Candidate Tunstall Says Focus Should Be On Infrastructure, Cutting Spending
Quail Valley resident Kevin Tunstall, candidate for Missouri City council At-Large Position 2, says he would like to see a change in the direction of the city, and says if elected he would focus on improving infrastructure and cutting spending in an effort to lower taxes. “I don’t like the direction our city is going. I haven’t for a while,” said Tunstall. “I don’t believe the city should be doing all this crisis management – I think they should be more proactive in solving the problems before they are a crisis…I don’t like the mothods used by the people who are in charge right now, so I want change.”
Tunstall, who has lived in the city for seven years and owns a health care company, ran and lost against District C councilwoman Barbara Gibson in last year’s election. He faces incumbent Buddy Jimerson as well as candidate Willie Harvey, III in this year’s election. He says the state of the city’s infrastructure will eventually drive down property values if not addressed.“I think we really need to solve the issues with the deteriorating infrastructure,” said Tunstall. “And I don’t mean hiring consultants to come in and tell you what needs to be done. It is fairly clear to me what needs to be done, it just needs to get done. If our infrastructure starts crumbling, so does our quality of life. If you go down the street and you see buckling sidewalks and buckling curbs, then it is going to drive down out property values.”
Tunstall says the city needs to focus on cutting spending, but also says the raises given to employees were given too late, and the city should have been more proactive “before it became a crisis.” “If you want to continue the status quo of higher taxes and more spending, then by all means vote for the incumbent,” said Tunstall. “If you want a real fiscal conservative who is going to slash spending and bring taxes down, I am a real fiscal conservative. I believe deep in my heart that the government’s function is to protect our rights and our property, and to never threaten them, and that’s why I sought the District C seat last year. The issues that were brought forth at that time are still unresolved and until they get resolved, I will keep speaking out about them. We will never lower our taxes until we lower our spending.”