BLYTHEWOOD – Newcomer to Blythewood politics Trish Hovis was the top vote-getter with 421 votes, and incumbent Rich McKenrick wasn’t far behind with 378 votes to take the two open town council seats in Tuesday’s Blythewood general election.
Candidate Ja’maal Mosely received 337 votes, Corey Mitchell received 326, and Marcus Taylor, 165. Roberta Young, who dropped out of the race in October, received 6 votes. There was 1 write-in.
Hovis is following in the footsteps of her husband, Roger Hovis, who was elected to town council in 2008. She currently serves as chair of the Criminal Justice department at York Technical College. She has also served as assistant vice president at Craigie Incorporated Investment Bankers, and as a parole officer with Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole.
“I’m thrilled to be elected to Blythewood town council. I’ve run twice before, so I guess third time really is the charm,” Hovis said. “I want to thank all of my friends and family for working so hard to help make this happen, and I want to thank the voters of this town for giving me this wonderful chance to serve our community in one of the most meaningful ways I could possibly imagine. I look forward to working really, really hard. I’m going to have a wonderful time tonight celebrating here at San Jose’s with my friends and supporters, then it’s going to be serious business starting tomorrow.”
This will be McKenrick’s second term on council. He previously served on the Blythewood Planning Commission as both chair and vice chair. While on the Planning Commission he was instrumental in in successfully recommending to council one of the most crucial smart growth zoning changes in the town’s history – the legislation that now restricts newly developed residential lots to R-20 zoning (minimum 20,000 sq. ft. lots) eliminating both R-8 (8,000 sq. ft. lots) and R5 (5,000 sq. ft. lots) to help preserve Blythewood’s rural character.
As a member of town council he led an ad hoc committee that formulated the re-write of the Town’s H-Tax policy to reduce the town’s debt and return the town to compliance with state law in its allocation of event and other funding.
He is employed as the general manager for CMH Homes.
“I want to say how appreciative I am of the residents of Blythewood for entrusting me to another four years to serve the town,” McKenrick said. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working for the town and look forward to helping council and the mayor make some great things happen for our community. We have a lot of opportunity before us now, and I believe this council can make the most of it. Thank you to the residents of the town for your support.”
The newly elected council members will be sworn in at the next council meeting on Nov. 24. That is also when the new council-manager form of government will take effect.
This story was updated on Wednesday, Nov. 5 at 3:35 p.m. EST.