Rome sets fees for commission, city school board races
♦ Qualifying is in August for the Nov. 2 election.
The Rome City Commission set qualifying fees Monday for the upcoming elections in November, and approved several early voting sites.
“We’ve got 10 seats to fill: the three Ward 2 seats on the city commission and all seven seats on the school board,” City Clerk Joe Smith noted.
Rome City Schools board candidates can live anywhere within the city limits but City Commission candidates must live in the ward they are running in. Ward 2 is the area south of the Coosa and Etowah rivers — South Rome, East Rome and including places such as Saddle Mountain and the city portion of Chulio Hills.
“Our boundaries are our rivers,” Smith explained.
The seats are currently held by Commissioners Jamie Doss, Wendy Davis and Randy Quick. Davis said Monday that, at this point, she’s planning to run for reelection. Quick and Doss said they haven’t decided yet.
“I would encourage any interested Ward 2 Romans to run,” Doss added.
The qualifying period runs from Aug. 16 to Aug. 20, with the fees set at 3% of the seat’s annual salary. That’s $252 for the City Commission and $126 for the Board of Education.
All city residents, regardless of where they live, can vote in the elections as long as they’re registered by the Oct. 4 deadline.
Early voting will be Oct. 11-29. Weekend dates are not required for municipal elections, but commissioners approved Saturday, Oct. 23, and Sunday, Oct. 24, as additional dates.
The city will pay the Floyd County Board of Elections to conduct the elections, since there are no other races on the ballot. The primary early voting site must, by law, be at the elections board office, but commissioners also voted to have sites at the Civic Center, Health Department and Garden Lakes Baptist Church.
“It would be money well spent,” Commissioner Bill Collins said, citing the convenience of the locations.
The election will be on Nov. 2. The races are nonpartisan and terms are for four years.
The last time the school board seats were on the ballot, in 2017, the contest drew 15 candidates. Incumbents Elaina Beeman, Will Byington and Faith Collins were reelected and four new members — Lisa Davis, Jill Fisher, Alvin Jackson and John Uldrick — won seats.
♦ Cave Spring will also hold City Council elections this year for Posts 3, 4 and 5. The incumbents are Nellie Mccain, Charles Jackson and Nancy Fricks.