City Elections

City Elections

Written by Beth Wade Friday, 11 April 2008

Voters head to polls

Residents of Georgetown and Hutto will vote in the local election races May 10.

Georgetown Mayor Gary Nelon announced in December that he would not seek re-election.

“I got to thinking as I started contemplating running for a third term that six years in office was sounding about right and nine years was starting to sound like a long time,” Nelon said. “I always knew I would self limit because there is no term limit. So, you have to rely on what you think is the right thing to do. In my case, two terms sounded like the right amount of public service in that job.”

Nelon has served as mayor since being elected in 2002. Two candidates have filed to run for his position, including former city councilman Doug Smith and former interim superintendent of Georgetown Independent School District George Garver.

Smith, who filed for the mayoral election after hearing of Nelon’s retirement, has served on several nonprofit boards and was a Georgetown councilman from 2001 to 2007.

“[Nelon] has done a good job. He has maintained a good tone on the council, leading the council, and I will maintain that same tone,” Smith said. “[The tone] is one that is respectful of all citizens. I consider myself a consensus builder, and I will work towards that goal.”

Smith moved with his wife to Georgetown in 1996 after retiring from Shell Oil Company as a chemical engineer.

Smith’s concern for the city is its growth and what that will mean for the infrastructure, he said.

“Georgetown has doubled [in population] in the last 10 years and will double again in the next 10 years. We have to have ways for people to get from point A to point B,” Smith said. “The current roads that we have will probably not be adequate. They are becoming that way now. With the population doubling, we have to be proactive to stay ahead or at least keep up with it.”

Smith’s opponent, George Garver, served as interim superintendent during the fall semester. He had not planned on running for mayor until a citizens’ group approached him on the matter, he said.

“I was asked if I would be willing to consider,” Garver said. “After [my wife] and I talked about it for some length, we said, ‘Yes, that would be a fine way to be of service.’ I think it is appropriate for people to assist where requested and where it might be helpful.”

He also said he believes it is Georgetown’s growth that will be the biggest issue facing the city in the future.

“[The 2030 study] is becoming the driving tool for the city’s governing process. It suggests by the year 2030, which is 22 years out, our population will go from 50,000 to 150,000,” Garver said. “That kind of monumental growth demands careful management, very careful deliberation on what kind of growth under what ground rules and the orderly building of the foundation on which future growth will occur.”

Garver said he looks forward to working with council and city staff if elected.

Hutto ISD bond

The Hutto ISD Board of Trustees is asking the residents of Hutto to approve a $138 million bond package. The district has about 4,440 students, but is expected to add 3,321 students within the next four years and grow to 16,648 students in the next 10 years, said Ed Ramos, Hutto ISD financial director.

The district receives a demography report from Deskmap Systems, Inc., an Austin-based firm that collects demographic data and determines growth-rate scenarios.

“We use them every year,” Ramos said, “but because of the fast growth, we have asked them to come back to us quarterly with updated demographic reports.”

Using these projections, the district has put together a bond package with two proposals for voters to consider.

The first proposal totals $128.5 million and will include two new elementary schools, a 1,500-student high school, future land purchases and an expansion of the football stadium with additional seating, bathrooms and a small warehouse facility.

If passed, construction on the district’s sixth elementary school could begin next January for an estimated $17.96 million. The school would be available for a fall 2009 opening.

The $21 million, seventh elementary school would be built the following year, if projections are accurate.

“The price difference between the two is the delay in construction from one year to the next due to inflation,” Ramos said. “We usually project about 10 percent inflation, which is about the average construction inflation rate.”

The bond package’s second proposal for $9.94 million will go toward a natatorium (an indoor swimming pool) and dry workout areas. The district will partner with the YMCA of Greater Williamson County to build the facility if the proposal passes. The district hopes to partner with a developer or the city to donate land for the facility, Ramos said.

If both propositions pass, the bond would increase the district tax rate to $1.54 per $100 by 2012, meaning the tax bill for a home worth $150,000 would increase by 65 cents a month in the 2008-2009 school year. The following year it would increase by $7.54 a month.

“The district is attempting to keep up with growth to ensure our students are not housed in portable buildings,” Ramos said.

No ballots in Taylor

The City of Taylor, along with the school district, cancelled their election because the only candidates to file were incumbents.

School district board of trustees members Shorty Mitchell, district 1, and Brad Moss, at large representative, were uncontested in their races and will remain on the board.

Rod Hortenstine, councilman at large, was the only candidate to file for the race and will remain on the council.