Outgoing Gleason Board Members Bid Farewell, Welcome New Mayor And Aldermen

BY DAVID FISHER

david@dresdenenterprise.com

GLEASON (November 12) — Outgoing members of the Gleason Board of Mayor and Aldermen bid remaining board members and bity employees farewell, during Thursday night’s regular monthly meeting.

In the aftermath of the November 3 elections, Mayor Diane Poole was defeated by Charles Anderson.

Out of the eight candidates vying for a seat on the Board, Keith Radford is the only alderman re-elected to office. Aldermen new to the board are Danny Browning, Wade Cook and Tommy Hodges.

Those aldermen choosing not to seek re-election were Jim Phelps, Doug Johnson and Jerry (Bubba) Dunn Jr.

Alderman Johnson said, “It’s been a pleasure to have been in office these past four years.” Johnson stated he believes the new members elected to serve on the Gleason Board “are good people.”

Outgoing Mayor Poole said, “We’ve had our ups and downs and haven’t always agreed on everything, but we’ve accomplished a lot.”

Addressing the newly-elected board members, she said, “I think it’s an honor to be chosen by the people of the town. You need to stand up and do what you think is right. That’s all God asks us to do. It’s taken a lot of praying over the last eight years, but the Lord has seen me through it, and I give Him the praise and the glory for Gleason rebounding. He’s taken care of Gleason and put His loving hands on us.”

“I appreciate all of the workers,” Poole said. “Some of them have not had equipment to work with, but now they have a few tools.” She stated the Fire Department has received equipment upgrades, and Tony Terrell got the sewer camera he needed.

Alderman Phelps lamented that Dog Park Committee member Ronnie Arnold died before he saw the dog park completed.

Terrell expressed his appreciation to board members for the service they rendered to the City of Gleason during their time in office.