College Station voters will not fill a city council vacancy created last November, until the November general election.
During a special meeting Monday night, the council chose not to take action on scheduling a runoff election on August 18th.
Following a 45 minute executive session, the six member governing body came out of the private discussion and heard from four public speakers.
Two of the speakers were the runoff candidates. Elizabeth Cunha asked for holding the runoff on November 3 and Joe Guerra supported the August 18th date.
Another citizen wanted the election later in August after Texas A&M students returned to town. This speaker was opposed to the general election date due to health concerns from influenza and coronavirus.
Then mayor Karl Mooney issued a statement that the election would be held November 3. Mooney said the governor said no to August 18. The mayor said that would have meant the city would have to get a court order to get the county’s assistance. And without the county’s assistance, Mooney said there was an uncertain cost of obtaining voting machines.
The fourth public speaker asked about the status of absentee ballots that were submitted for the original runoff election date in April. The mayor said that would be resolved when the council considered an ordinance officially setting the runoff in November.
Click below for comments from Karl Mooney during the June 1, 2020 College Station city council meeting.
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