(edited to include comments from John Newman after original post)

The Village of Salado will not certify the petition calling for a disannexation election, according to City Secretary Mary Ann Ray who sent a letter to petitioner John Newman dated today informing him of the same.

The Village of Salado had five business days to respond after City Secretary Ray was presented with the petition by Newman on Aug. 18.

The deadline for Mayor Skip Blancett to call for a November 8 2016 election was Aug. 22.

Ray cited Chapter 277 of the Election and Chapter 43 of the Local Government Code in her statement to Newman. Section 277.003 sets out specifications for petitions. Petitions require the following to in order to verify the that the signer is a qualified voter: Signer’s printed name, signer’s date of birth or voter registration number and the date of signing.  Petitions also require the resident address of the signer to determine if they live within the area specified by the petition for the election.

“The petition submitted on August 18th, 2016, did not contain the printed name of each signer, the date of

birth or voter registration number of any signer, or the date of signing,” Ray stated. “The petition is insufficient because the metes and bounds were not included in the petition as required by law. (TEX.Loc. GOV’TCODE§

43.143.).”

Ray stated that the petition could not be supplemented, modified or amended on or after the date it is received, citing Election Code 277.0023.

Ray directed the petitioner: “City staff may not assist you with any questions that you may have concerning petition requirements. If you need assistance with election matters, you may contact the Elections Division of the Texas Secretary of State, at 1-800-252-8683.”

Ray stated that she would inform the aldermen of the insufficiency of the petition at the next regular meeting on Sept. 1.

This does not mean the issue of disannexation is dead. It means that a disannexation election for November will not be called by Mayor Skip Blancett.

The Village of Salado will not certify the petition calling for a disannexation election, according to City Secretary Mary Ann Ray who sent a letter to petitioner John Newman dated today informing him of the same.

The Village of Salado had five business days to respond after City Secretary Ray was presented with the petition by Newman on Aug. 18.

The deadline for Mayor Skip Blancett to call for a November 8 2016 election was Aug. 22.

Ray cited Chapter 277 of the Election and Chapter 43 of the Local Government Code in her statement to Newman. Section 277.003 sets out specifications for petitions. Petitions require the following to in order to verify the that the signer is a qualified voter: Signer’s printed name, signer’s date of birth or voter registration number and the date of signing.  Petitions also require the resident address of the signer to determine if they live within the area specified by the petition for the election.

“The petition submitted on August 18th, 2016, did not contain the printed name of each signer, the date of

birth or voter registration number of any signer, or the date of signing,” Ray stated. “The petition is insufficient because the metes and bounds were not included in the petition as required by law. (TEX. Loc. GOV’T CODE§

43.143.).”

Ray stated that the petition could not be supplemented, modified or amended on or after the date it is received, citing Election Code 277.0023.

Ray directed the petitioner: “City staff may not assist you with any questions that you may have concerning petition requirements. If you need assistance with election matters, you may contact the Elections Division of the Texas Secretary of State, at 1-800-252-8683.”

Ray stated that she would inform the aldermen of the insufficiency of the petition at the next regular meeting on Sept. 1.

This does not mean the issue of disannexation is dead. It means that a disannexation election for November will not be called by Mayor Skip Blancett.

John Newman told Salado Village that he will pursue a petition for the May 2017 election. “I can have 50 signatures in 48 hours, but we have to be sure we do it right.”

Doing it right may involve hiring legal counsel for the group of citizens.

“We aren’t organized and don’t have a spokesman,” Newman said. “We had just a couple of days to get a petition together. We threw a list of reasons together.”

The reasons for people signing the petition, Newman said, are “disparate. If you ask any one of us we will all have different opinion. The sewer is a huge boondoggle that will sink us if we built it as it is. Some people take strong issue about how the government has gone about this.”

“This board has brought a lot of disparate people together,” he added. “We are unified. You saw some of it the last election. There is a lot that is going to happen between now and next May.”