White looks to avoid council special election

More on the possibility of the city having to hold a costly special election to fill Shelley Sekula-Gibbs' vacant City Council seat for a few months: According to the Chronicle, Mayor Bill White plans to ask the state Legislature for some leeway in the election law that would require a special election. The issue: A special election couldn't be held before May, meaning that whoever won it would have to run again in a general election in November — and a special election plus runoff, if one were needed, would cost the city $3 million. That's a lot of money to put someone on council for six months, White said:

"I don't want to spend $3 million just so a seat can be filled six months early," White said, factoring in the cost of a citywide election and a potential runoff. "I would like to see if the Legislature could change the law to allow the Houston City Council to decide whether to conduct the election in May or November, taking into account the cost of the election."

State law requires White to call a special election if a seat is vacated more than 270 days before the city's next general election — which in this case will be Nov. 6, 2007. But a special election has to be called within 62 days of the next uniform Election Day, which is May 12. That means the Legislature would have to make a decision regarding the election by March, and the wheels of justice might not turn that quickly. "It's one of the prices you pay, one of the sacrifices you make," Marc Campos, a political consultant, told the Chronicle. "That's why you're the mayor, so when we need a special election you figure out a way to pay for it. To change the rules is not good government." White, however, said he believes the people of Houston will favor saving $3 million.

Meanwhile, special election or no, the candidates to fill Shelley's at-large seat are coming out of the woodwork. Melissa Noriega, the wife of state Rep. Rick Noreiga, said she's definitely in, as are business consultant Andy Neill, city employee Noel Freeman and retired Air Force officer Roy Morales (who ran for a council seat in 2005). Among the people who have expressed interest but haven't thrown their hats in yet are Nandy Berry, the wife of City Councilman Michael Berry, lawyer Jay Aiyer and Tom Reiser.