Published: February 13, 2008 10:51 am      

City council calls for May general and special elections

By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Jacksonville City Council passed a resolution Tuesday evening calling for a general election and a special election to be held in May.

The general elections will determine who will represent Districts 2 and 4 on the City Council for the next two years. The special election was called so that amendments to the city charter can be put before the people for ratification.

The resolution set May 10 as Election Day and made April 28 through May 6 the period for early voting. Early voters will go to City Hall to cast their ballots, while those who vote on election day will do so at the Jacksonville Public Library. Due to a new election law, the early voting polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. April 30 and May 1, instead of the normal polling hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for all other days of early voting.

An agreement between the city and the Jacksonville Independent School District was also passed to hold joint elections so that a single polling place could be used by both entities on Election Day.

Council member Phyllis Wilburn asked if it would be possible in the future to also hold early voting for both the city and the schools at the same location, and the city is looking into that possibility. In the upcoming May elections, JISD early voting will take place at the Jacksonville Senior Citizen Building.

Approval was given to an ordinance increasing the fees and charges for services rendered by Jacksonville Emergency Medical Services.

“This ordinance allows for an increase in EMS subscription rates to help reduce program expenses and to stay current with other EMS agencies,” said Mayor Robert Haberle. “The amounts to subscribe for the service were either $48 or $60, depending on whether you had insurance within your household. The numbers for each are going up by $12 — to $60 and $72.”

The council also voted to amend an ordinance governing how the city’s Board of Adjustments determines its chairperson. Instead of the mayoral appointment automatically becoming chairperson, the board will now be able to vote to select its leader at the beginning of each year.

During the open forum portion of the meeting, Haberle reminded the city that even in the wake of a major employer leaving the community (Alliance Data), many good things are happening in Jacksonville.

“In the last week or so we’ve taken a few hits. A large business closed and 230 people were displaced from their jobs, and that’s very unfortunate. Sometimes we get focussed on the negative things and we forget about all the good things that we have to be proud of,” Haberle said.

Haberle listed a litany of things he said he believes are moving the city forward.

“Very soon we are having our first meeting with the architect for the new City Hall; in March we anticipate the arrival of our new ladder truck; the Jacksonville Pine Apartments will be open and occupied by this summer; it’s pretty well confirmed that Atwoods is opening a retail store here; we have a new Sears store; Trinity Mother Frances opened a Premier Fitness; ETMC is talking about putting in an Olympic Center and just did a major renovation of their emergency room; we are getting a new dollar store on U.S. Highway 69; we are getting a new car wash in the Jacksonville Village Shopping Center; many of our churches are building and expanding; and they continue to work on the 140-unit subdivision being built on O’Keefe Road — that’s a lot of activity going on for a small town. It’s sad that people have been put out of work, but looking at the big picture, things are going well for Jacksonville,” he said.

In other business the council approved:

• the minutes from previous meetings;

• the city to sell surplus items at auction;

• an ordinance allowing Oncor Electric Delivery Company to replace its mercury vapor light fixtures to more efficient high-pressure sodium fixtures;

• changing the city’s contract with East Texas Medical Center’s Emergency Medical Service for billing services from up to a maximum cost of $22,000 to up to a maximum cost of $25,000;

• Jason Childress to serve on the Board of Adjustments;

• Julie Duren to serve on the Jacksonville Beautification Committee; and

• Royce Whitaker (District No. 1), Paul Travis (District No. 3) and Dianne Giebenrath (District No. 5) to serve on the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board.

The Jacksonville City Council regularly meets at 6 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month, at the Norman Activity Center. All meetings of the Jacksonville City Council are open to the public.