In Smyrna, five candidates have qualified for mayor to succeed longtime Mayor Arthur Max Bacon.
After devoting six years to Smyrna’s City Council, Bacon was first elected as mayor in 1985, following his father Arthur T. Bacon who served as mayor until he died in 1985.
Mayoral candidates include Alex Backry, a retiree; Ryan Campbell, a business owner; Laura M. Mireles, a business owner/contractor; Mayor Pro Tem and Ward 1 Councilman Derek Norton, director of Governmental Affairs for the Medical Association of Georgia and Steven Rasin, a real estate consultant.
Though not all have them, their campaign websites are RyanForSmyrna.com for Campbell, mireles4mayor.org for Mireles, VoteNorton.org for Norton and SteveRasin.com for Rasin.
With Norton running for mayor, only one person has qualified for Ward 1 - Glenn Pickens, a project manager, whose campaign website is ElectGlennPickens.com.
For Ward 2, incumbent Andrea G. Blustein, an associate broker, has qualified but with no campaign website. Another Ward 2 contender is Austin Wagner, a consultant, with his campaign website being AustinForSmyrna.com.
Ward 3’s Maryline Blackburn, an entertainer, will be seeking re-election. Her campaign website is VoteMarylineBlackburn.com. She will face Travis Lindley, a business owner, who has qualified with the campaign website of LindleyForSmyrna.com.
Facing no opposition, incumbent Charles “Corkey” Welch, an engineer, has qualified for Ward 4 but with no campaign website.
In Ward 5, incumbent Susan D. Wilkinson faces competition from Suz Kaprich, a nurse executive, and James “JD” Smith, owner of Neighbors Feed & Seed Supply Company in Smyrna.
Wilkinson’s campaign email is SusanForSmyrna5@gmail.com with Kaprich’s campaign website as VoteSuzKaprich.com and Smith’s campaign website as JDforSmyrna.org.
In Ward 6, incumbent Tim Gould, who is employed in manufacturing equipment sales, is unopposed.
With Ward 7 Councilman Ron Fennel not seeking re-election after first being chosen in 2011, two candidates have qualified - David W. Monroe, who is employed in hotel management, and Lewis A. Wheaton, a professor.
Their campaign websites are MonroeForSmyrnaGa.org and VoteWheaton.com.
Information: SmyrnaGa.gov
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