An update on the Carrollton city council special election. Election day is Tuesday, December 5th. Early voting begins on Monday, November 20th at

1. Josey Ranch Lake Library at 1700 Keller Springs Road
2. Sandy Jacobs Government Center (formerly Denton County Government Center) at 1029 W. Rosemeade.

Schedule are as follow:

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 20-22, Nov. 24-25;
1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26;
8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 27-29;
7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

Six candidates and here is what I know about these candidates,listed in the order they are on the ballot:

1. Terry Simons, a good friend, a former council member, who resigned and ran for Denton county Justice of the Peace but lost in the Republican primary early this year. A plumber by trade and a member of First Baptist Church of Carrollton.

2. Jack Stotz, a retired facilities manager for IRS, campaign treasurer for Nancy Cline when she ran for the CFBISD Board of Trustees. A fellow classmate and graduate of the 2005 Carrollton Government Academy. A first term member of the Carrollton Planning and Zoning Commission. When Jack first announced, I checked his website, and except for the first page with the name Jack Stotz, there was Bob McCranie everywhere else. Bob McCranie, whose endorsement is listed on Jack's website currently, has made political contributions to John McCain, Michael Burgess, Barack Obama, Bob Garza and Democrat Gary Page, who ran against congressman Kenny Marchant in 2004 and 2006.

3. Paul Kramer is a professional engineer who works for Medical City of Dallas. He's sixty years old, with two grown children out of the house. Both of them are owners of small businesses in Carrollton. Feel he has the time to give back to the community. A member of Sojourn Church, which I attended for about two years in 1996-1997. If elected, he would be the only professional engineer on the council. With the city's infrastructure over thirty years old, need a lot of repairs and improvements, plus the city will be putting in new infrastructure for Transit Oriented Development with DART light rail coming to Carrollton finally, he feels that his expertise would help serve the citizens of Carrollton well.

4. Kathleen York, a photographer, who ran and lost in the Carrollton city council race in 2005.

5. Cathy Henesey, a recruiter, is a good friend, who ran and lost narrowly in the Carrollton city council race in May this year.

6. Najma Ghouse, whose last name is wrong on the city secretary website, is a real estate agent. She will be the first Muslim woman to contest in the Carrollton City Council Elections according to the muslim-calendar.com website. Her husband, Mike Ghouse, is quoted in the newspaper and on local TV station CBS 11 as against the resolution passed unanimously 6-0 by the Farmers Branch city council this week, which would 1) make English the city's official language, 2) fine landlords for renting to illegal aliens, 3) provide for Farmers Branch police to be trained to enforce immigration law.