Published: November 03, 2009 09:34 pm      

Shaw re-elected in Eton

ETON — Incumbent Steve Shaw will enter his third four-year term for Post 2 of the City Council after defeating the wife of a former Eton mayor by 18 votes on Tuesday.

Shaw received 46 votes, or 62 percent, while challenger Donna Hogan received 28 votes, or 38 percent. There are 314 registered voters in Eton, which has a population 501.

“Eton’s growing, and the people want change, and I’ve been behind the change and supporting the change,” Shaw said, adding he appreciates all his supporters.

Eton is getting a new Super Saver grocery store and has recently seen several other new businesses open as well as a new City Hall, all of which Shaw has supported.

Hogan, wife of former mayor Greg Hogan, said she wants to see more business come to Eton but doesn’t want the city to lose its small-town feel. Greg Hogan was Eton’s mayor from 2004 to 2008, resigning to run for Murray County sole commissioner before losing to David Ridley.

Hogan said she’ll continue to try to find ways to be involved in city affairs though she doesn’t yet know what those ways will be.

“I pretty much left it in the Lord’s hands and said whatever his will, I was fine with it,” she said. “... I’m not going to say I’m not going to run again. I just don’t know right now.”

Eton’s city government is run by an elected mayor — Billy Cantrell — and four council members. The mayor’s race was uncontested, and Cantrell received 47 votes. Post 1 incumbent Steve Manis, who was unopposed, received 45 votes.

Eton is two miles square and is six miles north of Chatsworth on Highway 411 in Murray County. Shaw said the city would like to annex west to Highway 225, about three miles away, and north to Red Cut Road, which is about halfway to Crandall.

The current budget for Eton is about $1.2 million.

A Walker County native and graduate of Rossville High School, Shaw moved to Eton 23 years ago after four years in the Air Force. He and his wife, Martha, have a 16-year-old son, Justin, who is a junior at Murray County High School. He is co-owner of Corner Service Center in Chatsworth.