CRESTVIEW — It was mostly out with the old, in with the new as three new members were elected to the Crestview City Council. Council President Benjamin Iannucci III and Charles Baugh Jr. were defeated by Joe Blocker and Mickey Rytman respectively.
Both Baugh and Iannucci are relatively new Crestview residents, while Blocker and Rytman are lifelong citizens, an issue that was raised during a recent candidates forum hosted by the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce.
In the race for a third council seat being vacated by Tim Grandberry, Shannon Hayes, son of the late councilman Sam Hayes, defeated Bill Cox to represent precinct 2.
"I know Dad is smiling up there," Hayes said after the results were announced.
Betsy Roy managed to hold on to her position as Crestview city clerk following stiff competition by Wanda Davis, winning by 24 votes after trailing by 32 when the first results were announced.
In Laurel Hill, Councilman Robby Adams defeated challenger Mike Blizzard to take the mayor's seat, which is being vacated by Joan Smith who ran for city council. She was defeated by current Council Chairman Larry Hendren and former councilman Johnny James.
Thanking the voters for their support, Rytman said he didn't expect to defeat incumbent Baugh.
"It was the first time I ever got out on the street and held up signs," Rytman said. "It was a good feeling to hear so many people blow their horns."
Hayes said he wants to get out and talk to the citizens "and see what the issues are." One of his first goals is to resolve the ownership issue of the alleyway behind the Alatex Building, he said.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Brian Hughes at 850-682-6524 or brianh@crestviewbulletin.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbBrian
Election Results
Preliminary counts with all seven precincts reporting.
Crestview voter turnout: 1,324 of 12,652, or 10.5 percent.
Crestview City Clerk
Wanda Davis 557
J.T. Kinsey 163
Betsy Roy 581
Crestview City Council, Pct. 1
Joe Blocker 494
Landrum Edwards 353
Benjamin Iannucci III 424
Crestview City Council, Pct. 2
Bill Cox 540
Shannon Hayes 742
Crestview City Council, Pct. 3
Charles Baugh Jr. 536
Mickey Rytman 762
Laurel Hill voter turnout: 115 of 341, or 33.7 percent
Laurel Hill Mayor
Robby Adams 69
Mike Blizzard 46
Laurel Hill City Council (top two winners will be seated)
Larry Hendren 91
Johnny James 83
Joan Smith 33
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview council gets three new faces