CHRISMAN — Dan Moore, as mayor of Chrisman, has a conundrum.

He and city commissioner Bryan Haddix were the only candidates during the April 4 election, and both were vying for the mayor’s job. The other commissioners did not seek reelection and no other citizens ran.

As a result, Moore was elected mayor without a council. Commissioners Cory Chaney and Thad Crispin have continued, pursuant to state law, until their replacements are appointed.

Moore announced resident Mike Jordan has agreed to an appointment as commissioner for streets, alleys and parks, but he was not sworn in during the May 15 meeting because the city attorney was not present to administer the oath. So, Chaney and Crispin continue serving.

One of Moore’s announced concerns is more strenuous enforcement of city ordinances regarding vehicles and unkempt properties.

“We’ve got 65 plus old vehicles that are not tagged,” said Moore. “Some vehicles are blocking alleys.”

The mayor announced a 30-day grace period started with May 15 meeting and residents who do not voluntarily take action will get cited by the police after the grace period expires.

“Our town is getting junky,” Moore said. “It’s not what it used to be. We want to do what we can to attract people — not disincentivize them.”

City clerk Lela Ramey addressed the council about ongoing problems with the water billing system. She noted several people are getting billed for spikes in water usage and no leaks are detectable in most cases.

“Maybe the old meters were not accurate, and the new meters are counting every gallon so it makes it look like there’s a problem,” said Ramey.

She added that possibility does not address problems when homes are getting billed for large amounts of water consumption and the hourly use breakdown by the meters do not support such heavy usage.

Chaney added a consultant working with the city believes part of the problem is the software used to prepare water bills and has recommended switching to a new provider. There was no objection, but no action was taken.