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November 04. 2014 8:54PM LOCAL CITIES GOLD HILL A small voter pool and ballots nearly evenly split between two candidates for the Gold Hill mayor's seat made for one of the county's closest races in Tuesday's election results. Mayor Jan Fish took the lead according to numbers released at 10 p.m., with 168 votes to challenger Mike Stanley's 130. Stanley, a former council member and construction inspector for the city of Medford, declined to comment except to say he would accept the nomination by voters should election results shift in his favor. Stanley, in recent weeks, declined to discuss city politics or campaign for his seat over concerns with issues at City Hall. Both Stanley and Fish have been largely unavailable for comment in recent weeks. Fish, co-owner of the Laurel Hill Golf Course and a council member for the past decade, did not return calls seeking comment on Tuesday's election results. — Buffy Pollock JACKSONVILLE Two newcomers to elective office and a political veteran had greater than 100-vote margins over two other challengers in early returns for three at-large, four-year City Council seats. Ken Gregg led the field with 850 votes, or 25.8 percent. Incumbent councilman and former mayor Jim Lewis had 739 (22.5 percent), and Brad Bennington garnered 647 (19.7 percent). Political newcomer Ted Trujillo had 511 votes (15.5 percent) and former mayor Clara Wendt polled 511 (15.5 percent). “However I did it, I must have struck a chord,” said Gregg, who was the only candidate in the voter’s pamphlet. “My big thing was to do meet-and-greets.” Gregg said he wants to determine the feasibility of moving City Hall into the courthouse building and look at other large projects. Bennington said he appreciated that the contest was non-partisan. He noted that candidates and citizens gathered at the Bella Union for pizza following the council meeting earlier in the evening. Lewis, who served as Jacksonville's mayor for 22 years, said, “I’m honored that the voters saw fit to return me.” Wendt said she will continue to question the council at meetings. “You always get answers, ‘Don’t worry about that, that's being taken care of,'” said Wendt. “I just wanted another woman on the council.” Trujillo said he didn’t do a lot of campaigning. "Realistically, the most qualified guys did win,” said Trujillo, who plans to seek a council seat in 2016. — Tony Boom TALENT Darby Stricker appeared headed to the mayor’s seat in election returns. Stricker had 911 votes, or 53.9 percent, to incumbent Mayor Bill Cecil’s 769 votes, or 45.5 percent, in unofficial 10 p.m. tallies. Cecil defeated Stricker for the mayor’s post by 62 votes in 2010. “I feel pretty excited about the result. I want to wait for the next count, but it looks pretty good to me,” said Stricker. “I had a good team and we had a very comprehensive strategy and my team kept me on track throughout the entire campaign.” “Whatever way it goes, that’s the process,” said Cecil, who was waiting for more complete returns before commenting on the result. Stricker resigned from her City Council seat Oct. 15 when she learned a city charter provision required candidates already in an elected position to resign if they sought a different elected post. The City Council will appoint a replacement for Stricker. Incumbent Councilwoman Joan Dean was handily leading her opponent, Meadowsweet Levi, in the race for Council Position 3, the only contested City Council seat. Dean had 960 votes, or 69.6 percent, to Levi’s 414 votes, or 30 percent. “I’m very pleased and I’m anxious to serve another four years,” said Dean. “There will be new people on the council. We’ll have to see how we will all work together.” — Tony Boom CENTRAL POINT Despite close numbers in a race for the city's only contested council seat, both candidates agreed moments after preliminary results that voters will get a candidate who cares about the city whatever the outcome. Former Councilwoman Kay Harrison was trailing 112 votes behind newcomer Brandon Thueson in her bid to return to office as of 10 p.m. Tuesday. Theuson had 1,698 votes, or 51.3 percent, and Harrison had 1,586 votes, or 47.9 percent. Thueson, 33, a lawyer for the Jackson County District Attorney's Office, said he was humbled by the amount of voter support he received. "I've been telling my friends, win or lose, I just don't want to get blown out. I think I owe a big thanks to a lot of friends and supporters that helped me get out to about 2,000 Central Point voters," Thueson said. "I felt like I started out at quite a disadvantage being a newcomer to Central Point politics. ... Whoever ends up winning, the voters will be getting a councilor that really cares about this community. That's the most important thing." Having faced close election counts before, Harrison conceded soon after the first results, congratulating Thueson. The 62-year-old community volunteer and Harry and David employee said her only disappointment was that she wouldn't get to use her decade-plus experience on the council to benefit the city. "Everything I hear from Brandon he's a really nice guy. Obviously, I had really hoped to get back in office and use some of my experience to help with all the things the city has coming down the pipe right now. That's the main reason I ran," Harrison said. "Brandon and I obviously both had a substantial amount of support in the community, so either way the people get a good person."  — Buffy Pollock http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141104/NEWS/141109833 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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