July 12 - 18, 2013
bringing the local news home to northwest Guilford County since 1996 • nwobserver.com •
Candidate pool grows as filing period hits mid-point Filing period began on July 5 and will end July 19
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Left to right: Michael Tatum, candidate for Stokesdale mayor; Jim Kinneman, candidate for Oak Ridge Town Council; Mike Stone, candidate for Oak Ridge Town Council; Cheri Pikett, candidate for Summerfield Town Council; Tim Sessoms, candidate for Summerfield mayor.
by PATTI STOKES NW GUILFORD – Filing for municipal elections began at noon on Friday, July 5, and will end at noon on Friday, July 19. Thus far, five candidates have filed for open town council seats in Stokesdale, Oak Ridge and Summerfield. Michael Tatum, 35, has filed for mayor of Stokesdale; the mayor’s seat is currently held by Randle Jones, who has served as the town’s mayor for almost 18 of the nearly 22 years he has been on the Stokesdale Town Council. Jones has con-
firmed he will not be running for re-election in November. Tatum says he is definitely not running for mayor because of the money (the mayor in Stokesdale receives $488 each quarter for his services); in fact, he says if he is elected he will not accept any payment the first year he is in office. An assistant vice president for Community One Bank and senior financial analyst, Tatum says he has accepted leadership roles before. “The mayor is a leader and should be a role model for council,” he says.
Tatum says he is very interested in politics, but never thought about running for office until several people in Stokesdale encouraged him to do so. He describes himself as a “Conservative and a family guy,” and places emphasis on faith and family. A Stokesdale resident since 2005, Tatum and his wife have two-year old twin girls. The Northwest Observer has been informed that another candidate for mayor of Stokesdale will be announced
...continued on p. 22
Artist rendering/NWO files
Construction will soon begin
on the new District 1 sheriff’s substation. When completed, the 3,800-square-foot, two-story brick building will include offices, conference space and a detective area. See article on p. 3