Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 6, 1980 Page: 1 of 8
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VOLUME 10
NO. 20
PRICE 25 CENTS
ON MUSTANG ISLAND, TEXAS
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 1980
Mathews Wins Constable Post
Write-ins, Cash and Titus Out
After waiting four years for a
second try at the local Constable
office, Dee Wayne Mathews took
the Democratic Party nomination
from two term incumbent Ben
Cash last May, and this week
defeated Cash again, as Cash
wound up an intense write-in
campaign to retain the office.
A slow-moving line of voters,
some waiting more than two
hours, cast ballots on two voting
machines in the Port Aransas
Community Building. A third
machine that was delivered for
the election malfunctioned early in
the morning and was taken out of
service by election judges, leaving
the 792 voters talking and
grumbling in a long line all day.
There were 1299 voters qualified
in this election, of which 61
percent cast ballots on election
day last Tuesday.
Mathews took the Constable
office election with 329 votes, or
51 percent of those voting in the
race. The Cash write-in effort
brought 251 votes, and a write-in
challenge by former Cash chief
deputy Charles Titus drew him 70
votes. Absentee totals are not
included in these figures.
The Constable contest led to
heavy campaigning activity in Port
Aransas, especially during the
past two weeks, culminating, on
election day, in an all-day
collection of people and signs just
outside the 100 foot buffer at the
polls, urging votes for the three
candidates.
Cash launched his write-in
campaign just shortly after the
May primary, in which he was
downed by Mathews by only 10
votes in the 275 to 265 vote race.
Cash looked to the November
election then, saying that there
were numerous voters he knew
who had not voted in the primary,
but would vote for him if giver,
another chance.
Titus entered the write-in con-
test after being fired in early
September by Cash. Cash cited
various reasons for the firing
having to do with an unauthorized
vacation and use of County
vehicles. Titus’ response was that
the firing was solely for political
reasons, with Cash aiming for a
November re-election.
Mathews is a former Port
Aransas police chief who resigned
from the post about a year and a
half ago. He made his first bid for
the Constable post while working
as an officer for the department,
and then, later became chief.
The Constable job pays $19,620
per year, plus a $350 per month
vehicle allowance.
In other local races, Port
Aransas voters were not always in
line with the final results. A very
close state representative race
saw the one-term incumbent,
Democrat Bill Harrison defeated
by Republican Ken Riley for the
District 48 C post, which includes
Poll Aransas. Port Aransas voters
gave Harrison 56 percent of the
vote, with 308 votes. The 20th Dis
trict State Senate seat was easily
retained by the incumbent, Carlos
Truan, who had no real problems
pushing Republican challen-
ger Dr. Marco Eugenio aside.
Port Aransas voters also favored
Truan, giving him 56 percent of
the vote. A very strong battle for
the 14th Congressional District
saw former state senator Bill
Patman take a win over Repub-
lican candidate Dr. C.L. Conklin,
but Port Aransas voters gave
Conklin 58 percent of the vote, as
part of the higher office Republica
sweep at the local polls. Presiden-
tial candidate Reagan polled 51
percent here, as he did on the
national scale. President Carter
scored 43 percent, with Anderson
at 4 percent and Clark taking 2
percent with his 18 local votes.
Fish Pass
Bridge Being
Rebuilt
The ten year-old steel grating
bridge over the Mustang island
Water Exchange Pass on Park
Road 53 is undergoing extensive
repairs, but traffic flow along the
Island Road will not be cutt off,
according to the State Department
of Highways and Public Transpor-
tation.
The steel deck grating in the
bridge’s center span has deterior-
ated and had some minor repairs
in the past few years. Now, the
plan is to replace the steel portion
with concrete box girders.
According to Department offi-
cials, the work will be done in
one-half width increments, still
allowing for two lanes of passing
traffic. There will be barricades,
signs and a concrete median to
direct traffic into the proper lanes
is the work progresses.
This work on the Fish Pass
bridge is part of a $733,000
contract to Heldenfels Brothers
construction company from the
highway department. Also inclu-
ded in the contract is replacement
of one of the Park Road 22
bridges crossing Laguna Madre.
This work will begin after
completion of the job at the pass
on Mustang Island.
The steel grating bridge deck
was designed at the Water
Exchange Pass for easy removal
during maintenance dredging
operations in the pass. There has
been no dreding there since its
construction, even though the
pass, operated by the Texas Parks
and Wildlife Department a*1 part
of the Mustang Island State Park,
has been badly silted almost since
the day that dredging was
completed. It appears that with
the new concrete structure, ease
of removal for maintenance dredg-
ing is no longer a priority item in
the bridge design, suggesting that
the Parks and Wildlife Depart
ment may not be planning future
dredging of the pass.
-
CAMPAIGN SCENE OUTSIDE THE POLLS
Constable
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Frishman, Steve. Port Aransas South Jetty (Port Aransas, Tex.), Vol. 10, No. 20, Ed. 1 Thursday, November 6, 1980, newspaper, November 6, 1980; Port Aransas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth601417/m1/1/: accessed July 11, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Ellis Memorial Library.