With registration to run for the vacated Porterdale City Council Post 3 seat closed, four candidates have registered.

They are Arline Chapman, Jack Loyd, Wayne Maddox and James Himes.

The election to fill the seat is set for Feb. 5, the same day as the state presidential primary.

Chapman, a well-known local artist with The Southern Heartland Art Gallery in Covington and a retired state official, was the first to make her candidacy known in mid-December. Chapman is running on a platform of controlled residential and commercial growth, preserving Porterdale's history and fiscal accountability on all levels.

"I think everything has to be accounted for to the absolute penny," said Chapman in an earlier interview with The News. "Everything should be documented."

 Now retired, Chapman previously worked for Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker and former Georgia Gov. Zell Miller.

Wayne Maddox, former mayor of Porterdale and former Porterdale councilman, said he decided to run for the vacated seat of Councilman Perry Barnett after a number of people asked him to.

"I had a lot of people ask me to put in for it," Maddox said. "They wanted me down there."

The owner of one of the town's most historic buildings, The Village Inn, as well as considerable other real estate including 40 homes, Maddox described himself as a real-estate agent.

After serving as mayor of Porterdale for 12 years, Maddox resigned from the position at the end of 2002. According to Covington News archives, Maddox resigned after the city council adopted a resolution calling for a hearing into allegations of malfeasance, misfeasance and neglect of duty.

Among the allegations were that Maddox attempted to solicit advice from the city attorney on fighting the town's new charter, illegally received free water service for the Village Inn and directed the then head of the city's sanitation department to take old fire hydrants to his business, L&B Recycling, to be salvaged for scrap metal.

"I'm just running to try to hold prices down for this town and to try to get this town cleaned up. That's my main issue," Maddox said.

Jack Loyd, also born and raised in Porterdale, said he had been considering running for a long time and decided to register at the last minute.

"Everybody that I talked to was encouraging me to go for it," Loyd said. "I've been getting a lot of positive responses."

Loyd at one time owned a nightclub in Covington called Where It's At and was a member of the Country Music Association. He has also been employed by Bibb Manufacturing and the city of Covington.

Loyd said if elected, he would work to bring more activities for children and teenagers to the town. Loyd said he was very supportive of all growth for Porterdale, both residential and commercial, and that he thought the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax was a good way to raise revenue for special projects such as the renovation of the Porter Memorial Gym.

James Himes, who ran unsuccessfully for Mayor of Porterdale in November against Bobby Hamby, could not be reached for comment on his candidacy for the Council Post 3 seat as of press time.

In his campaign for mayor Himes, who has lived in Porterdale for the past three years, ran on a platform centered on improving city services and bringing in more commercial and industrial growth.