City ballot fills; no new races form
Filing ends Monday for city, school elections
BY MARY HENKEL JUDSON SOUTH JETTY EDITOR

With only three days left to file, no races formed for city or school positions during filing this week, but the ballot for city council was filled when Charles Bujan filed for Place 3.

The position is open because of the death of Jerry Watson in January. His term expires in May, and is being filled by James. L. Polewchak Jr. who was appointed to complete the remainder of the term. Polewchak has said he will not seek election to the city council this year.

Meanwhile, no new candidates have stepped up to file for school board, leaving one race and two incumbents unopposed.

Filing ends Monday, March 12.

School board

The race on the school board ballot is between Port Aransas High School English teacher Rita Reed and the Place 5 incumbent, Chuck Borders who owns a property management company.

Incumbents in Places 4 and 6, Bob Smith and Rick Adams, remain unopposed in their bids for re-election. Smith is involved in sales, and Adams is a banker.

Terms are for three years, and there are no limits on the number of a terms a trustee may serve.

City council

Bujan joined Beverly Charles and Rick Pratt on the ballot for city council. Charles and Pratt are incumbents in Places 1 and 5.

Charles is a consultant and Pratt is an art gallery owner. Bujan is a retiree who ran unsuccessfully last year for Place 4 retained by Councilman Bubba Jensen.

Terms are for two years, and council members are limited to three consecutive terms.

Statements

Tuesday, March 13, before noon, is the deadline for candidates to submit to the South Jetty statements listing their qualifications and reasons for seeking office. The statements will be published, with photos of the candidates, at no charge through the March 15 edition.

Statements should be limited to 600 words and must be typewritten in upper and lower case (handwritten statements or those written in all capital letters will not be accepted).

Statements may be e-mailed, with 'Candidate Statement' written in the subject line, to southjetty@centurytel. net, or mailed to P.O. Box 1117, Port Aransas, TX 78373.

Candidates may submit photos of themselves or have a photo taken by prior arrangement at the South Jetty office, 141 W. Cotter St. Photos e-mailed, to the address mentioned previously, should be attached as jpeg files.

Candidates' Night

The South Jetty will host Candi- dates' Night for candidates in contested races only on Thursday, April 26.

Each candidate will have a certain amount of time, depending upon the number of candidates in the race, to make an opening statement and, after the questioning period, a specified period of time to make a closing statement.

South Jetty co-publisher and editor Mary Henkel Judson will be moderator. She will pose an impromptu question, to which candidates in each race will have two minutes to respond.

In addition to the impromptu question, candidates in each race will have three minutes to give prepared responses to the questions they draw immediately prior to the forum. Their opponents will have two minutes to give impromptu responses.

Filing procedures

Candidates for city council should file with City Secretary Esther Arzola at city hall, 710 W. Ave. A.

School board candidates should file with Penny Slingerland in the PAISD administration office at 100 S. Station St. On the final day of filing, Monday, March 12, candidates for school board may file at city hall since the school will be closed for Spring Break.

Election calendar

Applications for early ballots to be voted by mail may be requested of the city and school starting Tuesday, March 13. Ballots will be mailed to applicants as soon as they are available.

Candidates will draw for the order in which their names will appear on the ballot on Friday, March 16

Saturday, April 12, is the last day voters can register in time to vote in the May 12 election, or to transfer voter registration to a different county.

Early voting will be Monday, April 30 through Tuesday, May 8.