Bob Sims set to be new Breckenridge mayor
There will soon be a new mayor in Breckenridge, Texas, but he’s no stranger to the town or its citizens. As the only candidate filing to run for the position, Bob Sims is automatically the winner, according to Breckenridge City Secretary Heather Robertson-Caraway.
The deadline to file was at 5 p.m. today, Friday, Feb. 16. Additionally, since the two city commissioner positions that were up for election also had only one candidate each, the incumbents Russell Blue (Place 1) and Rob Durham (Place 2), will remain on the council, and no city election will be held. Had it been necessary, the election would have been on May 5.
Sims will be replacing Mayor Jimmy McKay, who decided not to run for re-election this year. McKay’s current term will end in June. He was elected to the city commission in 2003 and served as Place 4 commissioner for three years. He was elected as mayor of Breckenridge in 2006.
Sims, Blue and Durham will be sworn in at the June commission meeting by Robertson-Caraway.
Robertson-Caraway said the candidates cannot be sworn in until after the election date, or the date the election was supposed to have been held, which is May 5. Since the May city commission meeting will be on Tuesday, May 1, they will have to wait and be sworn in at the June 5 commission meeting.
Sims is well-known in the community, having been a Department of Public Safety officer for many years, in addition to serving in other capacities within Breckenridge. He has been a member of the BISD Board of Trustees and has served as the director of the annual Frontier Days event. Additionally, he has been a member of various organizations, including the Breckenridge Lions Club and the Kiwanis Club. Sims was named Citizen of the Year in 2012, an award he received at the annual Breckenridge Chamber of Commerce banquet.
BISD Election
With at least one contested race, the Breckenridge Independent School District election will be held on May 5, as scheduled. BISD has two positions up for election this year, Place 1 – currently held by Graham Reaugh, and Place 2 – currently held by Thomas Tennison. Both have filed for re-election. As the deadline passed at 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, there had been one other candidate file for the election, Paul Lippe, who filed for Place 2.
The school district will hold a drawing to determine how the candidates’ names are listed on the ballot at 1:30 p.m. Friday, March 9.
Hospital Board
Also, as of late Friday afternoon, Feb. 16, there were no contested races in the Stephens Memorial Hospital District Board of Trustees election. The four incumbents, Wade Toombs, Bruce Curry, Todd Tidwell and Kevin Simmons, have all filed for re-election and will be automatically declared the winners in that race, if no one filed at the last minute.
Story by Tony Pilkington and Carla McKeown
