Incumbents Levi Scott Jr. and Scott Morgan were re-elected to serve four more years on Rincon City Council, joined by newcomer Christina Shores Ricker.

Scott collected 186 votes in Tuesday’s election, Morgan had 163 and Ricker 156. The top three vote-getters among the five candidates earned the three available council seats.

Harry Capwell finished fourth with 123 votes and George Saraf received 50.

This was Ricker’s first time running for public office. Scott has served on Rincon City Council for 17 years and Morgan for eight.
Ricker, the owner of Clean Duct LLC, thanked voters for their support and said she is “honored and humbled to have the opportunity to serve the citizens of Rincon.”

“It means that they trust me to have Rincon’s best interest at heart and to do the right thing no matter the cost,” Ricker said. “I am looking forward to showing them that they made the right decision.”

Scott felt that his years of experience on council helped him in the five-person race. That was particularly beneficial, he said, because commitments to his environmental consulting job kept him from campaigning as actively as he would have liked to this year.

“I think the experience was a factor,” Scott said, “as well as the people who really know me and know I don’t try to hide from an issue. I try to get out with the people and respond to them when they call, and go out and meet with them and look at the problems if they have an issue. That made the big difference.”

Scott and Morgan both expressed their appreciation for the opportunity to continue the work they have been doing on city council.

“I feel that we have accomplished a lot over my last eight years and I want to continue moving the city forward in a positive direction,” Morgan said.

Scott called the current city council “the most effective council I’ve worked with” in all his years in city government. He credited the council with “keeping the city stable” and “accomplishing it when times were really hard” following the economic downturn.

He particularly looks forward to seeing the completion of the Westside sewer and water renovation and of planned recreation facilities. The city recently received a $500,000 community development block grant from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for the water and sewer improvements in the 9th Street area.

“With those (projects), we’ve really gotten ahead,” Scott said, “and when the growth starts again, at least those are some issues that we just have to focus on maintaining instead of trying to develop.”

Morgan also listed improving recreation facilities as one of his priorities for the next four years. Others include promoting retail and commercial growth, annexing surrounding properties to grow the city, continuing to lower the ISO rating and operating the city without collecting city property taxes.

“We will achieve this by rolling back our millage each year so the citizens’ tax liability is zero, as we have done my last two terms,” Morgan said.

Ricker who was born in Rincon, explained that she ran for city council because she “can’t think of a better way to teach my children about giving back than showing them first-hand.”

“I would really like to put some time into our city’s growth and ensure that we continue moving forward in the right direction,” she said. “I don’t want us to be left behind or become like some less-desirable areas in Georgia. I hope to help our local businesses so that we can keep our buildings from becoming vacant and continue to give jobs to our locals.”

The Rincon race was the only one on a light election day in Effingham County. Incumbent Guyton aldermen Ulysses Eaton and Michael Johnson faced no opposition, as did Springfield City Council members Charles Hinely and Kenny Usher, Mayor Barton Alderman and candidate Jerry Maennche.

Rincon election results
Levi Scott Jr.       186
Scott Morgan       163
Christina Ricker   156
Harry Capwell      123
George Saraf        50