Copperas Cove mayor pro tem announces intent to run for mayor in November
By LYNETTE SOWELL
Cove Leader-Press
On Wednesday afternoon, Copperas Cove city councilman and Mayor Pro Tem, Dan Yancey, announced in a press release issued to the Leader-Press that he would be putting his hat in the ring for the mayor’s position, after Mayor Bradi Diaz announced that she would not be seeking reelection.
“Mayor Diaz has done a fantastic job working with City Council and City Staff while advancing causes for the City of Copperas Cove. She was instrumental in the selection of Ryan Haverlah as our City Manager in July of 2019 and oversaw the orderly transition of outsourced Utility Administration to an in-house full-service department,” Yancey wrote. “Mrs. Diaz had many ‘once in a lifetime’ challenges during her tenure: a tornado causing significant damages in parts of Copperas Cove in 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21 and Winter Storm Uri in 2021. All of these challenges required an enormous amount of her personal time spent working with City Staff to coordinate proper policies and procedures on the local, county, state and national levels.
“Mayor Diaz did everything without recognition but solely because that is what Copperas Cove needed and she was there to support the needs of the community. Working with Mayor Diaz as Mayor Pro-Tem during her time in office has been an absolute honor for me.”
Mayor Pro Tem Yancey was first elected to the city council in 2015 to fill an unexpired term, and has been Mayor Pro Tem for four of his six years in office. For five months from late December 2018 upon the passing of Mayor Frank Seffrood, Yancey handled the duties of Mayor as the Mayor Pro-Tem until Diaz won the special election in May 2019.
“I feel my experience on the City Council, being Mayor Pro-Tem for the last four years and as Mayor Pro-Tem serving our city for several months after Mayor Seffrood’s passing, will helpme to continue working for the citizens of Copperas Cove to make our city a great place to call ‘home’.”
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 2. In addition to the position of mayor, Place 1 and Place 2 are also up for election. Presently, Place 1 is held by Joann Courtland. Place 2 is held by Fred Chavez.
In addition to these three positions up for election, there will be one more race this fall, for Yancey’s position, Place 3.
In order to run for the position of mayor, Yancey must resign from city council, and the council will have to call for a special election to be held at the same time as the November general election, to fill the remaining term for Place 3, which doesn’t expire until November 2022.
Applications for places on the ballot will be accepted starting Saturday, July 17 through Monday, Aug. 16.
Candidate packets will be available on the City website and in the City Secretary’s Office. Election information may be obtained by visiting the City Secretary’s page of the City website at: http://www.copperascovetx.gov/city_secretary/election_information/.