Little Elm gets new mayor in squeaky-tight race, approves street repairs and improvements

by Teresa Gubbins

Little Elm elected a new mayor in an impossibly close contest, with young Charles Platt overtaking incumbent Mayor Frank Kastner by a mere five votes, 499-494.

The city was sufficiently concerned about the crush of voters that it installed additional voting machines on Saturday afternoon, to rectify the misprinting of a batch of paper ballots.

Kastner had been mayor for three years and counted among recent achievements his helping to found the The Run the Lewisville Lake Toll Bridge Committee (which is hosting a walk on August 1).

Platt, who sports a gleaming chrome dome, will no doubt make a keen new mayor, but one hopes his mayoral skills do not match his (mis)understanding of idiomatic expressions. On his Web site, he says "if we work hand and hand between city and ISD we can become one community." Hate to nitpick, but shouldn't that be hand IN hand?

Here's the tally:

Mayor

Frank Kastner 494

Charles Platt 499

District 3

Cooper Begis 184

Curtis J. Cornelious 262

District 5

Brandon C. Gerard 100

Jack Gregg 86

Sales & Use Tax for maintenance and repair of municipal streets

For: 843

Against: 174

Bond Proposition 1 -- $8,200,000 for public safety facilities

For: 768

Against: 238

Bond Proposition 2 -- $7,100,000 for street and bridge improvements

For: 850

Against: 162

Bond Proposition 3 -- $3,835,000 for parks & recreation facilities

For: 741

Against: 267