Creston Mayor Gabe Carroll has been cleared of any wrong doing in the 2019 mayoral election by Ringgold County Attorney Clint Spurrier, who was asked by the Union County Board of Supervisors to act as special prosecutor.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office investigate Carroll in response to a complaint made by a citizen. The complaint alleged that the write-in candidate promised to appoint a specific person to city council to fill his vacant seat if elected.
Social media posts made in support of Carroll’s campaign said that if Carroll was elected it would allow McKenzie Vonk to be appointed to his city council seat so that no one would need to choose between Vonk, who was running for Council At-Large, and Ron Higgins who was eventually elected to that position. Higgins had moved out of Ward 1, which he previously represented on the city council. Vonk lives in Ward 3, the council position that was vacated by Carroll when he was elected mayor.
In a statement, Spurrier said there was no evidence that Carroll was involved in creating these posts.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Carroll posted these messages, or otherwise connecting Mr. Carroll to these social media posts,” Spurrier said. “Further, there is no separate evidence Mr. Carroll, directly or indirectly, promised to name or appoint another person to a position or to support or use his influence on behalf of another person seeking an appointment to a position or office.”
When asked for comment this morning, Carroll said the statement “speaks for itself.”
The statement did say the matter could be reinvestigated if new evidence was found.