Most of Granite Shoals council seats up for grabs in next election

Five of the seven seats on the Granite Shoals City Council will be on the May 6 ballot. Interested residents can apply to run for mayor and places 1, 2, 3, and 5 starting Wednesday, Jan. 18. The filing period ends Feb. 17.

Upheavals on the council in 2022 led to several personnel changes that will be addressed in the May election. In an odd-numbered election year, the council seats that typically would be on the ballot are mayor and places 1, 3, and 5. The place 2 seat was added to replace recently appointed Mayor Aaron Garcia, who, as mayor pro-tem, became mayor when Will Skinner resigned from that position in October. 

Place 2 was then filled with the appointment of Kevin Flack in late October. Garcia had only been serving on the council since May 24, 2022, when he received the surprise appointment to mayor pro tem on June 14. 

Councilor Eddie McCoy unexpectedly resigned from his place 5 seat in November, leading to the appointment of Michael Berg to the position later that month. The city is only allowed two appointed positions on the council by state law, so it is now at the max.

Seats up for election and corresponding current councilors are:

• Place 1, Ron Munos
• Place 2, Kevin Flack
• Place 3, Samantha Ortis
• Place 5, Michael Berg
• Mayor, Aaron Garcia

Garcia, Flack, and Berg all must decide if they want to run to keep their recently attained positions on the council. Place 1 Councilor Ron Munos and Place 3 Councilor Samantha Ortis will have to decide whether to seek re-election to another two-year term. 

So far, the only councilors to confirm their intent to run for their seats are Ortis and Berg.

“I am absolutely running for my seat again,” Ortis told DailyTrib.com.

Berg also confirmed with DailyTrib.com that he is “100 percent” intent on keeping his Place 5 seat.

Seven candidates put their names in the hat when the Place 2 seat was up for appointment in October, which is a lot for Granite Shoals, according to Munos, who ran unopposed in his last two elections.

“There was a lot of apathy back then,” he told DailyTrib.com. “People have gotten a lot more involved and energized.”

Both elections in which Munos participated were canceled because the seats were unopposed.

To file for a City Council seat, pick up an application packet starting Jan. 18 at Granite Shoals City Hall, 2221 N. Phillips Ranch Road. The two-year council terms are unpaid. To qualify to run, you must be a registered voter in the city, pass a criminal background check, have no debts to the city, and have lived within the city limits for at least a year.

dakota@thepicayune.com