Monday was the last day to file for office in the Garland City Council elections scheduled for May 9. Five offices on the Council were expiring. Every one of the incumbents was eligible to re-run because none had reached his term limit. Offices expiring were Mayor Ron Jones, Preston Edwards (Dist 3), Barbara Chick (Dist 6), Rick Williams (Dist 7), and Darren Lathen (Dist 8). All have filed for re-election.
 
No one filed to run against any of the current office holders except for Mayor. Dino Quintanilla and Christopher Ott have both filed for that office. The complete list of candidates and their applicatons are posted on the City Secretary's webpage. The other races will eventually be cancelled and the only applicants declared the winners. There will be a citywide election but only for Mayor.
 
For the third year, we will have a televised debate between the candidates. The moderator will be District 1 resident Don Baynham. I'm sure there will be several candidate forums in the community. It is important that you fairly assess the candidates and that you participate!
 

Eastfield College to Host
Garland Mayoral Candidate Forum

Garland, Texas – Eastfield College is hosting a forum for candidates running for Garland Mayor, Garland’s only contested race in the May 9 municipal election. Don Baynham, Associate Vice President for Outreach and Advancement at Eastfield College, will moderate the forum.
 
The forum is scheduled for Thursday, April 16 at 7 p.m. in the Council Chamber of Garland City Hall, 200 N Fifth Street. The forum will also be broadcast live on CGTV, the City’s government access cable channel. CGTV is available on Time Warner Cable channel 16, on Verizon FIOS TV channel 44 and is streamed live on the City’s website.
 
Garland citizens are invited to submit questions to be used during the forum. Questions may be submitted by April 10, 2009 online at www.ci.garland.tx.us, by email to scook@dcccd.edu, by fax to 972-860-8324, or by mail to:
 
     Sharon Cook
     Director of Marketing & Communications
     Attn: Garland City Council Forum
     Eastfield College
     3737 Motley
     Mesquite, TX 75150
 
Please include “Garland City Council Forum” in the subject line of email and fax submissions.
 
Eastfield College personnel will evaluate the validity of the submitted questions and have the option of combining similar questions or eliminating questions that are inappropriate in nature (i.e., personal attacks on individuals or questions that are vulgar in nature).