Published: November 06, 2007 11:57 pm      

Hewlett, Bentley win in Greenup

GREENUP — Two Greenup city officials who were appointed to fill vacancies earlier this year will get to hold onto those jobs awhile longer.

Donna Hewlett, a former city council member who was appointed mayor following Charles Veach’s death in January, fended off a challenge from Jesse Leadingham in Tuesday’s general election to win the right to serve the remaining three years of Veach’s term.

In so doing, she became the first woman to be elected mayor in the city’s history.

With all three city precincts reporting, official tallies from the Greenup County Clerk’s Office showed:

Hewlett 225

Leadingham 181

John Bentley II, who was appointed to fill Hewlett’s seat on the council also won re-election, defeated former mayor and council member G.T. “Thurman” Archey.

Bentley, who fell just 23 votes shy of being elected to the council in 2006, was victorious this time by an even narrower margin.

Results from the clerk’s office showed:

Bentley 201

Archey 187

When all the machine votes were counted, Bentley led by only four votes. The addition of the absentee votes bumped his victory margin up slightly.

Bentley will serve the remaining year of Hewlett’s term. His seat will be up for re-election next year, as will the other five positions on the council.

Hewlett and Bentley both said they felt deeply gratified by their victories, particularly given the fact that one of council’s first acts moves under Hewlett’s administration was a politically unpopular one — raising the city’s water rates for the first time since 1987.

Hewlett, 46, a loan officer with Members Choice Credit Union, said she felt her win was a sign that voters understood the increase was necessary for the water system — which services not only the city, but a large portion of rural Greenup County — to continue to function and for the city to make upgrades to the system.

“I’m very proud and very humbled that my peers agreed with the changes we’ve made this year and that they’re confident in the job that I can do for the next three years,” she said.

Hewlett also said she believed Veach, a political mentor, would have been proud of her win. She also said she felt humbled to have received the support of Veach’s family.

“With a lot of the decisions I’ve made this year, I’ve asked myself what Charlie would do,” she said.

Veach, one of Greenup County’s most enduring political figures, had just begun his fourth term as mayor when he died of a stroke on Jan. 9.

Hewlett said that continuing to improve the water system would be among her top priorities during the remainder of her term. The city has spent about $120,000 on upgrades since the council approved the rate increase in March, she said.

Bentley, who chairs the council’s finance committee, which recommended the water rate increase, said he felt the council had “started some really good things to move the city forward” in the past year and that he felt good knowing “that I’m going to be able to continue to be a part of that for another year at least.”

KENNETH HART can be reached at khart@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2654.