Bridgeport business owner James “Jim” Yeater was among the final individuals to file to run for City Council in the June 11 Bridgeport Municipal Election. Yeater became the fifth individual to file to have his name on the ballot.

 

The first day to file a certificate declaring candidacy was Jan. 14. That process was open through yesterday, Thursday, April 11. Yeater was the fourth applicant in the Council race with only one person seeking the seat of City Recorder.

 

Two Council members will be elected, as well as a new city recorder to four-year terms. Elected in June of 2015 for four-year terms were Council member Jeff Smell, Council member Lowell “L.J.” Maxey and Recorder Dr. Hank “Harry” Murray.

 

Smell filed for re-election to Council, while Murray has filed for re-election to City Recorder. Donnie Tate, Don Burton and Adam Starkey (story coming up soon on Connect-Bridgeport) have also filed to run for Council.

 

Yeater currently owns Creative Promotions, a Bridgeport-based business. The business puts on Home Shows at malls across West Virginia, while it also handles Visa and Master Card services for small businesses. He also has worked for Westinghouse while living in Pennsylvania and for the Leach Company while living in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He is a 1974 graduate of Liberty High School and a 1978 graduate of Salem College with a degree in Industrial Engineering.

 

The 64-year-old works with the Friends of Troop 40 Boys Scouts and assists on numerous other scouting endeavors, while also serving as the chairman of the Center Point Cemetery Association. He is a member of the Elks Club as well as the Harrison and Ritchie County Chambers of Commerce. Yeater moved to Bridgeport in 2009. He and his wife Letitia are the parents of two sons.

  

To run for one of the three positions, certificates had to have been filed with the City Clerk’s office accompanied by a $25 filing fee no later than 4 p.m. yesterday, meaning the field is closed. The election is nonpartisan, and any person who is a qualified voter of the City of Bridgeport was allowed to file.

 

A qualified voter is anyone who is a minimum of 18 years of age, a resident of Bridgeport, and not under conviction of a felony or other disqualification.