City, school elections coming up

By Emily Banks Wooten
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May 7, the uniform election date for 2022, is the day in which many local political subdivisions, such as cities, school districts and water districts, have their regular general elections for members of their governing bodies or special elections to fill vacancies. Additionally, this May uniform election date will also include proposed constitutional amendments passed by a two-thirds vote of the Texas Legislature during its recent special sessions. Early voting will run April 25 through May 3 for the May 7 uniform elections.

The Polk County Enterprise has a policy to run a free announcement with photo in the newspaper for every candidate running for office, allowing the candidates to have the opportunity to introduce themselves and their vision to readers. The photo should be a large .jpg and the announcement should be typed in a Word document not to exceed 400 words. Both should be emailed to the editor or can be brought into the office on a flash drive. The deadline to submit an announcement and photo is 5 p.m. April 22.

Corrigan-Camden, Goodrich and Onalaska Independent School Districts (ISDs) will hold trustee elections on May 7. Corrigan-Camden ISD will have two positions on the ballot. Misty Woodard is running for Position 6 and Michael Woodard is running for Position 7. Goodrich ISD will have three positions on the ballot. Tersia Brown is running for Position 5, Thomas Finger is running for Position 6 and Brenda Bennett is running for Position 7. Onalaska ISD will have three positions on the ballot. Brandon Smith is running for Position 1, Dennis Hodge is running for Position 2 and Ted Wiggins is running for Position 3.

Big Sandy, Leggett and Livingston ISDs will hold their trustee elections in conjunction with the November 8 general election.

The City of Onalaska will hold two elections on May 7 – its regular election and a special called election.

The mayor’s seat and two council seats will be on the ballot for the regular election. There are three people running for a full term as mayor. They are James W. Arnett, Paul Laverty and Bart Goldsmith. There are three people running for two full-term seats on the council. Those running are T.D. Jennings, Curtis Dickens and Kevin Arnett. The special called election is to fill a vacant unexpired term, left vacant following the resignation of Carl Cruse. There are two people running for the unexpired term. They are Cory Thomas Zipperer and Zachary Davies.

Both the Cities of Corrigan and Livingston cancelled their elections and declared the candidates elected because the incumbents all filed for reelection and drew no challengers. Those declared reelected in the City of Corrigan include Mayor Johnna Lowe Gibson, Bill Safford for Position 2 and Earlie C. Baldwin for Position 4. Those declared reelected in the City of Livingston include Mayor Judy B. Cochran and Aldermen Alan Cook and Marion A. “Bid” Smith.

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There are two proposed constitutional amendments that will be on the ballot May 7. Voters will vote “for” or “against.”

Proposition Number 1 (SJR 2) SJR 2 proposes a constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of property taxes that may be imposed for general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled in order to reflect any statutory reduction in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes on the person’s homestead from the preceding tax year.

The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment authorizing the legislature to provide for the reduction of the amount of a limitation on the total amount of ad valorem taxes that may be imposed for general elementary and secondary public school purposes on the residence homestead of a person who is elderly or disabled to reflect any statutory reduction from the preceding tax year in the maximum compressed rate of the maintenance and operations taxes imposed for those purposes on the homestead.”

Proposition Number 2 (SJR 2) SJR 2 proposes a constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from property taxes for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000.

The proposed amendment will appear on the ballot as follows: “The constitutional amendment increasing the amount of the residence homestead exemption from ad valorem taxation for public school purposes from $25,000 to $40,000.”