La Feria News

Election for New Mayor Set for January 25, 2014

Deadline to File for the Post is Monday, November 25th

The La Feria City Commission held a special meeting on Tuesday, November 12, 2013 to consider and take action to approve a resolution ordering a Special Election to fill a vacancy of Mayor Steve Brewer’s unexpired term. This comes as a result of Mayor Brewer’s announcement that he would be running for the office of Cameron County Commissioner Pct. 4 in the May Democratic Primary Election. The announcement was made at a workshop held during a special meeting on Monday, November 7 at the Tex-Mex Restaurant in La Feria. Brewer will be running against La Feria native Dan Sanchez who currently holds the post and is expected to run for re-election.

The mayor was not in attendance at Tuesday night’s meeting due to an illness in his family, however the Commission proceeded with the review and approval of the proposed Special Election. During the deliberation, Commissioners Betancourt and Gonzalez had questions regarding City Commission seats that may become vacant should a Commissioner choose to run for the Mayoral position. La Feria City Attorney Richard S. Talbert explained the rules as outlined by the Texas Constitution that any Commissioner choosing to run for the Mayoral seat would have to make a public announcement and automatically resign their position. A special election would then be held within 120 days of the announcement to fill the position if there was more than a year left to the term. In such a case, the Commissioner would be allowed to continue presiding in their current position until their successor is voted in, much like Mayor Brewer’s current situation as Mayor of La Feria. If a Commissioner’s term has less than a year left and they decide to run for Mayor, they would not be asked to automatically resign and their position would be filled in the next election. There are currently three posts on the La Feria City Commission to be voted on in the regular May election posts: Place 3,4 & 5. Deadline for filing for the regular election will be February 25 of next year.

The resolution was passed unanimously after deliberation and the Special Election for the Mayoral position was set for January 25th. The deadline to register for a candidate to file is set for Monday, November 25, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. Applications to be placed on the ballot can be obtained from the City Secretary at City Hall, 115 E. Commercial Ave., La Feria, TX. The drawing on names for position on the printed ballot will be held at La Feria City Hall Monday, December 2 at 6:30 p.m. Early voting will begin January 8th through January 21st.

The next regular meeting of the La Feria City Commission will be December 17 at 6:30 p.m.

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