Potential candidates for District 2 of the Macon Water Authority must qualify between 8:30 a.m. Thursday and noon Monday to run in the May 19 special election.
Last Friday, MWA Chairman Gary Bechtel emailed Macon-Bibb County Elections Supervisor Tom Gillon and attorney William Noland requesting the election after MWA District 2’s Desmond Brown effectively resigned when qualifying to run for the at-large authority chairman’s seat.
The Board of Elections approved the election and qualifying period during an emergency meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday that was called within 24-hours’ notice to meet federal ballot-printing deadlines. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act ensures those living or stationed abroad have enough time to mail in ballots.
The elections board met an hour after the Macon-Bibb County Commission held a special called meeting to formally request the election and set the qualifying fee of $396, or 3% of the minimum $13,200 board member salary.
Qualifying runs between 8:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and from 8:30 a.m. until noon Monday at the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections.
Although the special election process is spelled out in the MWA charter, Macon-Bibb Commissioners Stanley Stewart and Donice Bryant-Cato questioned whether the Macon Water Authority Board needed to vote to approve the request or if Chairman Bechtel’s email calling for the election was sufficient.
Elections attorney Noland said there is no requirement for the authority to vote and they have no discretion to not call for an election.
Noland read from the authority’s charter that said when a vacancy occurs a “successor shall be elected at the next general election, which is in May.”
This means the special election, which affects 11 precincts, will be held along with the nonpartisan general election for local offices and the November general election primary where candidates for governor and other state and federal offices will be selected.
Four years ago, Brown qualified to run for MWA chairman, not realizing he was effectively resigning his seat in District 2.
But that MWA District 2 Special Election was held in November of 2022, after Brown lost to Bechtel in the chairman’s race, allowing Brown to qualify for the special election and regain his seat.
Noland told the board he has been trying to figure out why the 2022 election was held in the November general election instead of the nonpartisan general election in Spring.
“I don’t know, honestly, if the election calendar was different, or we didn’t know or if there was other information, or there were other reasons we did it that way. I tried to research that,” Noland said.
Elections board member Tom Ellington said he believes the May election is important.
“Six months is a long to to have a vacancy in a position like this but the process gives me heartburn,” Ellington said. “We’re talking about giving potential candidates two days notice before beginning of the qualifying period. That concerns me a great deal.”
The board voted 4-1 to approve the election, with Ellington voting against it.
He also was concerned that earlier notices indicated qualifying would happen April 6-8.
“Given that this has passed, I think it’s very important the previous announcement be corrected in as many places and as loudly as possible,” Ellington said.
— Civic Journalism Senior Fellow Liz Fabian covers Macon-Bibb County government entities for The Macon Newsroom and can be reached at [email protected] or 478-301-2976.
