Arian Smedley was elected as First Ward representative of Athens City Council on Tuesday, winning over Sam Miller in the only contested race for City Council.
Smedley will take up the position of Kent Butler, who will retire after serving on City Council for 11 years.
Smedley, a Democrat, serves as assistant superintendent of the Athens County Board of Developmental Disabilities and served on City Council in 2017 as an appointee to replace former At-Large Councilwoman Jennifer Cochran. She is currently working on a master’s degree in public administration at Ohio University.
The only other item on the ballot, a one percent earned income tax levy for the Alexander Local School District, passed with 1,177 votes in favor to 1,172 votes against, according to the unofficial Tuesday totals.
This was the sixth levy that the school district has attempted in the past three years to fund regular operating expenses. Until now, the district has not passed an operating levy since 1991. A 1 percent traditional income tax levy proposed last May was rejected by voters in Athens County and was rejected again in November by 54 votes.
The successful levy does not apply to all forms of income. It will exclude income from capital gain, pensions and Social Security, among others.
