Voters to decide on next city council member

Editor's note: This article has been updated to reflect the Comanche City Council's special meeting on Thursday to once again address the issue of the vacant city council seat.

The Comanche City Council could not reach a majority vote in the appointment of a new council member at large, so it will go to city voters to decide.

At last month’s meeting, the council accepted the resignation of council member Amanda Duke, who cited she could not put in the needed time into the position and was stepping down.

At the Aug. 9 meeting, two names were brought before the council to vote, Gerald Pate and Dennis McQuinn. Pate was nominated by vice mayor Wanda Moore. She and mayor Smokey Dobbins voted yes, while council members Sharon Rounds and Austin Myers voted no.

After that vote, Rounds nominated McQuinn for the position and received another yes vote from Myers. Moore and Dobbins each voted no.

Since both potential appointees received 2-2 votes, the people of Comanche will decide in November’s general election who they want to finish out Duke’s term.

At Thursday's special meeting, the council was once again deadlocked on seating someone. The council then decided to wait until April for an election to fill the seat. There is already a scheduled election in April for Wards three and four, spots currently held by Sharon Rounds and Austin Myers.

The at-large seat, which is the one that has been vacated, is also up for election at that time. Instead of calling for a special election and the $1,800 expense associated with it, the council voted to keep the at-large seat vacant until the next scheduled election. It means the council will have just four members for the next eight months.

Any eligible city resident can apply to run for the at-large seat, not just Gerald Pate and Dennis McQuinn, who were nominated by council members to finish out Duke's term.

During the city manager’s report on Tuesday, Chuck Ralls informed the council that improvements are continuing to be made at Comanche Lake. He said the lake had been stocked with 81,000 Florida bass and channel catfish.

In October, a fish habitat will be built along with the boat ramp repair and upgrade, which includes widening and increasing the length.

The council approved the city’s participation in a time frame app and program, which works similarly to the Pokemon Go video game, but uses real businesses and points of interest locations among other features.

In the Comanche Public Works Authority meeting, the trustees voted to enter into a service agreement with Thornton, Musso & Bellemin, Inc. for the chemical optimization program. The program sets chemical costs for the water department at a fixed rate. 

Ralls recommended the trustees pass the agreement because of the ever-increasing cost of chemicals.