Early voting is underway in Williamson County and across Texas in the Republican primary election, finally! After several delays imposed by the federal courts, the primary election voting has begun.  Here are the details as to schedule, polling locations and more:

 

EARLY VOTING SCHEDULE

 

PRIMARY ELECTION-MAY 29, 2012

 

DATES AND TIMES FOR FULL-TIME LOCATIONS:

 

Monday, May 14 through Saturday, May 19

 

8:00 am to 6:00 pm

 

Sunday, May 20

 

12:00 pm to 6:00 pm

 

Monday, May 21 through Friday, May 25

 

7:00 am to 7:00 pm

 

FULL-TIME LOCATIONS:

 

Williamson County Inner Loop Annex, 301 SE Inner Loop, Georgetown

 

Parks and Recreation Admin. Bldg., 1101 N. College, Georgetown

 

Cowan Creek Amenity Center, 1433 Cool Springs Way, Georgetown

 

McConico Building, 301 W. Bagdad St., Round Rock

 

Round Rock Randalls, 2051 Gattis School Rd, Round Rock

 

Brushy Creek Community Center, 16318 Great Oaks Dr., Round Rock

 

J.B. and Hallie Jester Annex, 1801 E. Old Settlers Blvd., Round Rock

 

Anderson Mill Limited District, 11500 El Salido Pkwy, Austin

 

Cedar Park Public Library, 550 Discovery Blvd., Cedar Park

 

Cedar Park Randalls, 1400 Cypress Creek Rd., Cedar Park

 

Pat Bryson Municipal Hall, 201 N. Brushy, Leander

 

Taylor City Hall, 400 Porter St., Taylor

 

Hutto City Hall, 401 W. Front St., Hutto

 

Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful moms out there! I wrote a tribute to my mom, which was published in the Austin American-Statesman today:

My mother, Ann Lackey of Georgetown, is a mom’s mom.  As the wife of an Army officer whose service required him to spend many hours and sometimes months, away from the family, my mom took over and ran the household.  She excels at all the traditional homemaking skills-cooking, cleaning, sewing, gardening and making a house a home.  I remember as a very young child coming home from school to often smell the sweet goodness of homemade cookies fresh from the oven. Even now, my mom mends clothing for our family members, sends pies home with me when we visit,  attends track meets and musical performances to encourage her granddaughters and more.  My husband will tell you that when it comes to homemaking skills, the acorn fell far from the tree.  So, even though I took a very different path in life than my mom, I love and appreciate every day the things she has done and does for our family.

Due to the fact that some cities and MUDs have elections on May 12, with

early voing in that election going on through May 8, there is a lot of voter

confusion!  If you want to vote in the Republican primary, early voting is

Monday, May 14-Friday, May 25.  Election day is the Tuesday after Memorial

Day, Tuesday, May 29th.  All the details are on the voting page of this site.

To add to the confusion, in precinct one, very few areas are even having an

election at all on May 12.   If you live in the city limits of Austin or within

Fern Bluff MUD, you have a contested election in which to vote.  Otherwise,

the other elections were cancelled due to lack of contested races or moved to

November.  So, the bottom line is, the Republican primary election voting has

not yet begun!

The Home Builders Association of Greater Austin announced on 4-23-12 their endorsement of Williamson County Commissioner Lisa Birkman for re-election.   This is what Marshall Durrett, president of the group, said about the endorsement:

“Commissioner Birkman recognizes the importance of home ownership to Williamson County residents.  In her role on the court, she has successfully worked against the housing barriers of high taxes and regulatory burdens.”

According to their website, “Since 1953, the HBA has served as the leading not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to residential construction and remodeling in Central Texas.”

“The HBA has approximately 800 member firms representing several thousand people in all areas of the home building industry. Builder members construct 95% of the new homes in the greater Austin market; 87% of our member firms are small, locally owned businesses.”

Commissioner Birkman is pleased to receive the support of HBA and many other small business owners, homeowners and citizens throughout Williamson County’s precinct one.

Early voting in the Republican primary election begins Monday, May 14 and continues until Friday, May 25. Election day is Tuesday, May 29, the day after Memorial Day.

 

 

 

From the Sunday, April 15th’s Austin American Statesman:

“WILLIAMSON COUNTY

Commissioners vow 
to hold line on budget

Some Williamson County officials and department heads are lobbying for employee raises, but the Commissioners Court has promised to hold the line on the budget and tax rate.

County officials discussed budget matters for almost three hours at a Tuesday workshop at the Jester Annex in Round Rock. Much of that discussion centered on salaries and benefits for the county’s 1,600 full-time employees.

County Budget Officer Ashlie Blaylock said that, in addition to raises, department heads and elected officials have requested 74 new hires for the upcoming fiscal year, mainly in public safety areas such as the sheriff’s office, emergency medical services and jail.

But Precinct 3 Commissioner Valerie Covey reminded attendees that, at last month’s budget workshop, commissioners told Blaylock to hold the line on the budget and taxes.

For the current fiscal year, the county is operating on a $211 million budget, which includes about $900,000 in raises. The average homeowner’s county tax bill is $882.

To balance the budget for the current fiscal year, commissioners took $12 million from the county’s reserve fund. Last month, Blaylock said the county has a reserve fund balance of $96 million.

On Tuesday, Covey said she would be reluctant to dip into reserves again to pay for day-to-day operating expenses.

– Brad Stutzman, Round Rock Leader”