Hancock votes on Monday

January 24, 1997

By ELLEN LYON

Staff Writer

HANCOCK - On Monday, Hancock voters will select a new mayor and replace half of the four-person Town Council.

Councilman Daniel Murphy and former Hancock Police Chief James McAulay are running for mayor.

Mayor Ralph Wachter announced in November that he would not seek a third two-year term.

The mayor's job pays $800 a year and a council job pays $600 a year, Town Manager Louis Close said.

Murphy, 44, of 212 Maryland Ave., is a veterinarian who was elected to a four-year term on the council in 1993.

A resident since 1977, Murphy is a member of the Hancock Rotary, chairman of the Hancock Fire and Emergency Fund, a director and past president of the Hancock Development Corp. and a charter member and treasurer of the Hancock Historical Society.

McAulay, 44, of 107 Fairview Drive, a 22-year veteran of the Baltimore County Police Department, was Hancock Police Chief from July 1993 to May 1996.

A resident for 3 1/2 years, McAulay is a first vice president of the Hancock Lions Club and a member of the board of directors of CASA, a Hagerstown women's shelter.

Five candidates are vying for the two seats vacated by Murphy and retiring Councilman Stephen Douglas. They are Timothy Arnold, Jack O. Hill Jr., Darwin Mills, David D. Smith and W. Gregory Yost.

Arnold, 33, of 12 W. High St., is a union sheet metal worker who has lived in Hancock for about three years.

He coaches Hancock Little League and is a member of the Bass Anglers Sportsmen Society, he said.
Hill, 62, of 225 Virginia Ave., is a retired educator who taught middle and high school in Washington and Frederick counties for 38 years.

A native of Hancock who lived in Smithsburg for 30 years and then returned to Hancock nine years ago, Hill is a Washington County Housing Authority Commissioner and a member of the Hancock Rotary, the Hancock Cable Television Committee and the Hancock Planning Commission, he said.
Mills, 55, of 2 Center St., was Hancock Police Chief from 1974 to 1979 and an officer in the department for 10 years before that.

A Hancock area resident all his life, Mills is a correctional officer at the Maryland Correctional Training Center and a past vice president of the Maryland Correctional Union, he said.
Smith, 27, of 52 W. Main St., is a jeweler and the owner of Diamonds Etc.

A native of the Hancock area, Smith served two terms, from 1991 to 1993, as president of the student body of the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Yost, 41, of 111 Virginia Ave., is a 911 dispatcher for Washington County and a part-time reporter for the Hancock News.

A lifelong resident of the Hancock area, Yost founded the Hancock Junior Basketball League, coaches Hancock Little League and belongs to the Hancock Fire Co. and Hancock Rescue Squad.

Polls will be open Monday between noon and 7 p.m. at the Town Hall/Community Center.

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