Cities gear up for elections
Qualifying is in August to run for seats on Rome and Cave Spring governing boards.
The cities of Rome and Cave Spring will be holding elections this year to fill seats on their governing bodies.
Candidates qualify the last week in August for the Nov. 5 general election.
Rome City Clerk Joe Smith said city residents will also vote on the “brunch bill,” which would let restaurants serve alcohol as early as 11 a.m. on Sundays.
State law sets the starting time at 12:30 p.m. However, the Georgia General Assembly approved last year an option for local voters to allow a brunch exception. Roswell, Woodstock, Kennesaw, Acworth and Dallas are among the cities that have enacted the change.
“The City Commission didn’t want to spend the money on an election in 2018, so they decided to put the referendum on this year’s ballot,” Smith said.
Rome’s Ward 1 and Ward
3 commission seats — six of the board’s nine — also are on the ballot.
Cave Spring residents will fill the Post 1 and Post 2 seats and choose a mayor.
Only voters who live within the city limits will be eligible to weigh in. The voter registration deadline is Oct. 7.
Candidates must already be registered to vote. Both cities require candidates to be at least 21, a city resident for at least a year as of the election date and a registered voter at least 90 days before qualifying.
Rome
While the votes are citywide, candidates in Rome also must be a resident of the ward they’re running in for at least 90 days before qualifying.
“The Commission enacted that after the 2015 election … (and) our charter and past actions of the city commission are pretty clear: If they’re elected and they move their residency from their ward, they must resign,” Smith said.
Ward 1 takes in the downtown district and the area between the Oostanaula and Etowah rivers to the east. Ward 3 is everything west of the Oostanaula and north of the Coosa River.
Each ward has three commission seats, so the top three vote-getters in each race will be declared the winners.
Ward 1 incumbents are Commissioners Milton Slack, Bill Irmscher and Sundai Stevenson. Slack said he’ll be running for a fourth fouryear term. Irmscher said he hasn’t decided yet and Stevenson could not be reached for comment.
Ward 3 incumbents are Mayor Bill Collins and Commissioners Evie McNiece and Craig McDaniel. Collins and McDaniel said they intend to run. McNiece couldn’t be reached for comment.
Qualifying will be Aug. 19 through 23, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the city clerk’s office. The qualifying fee is $252, equal to 3% of a commissioner’s annual salary.
Cave Spring
The Cave Spring vote is citywide and so are the city council and mayoral posts. Terms are for four years.
Mayor Dennis Shoaf said last week that he’s still undecided about running for reelection. Post 1 incumbent Tom Lindsey said he’ll seek another term. Post 2 incumbent Joyce Mink couldn’t be reached for comment.
Qualifying will be from Aug. 19 through 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the city clerk’s office. The qualifying fee is $45, equal to 3% of the annual salary.