Chris Smithmier has filed papers to run for Benton City Council in the November election. Chris has been married to Kelley Smithmier for almost 20 years and she has been employed by C.F.S.B. for 22 years. The couple resides in the Willow Creek Estates subdivision. Chris is a graduate of Marshall County High School and has a bachelors degree from Murray State University. He is disabled and confined to a wheelchair due to health related issues dating back to an auto accident in 1990. Being a paraplegic didn't stop him from going back to college, getting his degree, and working in the tool & die industry for years. He still stays active by volunteering at his church (First Baptist Church in Benton) and by being a substitute teacher in the Marshall County School System. Chris has lifelong family ties to the Brewers community where his maternal grandparents, Olice and Gladys Mason, resided and where his great grandfather, Dr. Bean, practiced medicine. Brewers was also where his parents met while his grandfather, Bro. T.Y. Smithmier was the preacher at Brewers United Methodist Church. Both of his parents are retired educators: Tom Smithmier in Petal, MS and Betty Holt here in Benton, KY. Chris spent his pre-teen through his college years living on Sycamore Street which adjoins the Benton City Park. He feels blessed to have grown up in a small community with such a family friendly atmosphere. He and his brother, Barry, spent long hours enjoying all of the different sports in the Benton area. When he and Kelley got married they bought a house on 20th Street and enjoyed starting their life together in that neighborhood. They lived there until they built their current home. Chris has always wanted a chance to help keep Benton a great place to live and work. He appreciates that the City of Benton has made the city council a nonpartisan group. He feels that this way he doesn't have to run against anyone but can run with the other candidates for the City of Benton. They are hopefully all running with the same goals in mind and will continue to keep the interest of the citizens in the forefront of all of the decisions made.
