More than 12% of Richardson’s registered voters took part in the city’s May 1 election, according to city officials.
Voters selected City Council members, Richardson ISD board members and approved the school district’s $750 million bond package.
Collin County saw 14.71% of registered voters in the county cast ballots in the spring election, while Dallas County had 9.63% voter turnout, according to data from the two counties. Richardson Deputy City Manager Don Magner said the city’s combined turnout for the two counties was 12.52%.
“We always want as many people to take part as they can, but for a local election it is a good turnout,” Magner said.
Results are still being counted.
In the Place 1 race, Tyra has 62.6% to Semida Voicu s 33.1% and Shafik Ben Guesmia s 4.3% in the early voting totals. Tyra is a venture capital scientific analyst, while Guesmia is the chief executive officer of contract management firm Cemendus Inc. and Semida Voicu is a small-business owner. Place 1 is currently held by Board President Tammy Richards, who decided not to run for re-election.
Powell leads the Place 2 race with 52.3% to Dayna Oscherwitz s 43.4% and Ajikwaga Felli s 4.4% in the early voting totals. Powell, the chief executive officer of Powell Advantage, is seeking her second four-year term on the board. Felli is a dentist and co-owner of Cuddly Smiles Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, while Oscherwitz is a professor of francophone studies and assistant provost for general education at Southern Methodist University.
Plano ISD voters will decide on Places 1, 2, 3 and 6 on the district’s board of trustees May 1. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Place 1 is currently held by Board President Tammy Richards, who decided not to run for re-election. Seeking the seat are Shafik Ben Guesmia, the chief executive officer of contract management firm Cemendus Inc.; Lauren Tyra, a venture capital scientific analyst; and Semida Voicu, a small-business owner.
In the Place 2 race, incumbent Angela Powell is being challenged by Ajikwaga Felli and Dayna Oscherwitz. Powell, the chief executive officer of Powell Advantage, is seeking her second four-year term on the board. Felli is a dentist and co-owner of Cuddly Smiles Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontics, while Oscherwitz is a professor of francophone studies and assistant provost for general education at Southern Methodist University.
Richardson ISD voters will decide on new members for the single-member District 1 and at-large Place 7 positions on the district’s board of trustees in the May 1 election. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The single-member District 1 seat is currently held by Jean Bono, who decided not to run for re-election. Seeking the seat are Tony Casagrande, president of Campos Engineering Inc.; Vicky Suárez, an elementary music teacher in Plano ISD; and Megan Timme, the director of administrative services at Region 10 Educational Service Center.
The at-large Place 7 position is currently held by Kim Caston, who also decided not to seek another term. Running for that seat are Amanda Clair, an educational consultant and an academic director; Nicole Foster, a teacher in Dallas ISD; Gavin Haynes, a control manager; Nicholas Frank LaGrassa, a security guard; Christopher J. Poteet, a civil engineer; Blake Sawyer, who works in technical training and support at Amped Software; and Eric Stengel
“Section 702 of the charter requires signatures equal to 20% of the number of votes cast in the last regular election, or 4,403 for this petition,” Henderson said.
City staff spent around 300 hours doing multiple reviews of the document, City Manager Mark Israelson said. Aside from the lack of enough qualifying signatures, City Attorney Paige Mims said the proposed ordinance was in conflict with state law and would not be enforceable.
“At the end of the day, this ordinance would have no legal meaning, in our opinion,” Mims said. “It s just in conflict with a lot of things and also would create some exposure to the city for paying attorney s fees. For those reasons, we don t think that the council should take this up.”