Ciara Benham
Staff Writer
cbenham@murraystate.edu
The twelve members that will serve on the Murray City Council have been announced following the election results on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Sixteen candidates were on the ballot this year, including both currently serving members of the city council and new members.
The City of Murray is governed by the mayor and twelve publicly-elected city council members who serve four and two year terms, respectively.
Council members are the legislative body of the local government. A member of the legislative body must be at least 21 years old, be a qualified voter in the city and be a resident of the city throughout the term of office.
The winners of the city council election are Dan M. Miller, Johnny Bohannon, John Mark Roberts, Linda Cherry, Rose Ross Elder, Jeremy Bell, Alice Rouse, Patricia Seiber, Burton Young, Monty McCuitson, Danny, O. Hudspeth and Wesley S. Bolin
Eleven of the twelve winners were candidates who were up for re-election. Of the twelve that were elected, Hudspeth, Bell and Cherry were the top vote-getters, with 3,086, 2,684, and 2,674 respectively.
Miller has been a member from 1994-98 and 2001-present. He is the chair of the Health Insurance Committee. Roberts has been a member of the council since 2017.
Cherry, a member since 2007, is the chair of the Cemetery Committee. Elder has been a member of the council since 2019.
Bell, a member since 2007, is the chair of the Transportation Committee. Rouse, a member since 2019, is the chair of the City Beautification Committee.
Seiber, a member since 2019, is the chair of both the Downtown Revitalization Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee.
Young, who has been a member of the council since 2015, is both the chair of the city council and the chair of the Murray State University committee.
McCuiston, a member since 2019, is the co-chair of the Downtown Revitalization Committee.
Hudspeth served as interim mayor from 2009-10 and has been a council member from 1988-2009 and 2011-present. He is the chair of the Personnel & Finance Committee and the Public Works Committee.
Bolin, a member since 2016, is the chair of the Public Safety Committee.
Bohannon was the only newly elected member that will join the eleven members serving on the city council that were re-elected.
Bohannon previously served on the council in the late 90s and returned to his position from 2015-18. After an unsuccessful re-election in 2018, Bohannon has reclaimed his spot on the council.
City legislators must be elected at a regular election. They serve a two-year term that begins on Jan. 1 of the following year.
In a mayor-council form of government, the city council may only act as a whole body. Individual city council members may not make decisions or act on behalf of the body.
Council meetings are held the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The council meetings are televised the following day at 10 a.m.