HICKORY CREEK — Rumblings from residents living on the east side have gotten a little louder this year, especially now that both candidates vying for Place 4 on the Town Council come from the west side.

Paul Kenney, 36, lives in the Lakeview subdivision, just west of Interstate 35E, and Charles Read, 58, lives in far west Hickory Creek, along the eastern boundary with Corinth.

Early voting began Monday at Hickory Creek Town Hall, 1075 Ronald Reagan Ave. Early voting continues today, from 7:30 a.m. to noon. On Monday, early voters can cast ballots from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. A second “extended-hours” voting day will be held Tuesday from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Election day is 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. May 10.

With either candidate’s win, all five council members will hail from the west side of the freeway. If Kenney wins, three of the five, or a majority of the council, would come from one subdivision: Lakeview.

Kenney declined to comment this week.

Longtime resident Karen Clarke said the Lakeview subdivision’s dominance in town politics has created some unease among those living on the east side of town.

“It was enough to carry the vote in the last election,” said Clarke, who lost her re-election bid for her council seat last year. Her late husband, Jim Clarke, was mayor from 2000 to 2004. “The east side can be sleepy. Most of the neighborhoods were built in the 1970s.”

Read said he’s been hearing themes of disenfranchisement from residents in both east side and west side neighborhoods as he campaigns.

“Whether it’s true or not, there’s definitely a feeling there that people are not getting represented,” Read said. People in the Harbor Grove neighborhood and Pinnell Pointe, his small neighborhood, also feel that way. “As a CPA [certified public ac­coun­tant], you’re taught that, in what you do — both in fact and in perception — you need to maintain the appearance. You need to look independent.”

The current council has not always succeeded in maintaining that perception of independence, even if the votes don’t necessarily lean toward helping one subdivision’s needs over the needs of others, he said.

“It’s too bad that I-35E makes such a big, defining line,” Read said.

Long term, however, the city may not be able to solve the problem until it’s large enough to change from general law to a home rule city, he said. Hickory Creek residents can write their own charter when the population reaches 5,000. It’s currently about 3,700.

“We’re really only one or two developments away from that,” Read said.

He suggested that once Hic­kory Creek reaches that population threshold, residents could vote on a charter that includes district-style representation.

PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com .