Baladez, Shipp, Turner top City Council race
Mike Dickinson will be the new mayor of Bertram after handily winning a special election to serve out the remainder of an unexpired term in Saturday's election.
Meanwhile, incumbent Aldermen John Baladez and Pat Turner will return the council and be joined by Lane Shipp after the three were the top three vote-getters in a field of five candidates in complete but unofficial returns.
Dickinson, an incumbent alderman who did not seek re-election to his council seat, received 120 votes, while Jean Worrell received 30. A third candidate on the ballot, Madison Stacy, had been declared ineligible last month because he did not live within city limits at the time he filed for office, but still received nine votes.
The mayoral seat became open after Adam Worden resigned because he had moved out of the city limits and was no longer eligible to serve.
On the council side, Baladez topped all candidates with 122 votes, while Shipp was second with 88 votes. Turner eked out the final spot by receiving 63 votes, compared to 60 for Bryan Lynch and 52 for Jane Scheidler.
Bertram voters also approved a bond election to reauthorize the city's local sales tax allocation of 0.25 percent to generate revenue for municipal street repair and maintenance. Such bond measures expire after four years unless they are reauthorized by the electorate. On Saturday, the measure was approved by a 130 to 35 margin.
