Mayor-elect Harrelson to take the oath of office on Thursday

The residents in the city of Loris visited the polls to cast their votes for the run-off election for mayor.  On Tuesday, June 11, the East and West Precincts were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The Election Commission met at the Public Safety Building at 7 p.m. awaiting the delivery of the ballots. The West Precinct was delayed stating they were having technical difficulties.  At 7:50 p.m. the delivery of all the ballots was in and Venson Powers and Melzetta Gore read the votes at 7:50 p.m. with Kenya Wright tallying the votes.

The East Precinct reported 163 votes for Harrelson and 109 votes for Suggs.  The West Precinct reported 98 votes for Harrelson and 49 votes for Suggs. The absentee votes totaled 7 for Harrelson and 79 for Suggs.  Two provisional votes went to Harrelson.  A total of 507 registered voters cast their vote. That is approximately 30 percent of the registered voters in the city of Loris.

Powers unofficially announced the candidate for mayor is Harrelson.  The election results will be certified by the Election Commission on Thursday, June 13, at 10:30 a.m. at the Public Safety Building.

The room was filled with congratulatory sentiments surrounding Harrelson to shake his hand and give him hugs.  Pat Harrelson said, “I am on top of the world, he’s a good son and loves Loris.”  She continued, “His love of the city is the reason he was running for mayor, and I think the people know that or they wouldn’t have voted for him.”

Harrelson’s biggest supporters were his family, his mother Pat Harrelson, wife Sheila, daughter Caitlyn Dean and her husband Jonathan, his sister Wende Boyd and Larry and Janelle Dawsey, and most importantly was Jenna Dean, his granddaughter, who was excited to see her “Pops” for any reason.

Harrelson stated that he plans to focus on the drainage and the safety of the city.  He said, “I feel good now but before the run-off I was a bit stressed and prayed to God for His will in the results of the election.”  He said that he will carry on for the good of Loris.  As for the meetings with the mayor he established in May, he plans to continue meeting for coffee in local restaurants to listen to the residents’ concerns for the city and “give the people of Loris a chance to provide much needed information and thoughts for him to consider in his term of office as mayor.”

The next mayoral election will be in November 2019. At that time voters are given another opportunity to elect a mayor of their choice.  Attending the monthly city council meetings gives the public a chance to see the city government at work.  The next city council meeting will be held on Monday, July 1, at 6 p.m. at the American Legion Hall.

Harrelson will take the oath of office on Thursday, June 13, at 6 p.m. at the American Legion Hall.  The public is invited to attend this ceremony.