By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
FAITH ó Keith Deal was elected mayor Tuesday night just minutes after being sworn in as a member of the town’s Board of Aldermen.
His wife, Terri, held a Bible for him as Rowan County Clerk of Court Jeff Barger administered the oath of office. His mother, Miriam Deal, also attended the meeting.
In his first bid for public office, Deal was the top vote-getter in the Nov. 3 municipal election. Traditionally, the candidate with the most votes is then elected mayor.
Deal said of his first meeting: “I had to be coached a little bit on some of the stuff, but it’s going to get better as it goes on. I’m just looking forward to working with the board and Karen (Fink, town clerk) and the townspeople. I’m just ready to get going.”Current Mayor Pro Tem Todd Peeler was re-elected to fill in for the mayor as needed. He and fellow incumbent Gary Gardner tied with the second highest number of votes.
Peeler, Gardner, outgoing Mayor Bill Johnson and Mark Shores were also sworn in as aldermen.
Maxey Sanderson, attending his last meeting as an alderman, was unseated in the election after serving two terms on the board.
Shores thanked Sanderson for his service to the town. “I do appreciate it and enjoyed working with you,” he said.
Fellow board members echoed his appreciation.
Gardner said, “Stay active.”
Also at Monday’s meeting, 1st Sgt. R.T. Taylor of the Granite Quarry-Faith Joint Police Authority reported on a traffic study conducted in downtown Faith, where the posted speed limit is 20 miles per hour.
Traffic was monitored by a radar trailer set up on Main Street on two different days in November, Taylor said. On Nov. 10, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., the radar detected 2,268 vehicles traveling toward Salisbury.
Of those, he said 2,059 were traveling within the speed limit while 209 were exceeding it.
On Nov. 13, Taylor said the radar trailer monitored traffic coming through town from Salisbury. From 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. that day, 2,610 vehicles were detected ó 2,412 of which were traveling within the speed limit and 198 above it.
Taylor said the study was conducted at the request of townspeople concerned about people speeding on Main Street. “So we’re going to step things up a little bit,” he said, referring to the enforcement of the speed limit.
The study only recorded the evening traffic rush, Taylor told aldermen. “We missed the morning,” he said.
Sanderson said traffic is very heavy from 5 to 8 a.m.
Contact Kathy Chaffin at 704-797-4249.