Mark Whiting (left), Warren Gilson (Submitted Photos)
Maxeys voters will choose between Mark Whiting and Warren Gilson on Nov. 3 in a special election to fill Carrie Hyatt’s vacant city council seat.
Hyatt resigned in September after moving to Arizona with her husband. The Maxeys Municipal Charter requires a special election because the vacancy occurred more than six months before the next regular election.
The new councilman will take office at the next meeting on Nov. 10 at Maxeys City Hall.
“They basically step into the four-year term that Ms. Hyatt was serving,” said Edward Toledano, mayor of Maxeys.
Mark Whiting
Whiting and his wife moved from Flowery Branch to Maxeys in 2020 after buying the home that belonged to his aunt and uncle. He attends monthly Maxeys Community Club meetings and helps with volunteer projects, along with city council meetings.
The vacant seat became another way he could get involved.
“That’s the goal, just to service the city, do what we can, and keep everything up, and keep it the nice little small town we have,” Whiting said.
Whiting is retired from the construction and hardware industries and works part time as a construction superintendent near Lake Oconee. He said his three-day work week leaves room for council duties.
If elected, Whiting said his priority would be the water systems.
“It's a small system,” Whiting said. “We do everything we can to take care of, make sure it stays, it's tested regularly, and everything's up to date, so we can do it.”
Warren Gilson
Gilson served as mayor for eight years, from 2024 to 2016.
Originally from Ohio, Gilson moved to Athens, and later Maxeys, where he has lived for 38 years.
Doug Miller and Carrie Hayes are in the second year of their first terms, so Gilson sees his knowledge as a valuable asset to the council.
“It takes a while to learn a lot of the things that go on in town,” he said.
The former mayor said he’s running for city council because of the reduced time commitment and his belief that any leadership role should not be done longer than 10 years.
Gilson, a member of the Maxeys Community Club and the Oglethorpe County Rotary Club, said he lives by the Rotary motto “service above self.”
“I’m always thinking about what’s best for the community,” Gilson said. “We’re a small family, and we need to look after each other, and we do. If somebody needs something, all they gotta do is ask.”
He hopes to see the city progress while maintaining its history.
Election challenges
Toledano said special elections can be challenging for small cities like Maxeys.
Maxeys has one paid employee, the city clerk, and its council members are volunteers. The city must still staff 17 days of early voting and keep polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, with only 195 registered voters.
“With the rules and regulations and the atmosphere around voting in the country right now — it’s just a real pain,” Toledano said.
Maxeys will use paper ballots because the city has no electronic voting machines. Results will be posted on social media and the city website after the polls close.