Coin toss decides city election

When two incumbents tied for a city council seat in Watertown this month, they took it upon themselves to decide who would serve ? by a coin toss.

State law requires a tie to be broken by either a special election or a vote of the council. At a Monday council meeting, as Mayor Mike Jennings detailed the expense and hassle of holding a special election, Cecil Carter Jr. quietly pulled a quarter from his pocket and tossed it as Brandon Howard called “heads.”

Few people noticed the toss until Carter announced, “I resign.”

With Carter’s blessing, the council then voted 6-1 to break the tie in favor of Howard.

Jennings praised the pair, who each garnered 211 votes in the general election, for saving the town money and saving their fellow council members from a difficult decision.

“None of us wanted to make that choice,” Jennings said. “They’re two very honorable people and it was very nice what they did.”

He said he would search for a way to keep Carter involved in the town.

Councilman Tom Nix, the lone “nay” vote, said he did not oppose the decision to elect Howard.

“It was just my way of giving Carter consideration,” he said.

After the meeting, when someone asked for the coin that had decided Watertown’s first tied election in memory, Howard said it was already resting in the city’s soda machine.

“I borrowed the 50 cents off Cecil a while ago and got me a drink,” he said.