School Board vote requires 3 run-offs; county bonds and amendments pass

Houston City Councilman Jarvis Johnson was reelected to his post with 77% of the vote. He defeated Kenneth Perkins in the race for District B on the council.

The North Forest ISD will see run-off elections held in each of the three trustee positions that were on the Nov. 6 election ballot.
State election laws require a runoff if a candidate fails to get a majority of votes in a race. In the race for Position 1 incumbent Sylvia Brooks Williams will face Albert Coleman. Williams has served on the board since 2006, when she was appointed to fill in for the remainder of Jarvis Clark’s term. Position 6 incumbent Allan Provost will face Jackie Mayhorn in a run-off. The retirement of Maxine Lane-Seals left no incumbent for Position 7. Albert Lemons and Sharon Settles were the two top vote-getters and will face each other in a runoff.
In the race for Houston City Council District B Jarvis Johnson was relected over challenger Kenneth Perkins, 8243 to 2467 votes.
In general, Harris County voters didn’t bother to go to the polls this year, with no major issues or candidates on the ballot. The final tally was less than 10% of the eligible voters, according to officials.

Those that did cast ballots approved the 16 state amendments to the constitution. This includes bonds for public works projects such as new roads, jails and parks, and money for repairs to the Battleship Texas in Deer Park and a Cancer Institute at the price of $3 billion. Additionally, Proposition 16 for the Texas Water Development Board is expected to bring water and sewer to some areas of Harris County.
In the City of Houston, Mayor Bill White was re-elected to his final 3rd term by an overwhelming margin of 86%. The popular mayor is expected to run for state or national office after this term. The strongest vote getter appears to be Councilman Peter Brown, with 99% of the vote in his At-large position.
Houston voters also approved the HISD $805 million bond package, for new schools and repairs to existing ones, but by a very narrow margin of 51% for. The issue had met a lot of opposition from minority voters who wanted more for their schools.
Harris County and Port Authority bonds passed by a small margin, with the exception of a bond issue for a new jail, which was defeated. East Harris County is expected to benefit from some of this new bond money. Commissioner Garcia has studied the possibility of a new county hospital, and some library facilities.
Voters in Baytown approved five out of six proposals. They defeated the bonds to improve Texas Avenue, but approved other improvements for streets, police and fire, parks and recreation, the extension of East Baker Road, and drainage improvements.
Voters in Aldine ISD went to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6, and returned incumbents Marine Jones, Dr. Alton Smith, Merlin Griggs and Dr. Viola M. Garcia to their respective seats on the Board of Education.
Jones received 2,524 votes to Nailor’s 2,005 votes, while Griggs received 2,773 votes to Murillo’s 1,763 votes and Garcia received 2,758 votes to Garza’s 1,720 votes. Smith garnered 3,941 votes.
The votes will be made official when they are canvassed on Nov. 15.