughter; Jerry Collier; Eric McCalphia; and Eva McDonald. The race is a nonpartisan.
Collier is a chair assembly worker for La-Z-Boy; LaShunda Love runs her father's funeral home; McCalphia is a leather dye cutter for La-Z-Boy; and McDonald owns and operates a day care center.