Palmhurst and Alton cancel elections

Palmhurst and Alton canceled their municipal elections Tuesday after nobody challenged the incumbents.

During meetings on Tuesday, the Palmhurst City Council and the Alton City Commission canceled plans to hold municipal elections on May 6.

In Palmhurst, where half the City Council was up for re-election, City Councilman Ruben De Leon, City Councilman James Aranda and City Councilwoman Ofelia Peña-Perez ran unopposed.

The cancellation of the election marked a return to normal in Palmhurst, which held two hotly contested mayoral elections last year.

In Alton, Mayor Salvador Vela and City Councilman Arturo Galvan Jr. also ran unopposed.

Alton hasn’t had a contested City Commission election since 2015, when Vela and Galvan crushed two challengers.

While no City Commission races will appear on the ballot, Alton still plans to hold a special election in May.

Alton wants voters to shift a half-cent of the city’s sales tax from industrial development initiatives to street maintenance. If approved, the sales tax swap would make about $500,000 a year available to repair streets and sidewalks.

Early voting starts on April 24 and ends May 2. Election day is May 6.