By Rodney Williams

Managing Editor

With May elections on the horizon the City of Van Alstyne staff has been busy preparing election packets for individuals wishing to run for any open City Council positions. Picking up a candidate packet is the first step on the path to winning a spot on the Council and can be done immediately. Three of the five council seats are up for grabs in May - Place 1 with incumbent Dr. Jack Trammell, Place 2 with incumbent Jim Smith and Place 3 with incumbent John Bormann. As the candidate packets are of vital importance, city staff members have made a few changes to the new packets. In the past, the packet has consisted of the basics necessary to apply, such as the application, information on campaign treasurers and the like. This year, led by new city manager Philip Rodriguez, the packets will have a much more comprehensive feel to them. In addition to the applications and paperwork, the city staff has included things such as a calendar of vital dates for candidates, a brochure with information regarding the city manager form of government under which Van Alstyne operates, an organizational chart of the city and even a booklet from the Texas Municipal League. All in all, it’s a plethora of vital data for potential candidates.

“They’ll be well informed when they get these packets,” said Van Alstyne City Secretary Tena Brown. “There is a lot of good, useful information that will help them be very informed.”

With the additional work going into the quarter-inch thick packets they took longer than usual to prepare but are now available at City Hall. The packets can also be downloaded from the City’s Web site at www.ci.van-alstyne.tx.us, possibly as early as Saturday. There is no fee for the packet and candidates have until March 5 to return them directly to City Hall.