Issue #16
April 30, 2025
It's Time to Vote!
THIS SATURDAY is Election Day Smithville and by evening’s end we will have at least one, and potentially two, new faces on the City Council dais.
The race for Place 3 between incumbent Jimmy Jenkins and Brian Wells has been a tight one. Both candidates participated in the forums (Fat Cat and Chamber), engaged citizens at public events, and discussed their plans on social media (Brian’s FB page; Jimmy’s FB page).
Kudos to both candidates for running clean campaigns. Shame on Protect and Serve PAC for bringing unnecessary negativity into this race. We reached out to them multiple times (phone and email) and did not get a response. They have not filed paperwork with the City Secretary, as required by law.
The race to replace Tom Etheredge in Place 2 has Brandon Dunham on the ballot and Cale Lammerts as an approved write-in candidate. Lammerts announced on March 26 that he would not accept the position if elected.
Tyrone Washington is running unopposed for Place 1. He needs one vote to be reelected.
If you are registered and have not voted yet, please grab a friend and go vote Saturday!
Municipal Math
Just like you, cities have expenses: payroll for city employees, gas for police cars, paving city streets—the list goes on.
We looked at the city’s annual financial reports for the last seven years and found the non-utility expenses have increased 3.4x in the last seven years.
In fiscal year 2016-17, the city’s expenses (excluding the utility fund) were $1.39 million. Seven years later, in fiscal year 2023-24, those expenses ballooned to $4.72 million.
Adjusted for inflation (26.19%), that’s still a 2.7x increase in expenses. Smithville’s population has remained steady at about 3,900 during that time.
In our latest Municipal Math story, we take a look at the 11 categories that make up expenses in the general fund and show how much they’ve increased since 2017.
New Superintendent
On April 23 the SISD Board of Trustees named Dr. Molley Perry as their lone finalist for superintendent to replace the outgoing Cheryl Burns, who is retiring at the end of this school year.
Dr. Perry is currently Deputy Superintendent in Elgin ISD. Previously, she served in this same capacity in College Station ISD. She began her career as a special education teacher in Bryan ISD, where she also later served as Director of Special Education.
By law, the Board must wait 21 days before voting to hire Dr. Perry to be the new superintendent for Smithville ISD.
Bi-District Champs!
Congrats to our Lady Tiger Softball team for winning their bi-district game 16-0 against LaMarque last week!
Smithville was up 8-0 in the 2nd inning and poured it on for eight more in the next frame, leading to the game being called (run rule) after three innings.
Your Lady Tigers will face Salado in a three-game series at Thrall High School beginning tomorrow (Thursday) at 6:30pm. The second game is Friday at 6:30pm, and Saturday at 2pm if necessary.
Please join in sending our champs off tomorrow (Thursday) at 2pm starting at the High School.
And congratulations to pitchers Jessica Hinnant and Addison Otto for being named to Sports Illustrated’s list of Texas high school softball top 50 pitchers!
Good luck ladies, we're rooting for ya!
Music in the Park
Smithville’s Music in the Park is back! Every Thursday in May from 6-8pm the city will have FREE live music at the Gazebo at the end of Main Street.
Bring your lawn chairs, your family, and your dancing shoes for this family-friendly, community-powered tradition!
Jamboree Wrap-up
Jamboree wrapped up on Saturday night and what a fun time! The rain (mostly) held off for all three days, the parade was one for the books, and we are still spinning from the carnival rides.
Congrats to our new queen Briley Tomlin and her court, Lily Gardella and Kynleigh Schroeder.
Our trusty sidekick, Manny, participated in his first Jamboree and won second prize at the pet contest!
Manny took 2nd place!
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Jamboree Day 2 starts at 12:30 today with the pet show and coloring contest.
We think Manny is pretty cute, so we’re going to sign him up. See you out there Smithville!
2:43 PM • Apr 25, 2025
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The countdown to next year’s Jamboree begins…
FOIA Funds
At the last City Council meeting we spoke about submitting two open records requests:
1. Information about the annexation of the land the proposed Enclave at Riverbend will sit on (you can read about that in Issue #13).
We got that request yesterday and the charges were $18.
Look for a follow up story in the coming weeks.
2. Detailed data regarding airport fuel purchases, landing and takeoff data, and courtesy car data.
This was in response to you, our readers, questioning the numbers we published in this March 26 story about the airport.
That request is being finalized and will cost $69.
You can donate to support these types of stories here.
From the Publisher
Last week, Mike Forman, a sports reporter for the Victoria Advocate, posted on X that he had been let go from the paper.
He had covered high school sports at that paper for 42 years.
I did some Googling and found Carpenter Media Group purchased the Victoria Advocate in December 2024, a year in which they went from being a relative unknown in the newspaper industry to becoming the sixth-largest newspaper owner in the country. Layoffs, unsurprisingly, are their calling card.
I don’t know Mike, but having spent my entire career during the decimation of the newspaper industry, I’ve known many Mikes. I’ve also been Mike—on multiple occasions.
It had been a while since I’d seen a layoff post like that, one that kind of takes your breath away. It’s not because they aren’t happening, but given how much of the industry has already been destroyed, there simply isn’t as much left to cut.
When Gannett decided to pull up stakes and keep the Smithville Times in name only to continue to collect public notice revenue, they laid people off and abandoned a community.
But the need in Smithville didn’t change. Nor did it change in any other rural community.
People still want to know what’s happening at the school board meeting, understand where their hard-earned tax dollars are being spent at City Hall, and read stories about their kids winning the ballgame.
Which means there’s a market—despite what corporate media say.
I won’t disagree with the corporate media money men on one point: the business model for newspapers in this country is, on its best day, grim, and on its worst, completely unsustainable.
But they can’t see what I see.
After deciding I could no longer live on $39,000 a year, I left the newspaper industry for the second time in my career in 2022 and began working in content. I ran an author’s four newsletters and learned how content creators make millions using flywheels. And, despite no one else seeing it, I not only see that model as a viable path for community journalism, but I also see a wide-open field of opportunity.
Every time I read a story like Mike’s, I think of the newsrooms I’ve loved and lost and the communities left in the dark. But I also think of you—our readers—who keep showing up, who want someone to shine a light on our city budgets, cheer for your kids on the field, and hold the powerful accountable.
That’s why I’m here, trying to build something new: to create a future where independent journalism thrives, not on corporate scraps, but on a model that puts readers and communities first.
I don’t have all the answers yet, but I’m betting on us—on you, on me, and on the stubborn belief that local news isn’t just worth saving, it’s worth reinventing. So stick with me. Let’s write the next chapter together.
Looking forward to see what we can build together,
~K
Kristen Meriwether
Publisher, Smithville Texas News
Kristen@smithvilleTexasNews.com
Follow us on X @NewsSmithville
