By Maria Rachal
Incumbent Marylin Alexander has won a third consecutive term to the Lexington City Council and is joined by two new members – Michele Hentz, a local non-profit worker, and Leslie Straughan, a school board veteran.
Hentz led the night with 1,273 votes, followed by Alexander with 1,162, and Straughan with 1,117.
The three winners came from a field of five that also included newcomer Mollie Fox, who won 944 votes, and incumbent Camille Miller, who missed re-election with 807 votes.
Though Hentz is new to Lexington politics, the chief financial officer at Rockbridge Area Health Center moved to the area in 1997 and clearly amassed a strong support base for this election.
“I feel that I’ve been in this community now for almost 20 years,” she said. “I have so many supporters, I’ve worked with so many people. And I’ve really tried to reach out during this campaign to get to know people and talk to people as I went around.”
Alexander, the only African-American on the council, grew up in Lexington and has served on the city council since 2008. She said that while she will miss having Miller as a colleague on council, as she has been for four years, Alexander is optimistic about the new members.
“I look forward to a new year, starting out fresh,” Alexander said. “I’m so appreciative of all the people who supported not only myself but the other candidates that we had running here for city council as well as mayor.”
Straughan, the third highest vote getter, is a former chair of the Lexington City School Board and helped see the Waddell Elementary renovation project to completion.
“I’m very excited about being a part of city council and look forward to getting on with some of these projects, particularly the infrastructure,” Straughan said. “One of the things I heard out campaigning the most was probably about road quality.”
The new city council members will join David Sigler, J. Patrick Rhamey, Jr., and Charles “Chuck” Smith, the unsuccessful mayoral candidate, all three of whose terms expire in 2018.
The council will serve under the direction of mayor-elect Frank Friedman, who will be the tie-breaker for the six-person council votes.