On an election day that featured several key races in south Lake Travis, voters signaled their intent for improved safety, governance and stability at the polls Saturday.

Voters backed Lake Travis Fire Rescue’s efforts to garner additional revenue to hire more firefighters by supporting a sales tax increase in the district.
LTFR, or Travis County Emergency Services District No. 6, will be able to collect another three-fourths of a percent, or three-fourths of a penny for every dollar spent in cities that have not already reached the 2 percent sales tax cap.
ESD No. 6 Board President Barker Keith II thanked voters for endorsing the measure by a 20 percent margin. The proposition received a total of 268 votes for the tax increase (60 percent) and 179 against it (40 percent).
“ESD No. 6 is very pleased that the citizens recognized the need for faster response times and the need for more funding,” Keith said. “They can be reassured we are here for them.”
Almost all of the incumbents on Lake Travis-area ballots retained their offices.
Incumbent director Jerry Hietpas and campaign colleague Karl Ansbach overcame the challenge from Fred Newton to claim victory in the first contested election in several years at Lakeway Municipal Utility District.
Hietpas, who collected 284 votes (33.41%), said the competition provided an excellent sounding board for airing the issues and raising awareness.
“I thank the voters for what appears to be a mandate to implement the practices and principles that the past minority on the board was unable to implement under the former administration,” Hietpas said.
Ansbach, the top vote getter with 355 votes (41.76%), said his message of change resonated with LMUD customers.
“My message was we need to get governance back on the MUD board, and I think many people felt we needed that too,” he said. “I’m very appreciative of the support, and I’m anxious to get sworn in on the 19th [of May] and get to work.”
Newton, a retired accountant who campaigned on his disassociation with the board of directors, complimented his opponents.
“Congratulations to the two winners. I know they’ll do a fine job,” said Newton who tallied 211 votes (24.82%).
Lake Travis ISD incumbent Jason Buddin outdistanced David Lovelace, 1,217 votes (73.53%) to 438 (26.47%), to secure another term as Place 4 trustee. Buddin, who is a managing partner at Tempest Investments, was unavailable for comment Saturday night.
Place 3 on the LTISD board went to Alex Alexander, Lake Hills Church Pastor of Family Life, who defeated Hamil Cooper, a retired electrical engineer and tutor, with 1,083 votes (65.92%) to 560 (34.08%).
Alexander said the campaign trail had been a long, hard one, but felt relieved that voters came out to support his message of school finance.
“In regards to school finance, I think families and taxpayers in the district are feeling that crunch. At the same time, they understand that need to pay for education,” he said.
His goals as a first-year board member will be to effectively represent parents in LTISD as a parent of two children in the district and to strengthen the relationship between the community and LTISD.
“As I said early on in my platform, I intend to have an open mind on all issues and listen to every voice in the district,” he said.
Place 5 incumbent and restaurateur Alan Williams was unchallenged for his seat on the board of trustees, so he was automatically elected.
Incumbents Howard Gillespie and Jean Dowdy retained their places as aldermen on the Village of Briarcliff board with 167 and 155 votes, respectively but newcomer Steven Autrey nabbed the third spot on the board with 143 votes (22.38%).
Challenger Roger Crowe tallied 88 votes (13.77%), and incumbent Jean Turner collected 86 votes (13.46%) but was unseated.
“That is a shock to me, but I think he [Autrey] will mesh well with the board,” Briarcliff Mayor Allen Hostetler said of the upset.
Lakeway voters resoundingly approved all 10 city charter amendment propositions.
They were:
*Proposition No. 1
(605 votes for, 67 against)
Shall Sections 3.02, entitled “Qualifications,” 7.02 entitled “Qualifications and Term of Office” and 9.05 entitled “Counterclaim of Tax Arrears and Debt of City” be clarified to define the term “in arrears”?
*Proposition No. 2
(608 votes for, 91 against)
Shall Section 3.09, entitled “Filling of Vacancies” amend and simplify the procedure for filling vacancies that occur on the City Council by modifying the procedure for flexibility and conformance to the current uniform election process contracted with Travis County?
*Proposition No. 3
(534 votes for, 168 against)
Shall Section 3.09 entitled “Filling of Vacancies” be amended to provide that in the event that a number of vacancies exist on the City Council, and the situation prevents the Council from having a quorum of four members as required in Section 3.12, then the remaining members shall constitute a quorum for the limited purpose of meeting to fill enough of the vacancies so that a quorum of four exists?
*Proposition No. 4
(698 votes for, 30 against)
Shall Section 4.07 entitled “Police Department” be amended to clarify that the certification and training requirements for the Chief of Police shall be consistent with state law?
*Proposition No. 5
(694 votes for, 31 against)
Shall Section 5.01 entitled “City Elections” be updated to recognize that the date for the City’s regular election be consistent with current state law?
*Proposition No. 6
(628 votes for, 57 against)
Shall Section 6.03 entitled “Form of Petitions” be clarified to provide better definition of the reasons why a signature on a petition for initiative, referendum or recall should not be counted?
*Proposition No. 7
(502 votes for, 177 against)
Should Section 9.02 entitled “Tax Levy” be modified to provide that if the City Council fails to adopt an annual tax levy ordinance for any year, that the tax levy which shall be in effect shall be as established by state law?
*Proposition No. 8
(679 votes for, 42 against)
Shall Section 11.01 entitled “Oath of Office” be amended to establish that oaths of office may be administered only by persons who are authorized to do so by state law?
*Proposition No. 9
(649 votes for, 59 against)
Shall Section 11.12 entitled “Political Activities of City Officers and Employees” be amended to be consistent with state law and to provide for penalties by ordinance?
*Proposition No. 10
(604 votes for, 67 against)
Shall Charter Section 11.17 entitled “Interim Government” and Charter Section 11.20 entitled “Submission of Charter to Voters” relating to the original Charter adoption in 1990 be deleted as they are no longer relevant?
Lakeway City Council members Dave Taylor, Dee Ann Burns-Farrell and Bruce Harris and ran unopposed for their council seats, so they were automatically re-elected to office.
Bee Cave Mayor Caroline Murphy, Chad Bockius and Mike Murphy ran unopposed as well, so all three officials returned to their posts. Mayor Murphy will enter her sixth term of office, and Mike Murphy will serve his fifth term. This will be Bockius’ second term.
The Village of the Hills canceled its May 8 election because alderwoman candidates Hilda Potsavich and Bruce Warmuth and alderman candidate Ron Dodd all ran unopposed and thus were elected to office automatically.
However, Hurst Creek Municipal Utility District customers voted challenger Bill Warmuth onto the MUD’s board with 161 votes (35.15%) along with incumbents Ray Arvay, 112 votes (24.45%), and J.L. Hall, 103 votes (22.49%). Incumbent board member Herk Wotkyns lost with 82 votes (17.9%).
The Lake Travis Community Library District canceled its board of trustees election scheduled for Saturday because candidates Carol Mozelle Black, P.K. Chatterjee and Nancy Pencsak were all unopposed and thus automatically are elected into office.
All election results are unofficial until canvassed.