Cain wins tight mayor’s race
Ruffalo, Wiberley win seats
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Alex Cain, who won the mayor’s race for Farragut, and Betsy Henderson, who won as Knox County mayor, chat just after the election results were announced. - Photos submitted
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Newly elected Farragut Alderman Joey Ruffalo, left, and Farragut Mayor-Elect Alex Cain enjoy some laughter once the election results were announced Thursday night, Aug. 6. - Photos submitted
Unofficial election results from a close race ending Thursday, Aug. 6, determined the winner of the Farragut mayor’s race with current North Ward 1 Alderman Alex Cain amassing the most, 3,099 — or 50.53% – votes.
This compares to his opponent, former Vice Mayor Louise Povlin, who received 3,034 — or 49.47%.
Meanwhile, Joey Ruffalo won as alderman for the North Ward 1 seat, and Greg Wiberley won as alderman for the South Ward 2.
Knox County Election Commission is scheduled tentatively to meet Thursday, Aug. 20, to certify the results. The Town’s newly elected officials are scheduled to be sworn in formally before the Farragut Board of Mayor and Aldermen meeting 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 27.
“I don’t think it’s 100 percent set in yet, but I look at the last three to four months [and] it was an uphill battle from the beginning, an uphill challenge, but we had the outcome we wanted last night,” Cain said about winning. “It’s obviously a lot closer than you always want,” he said. You want to have a good cushion, but it feels good.”
Throughout the campaign process, he observed, “You’ve got to get out and go talk to people. This is not the community where you can win with social media.
“You’ve got to knock on doors; you’ve got to shake hands, just communicate with people,” Cain said. “That’s been the basis of my campaign from the beginning.”
Going forward, “we’re going to bring it back to the people and make it focused on what’s happening in Farragut,” the mayor-elect said. “When it’s all said and done, I’m currently an alderman in the North Ward, and I’m gong to have to replace myself in my alderman seat, so we’re going to have a super majority of conservative values and people first for at least the next two years.
“We’re going to hit the ground running Aug. 27,” he said.
As a new alderman, Ruffalo said, “I feel honored and privileged to be able to serve the Town of Farragut for the next four years.
“It’s the place [his wife Bettina and he] chose to be our home, chose to be involved in and chose to serve any way we could,” he said. “I’m super excited about the possibilities of the next four years.”
Looking back at his campaign, “I would be remiss if, first and foremost, I didn’t thank my wife for giving me the opportunity to be able to pursue this and to back me 100%, and, of course, everybody who came out and voted for me, people I met at the doors … rallied behind me,” Ruffalo said.
Going into the alderman seat, he said, “We talked about a lot of stuff on the campaign trail, as far as development, supporting small business and the tax issue.
However first, Ruffalo said he plans to work on the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, working with a steering committee and how that plan will shape the town for next 20 years.
“Our fingerprints are going to be all over this plan,” he said. “It’s going to be implemented under our new administration, so how we guide this and how we navigate this is our first monumental task.”
The comprehensive land use plan then will guide building, development and everything for the next 20 years, Ruffalo added.
“We’re happy that we won because a lot of the values and the policies we were trying to promote during the campaign apparently a lot of people agreed with, so that was satisfying,” Wiberley said.
About the results, “I was probably surprised that Alex, Joey and I won,” he said. “I think that was unexpected by everybody.”
After being sworn in on Aug. 27, Wiberley will be looking at meeting rules and the appointment of a new North Ward alderman to replace Cain.
“I think one of the reasons that we won the election is I had a very talented campaign team,” he said. “Each of them knew their responsibilities and each of them applied their talents as appropriate.
“That same team is part of my transition team, so we are now in the process of going over ideas on how to hit the ground running,” Wiberley said. “Obviously, the first task at hand is to publicize and solicit resumes for a new North Ward alderman.
“We also feel like the meeting laws need some adjustment so people feel more welcome and have a better opportunity to express themselves and there’s a more friendly discussion about any concerns they have,” he said.
Wiberley also seeks to put to rest concerns about eminent domain, as well as address residents’ concerns about the Campbell Station and Kingston Pike intersection, noise control and traffic.
