The Greenville News

The results are in: Greenville voters have returned an incumbent to the City Council and elected one new member.

Democratic candidates Lillian Brock Flemming and Russell Stall won the District 2 and at-large council races respectively Tuesday.

On Dec. 11, the newly elected candidates will be sworn in. They'll join Wil Brasington, who won the Republican primary earlier this year and didn't have a Democratic challenger. Brasington is replacing David Sudduth in the District 4 seat.

The at-large seat currently held by Gaye Sprague will be filled by Stall, a native of Greenville who previously led Greenville Forward. Stall defeated John DeWorken. a small business owner and lobbyist. Sprague decided not to run again after serving 8 years.

Brock Flemming, also a Greenville native, has served on the council for 36 years. Despite that, she didn't win handily. Challenger Matt Cotner gave Brock Flemming a close race in his first-ever campaign.

Sprague says the new council members should get ready to work hard.

"If you do it right, it takes a lot of time," she said of her time on the council. "I have a successful business and a family and some friends I'd like to see more often. It's a matter of time management. I'm so grateful to have served."

Sprague is most proud of her work to improve some of the things residents don't see. "We came up with an accelerated sanitary sewer program. A lot of our sewers have cracks in them and one of the challenges with that the rain gets into the sanitary sewer and fills the line up with rainwater, then it goes down to the treatment facility, which ends up treating rainwater. From an environmental standpoint, if the rainwater can get in we also know what can get out."

The city has also worked hard to update its storm water plan and to make sure that neighborhoods are protected with buffers when commercial development comes in.

Sprague's advice to incoming council members is to get out into the community, listen and always do what's in the city's best interest. Good planning and conservative budgeting helped the city weather the 2007-09 recession, she said.

Incoming council members should certainly listen and learn from previous city leaders, who've done a solid job of leading the city. Brock Flemming has been a part of that winning team for decades. Stall, too, has a solid track record of community service.

Now that the campaign meet and greets are done, the real work begins. Here's wishing the new council members all the best.