Local Races – 2011
Posted April 13th, 2011 by Julie
Please click on the names of the candidates below to read their responses to NE Tarrant Tea Party’s candidate questionnaire. If there is no link, it means the candidate chose not to complete our questionnaire. There are also links provided for information on the various propositions.
Bedford City Council Place 6: Chris Brown (i) vs Sarah Sisson
HEB ISD Place 7: Mark Cyrier (i) vs Elaine Plybon
HEB ISD Bond Propositions 1 and 2
Colleyville City Council Place 4: Jody Short vs Scott Gunnip
GCISD Bond Proposition
Grapevine City Council Place 6: Roy Stewart (i) vs Deverick Jordan vs Kathleen Thompson
Grapevine Crime Tax
Ft Worth City Council District 2: Sal Espino (i) vs Paul Rudisill
Haltom City Mayor: Richard Hutchison vs Bob Watkins
Keller Mayor: Pat McGrail (i) vs John Baker
Keller City Council Place 6: Doug Miller vs Ron Lee vs Rick Mason
KISD Place 4: Craig Allen (i) vs Anthony Greer
NRH City Council Place 1: Steve Holleman vs Sixto Rodriguez
NRH City Council Place 7: Tim Welch (i) vs Charles Spradling
Richland Hills City Council Place 1: Donald Acker vs Roland Goveas
Richland Hills City Council Place 3: Grayson Anderson vs Robert DeSoto
Richland Hills City Council Place 5: Edward Lopez vs Martha Strain
Southlake City Council Place 1: Martin Schelling vs Shahid Shafi
Southlake City Council Place 6: Pam Muller vs Mike Tilbury vs Dianne Dorman
Southlake Liquor Sales Proposition: Against For
Carroll ISD Place 2: Chris Archer vs Fred Stovall
Carroll ISD Place 3: Sue Armstrong (i) vs Keith Houser
Watauga City Council Place 3: Mike Steele (i) vs Gary Johnson
Watauga City Council Place 4: James Wright vs Pete Beierschmitt vs Marilyn Hyer vs Kip Woodruff
Watauga City Council Place 5: Larry Irving (i) vs Russell Clements
Posted April 12th, 2011 by Julie
Thanks to all who attended and voted in our Municipal Candidate Fair & Straw Poll! We had 25 area candidates in person, plus questionnaires from many others who could not attend. We also passed out information on bonds and propositions that will be on the ballot. 191 voters participated.
Please note that winners of the straw poll are NOT endorsements by NETTP. We do not endorse ANY candidate. We strive to educate the voters so they can make wise choices on their own. That being said, here are the results…
- CISD Place 2: Chris Archer (55%)
- CISD Place 3: Sue Armstrong (55%)
- Colleyville Place 4: Scott Gunnip (92%)
- Grapevine Place 6: Deverick Jordan (48%)
- Grapevine Crime Tax: Against (52%)
- GCISD Bond: against (80%)
- KISD Place 4: Anthony Greer (91%)
- Keller Mayor: John Baker (70%)
- Keller Place 6: Doug Miller (90%)
- HEBISD Place 7: Elaine Plybon (61%)
- HEBISD Prop 1: Against (65%)
- HEBISD Prop 2: Against (74%)
- NRH Place 1: Steve Holleman (100%)
- NRH Place 7: Charles Spradling (85%)
- Bedford Place 6: Sarah Sisson (79%)
- Ft Worth District 2: Paul Rudisill (83%)
- Haltom City Mayor: Richard Hutchison (100%, but only one person voted)
- Watauga Mayor: tie between Harry Jeffries and Hector Garcia
- Watauga Place 3: Gary Johnson (100%)
- Watauga Place 4: James Wright (100%)
- Watauga Place 5: Russell Clements (100%)
- Southlake Place 1: Martin Schelling (74%)
- Southlake Place 6: tie between Muller and Tilbury
- Southlake alcohol proposition: Against (78%)
Check back tomorrow and we’ll have links to see all the candidate questionnaires and all the write ups on the different bond propositions.
Posted April 6th, 2011 by Fred
Three candidates are running for Grapevine City Council Place 6. Kathleen Thompson is one of them. Here’s a photo of her. Interesting poster she’s holding, isn’t it?
You may remember Kathleen… Back in December she described the NETTP Christmas Float as “a really ugly disruption” and fought to get the Chamber to ban us from future parades. Read the full article here.
Kathleen is the former president of the Mid-Cities Democrats, and she currently co-chairs the Mid-Cities chapter of Drinking Liberally, a group that describes itself as “an inclusive place to come and talk politics and current events.” One event they are promoting is a show called Laughing Liberally: This Ain’t No Tea Party, “to spread understanding of liberal ideas and advance progressive values.”
After the Arizona shooting, Kathleen posted on the Drinking Liberally website, “political violence and ugly vitriol shouldn’t have a place in our society.” However, check out this picture she posted on her Flickr account. Notice Sarah Palin is on the cover of a comic book entitled Repuglicans and is literally demonized. I guess she really didn’t mean that comment about ugly vitriol…
Kathleen’s opponents include incumbent Roy Stewart, who has yet to respond to NETTP inquiries, and Deverick Jordan, who can be researched at this link. Deverick is the only one of the three candidates who has signed the NETTP Transparency Pledge we’ve asked all candidates to submit. He and Kathleen both have agreed to attend the Candidate Fair on April 11.
UPDATE (April 7):
Kathleen has asked me to provide a link to her website as well (since Deverick’s was provided). I suppose she’s not referring to her Drinking Liberally website because I already provided that. (Funny how this affiliation was not listed on her mailer when she talked about how involved she is in Grapevine. Why not?) She’s also just turned in her transparency pledge.
Posted April 4th, 2011 by Julie
We’ve got an unbelievable night planned for April 11. You MUST be there, and you MUST invite every voter in NE Tarrant County that you can.
NE Tarrant County Municipal Candidate Fair & Straw Poll
1060 E Highland, Southlake TX 76092
6-7pm – fair and straw poll (polls close immediately at 7pm)
7:15-7:30 – Lela Pittenger, candidate for US Senate
7:30-8:30 – Michael Badnarik on the Federal Reserve and fiat money
8:30 – straw poll results announced
First, from 6-7pm we’ll have a candidate fair. We’ve invited the contested candidates from all our cities to set up tables and meet the voters one on one (scroll down to see the list of those who have confirmed attendance). NO CANDIDATE SPEECHES! We’ll be handing out their answers to our tea party questionnaire, AND we’ll be conducting a straw poll. Join us and decide for yourself who to vote for. All politics start locally! And remember, the key to a successful candidate fair and straw poll is to have a lot of people there! Invite everyone you can! Post it to your Facebook pages too!
We’ll be offering two slices of pizza and a drink for $5 at this event (while supplies last), so don’t worry about dinner. Just get to the fair before the polls close!
Then at 7:15 we’ll hear from our first US Senate candidate, Lela Pittenger. Between now and October, we’ll have one candidate at each of our monthly meetings. We’ll ask each of them the same pre-determined questions of concern to tea party members. Let’s get to know them and make an educated decision on who should receive our votes and our support.
At 7:30 we’ll start our presentation on the Federal Reserve and fiat money. This is a huge topic in the US right now as we watch the value of our dollar decrease world-wide. Our speaker is the reknowned Michael Badnarik of Constitution Preservation, an expert on this topic.
At 8:30 we’ll announce the winner of our straw poll.
I told you… it’s going to be a packed night. You don’t want to miss one moment of it!
CANDIDATE RSVP LIST
Wanna know which candidates have committed to attending the candidate fair? Click here. You’ll also be able to see who has completed the NETTP questionnaire and who has signed NETTP’s transparency pledge.
CANDIDATE FAIR PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Municipal Candidates Get a Candidate Fair and Straw Poll
On April 11, 2011, citizens from eleven NE Tarrant County cities will be able to come to one location to meet and question candidates running for mayor, city council and school boards in their respective cities. This Candidate Fair will be held at the Highland Meadow Montessori Academy gym: 1060 E. Highland, Southlake TX 76092, and will be from 6:00 – 7:00p.m.
Candidates will be available to answer citizens’ questions and will have the chance to provide literature with their positions on issues. In addition, each candidate has been asked to fill out a questionnaire that will be available at the Fair and online (www.NETarrantTeaParty.com). Once voters have had the chance to speak to the candidates, they will enjoy voting in the Straw Poll that will be set up. The winners of the Straw Poll will be announced at the end of the night’s events, so everyone will want to stick around for those winner announcements.
The NE Tarrant Tea Party represents Grapevine, Southlake, Colleyville, Hurst, Euless, Bedford, Keller, North Richland Hills, Richland Hills, Watauga, and Haltom City and has invited all contested race candidates from these cities to attend this event. Because we strive for an informed electorate and know that all politics begins at home, we are excited to host this event for these communities. We urge all citizens to come, meet and question these candidates so that they can decide who they will vote for in these important elections. Election day is May 14th, 2011.
Immediately following the night’s Candidate Fair and Straw Poll will be a presentation by Michael Badnarik on the Federal Reserve System. All are invited to attend!
Posted April 3rd, 2011 by Fred
The NE Tarrant Tea Party submitted a questionnaire to all municipal and school board candidates in our area of coverage for our upcoming Candidate Fair on April 11. Here’s a sampling of some of the answers we’ve received so far from the municipal candidates:
Q: Will you oppose and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes?
Fort Worth City Council Dist. 2 Race-
As I have stated, no more taxing. I will FIGHT to lower taxes and spur growth. Paul Rudisill
… During tough budget cycles, we asked each department to cut back 10% and we made very difficult decisions to reduce positions and departments. However, citizens and taxpayers are supportive of certain services which they deem vital and will not support draconian cuts… Sal Espino
Q: Which programs would you cut in the city, and which ones would you grow?
Southlake City Council Place 1-
I would cut any non-essential services that the citizens deem unnecessary. The citizen’s survey indicates areas where there could be cuts. I would grow our inter local agreements with our neighbor cities and counties, advocate more joint use with our school districts and look for other areas to economize to save our tax payers’ money. Martin Schelling
NRH Council Place 7-
There are no programs I would cut at this time. I would look at Economic Development to see what can be done to insure business growth. All programs need to be monitored during the budget year. Charles Spradling
Keller City Council Place 6-
Keller did an efficiency study that I have tried to obtain, but they will not release it to the general public (it deals with personnel). They used the study to cut 19 positions last year, but I believe there is more waste included in the study. Once elected, I plan to use that study to find and cut waste. Doug Miller
Bedford City Council Place 6-
I would cut the recreational facility OVER spending. It’s way too much while we have rusty pipes and live wires sticking out of the ground and eroding sewers, still, after a 12% sewer rate increase. We must attack our basic city services. It’s showing that the council isn’t paying enough attention and isn’t getting a little dirty themselves. This is more than a ribbon cutting we are talking about… Sarah Sisson
Q: What is one burning issue that prompted you to run for this position?
Colleyville City Council Place 4-
The budget shortfall of approximately 2 million dollars for 2011. Scott Gunnip
Q: Do you support having a minimum percentage of school district payroll expenses of professional staff be full-time classroom teachers? If so, what minimum percentage would you support?
Carroll ISD Trustee Place 3-
I’m not certain there is some magic number out there that would fit every district and I think past legislative efforts (65% Rule) illustrate this. That being said, I’m an advocate for smaller class sizes. However, smaller class sizes mean more teachers, which means increased expenses. Sue Armstrong
Q: What else would you like voters to know about you?
Carroll ISD Trustee Place 3-
I will make every effort to repeal the “no test papers returned to students” Carroll ISD policy and demand that the school board instruct teachers to allow students & parents to see what the student did wrong (or right) and to show parents progress or set backs as they happen. Carroll’s Public Education Mission Objective #1 is: “Parents will be full partners with educators in the education of their children.” It is my learned opinion that Carroll ISD violates this Objective by refusing to include parents as full partners and return graded test papers to students and parents. This MUST stop now! Keith Houser
Q: What are your top three recommendations in handling the current financial issues facing the ISD?
Carroll ISD Trustee Place 2-
(1) Carroll ISD has increased non-instructional spending over 25% in the last five years with only 2% enrollment growth. We must examine these increases and aggressively reduce our administrative spending.
(2) Carroll ISD must limit future spending growth. Any increase in spending in a specific area must be fully paid for by savings in other areas.
(3) Carroll ISD must aggressively pursue non-tax measures to increase revenue. Other Robin Hood payer districts have been very successful using charitable organizations and cooperative efforts with local business to increase revenue without raising taxes. Fred Stovall
Our Candidate Fair will be held at the Highland Meadow Montessori Academy gym: 1060 E. Highland, Southlake TX 76092, on April 11th from 6:00 – 7:00p.m.
Candidates will be available to answer citizens’ questions and will have the chance to provide literature with their positions on issues. In addition, each candidate’s questionnaire will be available at the Fair and online (www.NETarrantTeaParty.com). Once voters have had the chance to speak to the candidates, they will enjoy voting in the Straw Poll. The winners of the Straw Poll will be announced at the end of the night’s events, so everyone will want to stick around for those winner announcements.
Posted March 24th, 2011 by Fred
By Jasmin Brown, jbrown@acnpapers.com
Published: Thursday, March 24, 2011 3:42 PM CDT
Star Local News
Six-year Southlake resident Keith Houser is challenging incumbent Sue Armstrong for Place 3 on the Carroll ISD Board of Trustees. Houser, 62, is a former secondary education teacher and Minister of Christian Education.
Houser said he has personal experience with the Carroll ISD school system through family ties.
“I have personally experienced the past six years of the Carroll ISD junior and senior high system due to my grandson being a full-time student,” he said. “As a former educator and administrator, I have seen some serious flaws in the system and believe I can help improve the system as a board member.”
In his campaign platform, Houser has several ideas he would like to work to see materialize for Carroll ISD if he is elected.
“I will make every effort to defeat the Texas Chapter 41 statute commonly known as ‘Robin Hood’ whereby Carroll ISD school pays out tens of millions of Southlake property tax dollars to other school systems,” he said. “Southlake taxes should be used exclusively for Southlake students and teachers. I will strive to keep our teacher’s pay attractive to maintain the best teachers in our system.”
“I will make every effort to repeal the ‘no test papers returned to students’ Carroll ISD policy and demand that the school board instruct teachers to allow them to see what they got wrong (or right) and to show parents their progress as it happens,” Houser said.
“I believe daily staggered school start and release times will reduce busing costs and give parents who have children in more than one school zone more time to drop off and pick up their children without stress. I will strive to get Carroll ISD more grants and more businesses advertising for all of Carroll ISD athletic sports (not just football) and band to raise more funds without increased taxes for these important activities.”
Houser said he thinks he can bring a fresh perspective to the challenges and opportunities the board presently faces.
“[I would hope] to bring new ideas and oversight to the board,” Houser said. “There has not been any significant change in school board trustees for the past six years and it is time for some fresh input. School student enrollment has been flat, yet Carroll ISD spending has increased over 14 percent in the past several years. While spending has increased dramatically, the percentage change in student achievement in reading, math and science scores has not increased dramatically.
“Texas taxpayers spend more tax dollars per student than California, yet Texas has fewer schools and students and no improvement in student achievements. This inequity must be changed. Taxpayers are demanding government run enterprises be more efficient. Carroll ISD is no exception.”
Star Local News
Posted March 22nd, 2011 by Fred
The NE Tarrant Tea Party is establishing a voter integrity team to assist with recruiting Election Judges, Alternate Judges, Clerks, and Pollwatchers for the May 2, 2011 elections. These local elections will be a good training opportunity as we get ready for the Primary and General Elections in 2012.
We will be keenly interested in any of you who are bilingual (English and Spanish or Vietnamese) who can assist in these positions or as an interpreter at a Precinct on election day. We will primarily support those Precincts which are covered by our cities but also Tarrant County wide, as necessary.
Pollworker (Election Judge, Alternate Judge, Clerk, Pollwatcher) is not as intimidating it may sound. Both online and live training will be available to ensure that anyone volunteering for this important task is well trained to do the job correctly. Training is mandatory for election judges and alternate election judges. If you cannot take on a Judge or Clerk role please consider pollwatching as a way to help insure a fair election process.
General qualifications:
- You must be a registered voter in Tarrant County and eligible to vote on election day,
- You cannot be an elected official or a candidate in a contested race on the ballot,
- You cannot be an employee or relative within the second degree of a candidate in a contested race for public office,
- You cannot be a campaign treasurer or campaign manager of a candidate in the election.
Working hours on election day are approximately 6:00 AM until 8:00 PM. You must have transportation to and from your assigned polling place. Pay (if any) varies depending upon the type of election and other factors. Pollwatchers are assigned by Candidates for the local and special elections and this is NOT a paid position.
Please select one or more of the positions you would prefer and select the Precinct(s) you might prefer (if known), then forward your name and this information to Dennis Arens (dla2of17@commonsensecitizens.net).
Posted March 16th, 2011 by Julie
From American Thinker, October 2009:
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/10/un_agenda_21_coming_to_a_neigh.html
Most Americans are unaware that one of the greatest threats to their freedom may be a United Nations program known as Agenda 21. The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Division for Sustainable Development created Agenda 21 as a sustainability agenda which is arguably an amalgamation of socialism and extreme environmentalism brushed with anti-American, anti-capitalist overtones.
A detailed history on sustainable development, definitions, and critical actions can be found here. Section III of the Agenda 21 Plan addresses local community sustainable development. The Preamble and Chapter 28 discuss how Agenda 21 should be implemented at a local level. The United Nations purposely recommends avoiding the term Agenda 21 and suggests a cleverly named alternative: “smart growth.” The United Nations Millennium Papers – Issue 2 (page 5) says this of Agenda 21 and smart growth:
Participating in a UN-advocated planning process would very likely bring out many of the conspiracy-fixated groups and individuals in our society such as the National Rifle Association, citizen militias and some members of Congress. This segment of our society who fear ‘one-world government’ and a UN invasion of the United States through which our individual freedom would be stripped away would actively work to defeat any elected official who joined ‘the conspiracy’ by undertaking LA21. So, we call our process something else, such as comprehensive planning, growth management, or smart growth [emphasis added].
Undoubtedly, residents of any town, county, or city in the United States that treasure their freedom, liberty, and property rights couldn’t care less whether it’s called Agenda 21 or smart growth. A recent example of this can be found in Carroll County, Maryland, where a smart growth plan called Pathways was drafted by the County Planning Department. The plan, if enacted, proposed a breathtaking reshuffling of land rights:
- Rezoning of thousands of acres of beautiful, low-density agricultural farmland and protected residential conservation land into office parks
- Down-zoning of agriculture land to prevent future subdivision by farmers
- Up-zoning of low-density residential land around small towns into higher density zoning to permit construction of hundreds or possibly thousands of inclusive housing units, including apartments and condominiums
- Inclusive housing with placement of multi-family construction on in-fill lots within existing residential single family communities
- Endorsement of government-sponsored housing initiatives (subsidies) to ensure healthier, balanced neighborhoods
Community leaders working together in Carroll County recently defended their county against overreaching smart growth initiatives. Richard Rothschild, a candidate for Commissioner, emphatically remarks, “Smart growth is not science; it is political dogma combined with an insidious dose of social engineering. Smart growth is a wedding wherein zoning code is married with government-sponsored housing initiatives to accomplish government’s goal of social re-engineering. It urbanizes rural towns with high-density development, and gerrymanders population centers through the use of housing initiatives that enable people with weak patterns of personal financial responsibility to acquire homes in higher-income areas. This has the effect of shifting the voting patterns of rural municipalities from Right to Left.”
Smart growth plans usurp property rights and constitutional rights. Local officials, at the behest of State Government, revise zoning laws to fit into a “smart code” zoning template. A massive reshuffling of property rights ensues. Farmers may lose subdivision rights; conservation land adjacent to population centers may be rezoned into commercial employment centers; and low-density land in small towns is re-designated as growth area and rezoned to accommodate diverse housing including high-density apartments and condominiums.
Finally, a healthy dose of federal- or state-sponsored housing initiatives is embraced to ensure communities are properly balanced. The net effect of these plans is to create highly urbanized population centers throughout otherwise-rural counties, while simultaneously limiting the availability of land for suburban and estate subdivisions, as these are considered an unsustainable waste of land by Agenda 21 disciples.
Clearly, smart growth plans will impact Americans’ future choices in where and how they live. Furthermore, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal and state agencies may attempt to deny grant funds to states and cities that do not adopt smart growth plans.
Most Americans will remain unaware of the implications of smart growth and Agenda 21 until after it is promulgated in their own backyards. Ironically, these plans are more insidious than the Eminent Domain ruling by the Supreme Court in the case of Kelo v City of New London. Under Eminent Domain rulings, property owners usually receive compensation for their losses.
Conversely, smart growth municipal plans, required by statute, enable municipalities to change zoning laws and engage in other regulatory actions that devalue property, restrict off-conveyances, and otherwise erode property values without payment of any compensation to the property owner.
Smart growth has another interesting unintended consequence: it can disrupt conventional alliances and lead to strange political bedfellows. Rural urbanization plans may raise the ire of environmental groups while simultaneously stirring the wrath of both conservative and liberal residents that want to maintain the rural fabric of their communities. Conversely, developers, sensing opportunity, may side with government smart growth bureaucrats in support of these plans.
Regardless of political orientation, two indisputable facts remain. Agenda 21 is a direct assault on private property rights and American sovereignty, and it is coming to a neighborhood near you.
Posted February 9th, 2011 by Julie
In these trying economic times we need fiscally responsible, principled conservative leaders serving at all levels of government. These local officials are responsible for
- Establishing budgets
- Setting policy
- Setting local property tax rates
- Drafting regulations and local ordinances
The decisions of these local officials, affect our lives each and every day.
The election for these positions is in May.
Running for office requires a plan. Attend our how-to workshop to learn how to win
Participants will learn:
- When to file and how
- Fundraising tips and strategies
- How are campaigns run and what is needed
- Learn how to map out a strategy to win
- How to leverage social networks for your campaign
- How to organize GOTV efforts
Please forward to your interested contacts.
Working together, we can make a difference at the local level!
This is a FREE event, Please reserve your seat today.
http://tcgopcampaignworkshop-efbevent.eventbrite.com/
Posted January 10th, 2011 by Julie
Join other tea party members in your city for a chance to get to know each other and talk about local issues. With municipal elections coming up, this is a great chance to discuss candidates and platforms.
All cities will meet from 9:30-10:30am at 1060 E Highland in Southlake in the gym of Highland Meadow Montessori Academy (Bldg 1020). Within that space we’ll divvy up into our respective cities.
Coffee and donuts will be served.
