Election doesn’t snuff out political fire in Six Mile

The parking lot had barely cleared before allegations of fraud started flying after the people in rural Six Mile came together to elected a new member of the Six Mile Rural Fire District board of directors last Tuesday.

Newcomer Scott McCall, a former volunteer fireman, garnered 86 votes to Gary Elder’s 79 to earn the nod in the advisory election held at the Six Mile Town Hall, and it is expected that McCall will be seated on the board to replace the late Thelma Clardy after his name is submitted to Pickens County Council later this month.

Not so fast, says current board member F.M. Caddell, who has been up to his neck in controversy since his own election to the board last year was greeted with cries of “Fraud!”

“That election was a sham,” Caddell told The Sentinel, “and we’re thinking of filing a formal complaint.

Caddell’s complaint stems from several activities during the election that he views as “suspect” and improper:

-Each elector who showed up was given a numbered sheet of paper and was then told by Board Chairman E.P. Stillwell to tear that sheet in half. “I could have voted twice,” Caddell said. “Anybody could have voted twice.”

-Resident Don Allsep, a co-founder of the original Six Mile Fire District who spoke out against Caddell at a recent board meeting, was given the responsibility of assuring that those who voted were eligible to vote in the district.

-Caddell was not allowed to observe the process closely, he claimed.

-Caddell said he asked for a list of signatures of those who voted so he could compare them with the county’s registration lists and he was told he couldn’t have that list because it “wasn’t public information.”

“I was told I have to get that list from County Administration,” Caddell said, “so I called up (County Administrator) Chappell Hurst and asked him to get that list. I still don’t have it.”

Hurst, reached by The Sentinel on Monday, said the information Caddell requested was definitely public information but he, also, had requested it and hasn’t yet received it.

“They tell me they’re going to mail it to me,” he said late Monday, “but I haven’t seen it yet.”

However, Hurst was skeptical of claims of voter irregularities.

“If there’s been something that impacted the final result,” Hurst said, “I’m sure somebody would look at that. But it’s up to County Council, since this is an advisory referendum n it’s not binding.

“If you have only two or three votes in question, that’s one thing,” he said. “But if what happened didn’t change the outcome, I doubt it’ll change anything at all.”

A simmering feud

The election turned into a political football as a direct result of simmering tensions between the Six Mile Rural Fire Board and the Town of Six Mile and between the Town of Six Mile and Pickens County Council.

Last year, a referendum vote to switch the funding mechanism for rural fire protection in the Six Mile area from the current flat fee per household to a tax millage was tabled, and earlier this year County Council, after reviewing the budget request for the Six Mile Rural Fire District, eliminated funds that would have paid half the salary of the Six Mile Town Clerk, along with costs of legal services and the town’s audit.

Six Mile Mayor Randy, who did not run for re-election in this month’s election and will be replaced by John Wade in that office, accused County Council of cutting the Town of Six Mile’s budget unfairly, and with fire chief Ronnie Duncan and assistant fire chief Aaron Kelley n along with Caddell and other on the other side of the dispute n stirring the fires, the dispute escalated into a near-orgy of allegations and counter-allegations.

Thelma Clardy, who had joined the board earlier this year following the death of Joseph Christ to complete his term, passed away in early November. Saturday’s election was to replace her.

While Caddell apparently intends to pursue his allegation of voting irregularities, Pickens County Councilman Randy Crenshaw, whose council district includes Six Mile, told The Sentinel that he attended the election and didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.

“From what I could see, it was a fair election,” Crenshaw said. “If there was any hanky-panky going on and they can approve it, we’ll look at it. But unless they can, we’ll make the appointment as to the people’s wishes.”

But Crenshaw remains irritated that the town and the fire board can’t seen to get their act together.

“I hope they can all get in the same ballgame and play together,” said Crenshaw, who said he has been targeted by both sides in the ongoing dispute. “There’s just no excuse for all this arguing and bickering back and forth.

“It’s up to the board to iron these problems out,” he continued, “and if they can’t, then they need to come to County Council. The town has no control over the fire board itself because it’s a rural district, not a city board.

Crenshaw said he thought most of the issues could be resolved by better communications between the parties n communications that can assure that everybody understands the issues at hand.

“I believe the whole thing is because of a breakdown in communications between the county, the cities and the rural fire boards,” Crenshaw said. “I mean, I had a meeting set up in November between County Council, the Six Mile Rural Fire Board, Six Mile Town Council and an attorney to answer questions n and nobody showed up.

“We met, and we got some of our questions answered, but they (the Town of Six Mile and the Rural Fire Board) said they wanted to wait for the new mayor and city council,” Crenshaw added. “But they were invited, too, and they just didn’t show up.”

County Council members are attempting to set up another meeting after the first of the year, but no firm date has been set.

Meanwhile, Caddell isn’t convinced by Crenshaw’s assurances regarding the integrity of the election.

“I’m very upset over this blooming thing,” he said. “We’ve already sent a letter to press, county administration, and we’ve put a copy in each councilman’s folder. We are busy at this time getting up a list of all the things we saw that were wrong.

“There are already people talking about how shammed this election was,” Caddell added.

Incumbents win

in Pumpkintown



The names of incumbents Dan Evette and Gaston James will be sent to Pickens County Council for re-appointment to the board of commissioners for the Pumpkintown Fire District after the two garnered the most votes from among four candidates in last Tuesday’s advisory election.

Evette led the voting with 93 votes, followed by James with 71 votes. David Parker received 62 votes, and Matt Chappell got 47 votes.

"I thought the election went well,” said Bob Lawrence, a resident of Pumpkintown who has served on the Fire Department’s fundraising committee. “It was orderly and fair. The turnout was good, but it could always be better. We need more people to get involved."

Voters were asked for photo identification and named were compared against a voter registration list for the district. A total of 141 residents of the district signed in and were given ballots.

Board Chair Liz Myers took nominations from the floor, and each of the four nominees was given up to three minutes to make a speech to the crowd.

Chappell stressed his past experience as a volunteer firefighter and as chief for the Pumpkintown Fire Department from 2004 to the end of 2006.

Parker discussed his desire to improve fire protection in the district, while spending tax dollars wisely, and talked about harmony between the board, the fire department and the community.

James touted his 12 years experience on the board, and Evette talked about his life-long experience, living in Pumpkintown.

Myers attributed the orderly election to improvements board has made the past year in the election process.

“In the past, just about anyone could have come in and voted,” Myers said. “No ID was required and there was no voter registration list to compare to. These elections are getting serious, so the law needs to be followed.”

In other Fire District Board elections last week:

Crosswell: Carl Earle and Alvin Duncan were both up for re-election, but only Duncan earned another term as newcomer Tim Cobb edges Earle out by one vote to take the season.

Holly Springs: Incumbents Austin Cater and Mitchell Cassell were the only candidates and both were re-elected.

Shady Grove: Grady Abercrombie was the only board member up for re-election and was unchallenged as he was voted in for another term.

(Alex Saitta contributed information on the Pumpkintown election to this article.)