SPRING CITY, Tenn. —c

Rodney Adams and Beecher Evans failed to qualify in time to appear on the ballot, election officials said.

Mrs. Garrison took the seat in January as mayor after Kelly Reed resigned to join the city’s police department. Mrs. Garrison was a commissioner for five years and served as mayor from 2003 to 2005.

Countywide early voting began Friday. Spring City will host early voting at City Hall beginning Thursday, election officials said.

Mr. Adams said Friday he is campaigning by knocking on doors and talking to residents about the need for change.

“I think this town has lost focus on the people,” he said.

He moved to Spring City from Dayton, Ohio, in 1999 and has worked at Lear Corp. and Fuji Hunt Specialty Products. But he said he’s disabled after having heart problems. He serves with the Spring City and Wolf Creek volunteer fire departments, he said.

Mr. Adams said the city should reopen and run the Rhea Springs campground, and should start a business that could create stable jobs.

“I think the city’s doing good,” he said. “There’s room for a lot more growth.”

Mr. Evans, a Cumberland County native and U.S. Army veteran, moved to Spring City after retiring from IBM Corp. in South Carolina. He said he volunteers with the American Legion and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

He said the city has grown in the past five years and he would like to see that continue.

“We need to get some more revenue. A couple of small businesses would help,” he said.

Mrs. Garrison said Friday she wants to continue leading Spring City. She said the city’s industrial park is attracting business and a shopping center and hotel have opened close to downtown. She wants to form a task force to boost tourism and seek grants for downtown revitalization.

“I think it would set the city back if new leadership came in,” she said.

She keeps trying to tell others about her vision as well, she said.

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