Hamilton sets municipal candidate fees at $50; qualifying begins June 10

HAMILTON — The majority of the Hamilton City Council’s Monday, May 19, meeting concerned matters associated with the upcoming municipal election.
The council approved the posting of the “Notice of Election” for the City of Hamilton, which states, “Notice is hereby given that on Tuesday, Aug. 26, an election will be held for the purpose of electing a mayor and five city council members for the City of Hamilton.
“Qualification will begin by the city clerk accepting statements of candidacy starting at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10, through Tuesday, June 24, until 5 p.m., during normal business hours.”
The council also adopted an ordinance regarding qualification fees, which were set for $50 for both mayoral and city council candidates. The fees are due at the time of qualifying, which was noted above as June 10-24.
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page explained later the state requires municipalities to set a fee. He noted there are some costs associated with holding a municipal election.
“We do have to have a lot of materials, such as ballots, etc.,” he said. “It’s quite expensive to put on an election, and this will help buffer a few of the charges, especially if we have several candidates.”
Regarding the election, he also said later, “I encourage folks to step up and be leaders of their community. We’d like to see the ballot full of good names.”
The last election-related matter was passing a resolution declaring that the city clerk/treasurer shall have and perform the duties required by Chapter 11 of Title 17 of the Code of Alabama to be the absentee election manager.
The resolution noted the city clerk will receive $50 per day for absentee election services for the general municipal election and any subsequent run-off election.
During the meeting, the council also voted to hire Kyle Alexander as the new maintenance worker for the Hamilton Parks & Recreation Department.
The mayor also congratulated all of the high school graduates for their hard work and achievements through the last 13 years, from kindergarten through 12th grade, noting he was proud of them.