Martin and Ort win Granite Shoals seats
Phil Ort won the Place 6 seat on the Granite Shoals City Council. Courtesy photo
The Granite Shoals City Council will have two new faces following the Nov. 3 election.
In the Place 5 race, Shirley Martin defeated Libby Edwards by a vote of 363 to 235. Phil Ort won the Place 6 seat, defeating incumbent Will Skinner, who was actually no longer an opponent. Skinner recently took over as mayor, replacing Mayor Carl Brugger, who resigned in the face of a recall petition. Ort won with a vote of 327 to 299.
“Hopefully, we can give a voice to all citizens of Granite Shoals and move Granite Shoals to make it the best place to live in Central Texas,” Ort said after the results were in.
Skinner congratulated Ort on his victory.
“He ran a good race. He came with a lot of citizens’ support,” Skinner said. “I look forward to working with him. I do openly accept every City Council member brought on this term.”
Running unopposed, Bruce Jones will return to his Place 2 position, which he actually resigned from as of Oct. 27. His resignation made the recall, which would have been held in May 2021, null and void. With his name still on the ballot, all he needed was one vote to be returned to the council.
Dr. Steve Hougen, also unopposed, will keep his Place 4 seat.
Edwards was an appointee fulfilling the unexpired term of former Councilor Todd Holland, who resigned April 21 because he moved out of the city limits. According to the city charter, the seat was put on the November ballot as a special election. That seat will be up for election again in May 2021. Martin said she looked forward to growing in the new position.
“It’s an honor certainly, and, yes, it will be a challenge,” she said. “There’s a huge learning curve. I haven’t been involved in city government before other than peripheral business. There’s an awful lot of responsibility that comes with the job. I feel like I’m up to it.”