Five Candidates On Bellaire City Council Special Election Ballot

Five candidates are on the May 14 special election ballot for Bellaire City Council position one.

The city held a drawing Monday night for a place on the ballot. The drawing determined the order in which the names of the candidates are to be printed on the ballot for the May 14 election.

The candidates will appear on the ballot as follows:

–          Roman F. Reed

–          Brenda Cauthen

–          Jane McNeel

–          Susan L. Downs

–          Richard E. Franke

Reed is a financial advisor and has lived in Bellaire for 17 years.

Cauthen is a retired Certified Public Accountant and currently serves as the chair of the Bellaire Recycling Committee. Cauthen has lived in Bellaire for 6 years.

McNeel is a project administrator at Rice University and has lived in Bellaire for 55 years.

Downs is a community volunteer and has lived in Bellaire for 29 years.

Franke is a semi-retired auditor and is a member of the Building and Standards Commission. Franke has lived in Bellaire for 12 years.

Registered voters will elect a council member to serve from May 23 to Jan. 6, 2014.

Councilmember Will Hickman recently resigned from city council after learning that he would be relocating for work.

Hickman is a patent attorney for Shell and will be relocating temporarily to Calgary, Canada this month. He plans on coming back to Bellaire once the assignment is complete.

The designated polling place for early voting will be held in the Civic Center meeting rooms in city hall from May 2 to May 6 and on May 9 and May 10.

The city will utilize all five of its voting precincts for the special election.

Two of the city’s usual Election Day precincts are not available on May 14. Alternate locations for Precincts 128 will be held at CenterPoint Energy Community Center, 7008 Fifth St. and Precinct 214 will be held at the HCAA Art Gallery, 5202 Bissonnet St.

Precinct 182 will be held at Paul W. Horn Elementary School, 4535 Pine St.

Precinct 215 will be held at Faith Lutheran Church, 4600 Bellaire Blvd.

Precinct 268 will be held at Christ Church Presbyterian Fellowship Hall, 4925 Bellaire Blvd.