Published: May 10, 2008 11:28 pm            

Maughan loses to Hamilton in Place 3 city council race

Galen Scott

gscott@weatherforddemocrat.com

Incumbent Place 3 Weatherford City Councilman Waymon Hamilton was elected to a sixth consecutive term Saturday.

A retired retail manager, Hamilton won 62 percent of the Weatherford vote, besting his only opponent, Tawni Maughan, a downtown clothing merchant.

“I feel elated the race is over,” Hamilton said, speaking inside the Courthouse Annex Saturday evening. “It’s always a pleasure to run, and a bigger pleasure to serve the citizens of Weatherford.”

In addition to Weatherford’s traffic situation, the city’s efforts to revitalize the downtown square were a focal point in the battle for Place 3.

Hamilton served on the council when the downtown project was approved. He maintains an unpopular wall separating parking quadrants from traffic was part of the state’s plan to prevent jaywalking.

Maughan, a newcomer to politics, had vowed to tear the wall down, if elected. While campaigning, Maughan also favored using governmental controls to check some aspects of the rapid growth confronting Weatherford.

Maughan could not be reached for comment following the announcement of election results.

Hamilton said building and improving roads will continue to be of foremost importance during his next term in office.

“We do have some progress made on the road situation and unfortunately, it doesn’t move as fast as ... when you go into a place and order a hamburger, you expect to get it right away. When you order a road, you deal with the state and federal government. They’re wonderful to work with and they help us a lot, and hold the price down by us working coop, but it slows down the speed.”

        

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