Published: May 09, 2008 11:32 am            

City, school seats, charter amendments are on area ballots

Daily Progress Staff

City Secretary Betty Thompson reports 135 Jacksonville citizens took the opportunity to vote early in this Saturday’s City Council and charter amendment election, which according to her is a fairly average turnout for a city election.

Thompson said voter turnout on election day is typically double that of those who chose to vote early.

Eighty of the ballots cast were submitted by residents of District 4, where incumbent Phyllis Wilburn is attempting to hold on to her council seat against challengers Rob Beall and James Hugghins — the only contested race on the ballot. The remaining 55 voters only took part in the city’s special election, which includes seven proposed amendments to the city charter.

Amendments on the ballot range from procedural changes to removing obsolete verbiage to increasing the number of terms the mayor can serve to allowing the city council to appoint a replacement in case of an emergency.

Thompson said early voting ballots cannot be read until Saturday morning.

“Depending on when my election judges begin counting the ballots, we will hopefully know the results of the election by 7:30 p.m. Saturday,” she said. “The results will be canvassed during the May City Council meeting, and the winner of the City Council race in District 4 will be sworn in during the June council meeting. By law, I have to publish the charter amendments in the newspaper, and any propositions that pass on Saturday will take effect as soon as they are published in the paper.”

Polls will be open on election day at the Jacksonville Public Library from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

— Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com



Jacksonville ISD

Voter turnout for the school board election declined dramatically over last year. Only 258 ballots were cast in advance this year, just under 200 fewer than the 2007 early total.

Individual tallies for each candidate — incumbent Jimmy Brown and challengers Sarah Jane Robinson and Belinda Sims for Place 3 and Trustee James Houser and his opponent, Ken Smith for Place 4 — will not be available until Saturday when regular voting opens. Polling will take place at the Jacksonville Public Library from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Saturday.

The lower voter turnout might be the byproduct of fewer candidates running for the positions. Last year, a total of seven candidates ran for the two seats up for grabs on the Jacksonville Independent School District Board of Trustees versus five this year.

Residents have one more day to have their say on the direction of JISD and the way they vote may reveal a lot about how citizens feel about the school board as it is currently composed.

Robinson and Sims represent discord over recent decisions of the school board, as both have expressed frustration with the standardized dress code adopted at the beginning of the school year. Although he wasn’t a member of the board when the standards were ratified, Brown has been a supporter of the dress code, saying it helps de-emphasize socioeconomic differences between students.

Smith’s decision to contest the more veteran incumbent Houser could be seen as a protest of what some see as a long-standing problem with the Board of Trustees — its failure to communicate effectively with the public. Smith is a proponent of a master facility plan for JISD that would allow citizens of the district to know the state of mind of school officials regarding the direction of existing buildings. Smith says he will bring more leadership and transparency than has been shown in recent years.

If re-elected, Houser would be serving his second term on the Board of Trustees. Brown would be granted his first full term, having been appointed last summer to replace the retiring Ann Chandler.

— Raymond Billy

rbilly@jacksonvilleprogress.com



Rusk

Rusk city officials said 36 residents cast their ballots early for council members Don Jones, Donald Woodard and Sam Florian. All three incumbents filed to keep their seats, with no opposition.

“This is a really good turnout for an election that has no opposition,” Rusk City Secretary Fran Wendeborn said.

The other issue on the ballot in Rusk concerns five proposed changes to the city’s charter. The biggest changes proposed are amendments concerning the mayor’s right to vote on matters that come before the council and how many votes should it take to pass an agenda item.

The other proposed amendments pertain to the council’s right to appoint alternate municipal judges, set the requirements and term limit of the municipal judge and the term limits for the county attorney and city clerk and remove the limit on the cost of budgeted expenditures that can be made without the council’s approval.

The polls will be open in Rusk from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the RISD Administration office, 203 E. Seventh St., Rusk.



Rusk ISD

Eighty-nine early votes were cast in the Rusk Independent School District Board of Trustees election.

Incumbents Frances Long and Anthony Holcomb and challengers Oliver Sturns and Terry L. Downs all filed for the district’s at-large positions.

The district’s general election will be held from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at the RISD Administration office, 203 E. Seventh St., Rusk.



New Summerfield

The city of New Summerfield reported seven residents voted early in the three-way race for two seats on its city council.

“That’s a good number for here,” City Secretary Teresa McCutcheon said.

Incumbents Karie Bolton and Sheri Solomon and challenger Donald Williams are all on the at-large ballot.

New Summerfield residents may cast votes in the municipal election from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday at New Summerfield City Hall.

New Summerfield Independent School District was able to call its election since incumbents Michael Davis and Clay Wilkerson both filed to keep their seats with no oppositions on the ballot.

— Cristin Ross

cross@jacksonvilleprogress.com

        

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