By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
Longtime Chiefland City Commissioner Rollin Hudson defeated political newcomer LaWanda Jones 236 to 180 Monday in a rain-soaked election.
Jones and her supporters won the battle of the ballot at Chiefland City Hall taking 152 precinct votes to 146 for Hudson, but Hudson got 90 mail-in votes compared to 29 for Jones.
The election occurred on a blustery day that saw both camps huddled in their respective tents across from City Hall.
Hudson’s family had been exposed to someone with COVID-19 and decided to self-isolate away from everyone else on property owned by his friend Ryan Bell on the east side of City Hall.
“We were exposed and we were doing the right thing by distancing ourselves,” Hudson said. “I didn’t even go into City Hall afterward.”
Earlier in the day, he and LaWanda Jones had set up separate tents on the property of Adam and Skipper Henderson on the opposite side of City Hall. Hudson said they moved to Bell’s property in order to self-isolate.
He said the weather didn’t stop his many friends from campaigning for him. He thanked them for working hard to get out the vote.
But Hudson said the weather wasn’t election-friendly.
“It rained, and it rained, and it rained. It blew. It was pretty rough for half a day at least,” he said.
He said elections officials walked out of City Hall to announce the results.
Hudson said Jones was well supported.
“She really had some support. She had her core base, oh, man,” he said. “They brought a lot of folks today. A lot of people showed up to vote for her today.”
Hudson said he wants to get going as a commissioner.
“I want to see that road behind ABC Pizza paved and opened up. I would like to see some of the traffic relieved on U.S. 19,” he said.
He is waiting for the Florida Department of Transportation to build a sidewalk on State Road 345 in south Chiefland. He said he pushed for the project but the state has control of the construction timetable.
One of the comments he heard on the campaign trail was that he wasn’t bringing businesses to south Chiefland. Hudson disagreed. He said he was part of the effort to build a third business building at the Chiefland Industrial Park in south Chiefland during the tenure of former City Manager Grady Hartszog. All three city-owned buildings in the industrial park are occupied by businesses.
He said he was also accused of being responsible for higher water bills. He said the truth of the matter is he was the only commissioner that voted against raising the base rate.
“They don’t look at the voting record,” he said.
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City of Chiefland Election August 3, 2021; Posted August 3, 2021
