By DAVE HAMRICK
Staff Writer

Kenneth Steele is spending a little more time around City Hall, now that he has been elected Fayetteville's mayor.

Steele will take the helm in January, having received 737 votes, 60.3 percent of ballot in last Tuesday's municipal election.

Political newcomer Paul Oddo received 39.7 percent, or 486 votes.

Steele said this week that he is learning everything he can about day to day city operations. “I'm getting my feet on the ground and getting current on everything,” he said.

He doesn't plan any sweeping changes, though, in his four-year term as mayor, Steele said. “The underlying philosophy is not going to be any different,” he said, adding that Mike Wheat, the current mayor, “is doing a wonderful job.

“I would just like to do as good a job at being open and communicative” as Wheat has, Steele said. “He has been a great facilitator, bringing different parts of the community together.”

Among city government priorities as 1999 comes to a close, Steele said, are getting a handle on the city's storm water and drainage problems, a new tree protection ordinance and working with the County Commission on plans for its new jail and courthouse complex.