David Belle Isle, who is running for State Senate District 56, has clarified the cost to the City of Alpharetta for a Special Election to replace him on the Alpharetta City Council.

Belle Isle is currently a sitting Alpharetta councilmember. Questions were raised about whether there would be enough time to be placed on the ballot, should he win the Republican nomination. The Beacon had previously reported that the cost to the taxpayer would be up to $40,000 if he did not meet the cutoff deadline. Belle Isle and his campaign have cleared up any confusion regarding both the ballot and the cost to the taxpayer.

“[I] want to make sure the truth is abundantly clear,” said Belle Isle. “The cost to the citizens of Alpharetta will be less than $500.”

Dwight Brower, Chief for the Fulton County Board of Elections, confirmed the cost: “Should there be a need to conduct a special election and it is … called so as to be conducted with the July 2010 Primary or Runoff or any of the other statewide elections, the cost would be minimum to your city [Alpharetta] as we would simply add your race to the statewide ballot. The cost would probably not exceed $500.”

Belle Isle and his campaign have also confirmed this with the Alpharetta City Clerk, Sue Rainwater, and the City Attorney, Sam Thomas of Bovis, Kyle & Burch, LLC. Thomas stated in an opinion letter that once you “qualify as a candidate on April 26, 2010, this [will] allow adequate time for the city to call a special election for July 20, 2010 to fill your vacancy [on council]… In the past, these costs have not exceeded the $500.00 range.”

“I want to assure the residents of Alpharetta and Senate District 56 that I do not intend to compromise my record of good fiscal stewardship by saddling the City of Alpharetta with unplanned election costs,” said Belle Isle. Belle Isle and his campaign have even offered to fund the entire $500 for his election.

“Our work here in Alpharetta is not yet done,” Belle Isle said. “We must continue to seek solutions for reducing traffic congestion and waging the battle for fiscal responsibility. I plan to remain in that fight a little longer. Additionally, this January, we will have two new Council Members and we will need to retain as much institutional knowledge and leadership as we can for as long as we can.”