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C.P. challenger takes tiny lead By Bill Kettler CENTRAL POINT � In the race for mayor, city council member Carol Fischer held a razor-thin lead over incumbent Bill Walton Tuesday night in a race that was too close to call. Computer problems at the Jackson County Elections Department prevented more complete results before press time. With 18.3 percent of the vote tallied, Fischer led by just 5 votes, 696 to 691. Other than Richard Halley, who ran unopposed for a City Council seat, the only clear winner in Central Point seemed to be Kay Harrison, the top vote gatherer in a four-way race for two at-large council seats. Harrison had 751 votes; former mayor Rusty McGrath had 557; and first-time candidate Bill Ward had 525. Lloyd Beichner, who dropped out of the race too late to be removed from the ballot, had 243 votes. The top two vote finishers will win seats on the council. Harrison said she thought the race between her and McGrath would be closer, "but I expected to do fairly well." She said the close mayoral race did not surprise her. "I think some people underestimated Carol and the support she has," Harrison said. "I knew it was going to be tight. "There�s a lot of people in town who like Carol, and they�ve been here a long time. There�s a lot of people who don�t like how Bill (Walton) does things." During the campaign, Walton encouraged voters to look at his achievements during the past two years. Fischer appealed to voters to "take back their city." Fischer said the tight race didn�t surprise her, and thanked voters for their support. "That�s all I can tell you for now," she said. "Everything�s so close, even the national races." Walton, too, said the close count didn�t surprise him. "I didn�t really run, in a sense," he said. "She had posters all over town." The close election marked the latest chapter in a political saga that began when Walton ousted Rusty McGrath from the mayor�s chair in 1998. In that election, Walton challenged McGrath�s support for continued growth and development in Central Point. Voters put Walton in the mayor�s chair along with a slate of new council members who supported his call for slower growth in Central Point. Fischer was the last surviving member of a council that often voted unanimously to support McGrath�s stance on growth and development. Walton angered many people in town when the council approved a controversial ordinance that banned smoking in most public places. Walton and two council members who supported the smoking ordinance survived a recall in March. Voters affirmed the ordinance in September. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.