Ordinance to Change City Election Date Up For First Reading Passage Tuesday Night

The Smithville Municipal Election will be held in August instead of June with the passage of an ordinance, which is scheduled for first reading action Tuesday night at city hall. The purpose of the change is to have the city election in conjunction with the August County General Election and State Primaries in order to save the city money by not having to hold the city election by itself, and to have more city voters participate in the municipal election.
The mayor and aldermen, who normally meet on the first Monday night each month, will not be in session January 2 because of the New Year holiday, but they will meet on Tuesday night, January 3 at 7:00 p.m. in a special session to take action on this proposed ordinance.
The ordinance specifies that the city election would be changed from June to August and that the terms of the incumbent mayor and aldermen would be extended because of the change in the election date.
The proposed ordinance states as follows:
“Whereas, Public Chapter No. 1008, codified under Tennessee Code Section 6-20-102 provides that the board of aldermen may by ordinance change the date of municipal elections to coincide with the August or November general election. The ordinance changing the date shall provide for the extension of the terms of members of the board necessary to meet the election date; now
Therefore, be it ordained by the Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Smithville, Tennessee:
Section One: Date of regular Municipal Elections
1. The Mayor and Board of Aldermen hereby set the regular municipal election date as the date of the August General Election
2. The term of office for the Mayor and two aldermen elected for a two year term on June 15, 2010 shall be extended to coincide with the August general election date in 2012, a period of approximately two months.
3. The term of office for the three aldermen elected to a two year term on June 21, 2011 shall be extended to coincide with the August general election date in 2014, a period of approximately fourteen months.”
Second and final reading passage will follow a public hearing at another special meeting in January.