The Star Valley Primary Election will be held August 26, 2014. This will be a “Vote-By-Mail” Election and it will be a consolidated election with the state, county and town. Ballots can be placed in the U.S. Mail and returned to Gila County Voter Registration, or delivered to the Star Valley Town Clerk’s Office. A publicity pamphlet and sample ballot will be mailed to all currently registered voters in Star Valley. If it is necessary to hold a General Election, this will be held on November 4, 2014.
Items on the ballot are election of the Mayor and three Town Council Members. Only one person has submitted a nomination petition for the office of Mayor, and that is Ronnie O. McDaniel. Six people submitted nomination petitions for the 3 Town Council Member positions. They are Del Newland, Paty Henderson, Vern Leis, Andy McKinney, Bob O’Connor, and Jeff Provincher.
Also on the ballot is renewal of the Home Rule Option, which needs to be renewed every four years. The Star Valley voters first voted in this option in 2008, and renewed it in 2012. However, since the State Legislature is now requiring all elections to be held in the fall, it is necessary to consider renewing it in 2014 as it would expire in the spring of 2016. This would have left a gap in time when Home Rule was not in effect during 2016. The Home Rule Option allows the Town to set its own limit on expenditures, which is controlled in the Town budget which is approved by the Town Council each year. The voters of Star Valley need to decide if they want their elected town officials to set expenditure limits or if they want the State of Arizona to do this.