Forest Heights voters restore mayoral power

‘‘There was a concern on the part of the members of the council that the mayor at that time, Joyce Beck, was abusing the powers of the office of the mayor,” said George Wiggers, who was a Ward I councilman at the time. ‘‘When Beck was first elected, she was adamant about linking the town’s computers to the police department computers. I know for me personally, it concerned me that an elected official was trying to gain access to police department investigative files.”

Calls to Beck seeking comment were not returned.

The March 14 election came at a time of continuing turmoil in the municipality. Just weeks ago, a county grand jury indicted the town’s most recent mayor, Myles Spires, for alleged embezzlement of town funds.

At a special meeting on March 9, the Town Council members approved charter amendments to remove the indicted Spires from office permanently.

One charter amendment included changing the mayor’s term of office from four to two years. The amendments voted on March 9 are set to go into effect on April 28, and a special election to fill the mayor’s vacancy is scheduled for May 9.

At the March 14 poll, voters elected three new council members, who all pledged to work to rebuild the reputation of Forest Heights.

‘‘I am elated to have won this election. This is the first step in getting our town back on solid ground,” said Jacqueline Goodall, who won the Ward 1 seat. Goodall fills the second Ward 1 vacancy on the council, joining Councilwoman Lynn Smith-Barnes, whose seat will be up for election in 2008.

‘‘My immediate plans are to help begin to reunite this town,” said Anne Reifsneider, who won the Ward 2 seat and will represent the neighborhood along with Ward 2 Councilwoman Andrea McCutcheon. ‘‘I think the three council people elected are all very capable and knowledgeable and, working together, we can begin to make a big difference in this little town.”

In Ward 3, voters elected William Clarke to represent their district along with Ward 3 Councilman Worthington Ross.

‘‘Maybe now we can get together and clean up this town,” Clarke said. ‘‘We now have enough people on the council to finally address the situation with the mayor.”

E-mail Carla Peay at cpeay@gazette.net