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Monday, September 21, 2009

The Election is Under Way -- The Process and Hickory City Ward Map

Hickory City Ward Map Link

Many of the people that come to this site realize that this is an election year. Early primary voting started last Thursday at the Highland Recreation Center.

This is a year when the Mayoral seat and Council seats in Wards 4, 5, and 6 are up for grabs. In reality what we are seeing is two seats up for contention, because no one is challenging Mayor Wright or Alder Sally Fox (who is the representative from Ward 5).

In Ward 4, Hank Guess and Larry Pope are challenging incumbent Z. Ann Hoyle. Since there are more than two candidates running for the position, a primary election is being held to reduce the race to two candidates for the General Election. Early voting will continue until Saturday, October 3rd. The Highland Center Polling Precinct is open from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday and 8am to 1pm Saturday. So early voting will end on Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 at 1pm. The official primary date is October 6th, 2009 from 6:30am until 7:30pm at polling places in the 4th Ward only.

The Ward 4 primary is only eligible to people who live in the 4th Ward. The 4th Ward Northern Boundary runs along the Railroad tracks from 14th street SW to 10 street SE. It includes all of Highway 70 from 19th street SW east to Robinson Road and includes all of the annexed properties in Mountain View. It also includes the Green Park and Ridgeview sections of Central Hickory. The two candidates who receive the most votes during this primary will move on to the General Election where they will be voted on by all eligible voters throughout the City of Hickory

In Ward 6, there are only two candidates, Incumbent Jill Patton and Challenger Harry Hipps, so they are assured of facing off in the General Election, where they will run throughout the City. Early voting for the General Election will also be held at the Highland Recreation Center and will run from October 15th to October 31st from 8am to 5pm Monday through Friday and 8am to 1pm on Saturdays. So the last date for early voting will be Saturday, October 31, 2009 at 1pm.

The official General Election date is November 3rd, 2009 and polling precincts throughout the city will be open from 6:30am until 7:30pm. Mayor Wright and Alder Fox's names will still be on the ballot and they can be challenged by write-in candidates, but historically the chances of being successfully challenged this way are infinitesimal.

Hope this information helps those who need information about this process.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

James, can we have a map?

Anonymous said...

Can we get a bio of the candidates here or do we need to go and ask the Focus to handle all local politics? We know HDR does not.

James Thomas Shell said...

The Ward Map Link is at the top of the article. At the top right of the Blog page, you will also see a link to Harry Hipps website, which has all of his information about why he is running. Also here is the link to harry's site - www.harryhippsforcouncil.com.

Harry is the only candidate in this race with a website. I know that the others have run more personalized campaigns to date, but Harry has been willing to lay his thoughts and agenda out on the line for public record. I certainly wish the others would be as open as he has been. This is the 21st century and it is time that we see Hickory move into the modern era in this and many other realms.

I have stated on the record many times that I am willing to post anything that the other candidates are willing to give me -- unedited. I think that they are afraid of legitimizing the Hickory Hound as a source of information and so they continue to play their cards close to the vest. I will continue to try to get these candidates to participate in this forum now and in the future.

It would also be good for citizens to force these candidates to participate in more open dialogue.