Outgoing City Council member Adella Gray (left) receives an award from Mayor Lioneld Jordan before the Dec. 18 council meeting.
Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan recognized three outgoing City Council members at the group’s final meeting of the year on Tuesday.
Jordan presented awards to Adella Gray, Justin Tennant and John La Tour. He thanked each person for their time served and for their accomplishments during each members’ tenure.
Gray has served as a Ward 1 representative since 2007. During her 12 years on the council, she was present for 271 out of 301 meetings for an attendance rate of 90 percent.
She won her first term by defeating Richard Osbourne by four votes in a 2006 run-off election following a recount by the Washington County Election Commission. Gray ran unopposed in her 2010 bid for a second term. In 2014, she was part of a three-person race against Paul Phaneuf and Sonia Gutierrez. She defeated Phaneuf with 54 percent of the votes in a runoff election to secure her third term.
Gray did not seek a fourth term in this year’s election. Her seat was won by Gutierrez, who defeated Olivia Trimble with 67 percent of the votes in a runoff election.
Mayor Jordan (left) presents outgoing council member Justin Tennant with an award.
Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
Tennant leaves his Ward 3 position after eight years of service. During his time on the council, he was present for 169 out of 197 meetings for an attendance rate of 86 percent.
He ran unopposed to replace Robert Rhoads in 2010. He also ran unopposed in 2014.
Tennant did not seek a third term this year. His position was won by Sloan Scroggin, who narrowly defeated Lucas Regnier with 51 percent of the votes.
Outgoing council member John La Tour (right) receives an award from Mayor Lioneld Jordan.
Photo: Todd Gill, Fayetteville Flyer
La Tour served one term on the council, and had an attendance rate of 87 percent through the 100 meetings that took place during his tenure.
He replaced outgoing Ward 4 council member Rhonda Adams in 2014. During that election, he received 43 percent of the votes in a six-person race against Ray Boudreaux (20%), D’Andre Jones (14%), Phillip McKnight (10%), Craig Honchell (8%) and Robert Williams (5%).
La Tour lost his 2018 bid for a second term after securing only 34 percent of the votes in a runoff election against Teresa Turk.
