This story has been updated to reflect the most recent reporting.
Four races were unopposed during Tuesday night’s election — the Athens City Council presidency and the seats for council’s second, third and fourth wards.
Council president
Athens City Council President Chris Knisely, who was running as an unopposed Democrat, was elected to serve another term as council president on Tuesday night with 1,984 votes.
Since she was first elected, various city projects have been approved, including the construction of the Stimson Avenue roundabout, the new city pool and the East State Street improvement project, according to a previous Post report.
Knisely gave the credit for all of the projects to city workers and her fellow city council members.
“It's not because of me,” Knisely said. “It's because of this whole cadre of talented people.”
Knisely, who began serving in 2015, said she hopes to continue working closely with city administration and officials during her second term as council president.
“We need to work … in the best way that we can with the city administration so that we can be good stewards of our moneys and our resources that we have for the city,” she said.
Second ward
Jeff Risner, an incumbent for Athens City Council, was re-elected to his position representing Athens’ second ward with 443 votes.
Risner, a Democrat, ran unopposed for his fourth term on city council.
Although it may not always be glamorous, Risner said he enjoys his position in Athens’ second ward.
“I guess I’ll just plunge into what I have been doing, and keep working on the city budget,” Risner, the chair of the Finance and Personnel Committee, said following his re-election to Athens City Council.
Third ward
Samuel Emerson Crowl, Ohio University’s sustainability project coordinator, won an unopposed election for Athens City Council’s third ward seat on Tuesday night with 582 votes.
Crowl, a Democrat and longtime Athens residents, said in a previous Post report he’d like to see the relationship between the city and OU grow even stronger.
“I think the town-gown relationship was a little bit strained in my younger years,” Crowl said. “(I) would like to see that cooperation go even further.”
John Haseley, chairman of the Athens County Democratic Party, said Crowl could provide insight to clean energy efforts in Athens.
“He has a really good voice and will bring a lot of good insight to a lot of the sustainability and green energy efforts we’re taking in Athens,” Hasely said. “I think he’ll approach every issue with a thoughtful, common-sense approach.”
Fourth ward
Chris Fahl was re-elected to her Athens City Council position to represent the fourth ward with 485 votes.
Fahl said in a previous Post report that her greatest accomplishment since she was elected in 2008 was working with residents to write “Chapter 47: Resource extraction and disposal monitoring and mitigation,” which protects Athens in terms of resource extraction and waste disposal by requiring reports and monitoring activities related to those processes.
During her time on council, Fahl has worked on traffic calming, or the installation of safety solutions such as radar speed signs or speed bumps to reduce traffic, in residential neighborhoods. She has also worked toward pedestrian safety measures and has focused on city trash laws.
Shelby Campbell and Anastasia Nicholas contributed to this report.
