Roger Estlack

Donley County Commissioners called a special election on May 5, 2018, to fill two positions on the Howardwick City Council during a called meeting Friday, February 23.

Qualified Howardwick residents now must file to run for those seats before a deadline of Saturday, March 3, at 5 p.m.

The county’s action comes at the request of a petition from Howardwick residents this week asked the Commissioners’ Court to step in after a series of resignations left the city council without a quorum. No residents from Howardwick attended Friday’s county meeting.

The special election will fill vacancies created by the resignations of Alderman Eric Riddle on February 13 and Alderman Shelly Williamson in December. The terms will expire in 2019.

In addition, County Judge John Howard said the Texas Secretary of State’s office confirmed that Howardwick can proceed with its regularly scheduled May election to fill three expiring aldermen’s seats. The city had four candidates signed up for those three positions, according to information given to the Enterprise on Tuesday.

Howard said the state’s determination is that the elections can happen at the same time on the same ballot even though Howardwick failed to call its regular election before a deadline last week. The county is leaving responsibility with the city to conduct the election and to accept applications for candidates before the deadline.

A call from the Enterprise to Howardwick Mayor Greta Byars’ home went unanswered Friday afternoon. A call to City Hall also was unanswered.

It was unclear when or where candidates might be able to sign up before next Saturday’s deadline.

One resident told Judge Howard that he had tried to sign up for the regular May election as a write-in candidate prior to the deadline at the close of business Tuesday, February 20, but was unable to do so as the city office was closed and padlocked.

Donley County Commissioners will meet at noon this Friday to consider ordering an election in Howardwick after government functions there ground to a halt last week.

The county’s special meeting is the result of a petition presented to Judge John Howard Tuesday morning bearing the signatures of 47 registered voters from Howardwick asking for a special election in the wake of resignations from two aldermen.

Mayor Greta Byars said the resignations last week of Aldermen Eric Riddle and Mac Miller have stopped the city from conducting business.

“The resignations show how much they thought of their city,” Byars told the Enterprise. “They didn’t care if they stopped the city.”

The Howardwick City Council was scheduled to hold its regular meeting last Tuesday, February 13, but earlier that afternoon Riddle and Miller submitted letters of resignation. The council already had one vacancy from former alderman Shelly Williamson’s resignation in December. With only two aldermen remaining in office, Robert Brewster and Doc Holladay, the city lacks a quorum to hold a legal meeting.

Compounding the city’s problems, City Secretary Tammy Jordan also resigned last Thursday, leaving Mayor Byars as the only person available to sign checks, and two signatures are required.

“I can’t pay any bills,” Byars said, noting that the water, power, and trash service for City Hall, the fire department, and the city’s maintenance department may soon be turned off.

The administration padlocked City Hall starting Wednesday, but Byars did open the office through Friday to allow for people to sign up for this May’s election. However, the city council had until last week to formally order the May election and failed to do so before it lost its quorum.

Byars says she has been in touch with the Texas Municipal League, Senator Kel Seliger’s office, the Texas Secretary of State, the city’s attorney, and the district court to determine what the city must do next.

“My biggest care right now is some way to get the city operating to pay bills,” Byars said.

Despite Riddle’s and Miller’s letters of resignation and only having two aldermen present, Mayor Byars proceeded with last Tuesday’s schedule meeting. The lack of a quorum was noted by the Enterprise, but the mayor led the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance, allowed a report to be presented on the annual audit, and discussed city business before Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn arrived and stopped the meeting.

Afterwards, several citizens made comments about dissolving the city and “going back to the county.” Byars said this week that there are citizens who have talked about that but said it has never been her suggestion or idea.

Riddle did not give a reason for resigning in his letter last week, but Miller wrote that he was leaving “due to differences of opinion on the running and management of the city.”

Jordan wrote that she resigned as city secretary because of a hostile work environment and “being constantly belittled and frequently accused of being a liar and a thief” and said Byars had been “hateful and nasty…since the moment she was sworn in.”

Byars said Tuesday that she has spent the better part of three months going through city records looking over the way things have been done in the past while her opponents have tried to make her life difficult.

Judge Howard said Tuesday that the resignations of Riddle and Miller become effective eight days after they were received, regardless of whether the city council could accept them.

However, Howard also said that under state law, an official continues to serve in office until their successor is in place and that the district judge could order those men to attend a meeting so that government could function pending an election.

Donley County Republicans hosted their local candidates last Thursday in a forum at the Bairfield Activity Center. Seven Republicans running for county offices participated in the event organized by party county chairman Bill Word.

County Judge John Howard, who is unopposed for a second term in office, was the first candidate up to speak. He outlined the duties of his office, praised local emergency responders, and said he and other county officials are doing what they can to meet the county’s needs.

County Treasurer Wanda Smith spoke briefly about her time in office, starting in the tax office in 1975 and now serving in her current capacity since 2005.

Precinct 2 commissioner candidate Randy Bond said he has spent 41 years in law enforcement and he is ready for a change to spend more time with his kids.

Precinct 2 Commissioner Daniel Ford said he has spent his entire life living in his precinct except for four years in the Army. He said his first term in office has been exciting due to the agreements the county has reached with wind energy companies.

Precinct 4 Commissioner Dan Sawyer, who is running unopposed, said the county is in a much better standing now than when he first took office eight years ago. He said the present commissioners’ court is open-minded and working for the future of the residents of the county.

Sawyer said road maintenance is a small part of a commissioner’s job but the one that gets the most judgement. He discussed other commissioner duties, such as responding to grass fires and overseeing the business of the county.

Also running unopposed, Precinct 1&2 Justice of the Peace Pam Mason said she has learned her job through hands-on training and has enjoyed her time in office.

Precinct 3&4 Justice of the Peace Denise Bertrand said she is in her seventh year in office and spoke on the wide range of responsibilities of the JP’s office, covering everything from Class C misdemeanors, magistrate work, evictions, small claims, and inquests. She said she hopes to continue to serve and praised the efforts of the commissioners’ court to develop a new JP office building in Hedley.

Bertrand’s opponent, Pat White, was unable to attend the forum due to illness but Chairman Word read a prepared statement from her. She wrote that she wants to help the county and uphold the law while being honest, compassionate, and firm.

Bobby Woodard, candidate for county/district clerk, did not attend Thursday’s forum. He is unopposed in the primary and will face Democrat incumbent Fay Vargas in the fall.

The Clarendon City Council moved forward with plans to secure financing as part of its USDA water improvement project last Thursday, February 15.

Aldermen voted in favor of publishing notice in this week’s Enterprise in another step toward issuing $2.522 million in certificates of obligation. That money will be combined with USDA grant funds to provide a total of about $3.9 million to upgrade the city’s infrastructure to improve water quality, elevated storage capacity, and water metering.

The council will meet in April to approve an ordinance issuing the certificates, which will be repaid by a $10 per month charge that is already in place on every water bill.

In other city business, officials reached an agreement on parking in front of a storage building used by Tommy Hill across from City Hall. Hill had painted a “no parking” zone on the curb in front of his 25-foot storefront. That paint is to be removed in exchange for city employees agreeing not to park in that area during the day. Visitors and residents can continue to park there.

Aldermen approved adding “bilingual Spanish” to the list of skills qualifying city employees for additional certification pay.

In his report, City Administrator David Dockery said the signs banning trucks from Third Street had been erected near the new Allsup’s site. He also reported that the city’s new sirens are being painted and should be installed in time for the spring storm season.

Clarendon College is the only local government certain to hold an election this May after the sign-up period closed last Friday, February 16.

Seven local boards had positions available this year, but the college district was the only one to have enough candidates file to warrant having an election.

With three positions up this spring on the Board of Regents, incumbents Edwin Campbell and Jerry Woodard have filed for re-election, and Tommy Waldrop and Lance Wood have also signed up.

The college election will be held Saturday, May 5, 2018.

The City of Howardwick had with three aldermen’s positions expiring in May; and although four people – Doc Holladay, Marietta Baird, Kay Dye, and Debora Sharpton – signed up to run for office before the Friday deadline, the city’s government is currently paralyzed by a lack of a quorum and did not approve an order of election by last week’s deadline.

Other local entities only had enough candidates sign up to cover the positions available.

The City of Hedley reports that Mayor Carrie Butler and Aldermen Johnny Hoggatt, Lynn Kelsey, and Willy Lewis all filed for their positions. The City of Clarendon also had all its incumbents file for re-election. Those are Aldermen Beverly Burrow, Larry Jeffers, and John Lockhart.

Hedley ISD incumbent Trustees Dana Bell and Carole Ward filed for re-election, and Clarendon ISD Trustees Wayne Hardin and Wes Hatley did also.

At the Donley County Hospital District, incumbents Jan Farris, Nikki Adams, Mark C. White, and Lori Howard all signed up for their seats on board of directors.

Early voting began Tuesday in Democratic and Republican primaries to determine who will be on the General Election ballot this November.

Local voters can continue to cast ballots early at the Donley County Courthouse Annex through March 2. The Primary Election Day will be Tuesday, March 6.

Most Donley County candidates appeared in a forum at the Bairfield Activity Center last week, which is covered in a related article in this week’s Enterprise.

For information about other candidates appearing on ballots this spring, the League of Women Voters Texas’ 2018 Primary Election Voters Guide is available at https://my.lwv.org/texas/election-information. The guide provides candidates’ answers to questions on issues, ranging from the economy and the environment to social issues such as immigration reform.