Voters in Central Texas have spoken and used their ballots to re-elect all eligible incumbents, who were running for a spot on the Killeen ISD Board of Trustees.
The trio—Shelley wells, Susan Jones and Corbett Lawler—have dedicated a combined total of 79 years to the district.
While many of their opponents ran on a platform that criticized district leadership, for what they felt was a lack of action in regards to issues within KISD’s Special Education Department, it appears their push for change wasn’t strong enough.
All of the incumbents won their races with at least 50 percent of the vote.
Despite the large gap, one of their challengers, Phillip Floyd Jr., chalks up the results to low voter turnout and a disenchanted voter population.
“We kind of have a revolving door in our local politics, where our members go from city councils into the school boards and vice versa, into the city councils,” Floyd Jr. said.
Another challenger, Phyllis Narin, said her loss wasn’t surprising, because of what she calls “skewed voter districts.”
“The results are standard, typical for KISD,” Narin said, “Simply because we do not have single member districts, so it’s not representative of our population that we serve.
Floyd Jr. said he's not sure if he will run again. But according to Narin, as long as there is an opportunity, she will challenge any incumbent.
She's also working on a petition to change board member representation from "at-large" to "single-district," which she believes will allow for more voices to be heard.
For recently re-elected incumbent, Corbett Lawler, the results of the vote speak for itself. He said that voters clearly recognize the hard work district members have been putting forth, to fix issues with the KISD’s Special Education Department.
“We identified the changes that were necessary and we put those changes into place. We have a plan, to try and resolve those issues and we’re working that plan,” Lawler said, “In fact, all of the preliminary reports that we’re getting from the State of Texas are that we’re working the plan perfectly and the state’s very happy.”
Lawler added that he’s looking forward to another term, where he can continue to make a difference for the community he's served for over 40 years.
Two more seats on the KISD Board of Trustees will be open for election in May of 2017.
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