BISD: Wyatt, Grantham

Ann Hall The Brownsboro Independent School District Board of Trustees elections ended with low voter turnout May 10. Around 400 people voted on the two open board seats.

Bobby Lankford, board-appointed board member, lost his seat to Ricky Wyatt. Wyatt received 317 votes and Lankford received 189. Incumbent Becky Grantham kept her chair with 327 votes.

The election results will be canvassed this Friday.

Wyatt, a business manager for a sheet metal working company in Tyler, said he can make level-headed and tough decisions.

"These decisions are what I normally make," Wyatt said.

He first signed up to run for the board position because he wanted to see growth and make sure the students have the best resources available. Wyatt is a lifelong resident of the school district with a child in Brownsboro Elementary School.

Grantham said the board is faced with the huge issue of school funding.

"It's hard to meet the requirements of the state and still stay within the budget," Grantham said.

She likened it to a balancing act.

Gene Giger This will be the re-elected incumbent's second term on the board.

"If you're a part of something then you should be willing to offer your time to that organization," Grantham said.

Grantham, originally from Bowling Green, Kentucky, has three children in the school district. Having a mother who was a high school teacher and a father who was a college professor, she spent a great deal of her time around schools.

"I'd like to thank everyone who voted," she said.

It is important to serve more than one term, Grantham added, because a board member will learn a great deal about school administration during the first term. The board member will then be able to bring this experience to the board during the next term. Hall, Giger, Daniell elected

Election Day brought more voters than usual to Chandler City Hall to vote on the three open Chandler City Council positions. A total of 440 people cast their ballots.

Incumbents Ann Hall and Gene Giger, along with write-in candidate Don Daniell, were elected to serve the City of Chandler in the May 10 election.

Garnishing the most votes was Ann Hall, an eightyear veteran of the council, with 284 votes. Gene Giger, having served two years on the council, received 275 votes.

Don Daniell Don Daniell and Melissa Lehman had a very slim margin between them, Daniell receiving 160 to Lehman's 156.

Dick Jarrett took 108 votes while Bobby Lankford, ineligible for the council, took 21. The results were available by 9:15 pm. A special meeting is set for Thursday, May 15, at 5:30 pm to canvass and approve the election results. The meeting will be at the City Hall.

Jim Moffeit, city administrator, said there are currently no plans for a recount of the votes.

Giger said this election was intense.

"I'm proud that the citizens were given a lot of information for this election," Giger said.

The results of the election formed a mandate, he added, to continue the current path of progress.

"We need a long term master plan that needs to be developed by professionals with input from citizens," Giger said.

Hall said she was pleased with the voter turnout, but added 440 out of roughly 2,500 is a relatively small group to decide the future of the community.

"I look forward to working with citizen advisory groups on some long-range planning for our area," Hall said. "When the pattern of future growth has been determined by these citizens, then we'll be able to turn their findings over to a professional planning group that can guide us while implementing these ideas."

She also said she was thrilled to be able to serve the Chandler community for two more years, and greatly appreciates all the citizens who took the time to vote.

"For the folks that voted for me, I'll work hard to retain your confidence in me. And for those that didn't vote for me, I'll work hard to earn your trust," Hall commented. Brownsboro ESD passes

After a long period of anticipation, a proposition for an Emergency Services District for Brownsboro passed on May 10. Around 202 people voted concerning the ESD during Election Day; 116 voted for it and 86 voted against it.

Robert Chambers, fire chief for Brownsboro Volunteer Fire Department, said the next step for Brownsboro and his department is to get an ESD board opera- tional.

"We have a list of about six or seven people for the board," Chambers said.

Once all the people on the list have been contacted, the department will go to the Commissioner's Court in Athens with the names of those who accepted the board proposal in hopes of getting the board names approved.

Chambers said Brownsboro could start to see beneficial changes within a year and a half.

Rusty Quattlebaum, assistant fire chief at BVFD, said at a town hall meeting in Brownsboro though the ESD would raise taxes in Brownsboro, the benefits would more than likely outweigh the costs.

An ESD for Brownsboro will provide the volunteer fire department, which currently receives no funding from the City of Brownsboro, with tax money to finance the purchase of new equipment. In turn, the new equipment could lower homeowner's insurance rates by more than it costs to pay the ESD tax, resulting in a net gain.

The area covered by the ESD will have a northern border along the Henderson and Van Zandt county lines, an eastern border at CR 3406 which follows the property lines through the county and the FM 314 and 317 intersection, a southern border defined by the Poyner and Brownsboro Independent School District separation line and a western border that stretches along property lines close to FM 1803.

Though the price of the ESD will be determined by the ESD board, Chambers said at the meeting April 24 a possible number could be 10 cents per $100 valuation of property, meaning a homeowner with property worth a total of $100,000 would be charged $100 a year.

Some of the future plans for the department include a new fire engine, a substation and sending volunteers to school to receive the same firefighting certifications that fulltime firemen in Dallas have.

Because the Brownsboro ESD was passed, should a Henderson County ESD appear on a future election ballot and pass, citizens covered by Brownsboro's ESD will not have to pay the Henderson County ESD tax.