With early voting underway, Election Day inches closer.
In Copperas Cove, four candidates are vying for two races — one for city council and one for the Copperas Cove ISD school board.
All four candidates, including an unopposed candidate for city council, were present for a candidate forum organized by the Copperas Cove Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau on Oct. 19.
Candidates attending the forum were Jack Smith, incumbent for Copperas Cove City Council Place 7; Latisha Walton, candidate for Copperas Cove City Council Place 7; John Gallen, incumbent for Copperas Cove ISD School Board Place 6; and Carl Smith, candidate for Copperas Cove ISD School Board Place 6.
Vonya Hart, incumbent for City Council Place 6, is unopposed but participated.
Jeff Gorres, unopposed candidate for School Board Place 7, was not present.
All candidates fielded a variety of questions from the Chamber, read by Chamber board president Nancy Nelson.
One of the questions Nelson asked the city council candidates was, “What is the number one project you believe the city of Copperas Cove should make for its citizens?”
Walton, answering first, said sidewalks and a new grocery store.
“I believe sidewalks,” Walton said. “I don’t know if it’s minor or major to anyone ... another thing is maybe a center grocery store towards (FM) 116 or towards Kempner.”
Smith answered next.
“The number one project that the city of Copperas Cove should do is just stay out of the public’s way as far as businesses that want to come to town; help them get here,” Smith said. “Everybody wants a grocery store on the north side of town; that’d be wonderful. Copperas Cove can’t open a grocery store on the north side of town. Some other grocer needs to come say that’s a good place to open a grocery store. And with all the growth out there, I’m sure it’s coming; there’s land out there that’s available.”
Hart, speaking last, said: “I am going to go with Jack Smith over here. There’s just so many projects, like from the Highway 9 turnaround on the north end of town to the trail ... if anyone was watching the City Council meeting from Tuesday, we have some projects going on for KTMPO, so they have some trail stuff going on there; I like that idea.”
School Board
For the school board candidates, one of the questions Nelson asked was, “What issues do you believe your district needs to address in its academic programs and offerings? What changes would you recommend?”
Gallen said Superintendent Joe Burns regularly recommends new courses that the board collectively approves, but the key is teachers.
“The key is you have to have teachers that can teach that — and certified teachers,” Gallen said. “As far as courses, there may be a few more in the public health area that they could to get some other, different certifications. Obviously, in the building trades. But once again, it bois down to you have to have somebody that can teach that and get certified to teach that and then you’re looking at hiring another (full-time employee) ... so you’ve already raised personnel costs and can you afford to do that?”
Smith, speaking second, said he understands that it can be hard to hire certified teachers and recalls a time when there was a push for American sign language and rehab counseling but there was difficulty finding teachers.
“One of the courses that I think would be viable — I think I mentioned it earlier — is maybe drone operations, drone repair, drone surveying — something like that,” Smith said, adding that may not be as viable because of the certifications.
That said, Smith surmised another possibility.
“I do also believe that maybe automotive because that course, if they’re doing it at a certain level, with an ASE-certified person, it could — if the school district manages it somehow — could pay for itself.”
Students wanting to take automotive maintenance classes currently do it through a partnership with Central Texas College.
Charter Amendments
A handful of proposed charter amendments will also appear on the ballot on Nov. 7.
Passage of Proposition A would authorize a compensation increase for the mayor and council members.
Passage of Proposition B would strike language from various sections that is inconsistent with state law.
Passage of Proposition C would require the city attorney to review all contracts as to form prior to their approval and execution.
Passage of Proposition D would require the city’s operating budget be amended as provided for in state law and the rules and policies adopted by the city council.
Passage of Proposition E would amend Article 10 to be consistent with state law.
Voting Dates/Times
Early voting continues through Nov. 3.
The last day to submit an application to vote by mail is Oct. 27.
For those living in the Coryell County portion of the city, early voting can be conducted in person at 508-B Cove Terrace Shopping Center in Copperas Cove or 801 E. Leon St. in Gatesville.
The times for early voting in Coryell County are as follows:
For those living in the Lampasas County side of the city and wanting to vote in either the city council or charter amendment elections, early voting will take place at the Lampasas County Elections Office at 407 S. Pecan St., Suite 102 in Lampasas.
The hours are also:
Election times for Election Day on Nov. 7 are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Locations in Coryell County are:
Locations in Lampasas County are: