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November 3, 2009

Henderson re-elected in Cohutta

Jamie Jones

Experience won over youth in the race for mayor of Cohutta.

Don Henderson, who has been the town’s mayor since 1969, defeated political newcomer Wesley Mahan by 65 votes to 30 (61 percent to 28 percent) on Tuesday. There were 11 write-in votes.

Town council incumbents Ben Manis (75 votes) and Gabriel Powers (56 votes) were also re-elected. They did not face opposition. There was one write-in vote for the council.

Henderson did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday night. He told The Daily Citizen last month that during his next four-year term he hopes to finish several projects including a park on donated land next to Cohutta Elementary School, improve recreation and upgrade the fire department.

Since the town regained its charter in 1969, the council has added a community center, garbage collection, police, recreation facilities and volunteer emergency medical service. The town operates on a budget of less than $200,000. Cohutta has a two-man police department and two maintenance workers, but the other services are manned by volunteers. Members of the Town Council are unpaid.

Mahan is a communications sergeant currently serving in Afghanistan with the National Guard.

“I’d like to thank everyone that voted for me and helped out and I look forward to doing this again when I’m actually home and can get behind it,” Mahan wrote in an e-mail. “Thanks.”

He expects to return home soon. Mahan said before the election he could have kept up with his mayoral duties by e-mail and cell phone until he returned to Cohutta. He said he could have conducted council meetings by speaker phone.

The 31-year-old Mahan, who has been stationed in Afghanistan for about a year, said his campaign wasn’t anti-Henderson and added his military travels showed him that small towns can keep their charm while also growing.

“I’ve seen it in Germany, towns that are still small but they have jobs. And when they build a factory, they don’t destroy the small-town ambiance,” Mahan told The Daily Citizen last month. “It’s possible. You just have to want to have a mayor who wants to develop the town but not destroy the town.”

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