Fort Clark Springs Association Annual Board Election: Increase in Voters May Require Increased Attention to Ballots

The deadline for submitting candidate data forms to secure a spot on the FCSA Board of Directors election ballot was Thursday, January 2, 2025 at 5PM. Election committee members initially reported 4 candidates, after their committee meeting Friday morning, but as of Monday, Jan. 6, FCSA General Manager, Charlena Cavender stated, “We have received applications from five candidates who are running for the board: Lisa Vale, Tony Hackebeil, Warren Thompson, Sharon Wolfe, and Aaron Mendias.” Two positions are up for election this year, with incumbents Lisa Vale and Tony Hackebeil running to keep their seats against 3 new candidates, along with the possibility for write-ins. 

As this election brings new candidates, new ballots and new possibilities, the increased number of ballots may require more oversight to minimize the number of Invalid votes. 

In 2024, the final envelope count for ballots sent was 1646. The total number of ballots to be sent in 2025 will be significantly higher at a total of 2,955. This includes “1631 active accounts and 1324 inactive accounts, ensuring all eligible accounts are included in the voting process,” FCSA General Manager Charlena Cavender clarified. At the November 16, 2025 FCSA Board meeting, Election Committee member Sandy Hagan mentioned that Tony Hackebeil (BoD Secretary) will be helping the Election Committee by working with the Secretary of State to address concerns about members listed as inactive, as this is important for the ballots. 

The increase in ballots, while presumably a corrective action to include inactive member accounts previously thought ineligible, comes after some issues with ballots being disqualified in the 2024 election. Despite a quality control person being assigned to each table to ensure that there was a ballot in each envelope and that the address was visible, as volunteers prepared ballots, the auditing firm, Valdez Junfin Accounting Services, LLC, reported a total of 109 ballots were deemed invalid, out of the 673 ballots that were received by the firm. 

Out of 109, there were 4 ballots deemed invalid specifically due to a lack of a member number, according to Valdez Junfin. The member number is typically included on the preprinted mailing labels provided by FCSA, and added to all ballots to be sent out, meaning that at least 4 otherwise eligible votes were disqualified due to an oversight that should be addressed by FCSA moving forward. 

According to meeting minutes from February 2024, “In lieu of a General Manager, our board secretary, Tony Hackebeil, certified both the ballot and the membership list.” The Secretary of the Board typically serves as election monitor. However, when this issue was brought to the attention of the Secretary, Mr. Hackebeil stated that the BOD and the Election Committee would not know that, referring to someone’s votes not being counted. He went on to say, “The auditing firm that counts the votes has their rules for qualifying and disqualifying votes and they don’t share with the BOD or Election Committee which votes were disqualified.” 

A dispatch email from FCSA sent on March 30, 2024, featured a document on Valdez Junfin letterhead with a breakdown of 109 ballots deemed invalid by various guidelines, established on the ballot itself, listed as follows: 

 
Kinney County Post will continue to follow the FCSA Board of Directors Election process for 2025, and provide updates as they become available. FCSA Members are encouraged to contact the Admin office with any updates to mailing addresses as soon as possible to ensure ballots are mailed to the correct address.

Some key dates for election process are as follows: 

* Volunteer Needs: Additional volunteers may be needed to assist with the ballot preparation and mailing process. 

The next Fort Clark Springs Association Board Meeting is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2025.