New mayor & council members to lead Fairfax

On November 7, citizens of the Town of Fairfax elected Butch Sauls as the town’s next mayor, replacing outgoing mayor Dorothy Riley. The town also elected three new town council members: Carl Love, Dorothy Kennedy and Tiffine Forester.

One of the top issues within the race was the town’s lack of a grocery store, which for years has had negative effects on the community’s public health, as previously reported by The People-Sentinel. Other issues included the town’s economy, the gun crisis, the town’s unfinished community center, which has been under construction since 2019 and is currently unfinished and over budget.

Mayoral Race

Three candidates ran in the mayoral race: Sauls, councilman Ken Ready and former chief of police John Chaney. Sauls received 190 votes, Chaney received 109 votes and Ready received 86 votes, with one vote for a write-in candidate. All three candidates spent election day in camp chairs at the front of the voting office.

Sauls is a former town council member who ran on increasing transparency within the town council, bringing a new grocery store into the town, improving the town’s water system and bringing citizens into the local political process. While running for mayor, Sauls frequently criticized decisions made by the mayor and town council, particularly regarding the construction of the town’s uncompleted community center and its use of American Rescue Plan Act funds.

“That’s gotta be a top issue, we have to go in there and figure our finances out,” Sauls said after winning. “We got to know where the money is and what we have that’s workable. Our infrastructure is shot. We spent money on [the community] building, we should’ve spent it on infrastructure.”

Sauls said that while campaigning, one of the prevailing emotions the community felt was frustration and a need for change.

“Hold me accountable,” Sauls said. “Don’t stay home, come hold me accountable as mayor. Talk is not going to work. Action is going to be the only thing that’s gonna help the Town of Fairfax.”

Town Council Race

Three seats were open for Fairfax town council, with eight candidates running; Carl Love received 192 votes, Dorothy Kennedy received 159 votes, and Tiffine Forester received 155 votes. Other candidates were Ida Maxine Frazier Morris with 124 votes, Daniel Shramek with 104 votes, superintendent Dr. Robert Thompson with 93 votes, Reid Porter Jr. with 67 votes, Sarah Brooker Burgess with 66 votes and 75 votes for write in candidates.

The seats are currently filled by Tiffine Forester, Pamela Love and Robert Thompson. Kennedy and Love will be new to the council. Kennedy did not respond to several phone calls by press time.

Love said one of his biggest goals will be working with recently appointed Allendale School District superintendent Vallerie Cave to meet the needs of the town’s young people.

“I believe we have to reach out to especially our young Black guys,” Love said. “We have to find things for young people to get involved with, [like] the community center, other than walk the streets. We can no longer turn our hands to what’s going on in our community.”

However, his first priority when on the council will be to unify elected leaders and “come together as a unit,” a sentiment shared by re-elected council member Tiffine Forester.

“We’re a team, and we can do better together [by] being transparent with one another and keeping the number one goal in mind: our community,” said Forester. “We have to still go out into the community [and] meet the people where they are. … Fairfax is not a bad community, that’s why I live here.”

Like Sauls, Forester also said addressing the town’s nutrition crisis should be a top priority for the council going into the new term. However, getting a new grocery store into the community will take time, Forester said, and in the meantime, the council should pursue immediate means to increase food access. This, Forester said, can be done through engaging with small farmers in the region, getting a market at the Dollar General in town, involving churches and increasing communication within Fairfax about nutrition availability.

“We have to definitely be careful because it takes time, it takes patience,” Forester said. “But, what can we do in the now?”