Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 29, 1984 Page: 1 of 10
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PJHS Names E Palacios YFD
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Weather
DATE MAX. MIN. PREC.
FEB. 21 59
FEB. 22 68
FEB. 23 71
FEB. 24 72
FEB. 25 72
FEB. 26 74
WEUNEMJAT, rEbKUAKT iV, IVM
PALACIOS, TEXAS
TEN PAGES
Commissioner for 28-rears
Harrison withdraws
from county race
Fastest spoon in town.
CUB SCOUT A. J. Moore chows
down on the chill Sunday at the
Scout Chili Supper held at St.
Anthony’s Catholic Church. A. J.,
son of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Moore,
Is a member of Den 4, Pack 3047.
Proceeds from the supper and
raffle will be used for the Palacios
Boy Scout and Cub Scout pro*
grams. The affair raised a total of
$1,200. [Beacon Photo by Nick
Westl__
BY NICK WEST
An end of an era will occur for
Precinct 3 residents of Matagorda
County this year following Mon-
day's surprise announcement by
County Commissioner George "Bi-
lly" Harrison that he will not be
seeking re-election to a seventh
term.
Harrison, who is in his 28th year
as county commissioner, formally
withdrew his name Monday as a
candidate for the upcoming Demo-
cratic Primary election. In a letter
to County Democratic Chairman
Georgia Herreth, Harrison cited
personal reasons and pressing
family business for his decision not
to run for office again. His actions
were in compliance with the state
election code regarding withdraw-
ing as a candidate.
His decision to pull out of the
race left the Democrats with no
candidate at the present for the
May 5 primary. Persons will have
until 6 p.m. March 6 to file as a
candidate on the Democratic ticket.
Harrison stated that he hoped
someone from the Palacios-Bless-
ing area would step in and fill the
void he left on the Democratic
ticket. He pointed out that there
was “too much concentration of the
population in this part of the
.precinct not to be represented,”
The Republican primary, also set
for the same day, has James Smith
of Bay City entered as a candidate
on that party's ticket for Pet. 3
Commissioner.
Meeting Monday
to plan ride
There will be a trail ride
meeting on March 5 at 7:30
p.m. at the Eagles Hall to
make plans for the March
Trail Ride to Bay City.
Sign-up, sale
set Saturday
Registration for youngsters
between the ages of 13-18 for
the Palacios Area Babe Ruth
League will be held from 8
a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Ham-
lin's Minimax. Registration
fee is $15 per child or $25 per
family.
The league will also be
holding a trash and treasure
sale at the location during the
same time period.
Fundraising set
for Carancahua
The Carancahua Extension
Homemakers Club is sponsor-
ing a fund raising games party
and social Friday at 7 p.m. at
the Community enter.
Bake sale for
Crisis Center
There will be a bake sale
Saturday at 8 a.m. at Ham-
lin's Minimax with proceeds
going to the Matagorda Coun-
ty Women's Crisis Center.
Reception for
doctor Saturday
There will be a reception
honoring Dr. and Mrs. John
Brown Saturday from 2-5 p.m.
at the Presbyterian Fellow-
ship Hall. The event is
sponsored by the Pink Ladies
of Wagner General Hospital
and the Medical Foundation.
Everyone is invited to att-
(J end.
\ Eagles dinner at
hall Saturday
The Eagles will hold a
spaghetti dinner Saturday fr-
om 12 noon-3 p.m. at the
Eagles Hall.
Proceeds from this dinner
go to the scholarship and
building fund. Plates are
priced at $3.50 per person.
Request for Sr. Center funds
Harrison's decision came after
what he called "many long,
agonizing hours of consideration"
and took most of his friends and
supporters completely by surprise.
He said he had checked the legal
status of his decision to withdraw
in regard to the primary with the
county attorney and Mrs. Herreth,
and had not brought the matter up
to the rest of the Commissioner's
Court when it met Monday.
"I thought and prayed over it for
weeks. It was like letting your child
go,” Harrison said of his decision.
He added that with his farming and
ranching operations, it was time to
devote his efforts to his family and
the family business.
“I felt it was to the point where it
would be hard to do justice and
devote time to both. The family
business has gotten to the point
where I feel I should drop out as
commissioner. With the family
business growing at this time. I
don't feel like obligating four more
years,” Harrison told the Beacon
Monday afternoon.
The 60-year old Harrison was
elected to his first term as
commissioner of Pet. 3 at the age of
33. He won in a four-way race and
followed Guy Johnson on the
Court. Harrison's father had also
served as commissioner for 20-
years prior to Johnson.
“After all those years 1 now want
to spend some time with my family.
1 want to travel and visit our
children,” he commented. During
his nearly three decades in office
he said he "loved every week I
spent on the job" but that the time
had come to develop other things.
"It's been a great challenge and
1 have been thrilled with every
good project that we have worked
with from the development of the
Palacios and Bay City hospitals to
the development of farm-to-market
roads in the area and the building
of the new county courthouse,"
Harrison said. He also noted that
the work with the Navigation
District No. 1 in the development of
all three turning basins in Palacios
was also one of the highlights of his
tenure in office.
The completion of the third
turning basin is planned for this
year and Harrison said he plans to
see it through before his term
officially expires December 31.
Although withdrawing from the
Commissioner Court, Harrison pl-
ans to continue working for the
growth and progress of Palacios
and Matagorda County. He said he
would like to see Camp Hulen
developed as an outlet for further
[See HARRISON, Page 9[
FEC asks city council to reconsider
The Friends of Eider Citizens,
Inc. will be requesting the City of
Palacios to reconsider its earlier
decision not to allocate excess
revenue sharing funds toward the
operating budget of the Palacios
Senior Center. The matter has
been placed on the March 5 agenda
of the Palacios City Council.
Rev. Ray Boykin, on behalf of
the FEC Board of Directors,
submitted a letter to members of
the city council this week outlining
the need for financial support from
the city through revenue sharing
funds. The FEC is asking the city
to allocate $2,200 from excess
Revenue Sharing Funds.
The council had turned down a
previous request from the FEC in
November. Councilman Gary Haf-
emick had told FEC representativ-
es at that meeting that though the
Center was a worthwhile endea-
vor, he felt that allocating the
money would be setting a bad
precedent and that there were
other projects the city was involved
in that needed the money. The
council instead reallocated a total
of $304,549 toward capital improv-
ement, primarily for streets and
drainage.
The city is currently giving the
FEC $550 for its telephone re-
assurance program according to
Boykin.
Both Boykin and Mayor Leonard
Lamar say that confusion concern-
ing the FEC need for funds and the
way in which the request was
presented to the council were
factors in the negative response
from the council. Boykin, in his
letter to the council this week,
noted there had also been a “lack
of factual data” presented to the
council to support a positive
response.
Lamar said Monday that althou-
gh the matter would be pi -ced on
the March 5 council agenda, it
would require another public hear-
ing if the council decides to
reallocate revenue sharing funds.
He added that he felt the council
should have included the FEC
request in the allocation but that it
"wasn’t explained to the council
fully.”
The mayor said the request
should have been granted as a one
time funding and that the city could
continue to allocate funds as long
as the Revenue Sharing Funds
make it feasible.
“I imagine it will get a favorable
response from the council,” Lamar
said Monday.
At the November meeting and
again in the letter this week to the
council members, the FEC points
out that the city of Palacios is the
only city that does not participate
heavily in the funding of senior
citizens center in the Houston-
Galveston Area Council (HGAC)
region. Boykin said in the letter
that the Senior Center operates at
a very efficient level with a
minimum of resources, but that in
projecting its budget for the year,
the center would have a “short-
fall" in excess of $4,000.
Boykin’s letter from the FEC
Board of Directors to the City
Council explained the Senior Cent-
er operation and need for addi-
tional funding as follows:
“ Perhaps Council is not aware
| See CENTER, Page 91
GED classes to
start at PJHS
on Thursday
Registration for programs
to prepare adults to take the
Texas high school equivalency
test begins Thursday at 7 p.m.
at the Palacios Junior High
School.
Classes will meet on Tues-
day and Thursday nights from
7-10 p.m. The course is free to
the public. All books and
materials will be furnished.
For further information con-
tact Leon Bullock at the
Palacios High School 972-
2571.
y/AV
(V.V.V
W*
l A
Three-way race looms
for council Position 5
Two more names were added to
the candidates’ list for the Palacios
city council race slated for April 7.
The one-year remaining on the
unexpired Position 5 term appears
to be the biggest attraction for city
council candidates as two more
persons have signed up for that
seat last week.
The city council, along with the
PISD Board of Trustees elections,
are scheduled for April 7. Filing
deadline for candidates is March 7.
A total of three persons have
thus far signed up for the Position 5
vacancy, making it the biggest race
currently on the city ballot. The
position previously held by Jim
Koontz was declared vacant in
December. The one-year remain-
ing on the two-year term expires in
April 1985.
Johnny Sardelich and Adrian
Watson have become the newest
candidates for that contested posi-
tion. They join W. L. Jones who
was the first candidate to file over
two weeks ago.
Sardelich is employed with Hou-
ston Lighting and Power as an
Instruments and Control Techni-
cian at the South Texas Project.
Watson also works at STP and is
employed by Ebasco as a Senior
Scheduling Supervisor.
Incumbent mayor Leonard Lam-
ar filed for re-election to a third
term last week also. Currently he is
the only candidate for that position.
The only council position for
which no candidate has signed up
is Position 2, currently held by
Gary Hafernick. The high school
teacher and coach is completing his
first term on the council and has
not indicated whether he will seek
re-election.
The fourth position bn the ballot
voters will decide on is Position 1.
Cliff Elliott, owner of Collins
Seafood, currently has an unconte-
sted race for the seat formerly held
by Trinidad Constancio. Constan-
cy has decided not to run for
re-election.
No new candidates have filed for
the PISD Board of Trustees race
that has three positions up for
grabs, each a three-year term.
School district voters presently
have only one contested race.
Incumbent Roger Wilson is being
challenged by Mary Eggemeyer for
Position 6.
Incumbents for the two other
positions have not drawn any
opposition. Mason Hqlsworth will
be seeking another term on Posi-
tion 5 while Dan Tucker has filed
for re-election to Position 7.
Absentee voting for both the city
and school elections gets underway
March 19. The final day to register
to vote in the upcoming elections is
March 8.
Second time around.
FOR THE second time in three
years, Walter Moerbe was selected
as Palacios VFD Fireman of the
Year. Moerbe has won the honor
previously In 1982. The announce-
ment was made at the 57th Annual
Fireman’s Banquet held at the
Recreation Center Friday. During
1983 the Palacios VFD responded
to 66 calls Including 33 grass fires,
17 car fires, five boat fires. 11
house Ores and seven false alarms.
Volunteers also made a total of 389
ambulance runs Including 124
transfers from Leisure Lodge to the
hospital, 42 transfers out-of-town
and 223 emergency runs. Prior to
the banquet, firemen were busy
most of the day Friday battling a
large grass fire northeast of the
city. [Beacon Photo by Nick West)
m
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Palacios Beacon (Palacios, Tex.), Vol. 77, No. 9, Ed. 1 Wednesday, February 29, 1984, newspaper, February 29, 1984; Palacios, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth724835/m1/1/: accessed May 4, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Palacios Library.