Published Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2001
BRIEFLY
GOP Wygant retains mayor title over Morrow
STONEBORO -- The candidates for mayor of Stoneboro are good friends with nearly identical views, but voters had no trouble deciding between them.Mayor Thomas R. Wygant, a Republican, will keep his title, taking 71 percent of the votes over Democratic challenger Brenda E. Morrow.
Blatt wins four-year term as township tax collector
HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP -- Incumbent township tax collector William Blatt was re-elected.Blatt, a Republican, defeated Democrat Joy L. Allen.
Blatt, 102 Vine Ave., was appointed three years ago to fill a vacancy and won a two-year term in 1999.
2 newcomers win, 2 board members return
SHARPSVILLE -- Two new faces will grace Sharpsville Area School Board next year, while an incumbent will bid the board good-bye.Six candidates vied for four seats the board.
Donna Murray, 70, of 1603 Hall Ave., Sharpsville, was the top vote-getter with 1,283.
Coming in close behind was incumbent Terry Karsonovich, 45, of 60 Nora St., Clark, with 1,233. Karsonovich will begin his second term.
Newcomer Charles "Chaz" Rice, 42, of 1428 Ridge Ave., Sharpsville, cap-tured 1,120 votes while incumbent David DeForest, 50, of 920 Hazen Road, Sharpsville, retained his seat with 893 votes. DeForest joined the board in Sept. 1996 and was re-elected in 1997.
Incumbent Dr. Daniel L. Baker, 48, of 3504 Cardinal Drive, South Py-matuning Township, came in fifth place with 877 votes. Baker served on the board for eight years.
Former school director Robert A. Donatelli’s name appeared on the ballot although he resigned in September. Donatelli captured 734 votes, putting him in sixth place.
Benham fails in write-in bid; incumbents re-elected
FARRELL -- Sadie R. Benham couldn’t muster the support she received in the primary for a general election write-in campaign for a seat on Farrell Area School Board.The four candidates listed on the ballot -- Lester Robinson Jr., Ronald Weston, Edward D. Zappa and Rose Marie Branca, all incumbents -- easily outpaced her.
All candidates are Democrats.
Zappa eclipsed Ms. Benham by only one vote in the primary, but his sup-porters came out Tuesday and he tallied 78 more votes than the fourth-place finisher, Mrs. Branca.
Ms. Benham scored 355 votes written in as "Sadie Benham," and about 115 variations that she might have been able to convince a judge were in-tended as votes for her, such as "Sadiebenham," "Benham Sadie," "Sadie Benam," "Sadie Benan" "Sadie Bennam," "Sadie Brennan" and "Sadie Dink-ens."
Downing, 3 incumbents win school board seats
GREENVILLE -- Newcomer Michael Downing won a four-year seat on Greenville Area School Board.Incumbents Nancy Kremm, Jo Ann Beh and Brian W. Scott were re-elected.
Incumbent Joy Miller came up short in the five-way race for four seats.
Scott was also unopposed in his bid for a two-year seat, garnering 2,025 votes in the district that includes Greenville and Hempfield and Sugar Grove Townships.
He will have to decide which term he wants to serve.
Shaffer wins fourth ward council seat over Caporali
GROVE CITY -- Republican Thomas D. Shaffer defeated Democrat David S. Caporali to represent Grove City’s fourth ward on council.Shaffer, 55, of 323 Bessemer Ave., is in a familiar position. He represented the ward for two terms before retiring Councilwoman Lois Foust won the seat.
Caporali, 38, of 213 Madison Ave., said before the election that his party affiliation wouldn’t help him in the predominately Republican town.
The fourth-ward council race was the only contest in the borough. Bruce Bennett was elected mayor, a position he was appointed to after the death of Marvin Baker.
Smith, Adsit take board seats; veteran defeated
OTTER CREEK, SALEM TOWNSHIPS -- Two newcomers won seats on the Commodore Perry Area School Board, besting a longtime incumbent.Pamela S. Smith, 29, of 187 Osborne Road, and Cathy Adsit, 53, of 540 Greenville Road, both of Salem Township, took out Christopher Moinet, 47, of 285 Sheakleyville Road, Salem Township, who had served on the board for 12 years.
Mrs. Smith, who cross-filed, gleaned 43 percent of the votes, with 201.
Mrs. Adsit, a Republican, received 146 votes, and Moinet, a Democrat, garnered 117.
Johnson beats Boitnott in Lackawannock contest
LACKAWANNOCK TOWNSHIP -- Democrat Robert Homer Johnson, Jr. beat out Republican Bob Boitnott Jr. for a six-year Lackawannock Township supervisor seat.Johnson, 41, of 89 Sunset Road, is a truck driver and political neophyte. He will take the seat of Supervisor Brad McAdams, who did not seek an-other term.
Riethmiller likely winner of tax collector post
LACKAWANNOCK TOWNSHIP -- After a write-in campaign for Lacka-wannock Township tax collector it appears Nancy Riethmiller won the posi-tion.Ms. Riethmiller received at least 166 write-in votes as of late Tuesday. Jody Scopack garnered at least 72 write-in votes.
Barbara Estman, former tax collector, received 124 votes. Ms. Estman re-signed from her position in August but it was too late to have her name removed from the ballot. Neither Ms. Estman nor the township supervisors ever gave a reason for her resignation.
Ms. Scopack has been the acting tax collector since Ms. Estman’s resig-nation.
French wins E. Lack spot on Mercer school board
EAST LACKAWANNOCK TOWNSHIP -- Albert French won the four-year seat representing East Lackawannock and Jefferson townships on Mercer Area School Board.French, who won the Republican nomination in the primary, bested Cyndi L. Watson in the race.
Sheatz wins supervisor post to succeed Lyons
FRENCH CREEK TOWNSHIP -- Gerald L. Sheatz, 65, of 6 Blair Lane, was elected French Creek Township supervisor over Charles E. Reynolds, 66, of 13 W. Creek Road.Sheatz will fill a position created by the decision of longtime Supervisor Dennis Lyons not to run again.
Lewis wins race to fill Sandy Creek post
SANDY CREEK TOWNSHIP -- Robert D. Lewis, 41, of 747 Salem Road was elected Sandy Creek Township supervisor by 16 votes over Mark C. Thompson, 63, of 93 Thompson Road.Lewis will replace supervisor appointee Roy Holsapfel who chose not to run. He took the position when Supervisor Charles Carey died last summer.
Klein wins fourth term as township auditor
MILL CREEK TOWNSHIP -- Incumbent William P. Klein, 46, of 726 Klein Road will serve his fourth term as Mill Creek Township auditor after beating opponent John G. McCall, 54, of 2161 Georgetown Road.Klein polled 75 votes and McCall garnered 47 votes.
Herald Staff