By Stephen Kindland
Staff writer
ORANGE PARK – Like an old-fashioned beat cop, former Orange Park police captain Gary Meeks walked through neighborhoods every day during a five-week election campaign that ended with a narrow victory over Eugene Nix for Seat 4 on the town council.
"I’m on my fourth pair of shoes," Meeks joked shortly before his 28-vote win was announced at Orange Park Town Hall on Tuesday, March 9. "It’s been a grind."
The trail was even longer for Nix, who began organizing a relatively modest $3,000 campaign four months ago.
Nix said he wanted to get an early start after learning from his mistakes when he ran unsuccessfully three years ago against Mayor Jim "J.B." Renninger, who ran unopposed this year and will retain his position on Seat 5.
"I’ve got to go back and figure out where 28 votes came from," Nix said of his 344-316 loss to Meeks. "I got 370 votes last time. I guess you never know."
Nix, who spent six years on Orange Park’s Planning and Zoning board and serves on the town’s Site Plan Review committee, was gracious in defeat. After shaking Meeks’s hand moments after the results were announced by Town Clerk Sarah Campbell, he thanked his supporters and said he would remain active in local politics.
Meeks, who spent "nearly every penny" of a $7,200 campaign fund that included the use of a Jacksonville-based PR firm, called Nix a "worthy opponent" who put up a good fight.
"We both brought up a lot of issues," said Meeks, who replaces Steve Jones due to term limits and will be sworn in prior to a town council meeting on Tuesday, April 6. "We had the same destination but different paths" to get there.
"I figured it was going to be a close race," he added. "I can’t thank the voters enough for coming out and voting."
Campbell said she was pleased that voter turnout exceeded the last election two years ago, even if it was by only 11 votes.
"The election went very smoothly," she said.
The 660 votes cast -- which included 125 by absentee ballot -- represent 11.5 percent of the town’s 5,725 active voters and 10.6 percent of Orange Park’s 6,226 registered voters.
March 10th 2010 - 3:41PM