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RUN-OFF TO DECIDE TREASURER’S RACE; KELLEY ELECTED CORONER

By Ezra Mann/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 9:48 AM CST

Voters will choose between Chris Castoro and Sam Whitfield on Nov. 25 in a run-off for the Pine Bluff city treasurer while the Jefferson County coroner’s race showed Chad Kelley defeated Republican Greg Maxwell.

Complete but unofficial results in the treasurer’s race were:

Sam Whitfield — 6,235 votes, 39%

Chris Castoro — 5,425 votes, 34%

Michael Barbarotto — 4,261 votes, 27%

Complete but unofficial results in the coroner’s race were:

Chad Kelley — 22,726 votes or 83%

Greg Maxwell — 4,751 votes or 17%

Whitfield noted that he would have rather won outright but was appreciative of the support of Pine Bluff voters.

He said he would do his best to convince voters in the run-off.

“I’m going to run hard, and I’m going to win,” said Castoro. “I find it hard to believe Whitfield has more votes since he did not campaign, but we’re going to persevere.”

Following the coroner’s race, Kelley said it has been a long seven months, and he’s thrilled with the way things have turned out.

Kelley is the chief deputy coroner, and Maxwell works for Federal Express. County Coroner Holly Watkins-Sperry is retiring at the end of the year.

“I am thrilled that the people of Jefferson County are trusting me to keep doing what I have been doing for the past few years,” said Kelley.

Kelley, a 1995 graduate of Watson Chapel High School, graduated with honors from Southeast Arkansas College in 1998, and has worked in the coroner’s office for eight years. He has completed the Medicolegal Death Investigator Training Course at St. Louis University School of Medicine, sponsored by the Division of Forensic and Environmental Pathology, as well as training in child injury investigation and domestic related homicides.

Whitfield works at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. He was an attorney and district judge in Phillips County where he helped build a jail during his tenure. He resigned from his position in 2002.

Castoro is the executive director of the Pine Bluff Area Community Foundation. He has a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Dallas, 32 years of executive and financial experience with a Fortune 500 corporation, Pine Bluff’s Parks and Recreation Commission’s finance chairman and past independent contractor for the city’s finance department.

The coroner’s position pays $42,998 annually, plus benefits. The city treasurer is a part-time positio, which pays $7,364 annually plus benefits.

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