Jersey Village voters have re-elected two incumbents to City Council, sent two other candidates to a runoff election and rejected a ballot proposition that would have banned the future use of red-light cameras in city limits.
City Council elections
Council members Andrew Mitcham and Sheri Sheppard will return to City Council after defeating challengers for positions 1 and 4, respectively.
Mitcham, who has served as the Position 1 representative for the past year, took 62.34 percent of the vote over Jill Klein, a former council member who served for four terms.
Sheppard has served as the Position 4 representative for the past four years. She defeated Mike Mauriello with 56.61 percent of the vote.
Both winning candidates identified flooding as the primary issue to focus on once they re-enter office.
The third council seat up for election, Position 5, drew inconclusive results on election night. No candidate took the majority of votes necessary to win the position, so a runoff will be held in June to determine the winner. As of press time, a date has not been set for the runoff.
The incumbent, Tom Eustace, will face Gary Wubbenhorst. Wubbenhorst took 42.62 percent of the vote over Eustace’s 31.67 percent. The third candidate, Bryan Engledow, earned 25.71 percent.
“I know that my work will be tough going forward,“ Eustace said.
Red-light camera ban rejected
Voters rejected Proposition 1, which would have banned Jersey Village from installing future red-light camera programs. They approved Proposition 2, which allows the city to continue its existing red-light camera program with American Traffic Solutions.
Proposition 1 failed with 675 voters, or 64.84 percent, rejecting the measure and 366 voters, or 35.16 percent, approving it. Proposition 2 passed with 676 yes votes, or 65.03 percent, and 364 no votes, or 34.97 percent.
No red-light cameras are installed in Jersey Village, and there are no plans to have any installed going forward. The city’s contract with American Traffic Solutions runs through 2024.
