Deadline is Monday to apply for council

Monday, Feb. 5, at noon is the deadline for turning in applications to serve the unexpired term of City Councilman Jerry Watson. Watson died on Jan. 9, leaving Place 3 on the council vacant until the next scheduled city election, May 12.

As of Tuesday, four people had taken out applications for the position, said City Manager Michael Kovacs. Two - Jim Polichek and Charles Bujan - had turned their application in, Kovacs said.

He said city hall workers don't take the names of people who get applications, only the names of those who turn them in.

Polichek, 36, is an engineer and industrial salesman who is also a pilot, according to his application.

Bujan, a former personnel manager for a large insurance company, ran for Place 4 on the city council last year, losing to incumbent Bubba Jensen. Bujan said at the candidates' forum that he was concerned about the direction Port Aransas is going and about the way the city was maintaining the beach..

Mayor Claude Brown will call a special session of the council for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, to choose the person will fill the position until the election.

At its Jan. 18 meeting, the council was divided over whether to fill the spot. Councilmen Mike Hall and Keith McMullin took the position that council positions are elected positions and should only be filled by voters.

"We're going to be making some pretty important decisions, and we'll have somebody sitting there who was elected by six people, not by the voters," Hall argued.

"The citizens have elected us to make decisions, and this is one of the decisions we need to make," countered Councilman Bubba Jensen.