Mods: this is specific to College Station residents and purposefully avoids political discussion.
It is simply about voters' rights to access and the city's fiscal responsibilities. Thank you
My email to Council Members
I do not understand the City's sudden rush to force an August 18th Runoff Election for Council Place 4 noticing a Monday Special Session at 6:15 PM on prior Friday.
As of May 13th, in response to inquiry, there was not an anticipated date. This is not clarified by the verbiage on the City of College Station website, particularly,
The Agenda seems to obfuscate when the request was made to the Secretary of State.
While earlier in the year an August date may have seemed acceptable, given the current critically reduced city revenue and local economy's devastated condition, fiscally prudent options must be considered. The opportunity to save funds by consolidating City of College Station elections in November seems a reasonable alternative. Local elections in Brazos County cost close to $20,000, though this will be more expensive with two weeks of early vote rather than the typical one for runoffs. The proposal for incurring court expenses seems fiscally irresponsible and is confounding.
Holding a combined runoff and scheduled Places 1, 3, and 5 in November is an opportunity for College Station citizens to engage and make holistic choices.
It would afford all interested the opportunity to study the candidates and the issues and for the candidates to make their best cases for their College Station vision and positions.
August 18 is especially problematic as it is in the midst of return to Campus for students, faculty, and staff after an extended and difficult absence. One can reasonably project very low voter turnout with many distractions. It is also the day after the deadline for Uniform Election Filing, thus eliminating the opportunity for the candidate who does not prevail to opt into the next round for City of College Station races.
Given these circumstances it is difficult to comprehend the costs to be incurred and disenfranchisement of College Station citizens' votes. I am dismayed.
Website: https://cstx.gov/news/what_s_new/council_to_consider_calling_aug__18_election?fbclid=IwAR3SI3A5HoE077NnxFTsL_diQkZcMGF3KNlKCYZKF6-uZvgYDB05zFBdGMo
Agenda: http://docarc.cstx.gov/DocArc/DocView.aspx?id=1410431&dbid=0&repo=DOCUMENT-SERVER&cr=1
It is simply about voters' rights to access and the city's fiscal responsibilities. Thank you
My email to Council Members
I do not understand the City's sudden rush to force an August 18th Runoff Election for Council Place 4 noticing a Monday Special Session at 6:15 PM on prior Friday.
As of May 13th, in response to inquiry, there was not an anticipated date. This is not clarified by the verbiage on the City of College Station website, particularly,
- The city council directed staff in the spring to seek permission from the state of Texas tp reschedule the Place-4 runoff election for Aug. 18. While this request is still pending, Monday's action would permit the city to seek court approval to proceed with the election.
The Agenda seems to obfuscate when the request was made to the Secretary of State.
While earlier in the year an August date may have seemed acceptable, given the current critically reduced city revenue and local economy's devastated condition, fiscally prudent options must be considered. The opportunity to save funds by consolidating City of College Station elections in November seems a reasonable alternative. Local elections in Brazos County cost close to $20,000, though this will be more expensive with two weeks of early vote rather than the typical one for runoffs. The proposal for incurring court expenses seems fiscally irresponsible and is confounding.
Holding a combined runoff and scheduled Places 1, 3, and 5 in November is an opportunity for College Station citizens to engage and make holistic choices.
It would afford all interested the opportunity to study the candidates and the issues and for the candidates to make their best cases for their College Station vision and positions.
August 18 is especially problematic as it is in the midst of return to Campus for students, faculty, and staff after an extended and difficult absence. One can reasonably project very low voter turnout with many distractions. It is also the day after the deadline for Uniform Election Filing, thus eliminating the opportunity for the candidate who does not prevail to opt into the next round for City of College Station races.
Given these circumstances it is difficult to comprehend the costs to be incurred and disenfranchisement of College Station citizens' votes. I am dismayed.
Website: https://cstx.gov/news/what_s_new/council_to_consider_calling_aug__18_election?fbclid=IwAR3SI3A5HoE077NnxFTsL_diQkZcMGF3KNlKCYZKF6-uZvgYDB05zFBdGMo
Agenda: http://docarc.cstx.gov/DocArc/DocView.aspx?id=1410431&dbid=0&repo=DOCUMENT-SERVER&cr=1
momlaw
