CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Election Day is May 6 and there are several races in the Coastal Bend that residents will get to vote in.
Aransas Pass Mayor
Voters in Aransas Pass will decide on a mayor.
3NEWS sat down with incumbent Mayor Ram Gomez and his opponent Jason Followell to see exactly where they stand on city issues.
Gomez told 3NEWS that infrastructure is one of the biggest problems he feels Aransas Pass is facing. Gomez owns both Bakery Café and R&A Construction Company, and said that if reelected, he would like to continue working on the city's infrastructure.
"That's why we need to get the harbor developed. We need to be permit friendly to be able to get people to come into town to develop. Put new homes," he said.
Followell owns Texas Strong Fitness Center and spent 21 years as an environmental health and safety director. He thinks demolition costs of storm damaged buildings is keeping the city from moving forward.
"We can look at the grants to get it done, get it fixed," he said. "Though we could also do it as a community and help people and go to each house and tear them down ourselves. It could happen."
Gregory-Portland ISD
Not only are there several city council spots up for grabs in Portland, but voters are also electing school board members for GP-ISD and deciding on a $175,800,000 school bond.
A similar proposal failed to pass last November.
Included in the package are upgrades for school safety, a rebuild of an elementary school, replacement of the baseball and softball fields, and upgrades to the fine arts facility.
Calallen ISD bond package
Residents who live in Calallen will soon be able to have a say on the school districts $67.7 million bond proposal.
District officials are looking at putting in artificial turf at the high school softball and baseball fields.
The bond is also looking to cover needed renovations and upgrades at all the schools, including a brand new performing arts center at the high school.
Calallen Superintendent Emily Lorenz said that residents would see a noticeable increase if the propositions were passed.
"The average home cost in Calallen ISD is about $175,000 a year. So, at an average home price if both prop A and prop B passed, it would be approximately $5.85 a month for both propositions and a little over $70 a year increase," she said.
Voters do have the choice to vote for proposition B, which is a little over $12 million of that $67.7 million bond.
The remaining $55 million makes up proposition A, which includes work at all of the schools, whether it's through upgrades or renovations. The district is also looking to spend $5.5 million on safety and security projects, like replacing all of the fencing at the schools.
Other elections
There will be several other elections across the area. Click on the county name for more information.
