EHRHARDT - A former Ehrhardt Town Council member is trying to regain a four-year term by challenging the incumbents, as three candidates vie for two seats in the Nov. 6 nonpartisan municipal election.

Council members William Edinger and Amy Cohn Lee, as well as former council member Sara Caldwell, are seeking the two seats.

Although he did not seek re-election to council after one term in 2003, Edinger was sworn in in February to fill an unexpired term. Friends urged him to get back on council, he says, and he had no opposition.

Lee won election to council in 2003 on her second attempt.

With a population of 614, Ehrhardt has 374 registered voters. Of those, 197 are black; 176 are white; and one is designated "other."

William Edinger

"I think things are going well on Town Council. I've been here 10 years. The people are nice and they've treated me nice. I believe in giving back," Edinger said. "Everything is going good."

The water system and a new baseball field are two improvements made in the town, Edinger says. Also, council is working on a cell tower.

"I'm not taking credit," he said, "but, I'd like to stay on to finish it up."

In addition, he says, council is "working on a cleanup for the town with a new ordinance." As the council member assigned the task of sending out letters about the cleanup, he says, the response has been really good.

A Florida native, Edinger attended the University of Tampa. He retired from newspaper advertising and moved to his wife's hometown in 1996.

Amy Cohn Lee

Running to continue trying to improve the town, Lee says there's a need for a leash law to combat the stray dog problem.

"We need to try to bring more businesses to town, just try to improve it," she said. "Dogs are the big problem and I've been trying to work on that. ... I'm also concerned about all the litter. We've been hoping to get people to adopt different streets. And we had a Litter Day that was real successful."

With a grant available for the new $3.2 million water system, Lee says she'd like to continue work on that. And, with work ongoing for a new ball field, she says she'd be the council person in charge of that.

"I'll work on a recreation program for the elderly and the kids," she said. "We're looking real good right now. The past four years we've accomplished a lot."

A Chicago native who grew up in New York, Lee has lived in Ehrhardt for six and a half years. With a degree in therapeutic recreation from Benedict College, she works for the Low Country Healthy Start program for unwed mothers and teenage girls.

Sara Caldwell

Always outspoken, Caldwell has attracted her share of controversy during her political career. Running as a Republican, she lost a bid for the District 7 seat on Bamberg County Council in 2004. Then, a year later, she considered a run for mayor, which led all four of the town's paid employees to send a joint letter to Mayor Billy Stanley asking him to reconsider his decision to not seek re-election. In the end, Stanley was re-elected mayor and Caldwell sought re-election to a second four-year council term and lost.

Undaunted, she has continued to voice her concerns before council.

Stressing her experience on council and the many leadership programs she's attended, Caldwell says there are various improvements that need to be made for the town, especially as new people are moving in.

"I'd like to see a streetscape for this town. They touched on it at the last council meeting, but they don't know how to go about it," she said. "The town is working on a water system. They've been doing it for some time. Along with the streetscape, I'd like to see lighting on Main Street to let the world know we're moving forward."

If elected, Caldwell says she'd work to bring businesses to the vacant stores downtown.

A native of Ehrhardt and a high school graduate, Caldwell returned to her hometown in 1998. She is a retired BellSouth business manager.

T&D Government Writer Tucker Lyon can be reached at tlyon@timesanddemocrat.com or by calling 803-533-5545.

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