In eventful week, Washington files again to run for Wichita Falls City Council

Wichita Falls resident Crystal Washington said Thursday she initially dropped out of the race for a place on the Wichita Falls City Council because she was advised of possible felony convictions on her record.

Felony convictions can keep a candidate off the ballot unless they can show they have met certain stipulations.

Washington said she was convicted of felony cocaine possession in 2015 and felony forgery in 1999, but said those convictions were reduced to class A misdemeanors, which would not keep her off the ballot.

She said when the City Clerk’s Office advised her of the problem she withdrew from the race and then decided to run as a write-in candidate.

She said she went to the Wichita County District Clerk’s Office on Tuesday to get documentation that showed how the cases against her had been disposed of.

“While I’m there getting the paperwork, I see the sheriff come in," Washington said in an interview Thursday. "I turn around, and he asks me — and he was nice about it — 'Hey, are you Miss Washington?’ and I said yes. He said, ‘Ma’am we discovered two tickets from 2016.'”

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She said an officer took her to the county jail where they discovered she had four traffic violations. Washington paid the fines and was released the same day.

“I have made mistakes in the past,” Washington said. “The whole purpose of my life is that I have a nonprofit that deals with at-risk youths and at-risk communities because I understand the challenges.”

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She said she has done good work in Wichita Falls for 21 years.

“I’ve helped people with food. My nonprofit helps people do a whole array of things. My nonprofit helps with probation/community service hours. I have the longest-running Juneteenth bash in Wichita Falls,” she said.

Wichita Falls City Clerk Marie Balthrop confirmed on Thursday that Washington had filed papers to run as a write-in candidate, and her application was being processed.

While candidates who filed for official places on the ballot had to do so by Monday, state law says write-in candidates can file until Friday.

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This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: In eventful week, Washington files again to run for Wichita Falls City Council