Pittsboro keeps Voller as mayor

Incumbents, newcomer elected to board

PITTSBORO -- Mayor Randy Voller won re-election, but the three running mates he endorsed for the Town Board lost.

Incumbent Commissioners Gene T. Brooks and Clinton E. Bryan kept their seats. Newcomer Hugh Harrington also won.

Voller, a developer, was challenged by Christopher Bradshaw, a chemist, and Max G. Cotten, a retired school administrator and current Town Board member.

Though Voller had the most votes, more people voted against him than for him. He received 416 votes, while Bradshaw and Cotten received a combined 534 votes.

Attempts to reach Voller on Tuesday night were unsuccessful.

In the race for three Pittsboro Town Board seats, Brooks and Bryan faced challengers Michele Tracy Berger, Jim Hinkley and Gary Simpson -- running with Voller as part of a slate backed by planned-growth organization Pittsboro Together -- as well as challenger Harrington.

"I'm disappointed with how things came out, but not unexpected because old Pittsboro came out of the woodwork," said Hinkley, 73, a retired city, regional and state planner. "They were led by the [land transfer tax] crowd."

Hinkley blamed his slate's loss on the opposition, who he said led a "sleazy campaign."

Someone mailed Pittsboro residents postcards personally attacking the Pittsboro Together slate, he said.

"They accused me of being against bringing jobs to Pittsboro," he said.

Hinkley is worried the Town Board will allow more development in Pittsboro, which is out of wastewater capacity.

"I really feel for the town of Pittsboro," he said.

Heather Johnson, of the Chatham Conservative Voice, which endorsed Bradshaw for mayor, was happy about the election's outcome even though her candidate did not win.

"We saved the town," she said as she celebrated with others at the Carolina Brewery in Pittsboro.

Pittsboro's election bucks the latest Triangle trend, where voters in Cary and Raleigh elected town boards that support slower, planned growth. The Chatham County Board of Commissioners also supports a slow growth platform.

Maja Kricker, chairwoman of the county's board of elections, said challengers could ask for a recount if they lose by less than 5 percent.