Clinton Board officially sets special election for alderman
By Randy Bell
Voters in Clinton’s Ward 3 will go to the polls on August 2 to choose a new alderman, following the death of Bill Barnett in June. Barnett had represented the northeastern portion of the City since 2009. He was 85.
The Board voted at its June 21 meeting to declare “with regret” the Ward 3 office vacant and to set the date for the special election.
The qualifying deadline for candidates is July 13 at 5 p.m., but City Clerk Russell Wall is urging those who plan to run not to wait until the last minute to turn in the required petition with the signatures of at least fifty registered Ward 3 voters. Those signatures have to be verified, and a candidate who files at the deadline would run the risk of not being on the ballot if the petition comes up short.
Candidates may pick up qualifying papers at the City Clerk’s office in City Hall at 300 Jefferson Street. To be eligible to run in the special election, a candidate must have lived in Ward 3 for two years immediately preceding the day of the election and must be able to certify the following statements:
- I have never been convicted of bribery, perjury, or other infamous crime, being defined as a crime punishable by confinement in the penitentiary.
- I have never been convicted of a felony in federal court after December 8, 1992, nor of a crime in the court of another state which is a felony in this state, after December 8, 1992, as provided in Section 44 of the Mississippi Constitution.
- I meet all constitutional, statutory and other legal requirements to hold said office.
Absentee voting begins July 14. The special election will be held at the Traceway Park administration building, located at 200 Soccer Row. If no candidate receives fifty percent of the vote plus one vote, a runoff would be held on August 23.
Some citizens have asked why the Ward 3 election can’t be held on the same date as the upcoming citywide referendum on a two per cent restaurant tax. The City points out that the timing doesn’t work out for the two elections to be combined. The referendum on the additional tax to generate revenue for parks and recreation had already been scheduled for July 12, which is one day before the deadline for the Ward 3 candidates to qualify.
The June 21 meeting was the board’s first since Barnett’s death. He was remembered in Mayor Phil Fisher’s opening prayer. And Alderwoman Beverly Oliver said Barnett will be “sorely missed.” Serving her first term on the board, Oliver said Barnett had been a “great mentor” and said he was someone “who always had a smile on his face.”
