Glenn Newsome Is New Mayor

In a contest between two experienced City Council members Glenn Newsome was elected Tuesday to head Monticello’s municipal government as mayor. His mayor pro tem will be incumbent Russell Gross who won his first full term in that capacity over a newcomer to city politics.

Mr. Newsome succeeds three-term Mayor Susan Holmes who did not seek re-election. He tallied 363 votes to 258 for Jacqueline Bell-Smith for a 56-41 percent majority. Barbara Carmichael, a political newcomer, garnered 19 votes or 3 percent. Mr. Gross defeated Cynthia Miller 340-292, a 54 percent edge.

Three new City Council members and one incumbent will round out the governing body to take the city’s helm in January. In Council District 1 Martha S. Pompey won the seat vacated by Mrs. Bell-Smith. She defeated Allison Hildebrandt by a 62-38 percent margin, or 175-107. The other District One seat will stay in the hands of veteran councilman Bryan Standifer who was unopposed.

In District 2 Katherine Alexander won the seat vacated by Mr. Newsome, defeating Tim Coffey 205-143, or 59-41 percent. Bobby Jacobs, Jr., was unopposed for the other District 2 seat, which had been vacant since Scott Sauls resigned when he moved out of the city.

Though Tuesday’s election was widely viewed as one of the more heated city contests in recent times, voters were less than electrified. Not quite 51 percent, or 655 of the 1,255 city residents eligible to vote, bothered to do so. Of those, 273 voted early or cast absentee ballots.