BND holds off canvassing ballots

After learning that the ballots from voters serving overseas in the military arrived, the Brownsville Navigation District cancelled today's special board meeting so the county could count overseas ballots.

BND CEO Eddie Campirano said county officials advised him of the overseas ballots and that the BND board now plans to canvass May 10 election returns and administer the oath of office to new commissioners Ralph Cowen, John Reed and Sergio Tito Lopez at the coming week's regular meeting.

Notice of the May 21 regular meeting would be posted today.

The Texas Southmost College board of trustees also held an election May 10 and has set a special meeting for 1 p.m. Monday in the Cueto Building, at 13th and Madison streets, to canvass election returns and set the date for the runoff election for the Place 1 seat on the board.

In the TSC election, former Los Fresnos school board member Adela Garza received 2,981 votes, or 44.89 percent of the total, to 2,082 votes, 31.35 percent of the total, for Jaime Silva, a Brownsville cardiologist. Jose Angel Herrera, appointed to fill out the term of board member Dino Esparza, who resigned, received 1,578 votes, for 23.76 percent of the total.

To win the race, 50 percent of the votes plus one was required, university officials said.

In Place 2, former UTB-TSC professor Rene Torres defeated Tita Esparza Tamez, also a former educator, receiving 3,951 votes (61.05 percent) to 1,956 votes for Tamez (38.95 percent.)

The TSC board is the governing body for the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

A total of 8,727 ballots were cast in the BND and TSC races combined, but county election officials were not able to say how many ballots were cast in each election.

Election Administrator Roger Ortiz said he would attempt to determine that today.

The number of overseas ballots was not immediately known.