Race is on to replace Trudeau

After 20 years, Grovetown Mayor Dennis Trudeau has decided to step aside to let someone else take the helm.

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"I am absolutely positively positive, positive that I am not going to run anymore," said Trudeau, who has served six consecutive terms as mayor since 1988.

Two city councilmen have voiced their intentions to be elected to the mayor's seat in November.

Councilman David Daughtry, who has served nearly 17 years on the council, said he plans to run for the seat, which opens for qualifying Monday.

George James, who was elected to a four-year term on the city council in November 2005, said he also will resign to run for the mayor's title. James served two terms on the council from 1988 through 1991 and resigned from his third term in late 2003 to pursue the county commission District 4 seat, which was won by Lee Anderson.

Qualifying for the mayor's office and the city council seats currently occupied by Daughtry and Dick Manion will open at 9 a.m. Monday and continue through 4:30 p.m. Aug. 31. The election will be held Nov. 6.

If James resigns his council seat, City Clerk Shirley Beasley said a replacement to fill his unexpired term will be held Nov. 6 but will be treated as a separate election included on the same ballot as the regular election.

Qualifying for candidates to fill James' term, which expires at the end of 2009, will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 10 and 11, and from 9 a.m. to noon Sept. 12, Beasley said.

Manion said he plans to seek a second term on the council. He was elected in July 2006 to fill the unexpired term of City Councilwoman Marjorie Adams, who died in February 2006.

Barry Davis, who ran against Manion in 2006, said he is considering another run for city council but is unsure whether he can balance his job at Wachovia Mortgage Corp. and an elected office.

Anyone interested in running for one of the seats must live in the Grovetown city limits and be registered to vote in the city.

The qualifying fee for the mayoral race is $198, and the fee is $108 to qualify to run for a city council seat.

For more information, call Grovetown City Hall at (706) 863-4576.