Throughout the country there has been a good deal of election talk with the party primaries underway and locally with the Primary election for County Sheriff.  The Texas Primary election is March 3 with early voting already started, and I encourage everyone who wishes to have your candidate succeed to get out and cast an informed vote.  The final vote for our County elected offices will be in November, along with the national election, but the Primary voting is very important in Mason where historically one party carries the majority of the votes.  This is one part of the election talk this spring, but there is also the local City elections that are on a separate and distinct election schedule.  The local municipal elections will have an effect that may impact our community for several years to come, so I encourage you to become informed and involved so that your City Commission represents the best intentions of our residents.

     As I have been saying for many months now, after fifteen years of serving our town as Mayor, I will be retiring and letting someone new take the leadership role and help move our City forward to meet the goals and needs for the future.  Last Friday was the last day for registering or filing for a place on the ballot for a City position, and with three seats open for election each of them now has more than one person who wishes to be considered for the office.  The office of Mayor is an at-large position, meaning that everyone who is a registered voter and a resident within the City limits of Mason may vote in that election.  We have two candidates for that position, Sherry Alexander who has lived in Mason for a number of years and has served the community as a Physician’s Assistant through our local clinic and will be retiring from her more recent position with the Llano medical clinic, and Whitney Leifeste who was raised here in Mason and received her basic schooling here, has moved back about a year ago and comes from a background of the legal profession.  For the position of Commissioner representing District 1 we have three candidates, the incumbent Annette Thomas who has served in that position for the past two years, Nicholas Gierisch who was raised here and has moved back to assist his family and work in various local businesses, and Gayland Thorn who has been a resident of Mason for many years after retiring from working in the technology field and who has worked for both the City and the Sheriff’s office during the past fifteen years.  In the final position on this Spring’s ballot, the Commissioner representing District 3 has two candidates, the incumbent Sue Jordan Pledger who has served in that position for the past four years and who moved here a few years ago after a career in the big city as a bankruptcy attorney, and the other candidate is William Beaty who has served several terms on the Commission previously with ten years of experience and has been an active business owner for about forty years here in Mason. 

     As I have seen the entire slate of candidates develop over the past few weeks, I am impressed that each of the individuals running has some distinct experiences and background that would provide a value and benefit to the City and to serving in the various positions.  I hope that you will become fully informed of their strengths and opinions during the next two months so that you can make an informed and reasonable choice.  As I already said, the Mayor position can be voted by every registered voter who is a resident of the City of Mason, but the Commission seats are limited to those voters who reside in the specific District represented.  We will publish a map and description of the boundaries of the two Districts in a future paper, but you can look on your Voter Registration card and in the small box for City it will indicate which District you are registered in. 

    You need to note also that the election schedule for City elections is different from other local, state and national elections and primaries.  The first day for early voting in our City election will be Monday, April 20 and early voting will be held in the City offices at 124 Moody on the southwest corner of the Square.  The Election Day will be Saturday, May 2 and all voting that day will be at the Eckert Civic Center.  We will be noting these details several more times in this paper and on our website during the next couple of months, but please make an effort to become informed about the issues and candidates and not merely rely on the rumor mill or the shop talk, and make an effort to vote during the proper times so that your opinions can be heard.  With the significant projects that the City is currently involved in as well as the many goals and smaller projects that are under consideration, this City election is important for the wise improvement of our community and the future that we will leave for the next generation.  Mason is truly a great hometown, and with wise choices in the coming months we can continue to celebrate a community that is a great place to live and work.