Ballots Counted Four Times in Milford Caucus

July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.

By Daniel [email protected]

MILFORD – The ballots had to be counted four times, but in the end a meeting of Milford Republicans yielded a new clerk-treasurer and councilman for the town.

Forty-three votes were cast Saturday morning as town Republicans met to elect Milford’s town council and clerk-treasurer at the Milford Community Building.

Incumbents Robert Cockburn and Douglas Ruch were re-elected with votes of 34 and 33 respectively.

Danny Cochran edged out retiring Milford Clerk-Treasurer Charlotte Siegfried, 28 to 27, for the third and final spot on the Milford Town Council.

Siegfried will serve out the rest of her term through 2011 while also training Joellen Free, who defeated Kelli Emerick by 31 votes.

Siegfried has served as the Milford clerk-treasurer for 30 years.

Since no Democrats filed in the primary, Saturday’s convention was to avoid a general election in November.

Thomas Beer, town Republican chairman, said that due to the narrow margin between Cochran and Siegfried, votes were counted four times.

Ruch is the longest-serving councilman, having been on the board for 18 years, while Cockburn is in his eighth year.

Incumbent Gary Hurd had previously filed but then withdrew his name from the race.

Cochran has lived in Milford for seven years and works as an area manager for Kinder Morgan. The company deals in pipeline transportation.

Each candidate was given five minutes to address the crowd. Cochran said he believed in transparent government, and that he had experience with handling budgets and negotiating contracts through his job.

Free said she’s lived in Milford most of her life.

Free said she plans to learn from Siegfried and hopes to transfer files over to computer once she gets into her new job.

Free will retire from her job at CTB in Milford as a internal logistics manager at the end of the year.[[In-content Ad]]

MILFORD – The ballots had to be counted four times, but in the end a meeting of Milford Republicans yielded a new clerk-treasurer and councilman for the town.

Forty-three votes were cast Saturday morning as town Republicans met to elect Milford’s town council and clerk-treasurer at the Milford Community Building.

Incumbents Robert Cockburn and Douglas Ruch were re-elected with votes of 34 and 33 respectively.

Danny Cochran edged out retiring Milford Clerk-Treasurer Charlotte Siegfried, 28 to 27, for the third and final spot on the Milford Town Council.

Siegfried will serve out the rest of her term through 2011 while also training Joellen Free, who defeated Kelli Emerick by 31 votes.

Siegfried has served as the Milford clerk-treasurer for 30 years.

Since no Democrats filed in the primary, Saturday’s convention was to avoid a general election in November.

Thomas Beer, town Republican chairman, said that due to the narrow margin between Cochran and Siegfried, votes were counted four times.

Ruch is the longest-serving councilman, having been on the board for 18 years, while Cockburn is in his eighth year.

Incumbent Gary Hurd had previously filed but then withdrew his name from the race.

Cochran has lived in Milford for seven years and works as an area manager for Kinder Morgan. The company deals in pipeline transportation.

Each candidate was given five minutes to address the crowd. Cochran said he believed in transparent government, and that he had experience with handling budgets and negotiating contracts through his job.

Free said she’s lived in Milford most of her life.

Free said she plans to learn from Siegfried and hopes to transfer files over to computer once she gets into her new job.

Free will retire from her job at CTB in Milford as a internal logistics manager at the end of the year.[[In-content Ad]]
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