Voters will decide city, school, bond elections today
May 4—Voters in Parker and Palo Pinto counties head for the polls today to decide several city and school elections.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They will remain open until voters who get in line by 7 p.m. have cast ballots.
Voters in each respective county can cast ballots at any poll in their county.
There are 10 voting sites in Parker County. They are as follows:
— the kitchen in the courthouse annex at 1112 Santa Fe Drive;
— Springtown Senior Center Community Room, 1070 N. Main St.;
— Hudson Oaks Public Safety Building Training Room, 150 N. Oakridge Drive in Hudson Oaks;
— Millsap Community Center, 104 Fannin St. in Millsap;
— Peaster ISD Rock Gym (back room), 8512 Farm-to-Market Road 920;
— Azle City Hall community room, 505 W. Main St.;
— Walsh Athletic Club, 13757 Assembly Park Drive in Fort Worth;
— Aledo ISD Administration Building Louden Room, 1008 Bailey Ranch Road;
— Precinct 3 barn, 1111 Farm-to-Market Road 1189;
— Reno City Hall council chambers, 195 Reno Road in Azle.
Palo Pinto County voters have the following five options:
— The Courthouse Annex at 100 SE Sixth Ave. in Mineral Wells;
— The Graford ISD board room, 400 W. Division St.;
— The Possum Kingdom Fire Department meeting room, 358 North Farm-to-Market 2353 in Graford;
— Fox Hollow Meeting Room, West Lake Chapel 501 Farm-to-Market 1148 in Graham;
— Strawn City Hall, 118 E. Housley St. (Texas 108).
Voters in Mineral Wells will see an impactful ballot.
Elections there are highlighted by three recalls after customers of a recent water hike successfully gathered petitions to force three council members to defend their seats.
They are Jerrel Tomlin in Ward 1, the city's south-central neighborhoods; Doyle Light in Ward 4, which is southwest Mineral Wells; and Ward 2 Councilman Carlos Maldonado, representing northeast Mineral Wells (but whose ward dips south to the airport).
Tomlin's term is ending with this cycle anyway, so voters will be asked whether to end his term the same day they decide whether to elect him to another one.
He has drawn an opponent in Bryan Sleeman, while Beth Henary Watson is challenged in Ward 3 by D.B. Thomas.
In the mayor's race, challenger Ron Davis hopes to unseat incumbent Regan Johnson.
In addition to those offices, Mineral Wells voters will be asked to decide seven amendments to their city charter.
Those include simple language changes, such as renaming the Corporation Court to Municipal Court.
The charter proposals also clarify that public initiatives, along with regular and recall elections, will hew to the state elections code rule putting those on uniform election days in May or November.
A couple of the charter amendments are more weighty, bringing the city's purchasing and land-purchase/sale codes in line with state law.
Mineral Wells ISD
A trio of candidates seek to succeed Greg Malone, who is not seeking reelection in Place 1. They are Kit Sparks, Scott Aaron and Claudia Azua.
Incumbent Brandon Hons is not opposed in Place 2.
Graford ISD
Graford ISD school voters will decide a $59.9 million bond.
If approved by voters, the funds will build a new secondary campus with a career/college/military readiness facility.
The Graford measure also will buy school buses and build a storm shelter.
Graford ISD also has three open school board seats on the ballot, with four candidates in an at-large election.
The four hopefuls for three-year terms are incumbents Megan Ragle and Eddie Laney, with Tom Sikes and Ashley Stephens rounding out the ballot.
Millsap ISD
Four candidates are vying for a pair of three-year spots on the Millsap ISD board: incumbent Jon Hartman and newcomers Brad Hall, Heather Hester and Todd Raymond.
Three also are running for the remaining year of a three-year trustee term: incumbent Ross Beavers, who was appointed in August 2023 to fill a vacancy, Whittney Gilbert and Valerie Fowler.
Peaster ISD
Two Peaster ISD incumbents are running for reelection against two challengers for at-large seats on the board.
Scott Johnson and Aric Kram are seeking consecutive terms, with Leanna Stafford and Laura Stewart also filing.
Strawn
Five candidates have filed for three at-large alderperson seats on the Strawn city ballot.
They are incumbents Brenda Orsini, Delane Abbott and Aron Johnson, plus new hopefuls Tommy Lackey and Phylicia Dixon.
School board and city council seats in Weatherford were cancelled because no races are contested.
