BERLIN – Following this week’s elections, four new faces will join the Worcester County Commissioners.
In addition to the unopposed Republican Joe Mitrecic in District 7, newcomers Democrat Diana Purnell and Republicans Chip Bertino and Ted Elder will join the commission with a swearing-in Dec. 2 after Tuesday’s election.
“With four new commissioners, it should interesting,” Elder said. “I think we’ll be seeing some fresh ideas.”
Elder’s victory over longtime District 4 commissioner Virgil Shockley came as a surprise to many residents. It was the third time Elder had challenged Shockley for the seat. In 2006, Shockley, who was first elected in 1998, defeated his fellow school bus driver by more than 500 votes. That margin began to decrease, however, with Shockley winning reelection by just 90 votes in 2010. This time around, Elder came out ahead of Shockley by 200 votes.
“The first time was a learning experience,” Elder said. “The second time I barely fell short. This time I said I was going to work extra hard to meet people.”
The extra effort did the trick. Even Bud Church, president of the county commissioners, noticed the amount of campaigning Elder did. He recalled seeing him nearly every day of early voting.
“He worked much harder at it this time,” Church said.
Elder said what first prompted him to run for a seat as a county representative was the complaints he began hearing from area homeowners several years ago. They told him they would spend months waiting for permits and working to meet county regulations no matter the size of the project they wanted to do.
“I couldn’t believe the problems people were having getting things done,” he said. “Whether they were building a house or even putting up a woodshed, the process needs to be streamlined.”
Although that was the issue that first caught his attention, Elder says the county finances have also become a cause for concern.
“We have to be a little more conservative with our money,” he said, adding that it was risky to begin spending reserve funds as was done during the last budget cycle to maintain the tax rate. “Somewhere along the line you’re going to be up against a wall.”
In District 2, voters chose Diana Purnell over Lorraine Purnell-Ayres to replace retiring commissioner Jim Purnell. She said she was pleased to see what had been a long campaign come to a successful end. Purnell earned 61 percent of the District 2 votes.
“I’m glad to commit to doing something for the county that’s positive,” she said.
Bertino, who was selected by Ocean Pines voters to fill the vacancy to be left by retiring commissioner Judy Boggs, said he was happy and humbled with the results of the election.
“You never know until it’s over,” he said.
Bertino garnered 2,094 votes in the Ocean Pines district. Democratic challenger Tom Wilson received 1,097 of the community’s votes. Bertino, publisher of a local newspaper, says he still needs to determine how to maintain his paper’s news coverage now that he will no longer be a member of the audience at county meetings.
Along with the four newcomers, Church and fellow incumbents Merrill Lockfaw and Jim Bunting will round out the seven-member commission. While Bunting and Lockfaw ran unopposed in the general vote, Church retained his seat after earning the majority of the District 3 votes. Democrat Michael Maykrantz received 805 votes in comparison to Church’s 2,013.
“I was very pleased with the numbers,” Church said.
Church said he was cautiously optimistic going into the election.
“Overconfidence is not a good thing when you’re running for office,” he said.
Church told his supporters they were going to campaign as if he was 30 percent behind up until election day, and, he said “it paid off.”