By Andy Sevilla

Narrowly missing an outright victory to the Kyle council by a handful of votes, Shane Arabie will faceoff against Laurie Luttrell in a runoff election for the District 3 seat.

“We just have to prepare ourselves for a runoff and continue working the same way we were,” Arabie said. “Obviously, I carried a large amount of support for this election. I’m fairly confident I can do it again.”

Arabie, Luttrell, and a third candidate, Bill Sinor, were competing for the unexpired seat vacated in May by Chad Benninghoff. 

Arabie received 249 votes (49.50 percent) of the total 503 ballots cast in the election, according to the unofficial results. Luttrell received 159 votes (31.61 percent), and Sinor garnered 95 votes (18.9 percent).

For a candidate in Kyle to win election to a council seat, the candidate must receive majority support — 50 percent of the total vote, plus one vote. In elections where a majority was not received by any candidate, the top two vote getters head for a runoff election.

“This is my second campaign for the city council this year, and even though the weather is hot, I’m looking forward to the runoff with new energy,” Luttrell said.

Luttrell previously lost a bid to unseat two-term District 4 council incumbent David Wilson in May. Luttrell lost that race by 62 votes.

“I want to thank my volunteers and the contributors to my campaign who have gotten me this far,” she said. “All we have to do is cross the finish line.”

With the Aug. 9 election behind them, both Arabie and Luttrell are fixing their eyes on the runoff.

“I’m absolutely happy with the way everything has transpired up to this point,” Arabie said. “… I wish I could have done a little bit more, but we’re just going to push a little harder this time.”

Arabie said his experience with the city, having served as a Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Commissioner, and presently the committee’s chair, as well as his job history will greatly benefit the direction the city is headed in. 

Arabie is a lab supervisor at Texas State University. 

“I think the city is going in the right direction as it is now,” he said. “I want to continue with the work that has already been set forth by the council before us, and provide some of my experience and knowledge” to the decision-making process. 

Arabie said work still needs to be done with deteriorating infrastructure, connectivity between the different neighborhoods, and lowering taxes.

“The similarity between all of it is that everyone wants a nice place to come home to,” he said.

Luttrell, who is concerned with languishing infrastructure, crumbling roads, a high property tax rate, an increasing annual budget and water and wastewater issues, said she has a clear vision, sound business experience and the leadership necessary to get things done and working for the people.

“We need action now,” she said. “ We passed a $36 million road bond last year, and the engineering for those roads is barely underway. Meanwhile the roads we told voters we were going to fix are only getting worse. Under this timeline, the first of five roads wouldn’t begin reconstruction until next summer. We deserve better, our children deserve better.”

Three of the five road bond streets — Bunton Creek, Goforth and Lehman roads — would improve roadways council members have called dangerous for travel to schools, businesses and residences in the city’s east side.

For Sinor, the Aug. 9 election was a second defeat for the same council seat two years in a row. Sinor came in third place in a three-man race for the District 3 seat last year. Benninghoff ultimately won that seat in a runoff against Joe Bacon. 

The Kyle council is slated to canvass the election results at its Aug. 19 meeting, and likely will set a schedule for the runoff election. 

The cost of democracy

Amelia Sanchez, Kyle city secretary, said the city has so far this year spent $12,872.50 on elections. The breakdown is as follows:

May 10 general election: $3,672.65 

May 31 runoff: $5,078.15 

August 9 election : $4,121.70

Sanchez said the city estimates spending about another $4,000 for the runoff election to decide who will sit in the vacant seat left by Chad Benninghoff, who resigned the post in June. None of the three candidates running for the job — Laurie Luttrell, Bill Sinor and Shane Arabie — garnered a 51 percent share of the vote in the Aug. 9 special called election.

Runoff Election Day: August 30, 2014 

Early voting schedule —

Monday, Aug. 18: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 19 through Friday, Aug. 22: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Monday, Aug. 25: 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 26: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. 

Election Day voting (Aug. 30) will run from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.