Municipal election day marked March 6

There will be at least one new face on the Clovis city commission in March, along with a new mayor and city councilor in Portales.

Incumbents in Clovis’ and Portales’ March 6 municipal elections are mostly seeking additional terms.

The exceptions are in the Portales mayor’s position, where Sharon King cited health reasons for not seeking a third term, Portales’ Ward A and Clovis’ District 4.

“I’m doing well today,” King said in a September interview with The News, “but I’m not sure if I can say that two weeks from now.”

Signups for municipal elections will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at the respective city or village hall.

Antonio Salguero will not seek his position in Ward A, while Tom Martin went back and forth before declining neither his head nor his heart were in a second term.

“I have a much better appreciation for the members of the commission, the mayor, the employees of the city and the citizens,” Martin said. “It has given me a perspective I needed in order to further appreciate the city.”

Ballot drawing takes place following certification of the ballots. Clovis City Clerk LeighAnn Melancon said she checks for clerical issues while the person is signing up, but Wednesday is the day she officially verifies the candidate is a registered voter and lives in the required district to be a candidate. Any mistakes a candidate makes in while signing up can be corrected before 5 p.m.

Melancon said she’s never had to disqualify a candidate, and has only heard of it happening one time among current clerks around the state. In that instance, a man who didn’t live in the district he was running to represent intended to register using the address of a relative who did live in that district. Whether it was his conscience or just force of habit, he ended up writing down his own address.

The ballot draw is Thursday.

Clovis will also have three separate bond issues, which could mean up to $20 million generated from additional property taxes. Separate questions will be on the ballot for the issuance of general obligation bonds in issuance of $10 million for road, $5 million for senior centers and $5 million for the Wellness Center.

If all three questions are approved, an additional $7.80 per $1,000 of taxable property value — or one-third of assessed property value — would be collected.

Question 1 would add $3.90, Questions 2 and 3 each would add $1.95. For a home assessed at $100,000, Question 1 would add $130 annually and Questions 2 and 3 would each add $65 annually to property taxes.

If all three questions are rejected, property taxes will not change. The bonds, if approved, would be put to the voters again every four years, though the purpose of the money can be changed

Melancon said and gross receipts taxes now applied to those areas would be freed up for general expenses and to offset the phase-out of hold harmless — state reimbursement to municipalities for GRT revenues lost when groceries and medication received exempt status.

This will also be Clovis’ first municipal elections requiring photo identification. Voters overwhelmingly approved voter ID in the 2016 municipal elections, and the city commission created a policy soon after. According to City Code 1.06.010(B), acceptable ID includes “ any card issued by a government agency (federal, state, county or municipality), passport, driver's license, student identification card, state issued identification card, insurance card, union card, a professional association card or a voter identification card issued by the Clovis city clerk, provided the item submitted contains a photograph depiction of the voter.“

Voters without such can vote on a condition ballot, sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury and supply either a date of birth or last four digits of Social Security number. The conditional ballot is only counted if the person brings a photo ID to the city clerk within three days of the election, or swears via affidavit to a religious objection to being photographed.

The following positions are available in each municipality:

• Clovis: Five commission seats are available — District 1 (held by Juan Garza), District 2 (Gary Elliott), District 3 (Fidel Madrid, Helen Casaus) and District 4 (Martin) — along with the municipal judge position held by Jan Garrett. All except Martin have said they intend to run again.

In District 3, Madrid will be running for a four-year term, while Casaus will run for the remaining two years of the term she received via appointment after the retirement of Bobby Sandoval. Candidates must declare which term they seek when filing.

Vanessa Aguirre and David Bryant have both told The News they intend to run in District 3. Bryant said he is running for the four-year term, while attempts to contact Aguirre were unsuccessful.

• Portales: Four wards are up for the voters — Ward A (Salguero), Ward B (Oscar Robinson), Ward C (Michael Miller) and Ward D (Diane Parker). All but Salguero have indicated they’d seek additional terms. Municipal Judge Barbara George will also run again, saying, “ “I just really like my job, and I really like seeing people, and I like helping people when I can. It’s just a really good place for me to be right now in my life.”

Dora: Mayor Mickey Burkett and councilors Lewis Walker and Bill Cathey will also be up for another term. While none of the three men were available for comment, Dora Village Clerk Becky Fraze said they have all indicated a desire to run again.

• Elida: Mayor Durward Dixon, Municipal Judge Carsonial Newberry Jr., and town trustees Steve Barron and Beverly Creighton. Dixon said he plans to run again to continue work on the village’s infrastructure projects. Barron was undecided and neither Newberry nor Creighton could be reached for comment.

Grady: On the ballot are the positions of mayor (Wesley Shafer) and two at-large council positions (James Schell, Jena Rush).

• Melrose: On the ballot are the positions of mayor (Tuck Monk), municipal judge (Bobby Moulds) and two at-large council members (Ron Moore, Barry Green).

• Texico: On the ballot are the positions of mayor (Jerry Bradley), municipal judge (Dean Henninger), two four-year council terms (Oran Jay Autrey, Max Carter) and one two-year council term (David Parmer).

Attempts to reach Floyd’s village hall were unsuccessful.