William P. “Billy” Larson, Jr.

The City of Tyler will officially hold an election, with two candidates vying for the city council District 1 seat.

William P. “Billy” Larson, Jr. filed for the seat Tuesday and will face Linda Sellers on the May 9 ballot.

The district encompasses the western portion of south Tyler, mostly west of Broadway Avenue.

Larson, 76, is an oil and gas property tax consultant, working in the field for more than 50 years. Larson retired from the field and now does consulting work.

“I’ve got a background in auditing, a background in watching over budgets, and I have a good background in dealing with personnel,” he said. “I think those are the positive things I can bring before the council.”

Larson is a graduate of Texas Lutheran University, and he began his career as auditor for the Texas Comptroller’s Office. From there he became a property tax consultant with Thos. Y. Pickett and Company. Within his career, Larson moved up from a property tax representative to regional manager, and retired from Amoco Corporation (BP) as its manager of property taxes.

He is a licensed senior property tax consultant, certified member of The Institute of Professionals in Taxation, and a member of Texas Oil & Gas Association Property Tax Representatives.

He was born in Victoria, and has lived in Smith County since 1992, and in the Ashmore subdivision for 10 years.

Larson said he wants to continue the vision of the city to be the standard of excellence in local government and its mission to be a results-oriented service organization.

“I want to carry on what that vision says and get a results-oriented organization focus and keep it growing, and make sure get where we need to be and get it done right,” he said. “I want to maintain the positive mission that this city has adopted.”

Candidates have until the end of next week to file for the three city council positions on the ballot, including district 1, 3 and 5.

Early voting for the May 9 election date will run from April 27 to May 5. The last day to register to vote to be able to participate in the election is April 9.