In one of the most watched races in Clayton County, a fired Jonesboro police chief, who was running in last Tuesday’s election for a seat on the city council beside the mayor who terminated him earlier this year, was unsuccessful in his bid.

Brad Johnson, who was terminated from his position by Jonesboro Mayor Luther Maddox with backing from the city council, finished fifth in a seven-candidate field for the three available Jonesboro City Council seats.

Pat Sebo, long-time public address announcer at Tara Stadium who was unsuccessful in her council run two years ago, was the top vote getter with 19 percent of the vote to capture one of the three available seats.

She will be joined by incumbent Clarence Mann, who was second with 16 percent to reclaim his seat while newcomer Joe Compton finished third, also with 16 percent.

Two incumbents, Billy Powell and Rick Yonce, were unsuccessful in their reelection bids, garnering 15 and 14 percent of the vote, respectively.

In other races, Forest Park Mayor Corine Deyton claimed a second term as the city’s chief executive, taking 57 percent of the vote to outdistance two challengers.

However, in the city’s Ward One council race, incumbent councilwoman Sparkle Adams netted 33 percent of the vote to finished second in a three-candidate field behind leading vote-getter Thomas Smith, Jr. with 37 percent, as the two look toward a Dec. 1 runoff.

In Forest Park’s Ward Two council race, political newcomers Donald Wright and Karen-Brandee Williams not only received 44 percent of the vote each to be involved in a runoff but were within one vote of one another with Wright getting 125 votes to Ms. Williams 124.

In Riverdale, Ward 1incumbent Ortha “Rick” Scoggins was turned out, finishing a distant second to political newcomer Cynthia Stamp-Jones who collected 297 votes to Scoggins 222.

In Ward 2, incumbent Wanda Wallace had an easy time outdistancing two challengers as she took 278 votes while challengers Veverly Brooks and Stan Byars netted 208 and 36 votes, respectively.

In winning reelection as Forest Park’s mayor, Ms. Deyton was elated residents returned her to her seat. She said her winning the post without a runoff “means our residents trust me and like what we are doing regarding Fort Gillem and our Main Street Plan.”

“With Fort Gillem’s redevelopment, Forest Park has a prime opportunity to double the size of our city,” she said.

“As good as that sounds to me, something else sounds even sweeter, as with that redevelopment comes additional jobs and Forest Park has the lowest per capita in the nation so we badly need jobs.”

Describing the Fort Gillem redevelopment and the Main Street Program as exciting times in Forest Park, Ms. Deyton said it is now time for the city to move forward.

“I am a 49-year resident of this city and our citizens know I care about our city and want only what is best for our city and our resident,” she said. “I am blessed to be able to have this opportunity to serve our residents again.”