Municipal races set for Nov. 8 in City of Rocky Top
Rocky Top Mayor Timothy Sharp will face challenger Kerry Templin in the Nov. 8 general election for a four-year term as mayor.
The two were listed by the Anderson County Election Commission as the only candidates to qualify by the noon Aug. 18 deadline to be put on the ballot forcthe election.
Sharp is seeking his fourth term as mayor,
Also qualifying to run in the Rocky Top election were five candidates for two city council seats. There are four members on the council, but they serve four-year staggered terms so that only two are elected every two years.
Incumbents Retha D. (Denise) Casteel and Tony Devaney are running against newcomers Mack Bunch, Richard Dawson and Jeff Gilliam.
Casteel is seeking her third term. Devaney is seeking his first full term on the council after being appointed by the council in October 2019 to serve the unexpired term of Brian Brown, who resigned for health reasons.
Not up for re-election this year are councilmen Zack Green, who won his seat in the November 2020 election as a newcomer, and Juston Job, who won his first full term in November 2020, and also serves as vice mayor. He had already been on the council for three years, having been appointed to fill out the unexpired term of another council member who resigned.
Both Templin and Bunch were present during the August city council meeting last Thursday.
Templin is on the fire department at the Y-12 complex in Oak Ridge. His family once owned the now-defunct Cooper’s Hardware in Rocky Top (Lake City).
