Patterson to fill Bentonville council seat

BENTONVILLE — Voters have chosen Aubrey Patterson to represent them on the City Council in Ward 3.

Unofficials vote totals show Patterson received 776, or 55 percent, of the 1,404 votes cast. Her only opponent, Michelle Malashock, received 626, or 45 percent, of the votes.

Just more than 5 percent of Bentonville’s 27,515 registered voters participated in the special election Tuesday.

Patterson is a wellness instructor for the Parks and Recreation Department. She’ll resign now after being elected to the council. She’s lived in Bentonville 16 years. She also is a volunteer at the Salvation Army Emergency Shelter.

Ward 3 encompasses the city’s southwest corner. It’s south of West Central Avenue and Southwest Second Street and west of Southwest A Street, South Walton Boulevard and South Rainbow Road.

The seat has been empty since Tom Hoehn left the council in November for a job in Dallas.

Since there was more than a year left on Hoehn’s term, the council had the option of either appointing someone to fill his seat or holding a special election. They agreed to hold a special election.

All eight of the council’s seats will be up for grabs during the general election this November. Council members are elected at-large to represent the ward in which they live. They serve two-year terms because the city’s population is less than 50,000.

Patterson said she will seek re-election in the fall.