VALLEY MILLS, Texas — Petitioners are sough for a special election in Valley Mills.
- Registered voters were asked to sign a petition for a special election
- Mayor Pro Tem wants the city to focus on other issues
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Former Valley Mills Mayor Josh Thayer is looking to lead a community movement.
"We we're all hoping is that they will just do the right thing and hold a special election. They can get with the elections office with Bosque County let people sign up to run and they can probably hold the election in November with the general election," said Josh Thayer, former mayor of Valley Mills.
But current Mayor Pro Tem Craig Godby doesn't agree.
"An election will cost our city more money in most elections run around $3,000. Anytime you have a thing or something like that it just takes away money that we need to be spending in other areas," said Godby.
As I first told you last month, the city has been without a mayor since Ray Bickerstaff stepped down after two months on the job. City Secretary Robin Skinner also stepped down.
Council members voted to wait until next year to have an election. But Thayer, and other petition organizers are calling for a special election to vote for a new leader now.
"You can go back and look at the agendas when was the last time someone talked about our streets or you can talk anyone in this town and they'll tell you about the really bad brown water we got. We got a lot of issues that we need a mayor for," said Thayer.
But to do that, they need signatures from registered voters.
I talked to the Bosque County Elections Office, which tells me there are 796 registered voters in the City of Valley Mills.
The elections office could not tell me how many signatures are needed to get the issue before the voters. Still, the petition organizers tell me they are trying to get as many as possible.
But the mayor pro tem thinks the group is focusing on the wrong thing.
"Our biggest problem in Valley Mills is the lack of audits and because of that we have no access to grants," said Godby.
Regardless of who the next mayor could be or when they would take office, Godby tells me they need to be prepared.
"You can't have a full-time job and commit to being mayor here, there's too many demands," said Godby.
