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115. Regular Meeting November 22, 2004 Page 3 IMaYOr Narvaiz introduced for consideration a public hearing and approval of an Ordinance on first reading, the caption which was read as follows: AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN MARCOS, TEXAS, CHANGING THE DATE FOR REGULAR CITY ELECTIONS FROM THE SECOND UNIFORM ELECTION DATE IN EACH CALENDAR YEAR TO THE FOURTH UNIFORM ELECTION DATE IN EACH CALENDAR YEAR; AND INCLUDING PROCEDURAL PROVISIONS. Mayor Narvaiz opened the public hearing and asked if anyone wished to speak. 1) Jane Hughson stated she has only heard three reasons for moving the City elections to November; 1. saving money by sharing the cost with the County; 2. more voter participation; and 3. a better timing for voters. She stated currently the City already shares most of the cost of the elections with the School District. She also stated November elections are only held in even-numbered years unless there are Constitutional Amendments or something else odd, which means the City would go from sharing two-thirds of the Elections with the School District to sharing one-half with the County. She stated the news media that covers the City elections come from Austin and San Antonio. If the City retains the May election date, the news media would be available to provide coverage; if the City changes to the November date, there will not be local coverage of our Election. She stated she does not feel the City elections should be combined with a partisan election. She also stated lin the recent November election the ballot included fifteen races from National to County wide, plus up to three more, depending on the Precinct in which you live. This means voters would need to educate themselves on thirty candidates, plus keep track of the City Council candidates. 2) Dianne Wassenich stated she supports keeping our elections in May. She stated she feels it is important for citizens to be involved in local issues and not have local issues be lost in the bigger national and state election, which can be very partisan. She also stated she is concerned about the extra expense for campaigning for local offices. She stated she feels the City would make a big mistake to move the election, which would change San Marcos forever and bring the City into partisan elections. 3) Gloria Salazar stated she supports the election change to November. She stated she feels there would be a greater voter turnout in November, which is what the City should strive for. She stated she feels the Council should step forward and take the opportunity to change the election to November and see what the change can provide the City. 4) Michael Patello stated he supports changing the election to November. He stated he feels there would be more voter participation. He stated he does not believe the change would be more expensive for a City Council candidate. He also inquired if the elections were changed to November, could the elections be changed back to May. 5) Richard DeLeon stated he supports changing the lelection date from May to November. He stated he feels the change would provide a better voter turnout. He also stated he feels the cost would not be any higher. He stated he feels voters who work cannot make the