Wharton, East Bernard mayors challenged
City councilmen Samuelson, Montalvo file for Wharton mayor; Robinson files in EB
By BARRY HALVORSON bhalvorson@journal-spectator.com

There will be contested races for mayor in both Wharton and East Bernard when city residents go to the polls on May 10.

With a 5 p.m. Monday deadline for filing for a spot on the ballot for local city and school district elections, in Wharton current city councilmen David Samuelson and Domingo Montalvo have both filed as candidates for the city's top spot while incumbent Bryce Kocian has not filed.

With Samuelson filing for the mayor's race, he will not run for re-election in District 2.

Through noon Friday, Lewis Fortenberry is the only candidate to file for that seat. In other places on the ballot, incumbent Don Mueller has filed for re-election in District 4 while Dr. Jeff Gubbels has filed as a candidate for the at-large Position 6 seat on the council currently held by Ray Linseisen, who has not filed.

Each of the positions is for a twoyear term from May 2008 to May 2010. City candidates for office need to be citizens of the United States and qualified voters in the City of Wharton and State of Texas.

Interested individuals can apply for a spot on the ballot with City Secretary Lisa Stavena at city hall, 120 E. Caney.

In East Bernard, the only mayor in the city's history, Buck Boettcher, will be challenged this election by Wayne Robinson.

There are also two alderman positions up this election with the incumbents, Toby Hlavinka for Position 2 and Tommy Vacek for Position 4 the only persons to file through noon Friday.

Both the mayor and council spots are for two year terms. Filing for the East Bernard Municipal election can be done at City Hall, 704 Church Street.

In addition to deciding the mayor and alderman positions, East Bernard citizens will be voting on re-authorizing the city to continue to collect a onequarter cent sales tax for street maintenance.

City Administrator Melvin Sands said under Texas law, the sales tax, which was adopted by the city when it incorporated, has to be renewed every four years.

There are three positions on the Wharton ISD board of trustees to be decided this spring with one candidate for each through Friday noon. Position 7 incumbent Hazel Hurd has filed for re-election. Sherrell Speer has field for the Position 5 seat held by Ronnie Bollom while Wayne Taylor has filed for the Position 6 seat held by Don Erdelt. Bollom and Erdelt have not filed for re-election so far.

School trustees are elected to three year terms. Persons interested in running for the Wharton School Board should contact Superintendent's Secretary Linda Lins at the WISD Administrative Office at 2100 N. Fulton.

In the East Bernard ISD, incumbent Roland Orsak has filed for Position 1 and incumbent James Vincek has filed for Position 2. Both are currently unopposed. Those interested in running for a board position should contact Superintendent's Secretary Louisa Davis at the district's administrative building at 723 College Street.

For those not making the Monday deadline, potential candidates have until March 17 to file as a write-in. Other important dates on the city/school election calendar include early voting by personal appearance beginning on April 28. Early voting runs through May 6. Election Day is May 10.

The Boling ISD board election will be held in conjunction with the November General Election.