Early voting in city races begins Monday

Early voting in the City of Gladewater’s Spring 2024 Election gets underway Monday at City Hall.
On the ballot this cycle are two contested council races, one uncontested spot and eight proposed amendments to the city charter.
Per the council’s order of election in January, all polling this cycle is set under the city’s roof at 519 East Broadway. That includes Gladewater’s three election precincts in Upshur County (2, 3 and 14) along with Precinct 13 in Gregg County.
For Early Voting, polls will be open 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. April 22-30 excepting April 26, when they’ll be open 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Election Day polling Saturday, May 4, runs 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Gladewater ISD has no contested races this cycle, so only city issues are on the ballot, including Places 1, 2 and 3.
For Place 1, the mayor’s seat, incumbent Place 3 council member Brandy Flanagan and contender Jim Valentine are challenging for the seat. Incumbent Mayor Scott Owens and candidate Stoney Stone are vying for Place 3. Council member Michael Webber saw no challengers for re-election to Place 2.
The proposed charter amendments are the first to be put to voters in decades.
The eight pending changes include, in simple terms: adding a gender-neutrality statement to the charter’s preamble, linking the city’s elections to state timetables, adding an office forfeiture provision for council members with excessive absences from meetings along with extending the term for municipal judge and accounting for the city prosecutor in the charter.
Voters will also choose whether to loosen residency requirements on city managers, and the proposed amendments would clarify the city’s chain of command as well as local fines and regulations in addition to relaxing some of the charter’s specificity on voting procedures.
Find more details on the proposed amendments on the Gladewater Mirror’s website via tinyurl.com/gladewatercharter.