A former member is returning to the Franklin City Council.
William “Ted” Murphy won the vote in a Republican caucus Thursday night to fill an open city council seat. Rob Henderson resigned in January after he was elected to the Johnson County Council. Henderson beat Murphy in the 2011 election for the city council seat, ending Murphy’s 16-year streak.
Murphy will serve on the council for the rest of the year.
Four Republican precinct committee members, including Murphy, had to elect the person to represent District 3, which includes much of the area west of U.S. 31 between Jefferson Street and Simon Road.
Murphy received three votes, Andrew “Drew” Eggers received one, and John Wales received zero. Eggers is an attorney at Eggers & Woods, and Wales is a health and safety instructor for Rolls-Royce. All three also are running for the city council seat in the Republican primary election this spring.
Murphy has been in Franklin for more than 30 years and is a retired United Methodist minister. He formerly was executive director of the Franklin United Methodist Community.
He said he is eager to give back to Franklin since the city has given so much to him. He wants to be available for anyone who wants to talk about government issues and to listen to the people who have been involved in local government during his absence.
Murphy said he is proud of his time on the city council, especially how officials responded to the 2008 flood.
