Municipal election candidates file

Portales will have a new mayor in the spring, and it looks like a familiar face.

Ronald Jackson, a former Portales city councilor, was the only candidate to sign up Tuesday to fill the seat of Sharon King.

King said in September she would not seek re-election, citing health reasons.

"I just decided it was the right thing for me to throw the hat in the ring for mayor. I'd been on city council for 12 years," said Jackson, vice president of James Polk Stone Community Bank. "This just happened to be an opportune time and, as I understand it, I don't think anyone else is signed up. I'm a little disappointed in that fact, that we don't have more community involvement. I'd really like to see more people be involved in these elections.

"We've got a really strong council, there's no question about that. I've served with most of them in my prior term, so I know most of them really well."

Municipal Election Day is March 6 across the state.

Write-in candidates can still be submitted for the ballot on Tuesday, said Clovis’ Finance Director/City Clerk LeighAnn Melancon.

Clovis

In Clovis, four city commissioners and a judge seek to continue their terms, but City Commissioner Tom Martin said he would not seek re-election.

Commissioners Helen Casaus and Gary Elliott and Municipal Judge Jan Garrett were unopposed at the close of the candidate filing period Tuesday evening.

The four-year term for District 3 is the most contested for this year’s election, with challengers David Bryant and Jose Griego filing to block incumbent Fidel Madrid from a third consecutive term.

“I think we need some change on the city commission. I think some of the voting in the past has been kind of skewed,” said Bryant, who was purchasing agent for the city from 2012 to 2017. He said water and city spending are the topics he thought most important as a prospective commissioner.

“I’ve got some things that need to get done that haven’t been done,” said Madrid, who cited construction on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as well as water and the senior citizen center at Hillcrest Park among some important topics for the commission in coming years.

Efforts Tuesday evening to reach Jose Griego were unsuccessful.

With Tom Martin declaring he would not seek a second term, his position in District 4 is currently between R.L. “Rube” Render and Justin Michael Hummer.

Render, chairman of the Curry County Republican Party, said he has run for the commission in the past but never held the office. He cited water, infrastructure and jobs as commission priorities.

Hummer, who said he is active duty with the U.S. Army at Cannon Air Force Base, identified downtown renovation, water usage and job industry development as some issues most important to the city. He said he came to Clovis two years ago but will retire from the military in three years and plans to live here with his wife and family.

In District 1, incumbent Juan Garza seeks a fifth term and said his focus would be on road improvements and water issues, impacting both quality of life and economic development.

Multiple efforts to reach his challenger, Steven Wayne Hill, were unsuccessful Tuesday.

In District 2, incumbent Gary Elliott said water, roads, the new senior center at Hillcrest Park and the proposed skeet and trap range at Ned Houk Park were some topics he hoped to continue to work on in a second term.

“There’s just a lot of things that’s on the agenda and I feel like I just need to be there to try and make these get completed,” he said Tuesday.

In District 3, Helen Casaus seeks a two-year term, having served on the commission after Bobby Sandoval’s resignation from the position in September 2016.

“I am very passionate about my community,” she said Tuesday. “I’ve only been a commissioner for a little over a year, so I hope people give me a chance and let me learn some more about our community.”

Casaus said her priorities are water, infrastructure, jobs and public safety — including better street lighting.

Incumbent Municipal Judge Jan Garrett seeks her fifth consecutive four-year term.

“I still enjoy the work and I feel that the office is running smoothly and we are helping a lot of people, and I want to continue,” she said Tuesday.

Portales

Five Portales candidates, including the mayor hopeful, are running unopposed unless they draw write-in opposition: Ward B’s Oscar Robinson, Ward C’s Michael Miller, Ward D’s Dianne Parker, and Municipal Judge Barbara George, all of whom are incumbents.

The only contested election is for the seat of Ward A councilor Antonio Salguero, who is stepping down after nine years on the council.

The two candidates are former Roosevelt County Commissioner Jake Lopez and Veronica Pena, daughter of former Ward A councilor Al Bachicha, according to City Clerk Joan Martinez-Terry.

Martinez-Terry added that Pena is a member of the Portales Planning and Zoning Commission.

Pena and Lopez were not immediately available for comment.

Elida

In Elida, the election is similarly uncontested.

Mayor Durward Dixon, Municipal Judge Carsonial Newberry, and town trustees Steve Barron and Beverly Creighton will all be re-running for their positions unopposed, according to Elida Town Clerk Kim Summers.

Lists of candidacy were not available for Dora and Floyd as of press time.

Melrose

Melrose will elect a new mayor as a part of this year’s municipal elections.

Barry W. Green filed his intentions to run for the position, which is currently held by Tuck Monk. Monk will not seek re-election and Green will be running unopposed.

No stranger to public office, Green currently serves on the city council as Melrose’s mayor pro tem.

Green could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

There will be three candidates for two four-year term city council positions. H.P. Cargile and Ronald Moore both will be seek re-election and will be challenged by Stephen Moulds.

Cargile said he’s seeking another term in order to serve his community and move forward with the various projects already planned for Melrose.

Cargile will be seeking his second-straight term on the council, and his third overall.

Moulds and Moore could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Melrose will also elect a new municipal judge. James Townson said when he heard Bobby Moulds would not seek re-election, he decided to throw his hat in the ring.

Townson said he served as the president of the Chamber of Commerce in Melrose for 15 years and worked for 33 years as a line supervisor engineer for Farmers’ Electric Co-op.

Townson said he has not served as a municipal judge before but he studied business law in college and has always maintained an interest in it.

Texico

Texico’s ballot will feature three candidates running for two open four-year term city council positions.

Max Carter and Oren Jay Autrey will both seek re-election and are joined by former candidate Josh Scioli.

Carter, who is wrapping up his first term on the council, said he would just like to be there to help out.

Autrey has served on the council since the early 1980s and is preparing for one final run.

“I’ve been on it so long that I feel like what we’re doing is good so I’m going to run this one more time and then hang it up.”

Scioli, who has served as the captain of the Texico Fire Department for seven months and has been with the department for 17 years, said he ran for the council in the past and would like to get more involved with the city.

“I want to get more involved and see about bringing some fresh blood to the tables,” Scioli said.

Mayor Jerry Bradley will run unopposed, seeking a second term.

“We’ve just got a lot of things going that I want to see finished, we’ve got water projects and sewage projects that I’d like to finish,” Bradley said. “And I enjoy the people of Texico, I enjoy being here.”

David Parmer will seek re-election for his two-year term council seat unopposed. Parmer has been in the role for about three months and said people need to get more involved in Texico and make it a better place, which spurred his involvement in the council.

Judge Dean Henniger will run unopposed for another four-year term as municipal judge.

“Well I’ve been judge now for 18 years. I’m just happy to continue doing it,” Henninger said.

Grady

Grady Mayor Wesley Shafer's re-election bid will be challenged by Kodie Weese.

Weese is a Grady native and 2003 graduate of Grady High who recently moved back to town about a year ago.

Weese said she is a medical billing contractor and has served as secretary of the fire department for about a year.

Weese said she would like to bring Grady back to its roots, like bringing back the Fourth of July celebration and introducing more activities for youth.

“I have two boys, 3 and 9, and if they want to do anything fun in the summer we have to drive to Clovis,” Weese said. “I just feel like we need to come together more as a village and come back to what I remember it being.”

Shafer believes he still has unfinished business to attend to as mayor, prompting him to seek another four-year term.

“We’ve got some projects going and I’d just like to see them finished. You can never tell if someone else gets elected whether they will or not,” Shafer said.

Shafer pointed to the Grady Wind Farm and a park renovation as projects he would like to see through to the end.

Shafer has been an influential figure in Grady politics for nearly three decades, serving as mayor for 20 years and city councilman for eight years before that.

Three candidates will compete for two four-year terms on the Grady city council. James Schell will seek re-election while Gena Rush will not.

Schell joked that he’s been running so long that he wouldn’t know what to do if he wasn’t serving on the council.

“We’ve got several things planned, we’ve got some money to spend and I’d like to be a part of it,” Schell said. “I want to do something for my little city here if I can, we need all the help we can get.”

Schell will be joined by candidates Bobby Windham and Emory W. Jones for the open city council positions.

Windham is a retired construction worker who has lived in Grady for over 20 years who wants to become more involved in the community.

“I just thought I’d try and help out the community and run and see what people want changed, if they want change,” Windham said.”

Jones is a supervisor for the New Mexico Highway Department Ragland Patrol and previously served as fire chief in Grady.

Jones said he previously served a couple of terms on the council many years ago.

“I’ve been around Grady all my life, been involved all my life and decided I’d go at it again," Jones said.

Candidate certification will be completed this morning, Melancon said.