Elections to be held Saturday

Voters will go to the polls this Saturday, May 4, to decide elections in Howardwick, Clarendon, and the Clarendon school district.

Howardwick will select a new mayor as four people seek to succeed Mayor Greta Byars, who is not seeking re-election. Those candidates are Alderman Brice Hawley, Tony Clemishire, Coy Cooper, and Jeramy “J.D.” Kindle.

Also on the Howardwick ballot, five people are running for two positions on the city council. Alderman Johnny Floyd is joined on the ballot by Beverly McCaskill, Erica Mills, Tammy Jordan, and Jerry Mullanax.

Four candidates are seeking three positions on the Clarendon CISD Board of Trustees. Incumbents Robin Ellis, Chuck Robertson, and Will Thompson are joined on the ballot by challenger Zack Robinson. The top three candidates will be elected to that board.

Clarendon citizens have no candidates to choose from but are being asked to decide a sales tax question. If voters give their approval, the ballot measure would eliminate the city’s current 0.5 percent sales tax that is dedicated to property tax reduction and replace that with a 0.25 percent sales tax going exclusively to street maintenance and 0.25 percent sales tax going to the city’s general revenue. The city’s overall sales tax rate of 2.0 percent will not change regardless of the election’s outcome. The property tax reduction sales tax revenue, which amounts to about $100,000 per year, currently results in lowering the city’s ad valorem rate by about 20 cents per $100.

Clarendon and public school voters will cast ballots at the Donley County Courthouse Annex, and Howardwick citizens will vote at their City Hall. Polling will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.