Richardson council race

The Nightly Build

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Everyone Is Still Civil After Four Forums

Tuesday evening, the League of Women Voters of Richardson hosted the fourth forum of candidates for Richardson City Council. Sixteen candidates in the six contested races answered questions submitted by the public. None of the candidates broke new ground. No new issues emerged. The audience was well-behaved. If this election is any indicator, Richardson is a contented community. Property taxes are not an issue. Illegal immigration is not an issue. Ethnic diversity is not an issue. East side versus west side is not a divide. Business owners versus homeowners is not a divide. No, the biggest "issue" seems to be whether or not Richardson should put its checkbook online. And all the candidates, all of them, are in favor of that.

Besides making opening and closing statements, the candidates answered six questions, including two "lightning round" yes/no questions.

1. How will Richardson be different in ten years?
2. What three areas would you cut if tax revenues drop?
3. Do you think the city is acting transparently?
4. Do you support staggered terms for city council? (yes/no)
5. Do you support the red-light camera program? (yes/no)
6. What do you propose doing about the 12,000 outstanding warrants at Richardson's municipal court?

Diane Wardrup showed the most dedication by celebrating her 36th wedding anniversary with her husband and the voters of Richardson. Dennis Stewart gets honorable mention for celebrating his 35th wedding anniversary the day before at a city council meeting.

Jimmy Schnurr made the best recovery of the night. After appearing hesitant, flustered and confused in his opening statement, he confidently came back at the next opportunity to explain that his wife was in the audience for the first time and when he looked up and saw her, "she took my breath away."

Sheryl Miller took the first jab. In her opening, she accused the incumbent, John Murphy, of filing his financial report late. Murphy, unbloodied, stayed good natured and ignored the criticism.

Looking ahead ten years, John Murphy and Bob Townsend both pointed to estimates of population growth in Richardson, both in residents and in the even larger daytime workforce. Gary Slagel talked up UT-Dallas as an economic engine that will change Richardson. Jennifer Justice said the school's growth will make Richardson a "college town" in ten years. Chris Davis said that Dallas development is marching up Central Expressway and will soon reach Richardson's southern gateway, which is due for redevelopment in the next ten years. Diane Wardrup foresaw Richardson's population aging and a consequent demand for more single-family homes for seniors, an odd statement given that Richardson is land-locked, built-out, and virtually all seniors in Richardson already own their own single-family house. Bob Macy played up the Richardson Regional Medical Center as a "jewel" that will become even more important to Richardson as its population ages.

The candidates were all over the map concerning where to cut if tax revenues drop. Sheryl Miller had the most original answer, saying, "if tax revenues drop, that would be terrific." Chris Davis would save money by insourcing. John Murphy would save money by outsourcing. Gary Slagel said we should either insource or outsource, depending on the function, as well as leverage technology to become more productive. Bob Macy would look at cutting festivals that don't make money. Pris Hayes would look to refinance bonds at lower rates. Sheryl Miller said cut the pork; John Murphy said the word pork and Richardson's budget don't go together ("We're never going to have a Cowboys stadium in Richardson"). The incumbents generally identified personnel costs as making up the majority of the budget, so cuts, if needed, would have to come from there. Murphy and Slagel offered hiring freezes and attrition as ways to control personnel costs.

Transparency in government seems to be the recurring issue in this election, but even that doesn't seem to favor anyone in particular or challengers over incumbents. All of the candidates are more or less in favor of video-streaming council meetings and publishing the city checkbook online. Sheryl Miller said it's not a cost issue or a technology issue, accusing the council of not wanting voters to know where the money goes. John Murphy claimed that none of the top 50 cities in Texas yet have an online checkbook, but he's in favor of having Richardson be first. Bob Townsend is in favor, too, wanting a quality product that provides information in a useful manner. Thomas Volmer said we have too much information already and need to improve the usability of what we have. Dennis Stewart pointed out that candidates talked about cutting costs earlier, but now championed new programs that all cost money.

All the candidates except John Murphy and Thomas Bache-Wiig are in favor of having staggered terms for city council, with not all places elected in the same year.

All the candidates except Thomas Bache-Wiig and Thomas Volmer are in favor of continuing Richardson's red-light camera program.

The one question that seemed to catch the candidates unprepared was the last question regarding increasing collections on the 12,000 outstanding warrants in Richardson's municipal court. None of the candidates would confirm the number. Bob Townsend drew first response and admitted being "stunned" at the number. Bill Denton said he was "like Bob" and said he didn't know how to increase collections from people with outstanding warrants. Thomas Bache-Wiig injected humor by noting people beginning to leave the forum and saying "most of them are walking out right now." Mark Solomon seemed to be on top of the issue, noting that the city collects $12 million per year from municipal court and has the highest collection rate in the area. Jimmy Schnurr proposed "getting aggressive" with a warrant "roundup" that would pay for itself. Pris Hayes cited an example elsewhere where offenders were lured to a location by a promise of having won a boat, only to be arrested when they arrived. Bob Macy suggested public humiliation, saying that if a police officer shows up at an offender's place of employment, "they cough up." John Murphy suggested considering outsourcing collections on a percentage basis. Thomas Volmer suggested repurposing the city's red light cameras to systematic plate scanning to identify drivers with outstanding warrants.

On the whole, the questions highlighted how similar the candidates are on the issues. Where they offered different answers, it didn't so much highlight differences in government philosophy as it demonstrated how all of them are good at brainstorming solutions to problems. I'm beginning to think that Richardson will be in good hands with a council made up of any combination of these candidates.

Correction: In the original post, I wrongly attributed the statement, "most of them are walking out right now" to Bill Denton. In fact, Thomas Bache-Wiig made the remark.