Filing opens in City Council election

By LPR Staff

Editor/POST-REGISTER

Three seats are up for grabs on the Lockhart City Council this fall.

Earlier this year, the Lockhart City Council entered an order calling an election for the Mayor’s seat, as well as City Council Places 3 and 4, on Nov. 7, 2017.

Filing opens on July 22 for places on the ballot, and will remai

n open until 5 p.m. on Aug. 21, 2017.

Mayor Lew White had not, at press time, offered a public statement as to whether he intends to run again, nor had District 3 Councilmember Benny Hilburn.

District 4 Councilmember Jeffry Michelson picked up a candidate packet last week.

Would-be candidates for the single-member districts must have resided in their home district for no less than six months prior to the election, and must use that residence as their home address on employment records and government forms. Any candidate that claims a homestead exemption on any residence other than the in-district residence claimed for the purposes of the council election can be disqualified, under the terms spelled out by the City Charter. (see inset map).

The Mayor, elected by the city at large, must live inside the Lockhart city limits, and must have maintained that residence for no less than six months prior to the election.

Lockhart City Council members serve staggered three-year terms. The next election, for Places 1 and 2, and the two at-large seats, will take place in 2019.

In keeping with the long-standing policies of the Post-Register, we offer all candidates a one-time, 500 word or less “campaign announcement,” giving the candidate the opportunity to introduce themselves to their community. These announcements must be written by the candidate or one of their supporters, and will be neither drafted nor edited by the staff of the Post-Register, with the exception of corrections for spelling and punctuation. One headshot-style photograph may be included.

These announcements must be received within our general deadline constraints, meaning they must be received prior to 5 p.m. on the Monday of the week they are to be published. Any submissions received after 5 p.m. on Monday will not be considered until the following week. Campaign announcements will be published on a space-available, first-come, first-served basis. If more than one candidate in a race has submitted a campaign announcement and space is not available for all announcements in that race, none will be published.

We will begin accepting Candidate Announcements in connection with the opening of the filing period on July 24, 2017, and will continue accepting and publishing the same until Aug. 31, 2017.

Additionally, the Post-Register welcome Letters to the Editor addressing candidates or issues of local interest. However, Letters to the Editor discussing campaign issues will not be accepted from candidates, nor will they be published if they are deemed by our Editorial Board to be potentially libelous.

Libel, as loosely defined by our Editorial Board, includes any printed statement that serves no purpose except to damage one’s reputation or credibility, and is not provable by documented fact.

The Post-Register will follow up with City of Lockhart election officials throughout the filing period, to keep the community abreast of the individuals who choose to run for office.