Published: February 18, 2008 09:42 am         

Early filings slow in local, area council races

By Lacie Morrison
lmorrison@mineralwellsindex.com

During the first week of filing for seats on area school boards and city councils, few candidates have put their names on the ballot.

In Mineral Wells, two city council incumbents have filed for another term while another councilman filed for mayor. Ward 1 councilman Tommy Blissette and Ward 3 councilman John Ritchie filed to retain their current seats while Ward 2 councilman and mayor pro-tem Mike Allen filed for mayor.

The seats for city councils in Mingus, Graford and Gordon remain open as of Friday. According to officials at each city hall, there haven’t been any filing packets picked up or candidates filing for positions.

In Strawn, incumbent alderman Carl Frazier filed Monday, the sole candidate to do so this week. According to an official at Strawn City Hall, no one else has picked up packets.

Filing in the school districts has also had a slow start. Filing packets were picked up from Gordon ISD, one school official reported Friday, while Strawn ISD Superintendent David Lindsay said they haven’t had anyone pick up or file for a seat on the school board. Likewise, Graford ISD reported a quiet filing week with no one picking up or filing for a seat on the school board.

Millsap ISD incumbent Michael Stack filed Monday and one other person has picked up a packet, a MISD employee reported.

Mineral Wells ISD already has a contested race for Place 7 on the school board as Ellen Starr filed Friday for the seat. Mineral Wells Mayor Clarence Holliman filed for the same seat on Monday.

Filing for seats on area school boards and city councils runs through March 10. Early voting is April 28 to May 6 with voting day on May 10 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.