Delta board gets two new faces

There will be two new faces on the Delta Board of Aldermen following Tuesday's election, a contest that ended with voters rejecting leaders tainted by nepotism and city hall in-fighting.

Harold Looney, seeking to win the remaining year of a term vacated by resignation, defeated Bonnie Bradshaw, the sitting mayor, by a 31-26 vote. Bradshaw was a Ward 2 alderwoman until she was selected mayor after the resignation of Carol Collins.

The other Ward 2 seat was filled by write-in votes, with Alderman Dennis "Slim" Bowers winning with 23 votes. Looney received 22, while Collins and Bradshaw recorded 13 write-in votes each. Collins was appointed to the board by Bradshaw after being forced out as mayor.

Collins appointed Dale Hobeck, her brother-in-law, to the town board last summer. Questions about her actions surfaced after her feud with city collector Beverly Keesee became public. After an investigation by the Cape Girardeau County prosecuting attorney, Collins resigned but insisted she had not done anything intentionally wrong.

There were no contested elections in Ward 1, where Hobeck won election for a two-year term and Hughes Lesch, a former mayor and alderman, was also elected.

One seat in Ward 2 was filled by write-in votes after Bowers was bumped off the ballot for failure to pay his property taxes on time. He has since paid the bill, he said before the elction.

Bradshaw can remain mayor until the election in April 2008.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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