THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 11, 1995 TAG: 9510110653
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
When the City Council convenes with two new members in December, Donald Y. Cherry will provide the fresh face and Zack D. Robertson Jr. will supply the voice of experience.
Voters in Wards 1 and 2 chose the men Tuesday to replace the two respected council members who are stepping down at the end of their terms, David P. Bosomworth and W.L. ``Pete'' Hooker.
Cherry ran away from the field in the three-way 1st Ward race, collecting 323 votes in preliminary totals. Unofficial numbers showed Paul A. Bryant finishing second with 103 votes and Randall Sherman following with 74.
In the 2nd Ward, Robertson garnered a commanding 256 votes to Linda Barrett's 160, preliminary numbers showed.
Winning re-election in non-contested races Tuesday were Mayor H. Rick Gardner with 971 votes, 3rd Ward Councilman Jimi Sutton with 112 votes and 4th Ward Councilwoman Myrtle Rivers with 223 votes.
Overall turnout was roughly 16 percent of the city's 8,451 registered voters, with higher participation rates in the two contested wards. About a fourth of registered voters turned out in the 1st and 2nd wards.
Cherry spent much of the afternoon at the Pasquotank-Camden library courting potential voters.
When the polls closed at 7:30 p.m., he crossed the street to the County Courthouse, where he kept track of incoming votes by scribbling with a felt-tip pen on one of his campaign cards. When his victory became clear shortly after 8 p.m., Cherry said he was ``humbled.''
``I look forward to working with the City Council,'' said the 44-year-old Realtor. ``I look forward to serving all the people of Elizabeth City.
``I feel a certain amount of relief. I've learned a lot. It's been a good experience. Hopefully, we can pull together and move Elizabeth City forward.''
Robertson, at his home, said he was happy with the results but disappointed by the turnout in his ward.
``I can understand in an off-year like this,'' said Robertson, who earlier said that his victory would depend on getting enough of his supporters to the polls. ``I'm satisfied that we got that much.''
Robertson, 60, who served two terms on the council before sitting out the 1993 election, said he looked forward to returning to the board. He said he would sit down soon with the mayor and departing Councilman Bosomworth to get briefed on the issues facing the council.
One of few twists in Tuesday's election was the experimental use of new automatic voting machines on a trial offer from Election Products Inc. The machines allowed election workers to tally votes in minutes.
Some glitches surfaced. After a computer accidentally closed down twice in precinct 1B, Board of Elections Supervision Glenda Crane said, the machine recorded a lower number of total voters than the number of votes cast for mayor in the precinct.
Crane said the totals from the precinct were recalculated, but showed roughly the same proportion for each candidate.
A few voters were apprehensive about the equipment until they got the hang of it.
``Some of the people who aren't very familiar with technological items were a little nervous at first,'' said Bill Ochs of Election Products Inc. But reluctant voters were fine, he said, after receiving some ``moral support.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Donald Cherry
Zack Robertson
by CNB