Griffin and Stanley unopposed

Councilmen Scott Stanley and John Griffin will run unopposed and serve again on the Sebring City Council.

Qualifying ended at 5 p.m. Friday with no other candidates qualifying for the council race.

"No one else qualified for the city election," said City Clerk Kathy Haley. "So it's John Griffin and Scott Stanley for another three years."

Former council member Jim Terry, businessman Horace Williams, retired math teacher Alan Kent and Sebring resident Gingerlee Mitchelllindo all picked up qualifying packets, according to Haley, but none turned their packets back in.

Mitchelllindo had indicated ahead of time that she was not interested in running this time around, said Haley on Monday. She just wanted to see what the packet looked like.

Griffin said Monday that he looked forward to serving another three years.

"I got a call (from Haley) Friday night at home," said Griffin, who lives and owns a home inside the city. "She said nobody came in and filed."

He felt the fact that no one wanted to run against them may be an indicator that people thought they were doing a good job.

"We're fiscally very conservative," he said. "We try to be conscientious. We have a diverse board."

Stanley was not available Monday for comment.

Griffin's and Stanley's terms would expire on March 31. They will in all likelihood be sworn in at 4:30 p.m. April 1, said Haley.

Next year (March 31, 2011) the terms of Mayor George Hensley, Councilmen Bud Whitlock and John Clark and Councilwoman Margie Rhoades will be up.