By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter

            Williston elected a new mayor by a wide margin and a new city councilman by 14 votes Tuesday in one of the most hotly contested city elections in many years.

            Former City Councilman Charles Goodman defeated Mayor Jerry Robinson 270 to 175 and newcomer William Zachary Bullock beat first-year councilwoman Darfeness Hinds 240 to 226 votes.

            The other candidate for mayor, Daniel Stewart, another newcomer to local politics, received 28 votes.

            Goodman and Bullock will be sworn into office on April 12 at a special board meeting.

            The vote count will remain unofficial until the canvassing board meets Friday at City Hall to audit the election results.

            One longtime city official said he had never seen as many campaign signs as he did this year. He said the signs were all over the city and every candidate posted signs across the city.

            Goodman, a Vietnam veteran, and former council president said he promised voters during the campaign he would fulfill the responsibilities of the mayor as outlined in the city charter and not expand them, as Robinson did.

            “The former mayor did not fulfill the charter responsibilities of mayor. Instead, he used that position to do far beyond what the charter gives him the responsibility to do,” Goodman said. “That is the reason I resigned from the council and stood up to him and said, ‘What you’re doing is wrong,’ and he tried to say, ‘oh, Goodman quit because of a difference of opinion. Read the resignation letter.”

            “He was unethical, in a word,” Goodman added.

            Bullock, assistant coach for the Williston Middle High School Red Devils varsity baseball team and a territory manager for Waste Connections, said his reason for running was to try to get involved in the community, “and do anything I can do to help.”

            “I don’t know anything about what needs to be fixed or what doesn’t need fixing. I just want to get in there and see if there’s anything I can do to give my assistance,” Bullock said.

            Supervisor of Elections Tammy Jones, who assisted the canvassing board, said the race between Bullock and Hinds wasn’t close enough for a recount. The vote totals for the two candidates needed to be less than one-half of 1 percent to trigger a recount.

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City of Williston March 1, 2022 Election; Posted March 1, 2022