Four incumbents, two newcomers elected to Calera City Council

Published 7:56 pm Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Incumbents Ernest Montgomery, Bobby Joe Phillips, David Bradshaw, Mike Roberson, and newcomers Chris Bunn and Ed Gentry were elected to the Calera City Council during the city’s Nov. 10 municipal elections.

The men beat out incumbent Jerry Davis and candidates Eric Snyder and Alan Watts.

The six councilmen were elected to serve on the city’s first six-member, at-large City Council, and will be sworn into office before the end of the year, according to election officials. Before the Nov. 10 election, the City Council was composed of five ward representatives.

More than 1,050 of the city’s nearly 5,800 registered voters, or about 18 percent, turned out for election day, which was the city’s second municipal election in little more than a year.

The U.S. Department of Justice threw out the city’s 2008 election results after it ruled a Calera redistricting plan eliminated the city’s only black voting district.

However, the Justice Department approved the Nov. 10 election after Calera officials proposed the city’s shift to a six-member, at-large City Council. The six candidates with the most votes obtained council seats.

Jon Graham was confirmed as Calera’s new mayor Sept. 23, after nobody qualified to run against him.

Vote totals for the six men were:

Ernest Montgomery: 206

Chris Bunn: 190

David Bradshaw: 123

Mike Roberson: 113

Ed Gentry: 106

Bobby Joe Phillips: 104

Alan Watts: 90

Eric Snyder: 79

Jerry Davis: 43