Residents and council members press for re-review after $56,500 special-election estimate

Residents and several council members asked the Percival Town Council on Sept. 8 to reconsider holding a special election on March 9, 2027, after the county elections office provided a new estimate of roughly $56,500.

Public commenter Stephanie Marut said she had earlier supported a March election when the cost estimate was about $15,000, but that the new figure was nearly four times higher and questioned the mayor's unilateral removal of the agenda item: "That is not democracy," she said.

Council debate later in the meeting focused on whether the council could revisit the decision. Several members, including Rayner and Wright, said the larger estimate altered the financial calculus and asked for a public re-evaluation. Mayor Christopher Bertaux defended moving forward with a March election, saying the per-voter cost is modest: "There's a cost in dollars. I know that 56,000 sounds like a lot of money, but it comes to $6.35 to put the vote back in the hands of the people," the mayor said.

Other council members argued the council should have an opportunity to discuss the new estimate formally and to consider delaying the election to November 2027 to save taxpayers money. The council had previously voted to add an item (11k) related to the petition for a special election as a discussion item earlier in the meeting but noted that taking formal action would require a higher threshold or meeting rules be suspended. Some members said it remained possible to add an action item with a supermajority during the same meeting to ask staff to petition the court for a change of date; the group did not finalize that course of action that night.